#character analysis: assassin's creed

[teecupangel]

Hey there!

I don't know if you take requests for character analyses (if you don't just ignore this), but I would really like to see your take on Desmond Miles since, for some reason, I can't really seem to wrap my head around him, which has resulted in me finding him almost boring, and I would like to remedy that.

I'm particularly interested in what you believe to be to be his biggest flaws and where they come from, since that's what usually compels me the most about a character, and also what I have trouble with finding in Desmond.

I’m fine with any analysis requests that get sent my way :)

Although, I do wonder if I’m the right person to analyze Desmond since character analysis is meant to be as nonbias as possible but I’m me and y’all know how much I love Desmond at this point. XD

I will do my best though but it is my duty to remind you that this analysis is written by someone who loves Desmond so, yeah, some of that love will bleed thru in this analysis.

Also, as this would get pretty long if I do a complete character analysis, I’ll focus on what compelled me to Desmond which, I believe, is connected to your question about what his flaws are and where they come from.

What compelled me to Desmond:

Nolan North’s Voice

He’s voiced by Nolan North and I’ve been in love with Nolan North’s voice since I played Spec Ops the Line. Haha, no, that’s half a joke and my obligatory “Nolan North fangirling” out of the way. Also, no joke, Nolan North was able to give Desmond a compelling voice that helped mold his character in my eyes and ears. I never once heard Desmond speak and thought "oh, that's Nathan Drake" which is funny since Nolan North uses similar voices for the two of them. With what he's given, Nolan North was able to make Desmond unique from his other characters, making him a charming and adorable dumbass with more depth than he usually shows.

Endless Potential

This was what compelled me to him because his part in the series felt like it was building for something more. If we were to believe what Nolan North said in this video (around the 33~34 minute mark), Desmond was meant to have a bigger part in the story. The ultimate Assassin with the ability to time travel, most probably to help change the past and tragedy of his ancestors and to usher in a brighter future for the Brotherhood and mankind. The one who will finally end the endless war between the Assassins and the Templars.

But then Ubisoft screwed that up and wasted Desmond’s potential.

But from their actions were born endless potential. For as long as there are fans who create new stories with Desmond in them, Desmond lives up to that endless potential. By destroying Desmond’s potential, Ubisoft unintentionally created a character with endless potential given to him by those who create stories where he is resurrected or never died in the first place.

And that endless potential is what brings new ideas and scenarios for our dear poor Desmond to get involved with. XD

Desmond and His Ancestors

Kenway-Patented Daddy Issues

So let’s start with Ratonhnhaké:ton because there are some people who say that Desmond and Ratonhnhaké:ton are quite similar to one another but, let’s be honest, most of those comparisons stem from their similar ‘tense’ relationship with their father. Desmond and Ratonhnhaké:ton mirror each other because of that relationship and they showed two contrasting ‘endings’:

Ratonhnhaké:ton had wanted to build a bridge between himself and his father but ended up killing Haytham because of their differences and their stubbornness to yield to the other’s wishes and demands.

On the other hand, Desmond let go of whatever animosity he felt for his father and made up with him in the end even though there have been hints of how deeply Bill mistreated his son (either thru neglect or actual abuse is up to interpretation) that should have been given more time to talk about than... two-ish voice messages.

This is more my opinion but Desmond forgiving his father and trying to make amends is because he wished to grant Ratonhnhaké:ton’s wish in some form. Perhaps even his Bleed of Ratonhnhaké:ton is the reason why he felt the desire to make amends because he’s seeing a lot of Haytham Kenway in Bill. In his Bleed-’corrupted’ mind, this could be counted as Ratonhnhaké:ton getting his wish.

The Legend Everyone Wants Him To Become

Lucy said it herself, they’re using the Bleeding Effect to jumpstart and cheat their way into making Desmond an Assassin. But is that really their end goal? Sure, Lucy had the ulterior motive of the Templars wanting to get the POE that had been under Ezio’s care but the Assassins themselves want Desmond to become an Assassin as quickly as possible.

We can even make an argument that they want Desmond to not be an Assassin like Ezio Auditore but to be Ezio Auditore.

Because Ezio Auditore was seen as a success story by the Assassins. They didn’t know how he had almost been so close to giving up the Creed during his later years, they didn’t know how he left the Brotherhood because he had enough…

They remember Ezio Auditore as this great man, this legend.

And the Bleeding Effect gave them the tool to try and recreate this legend in Desmond Miles.

Also, the way Lucy, Shaun, and Rebecca supported Desmond is similar to how Mario and the members of the Italian Brotherhood in AC2 supported Ezio.

In some ways, they were using Desmond/Ezio to get what they want. Desmond and Ezio are the ones risking their lives the most (either in the field where anything and everyone can kill him with Ezio or in a high-tech device that could destroy his mind with Desmond) while their allies kept information from them “until the time is right” (mostly Bill and, by extension, Lucy) and supported them from the shadows instead.

The Distorted Mirror

For me, Desmond is actually more of Altaïr’s foil and a distorted mirror image of Altaïr because:

Both of their mothers are quite the blank slate with Maud only known as a Christian member of the Levantine Brotherhood but never confirmed to be an actual Assassin while Desmond’s mother has never been officially called an Assassin, only a member of the Brotherhood like Maud.

Both were born and raised in Assassin ‘strongholds’, isolated from the rest of the world. How similar their upbringing was is open for interpretation but, considering how Desmond never talked about any specific children from the Farm and didn’t talk about his life as a bartender or any of his coworkers and the only person that treats Altaïr like an old friend was an informant in Damascus (if we do not count Rauf who looks like he’s friendly with everyone and Kadar who is more on the side of hero-worship for Altaïr than being a friend of equal grounds), we can safely assume they were both lonely (especially after Abbas and Altaïr’s friendship went to hell).

Both of them were trained to be Assassins at an early age but where Altaïr thrived and became one of the best Assassins in the Levantine Brotherhood (and, later on, in history), Desmond saw himself as a failure.

Speaking of which, they both have father figures who trained them to be Assassins but where Al Mualim succeeded in creating a valuable weapon, Bill failed.

Both of them, at some point in their lives, thought about running away. Altaïr had been ready to leave Levant with Adha but stayed instead after her death. Desmond, on the other hand, actually ran away and created a new life out of the reach of the Brotherhood.

Altaïr is known for saying “How can I regret the only life I have ever known?” which echoes Desmond’s regrets of running away from his Assassin lineage.

Desmond had talked about how he wished people had told him things, had explained things to him, and given him information that would have made him understand that the Assassins and Templars were real. He even tells Shaun that he would have loved to have been a know-it-all in the Desmond_01.WAV in AC Valhalla. Altaïr is known to hoard knowledge (his library) and is a scholar as well. They both desired knowledge but where Altaïr sought and hoarded it, Desmond simply… wished for it.

There are other comparisons of how similar they are but distorted in some way to make them unique from one another (like how their canon love interest (sorta in Desmond’s case) died because of them in some form or another) but those are some of the major ones in my opinion.

So, you might be wondering, why did I focus so much on Desmond’s ancestors when this is meant to be a character analysis of Desmond himself?

Because that is one of his flaws.

Desmond has and will always be compared to his ancestors, both in universe and in meta. One can only imagine how Desmond felt about being compared to his ancestors.

Well...

We can actually guess how he felt about that because...

Another one of his flaws is how he saw himself as a failure and his feeling of being never enough, of being a failure stems from, you guessed it, William Fucking Miles:

I—I had failed you, and you KNEW it. But you said nothing. I stayed mad. For weeks. I thought you were...you were patronizing me. I thought maybe you decided right there that I was never going to be the man you wanted me to be... (Noob’s Personal Files: "Subject Zero" - audio file 3)

The rest of the audio file talked about how Desmond had misunderstood Bill’s actions but what kind of upbringing would he have to have had that his first thought when he was praised was that it was a lie? Instead of immediately believing the praises given to him by his own father, he assumed that he had failed and his father had given up on him?

Desmond couldn’t even see his own accomplishment:

Desmond: I wanted out. I wanted my own life. To live my own way. Sixteen years old. And where was I going? No idea. Just away. That's it. That was the plan. Not much of one. They never guessed what I was doing, because I didn't know what I was doing. I just walked right out. Someone realized I was gone. They shouted. I started running.

William: Desmond! Desmond!

Desmond: I just ran and ran and ran. All that training was finally worth something. God, it was so dark when I left. And the forest... endless. I didn't dare take the roads.

Mother: Desmond, where are you?

Desmond: Mother, calling out. Begging me to stay. But I wouldn't. I followed the hills down. Down until I hit a stream. I followed that to a river, and from the river to an old access road. I walked for hours that day, the summer sun keeping me warm well into the evening. Found a clearing after dark. Fell asleep beneath the stars. Never had a quieter night. Not before or since. Walking, too scared to hitch a ride. What the hell was I doing? Lost in the badlands for a day. Felt like a week. Endless ocean of wrinkled earth. Can't believe a place could look so dead. (AC Revelations Escape)

A secured location run and protected by adult Assassins couldn’t catch a 16 year old kid? Even if it’s just his parents who went after him, two adults with more experience couldn’t catch him? This only shows that Desmond had the skills. A sixteen years old who had NEVER left the Farm further than what his training and his parents had allowed was able to evade those who were training him his entire life.

Yet, he still thought that he had been a failure. That memory of Bill praising him for doing a good job and him believing that Bill had given up on him stayed with him and made him believe he was a failure for a very long time.

And this was a man who stayed out of the whole Assassin and Templar business for nine years until he grew complacent and tried to treat himself with a motorcycle license (which might show how bored he was with his life as a bartender and wanted some excitement in his life… like a really fast vehicle)

Bill described Desmond as:

This... boy had no ambition. No direction. No plans for the future. What he DID have was a heritage. One he chose to deny. (AC3 Intro)

But then you get to Desmond’s audio files in AC Valhalla where he talked to Shaun about what the Creed means and he says this:

Anyway, my dad has mellowed over the years. But he was strict when we lived on the Farm. He ran a tight ship. I never got the impression that I was free to choose my path forward. Our creed, our tenets, they were drilled into my head. By the time I was a teenager, I was following these rules out of a sense of duty. This was... just what we did. (Layla Hassan’s Personal Files Desmond_01.WAV)

Just like Altaïr, the life of an Assassin was the only life Desmond had and he felt like he never had a choice. He was envious of Shaun who decided to become an Assassin out of his own free will.

But running away?

Denying his lineage?

That was the very first ‘choice’ he ever made for himself.

And this brings us to what Desmond desired most of all:

His “I wanted my own life.” in AC Revelation’s Escape is another excuse he tells himself. Because what he truly wanted was:

A Place to Belong.

After nine years of being away, my old bitterness was back. I was tired again. I didn't want to admit that moving forward might mean taking a step back. But the shine of the city had faded. The freedom I felt was hollow without old friends, without family. (AC Revelations Regret)

But then Desmond started saying these lines:

And suddenly, I wanted it all back. All that training, all that time. But I couldn't. Those days. They were gone. (AC Revelations Regret)

Not until you guys found me. Yeah. It wasn't until I met you and Becs and Lucy that I knew... I knew I wanted to be an Assassin. (Layla Hassan’s Personal Files Desmond_01.WAV)

I know my easiest days are behind me. But I don't want them back. Not now. My name is Desmond Miles... and I am an Assassin. I AM an Assassin. (AC Revelations Regret)

But then compare that to how Desmond was in AC1:

Lucy: Why'd you run away?

Desmond: I could never leave the compound. You have any idea what it's like being trapped in a place, knowing there is a whole world out there I'd never get to see?

Lucy: Don't you miss your parents?

Desmond: No. Far as I'm concerned, they weren't my parents. They were my wardens and I was their prisoner.

Lucy: It sounds like they only wanted to protect you.

Desmond: With all that's happened... I don't know. I guess they were right. (AC1, after the first memory block)

What changed?

Is it because Desmond knew what it was like to be part of a team? Of what it’s like to be an Assassin?

Yes but it’s a little bit more complicated than that.

Desmond felt like he belonged with the Assassins but he made one big mistake: he thought he meant the Assassins as they were are right now.

But what he truly desired, the place that he believed he could belong was the Brotherhood of olds.

The Levantine Brotherhood under Altaïr as the mentor.

The Italian Brotherhood under Ezio as the mentor.

Those were the 'memories' he had of what it meant to be part of a Brotherhood.

Then he started reliving Ratonhnhaké:ton’s life (one who did not have a Brotherhood, instead a village that left him behind and an old man too jaded to truly guide him without letting his past and guilt drive a wedge between them) and those messages he left for Bill? The acceptance? The forgiveness?

They were created after experiencing the pain and loneliness that Ratonhnhaké:ton went thru. It was created after he felt the sorrow of having a father that will never accept him for who he was.

They were left by a man who felt the regrets of someone close to him, could feel himself be him at times, and wished for another ending.

A… happier one.

Desmond’s line of

My name is Desmond Miles... and I am an Assassin. I AM an Assassin.

Becomes bittersweet because, yes, he had accepted who he was meant to be from the start but, thanks to the Bleeding Effect, we never got to know if the kind of Assassin he was ever meant to be was one that was truly Desmond Miles or…

Someone trying to live up to the memories of his ancestors.

[ibnnlahad]

when your card declines at therapy so they bring out the 1755 lisbon earthquake incident

[thou-babbling-brook]

Maria Thorpe Character Analysis

Well, I simply can’t disappoint the people – aka, the five of you that will read this, lmfao. I’m so serious about this that I’m actually drafting this on a Google doc before I post this rather than just typing random thoughts on my phone. This is going to be a HUGE ramble that probably won’t make a ton of sense, but I hope it’s entertaining regardless. 

Maria Thorpe – a character that Ubisoft probably spent MAYBE thirty minutes thinking about, but that I have not stopped thinking about for like, five years. What a gal. So glad I was not in this fandom in 2012 to witness how HEINOUS people were about her for simply being a woman “in the way” of a M|M relationship. I hope by the end of this ramble, you, too, will see her for the baddie she truly is. 

In this essay, I will delve into Maria’s character to explore why she is so fascinating to me, the implications of her story, and why Ubisoft can actually catch these hands for dumbing her down in AC Revelations. (I'm putting a cut here because it's so fucking long I'm sorry gang)

First off, to understand Maria Thorpe as a character, you have to understand her background. I’m not going to copy and paste her Wiki or anything, but I am going to outline her life (stated and implied) before we meet her.

For those that don’t know, Maria was born an English noblewoman in 1161 – four years before Altaïr was born (okay cougar). Because she was a tomboy and defied many of the social norms for women in the 12th century, she was ostracized by both her parents and her peers. She mentions in The Secret Crusade that her parents tried to force her to conform, which culminated in her first marriage at the age of 18 to Lord Peter Hallaton. She mentions that he was a decent husband, but he didn’t exactly appreciate her more boisterous nature. After all, in 12th century England (especially among nobility), women were to be seen, not heard. She also failed his expectations as a chatelaine and a wife, as she bore him no children. The Bishop of Leicester granted them an annulment to avoid embarrassment to both Peter and Maria’s family. When she returned, she was “persona non grata” to her family and the whole of Leicestershire, especially when her father had already spent her dowry. With no other options, Maria ran away to join the Third Crusade, where she eventually met Robert de Salbé.

You may notice that we don’t actually know a lot about Maria and her life before AC1, which is probably intentional. To me, though, that’s what makes her backstory fascinating – the implications of her environment and what we can reasonably deduce she went through based on historical context. I think anyone who’s taken a seventh-grade social studies class could tell you women had, like, zero rights in 12th-century England – even more so, noblewomen. Maria was raised to be a glorified broodmare – say nothing, have children (two boys and a girl, as she jokes), and run her husband’s household. Clearly, she was the exact opposite of all of these things. Something interesting about Maria’s first marriage is the fact that while it was an annulment, she specifically mentions in The Secret Crusade it was an annulment to save her family further embarrassment – which implies that the marriage was consummated, but all parties wanted it done with. I don’t think I need to elaborate on how common and horrific an experience like that could be, but I think it fuels Maria’s relationship later on with motherhood, especially since she mentions that she was completely uninterested in childrearing and birth (this is a key point I’ll touch on later).

So what? Why does her background matter? It matters because of how historical and cultural context tie in to help form who she is by the time she leaves for the Third Crusade – a desperate, twenty-two-year-old woman, divorced, ostracized from the only family and society she has ever known, having no other choice than to ditch England and head for the Holy Land unless she wants to become a nun. For many men and women alike in the 12th century, this was their only opportunity to become something more than what they were born as, whether it be a serf, a blacksmith, or a noblewoman. Many who left for the Third Crusade left to “take back the Holy Land,” but also to escape or improve their current standings. To me, Maria falls in the second category, and it is this desperation to escape her life that forms her most notable (and later, tragic) characteristic: her undying loyalty.

As a side note, it is also interesting to me that Maria chose to be a soldier rather than a nurse. This is more so my characterization of her, but I think that’s because a) she’s too damn proud and loud to be a nurse, and b) because if she was a nurse, she would more than likely live and be treated the same way she was at home. Truly, if she wants to escape the patriarchy, the only way a woman like Maria could at the time was to join it by blending in. Girly get some therapy.

We’re now at AC1 in the timeline. Hooray! We don’t know when exactly Maria joined the Templars or when she first met Robert, but we can probably assume it was not long after she joined the crusade. As we know from AC1, AC Bloodlines, and The Secret Crusade, Maria disguised herself as a man (more than likely a young boy since she’s got a voice that would fit right into Alvin and the Chipmunks) and was able to keep up the rouse long enough to rise in the ranks and show promise to people like Robert. For Maria, when Robert finds out she is a woman and yet elevates her further, it is the first time in her life that someone has appreciated her for her masculine qualities. It is why she develops an intense loyalty for Robert to the point of being willing to be his decoy, despite the fact she fully anticipated dying. For Maria, it would be her ideal end – fighting to the death for a cause she truly believed in. Not even really a cause, as we figure out later, but more so for a man she truly believed in – Robert. It would not be through the pain and subjugation of childbirth like most women of her standing, but a brutal fight like any other man.

And yet – she doesn’t. When Altaïr meets her, he’s undergone a whole development arc, whereas Maria (at this point 30, which is SO funny to imagine her fistfighting this 26-year-old frat boy) is at the start of hers. And it starts with Altaïr sparing her – the worst possible fate that could become her at this point in her life. Think about it: the only person who has given her an OUNCE of respect has asked her to essentially die for him by acting as his decoy. As Maria mentions in AC Bloodlines, by this point, she is also a step away from becoming a knight – and at this point, she’s also known as a woman among the Templars. And yet, she believes they have become her family, and she is willing to die for their cause and for Robert. When Altaïr spares her and kills Robert, he’s sentencing her to the life she ran away from and feared – being nothing more than a woman who is looked down upon with condescending snarls and disgust for who she is.

This is why when we meet Maria in AC Bloodlines, she is rightfully PISSED. We literally see her realize that any ounce of respect and power she had is completely gone because Altaïr spared her. She is so pissed, in fact, that she tries to kill Altaïr again. This is even funnier when you remember how much of a BITCH it was to fight her in AC1, but I digress. Altaïr has destroyed everything she has built in her life for the last eight years. He has taken her home, her mentors, her family, and her honor. And bro doesn’t have a clue in the fucking world.

It’s at this point that I’ll also analyze more about Maria’s relationship with the Templars. At first glance, yes, she was a Templar and believed in their cause. Really, though, it goes far deeper than that. It’s not necessarily that Maria believes in their cause – otherwise, it would’ve taken a lot more for Altaïr to sway her to the Assassins – but that she believes in the people. Again, from Maria’s perspective, the Templars (especially Robert) were the ONLY people in her entire life to treat her with dignity, and she is willing to die for them. She is willing to throw her honor to the ground and beg for forgiveness in front of Bouchard because, without the Templars, she is nothing. She is back to square one as a silly little girl trying to run from a life that would only subjugate her. It’s that recurring characteristic of undying loyalty to those who have given her the life she has always wanted.

And for Maria, it is immediately spat back in her face.

When Bouchard takes over in AC Bloodlines, he is a strict Templar Grandmaster. No consorting with women, periodt. And he flaunts this over Maria, taunting her. He is tearing the last ounce of respect she’d ever received and throwing it away. Every sacrifice she made for the Templars for the last eight years meant nothing, and it is crushing to her. She continues to be pissed off at Altaïr, who mentions that she’s more pissed at the Templars than at him. Once again, she is nothing more than a woman – an imprisoned one at that.

This is where one of my favorite Maria scenes (not that there’s many) comes into play. When she and Altaïr are sitting on the ship to Cyprus or wherever it doesn’t matter, Altaïr does something that no person has done for her before: he treats her with unconditional respect. As funny as his autistic ramble about Empedocles and philosophy is, there are so many assumptions that go into Altaïr’s conversation that I think help sway Maria to his side. When he talks to Maria, he speaks to her as an equal. He talks to her about philosophy because of course she would know about philosophy in his mind – to him, she is a soldier and a person first, and a woman second (shut the fuck about The Secret Crusade and him thinking about her as a lioness shut up shut up I low key hate it even though it’s funny). He is the first person in her life to speak to her as an equal and with respect with no strings attached. In fact, when Maria taunts him for leaving her cuffed even as he talks about free will, he lets her go. She may not like him at this point, but after this scene, you can certainly see that she respects him in how she speaks to him. BONUS: she’s not trying to outright kill him anymore! Hooray!

You can see the impact Altaïr and his conversation had on Maria when she confronts Shahar in her courtesan fit. There’s so many layers to Maria willingly dressing in such an exposing, vulnerable, and feminine way (keep in mind this bitch is Catholic, I know her guilt was going crazy), but what I’m going to focus on is her conversation with Shahar. When he speaks to her, he is gross and all but catcalling her, calling her a “little fox” and using a sultry tone. Maria is having NONE of it, and one can only assume this is a tone she has dealt with a thousand times over. This is also where we see the gears turning in Maria’s head. I’ve seen people criticize Maria for how quickly she flip-flopped, but I think that’s overlooking the reason that she WAS a Templar – they were the only people who provided her a home when she had none. If you’re desperate for anyone to treat you with an iota of respect, you’d do whatever they ask. After she talks to Altaïr though, and especially after realizing Robert was simply manipulating her, she is questioning the Templars’ ideologies and realizing this is not what she wants. It low key is like Alicent in House of the Dragons right now – she’s shocked that fighting against women fucked herself over. Maria is similar in that sense – she thought that by being what the Templars wanted and fighting for what they believed, it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass. But it did. She’s a woman before she’s a Templar, and the ideology of the Templars would see her subjugated just as she was before. It isn’t until after Altaïr’s spiel about free will and the challenges it brings that she realizes she has other options.

And that’s ultimately what brings Maria to the side of the Assassins – realizing her errors in thinking and wanting a way to redeem herself. The Assassins are her second chance, which is ironic given how many stories after hers would follow this same format of second chances. But it isn’t just the ideology change, either. It’s Altaïr. No, she does not have undying loyalty by the end of AC Bloodlines, but he’s certainly earned her trust and respect. He’s treated her like any other person without ever holding power or loyalty over her head. He does not manipulate her or exploit her – he respects her, and he earnestly tells her of the creed’s ideologies not to lure her in, but because he genuinely believes in the idea of dispelling the illusions of the world and wants to share it with her, whether she becomes an Assassin or not. That is what turns Maria into an Assassin at the end of the day: his respect for her and his understanding of the creed. And despite their issues, Maria chooses to follow him to the ends of the earth.

Now we’re at a really funny part of Maria’s story: we know basically NOTHING about what happens in between AC Bloodlines and AC Reflections. We know that sometime after traveling to Masyaf, Maria and Altaïr became a couple. We know they married in 1195 and gave birth to Darim the same year. Two years later, they would traumatize Desmond Miles by fucking on top of a castle, which is so fucking funny and only supports my characterization of Maria as a gremlin, because who the fuck else would make their husband climb up a giant ass tower for sex? We know she officially became an Assassin and would beg Altaïr to stop looking into the Apple. We know she would join Altaïr and Darim to Mongolia to kill Genghis Khan. And that is all we know for an approximately 30-YEAR PERIOD.

While there’s a lot I could talk about in that gap, like Maria’s relationship with other Assassins, I’m going to focus on her relationship with motherhood. As we established earlier, Maria had ZERO interest in being a mother or giving birth. This is a personal headcanon but I do not care because it’s MY analysis and I can do as I please, but I feel like she would’ve dreaded childbirth, especially given how English nobility acted about it (e.g., how people treated it like a scandal or disease) and how it was the leading cause of death for women until the 20th century. Yet, despite this, she had not one, but TWO children. She was like one away from the goal, and even then Sef had two daughters so really she fulfilled it. But why? What changed that she would be willing to do the very thing she left England to avoid?

I think it goes back to the reason she was disinterested in it in the first place. Like Maria says in The Secret Crusade, she didn’t want to just be a mother or a wife. Her ideal husband would treat her like any other man, taking her hunting or whatever else bullshit medieval stuff they’d do instead of scrolling through TikTok. She never said she didn’t want to be a mother. I think her hesitance stems from the fact that she didn’t want to SOLELY be defined as a mother or a wife. With Altaïr, however, that fear is pretty much gone. Since the moment she met him, Altaïr has always treated her with respect and admired the things she was once shamed for. Her strength is valuable as an Assassin. Her bluntness keeps him in check. Her ideas are admired rather than ridiculed. To Altaïr, Maria is not just a woman or even just an Assassin. She’s a person with her own experiences and ideas and fears and strengths and dreams. He loves her for every aspect of herself that was once frowned upon.

I remember a while ago seeing a Tumblr post from ye olden days (like 2012) talking about how because menstrual cycles were extremely irregular back in the day due to medieval diets and exercise, Maria would have to purposefully chill out to regulate her cycle to become pregnant. What that implies is that she trusted Altaïr so much that she was willing to settle down and have children because she knew it would not influence how he treated or loved her. Personally, I think this is true of Darim, but that Sef was an accident because it’s funnier that way, but regardless, the point still stands. Maria getting pregnant and becoming a mother is the opposite of what she thought she would ever want, but because she loved and trusted Altaïr so much, she was willing to have a family with him because she knew it would not come to define her. I think that is unbelievably sweet.

We also don’t really see Maria interact with her children very often, which I think is a fucking shame. When she does interact with Darim (we never see her with Sef, though we do see her reaction to his death), Maria is always supportive and encouraging. Again, this is more my headcanon territory but I really don’t care because I can do what I fucking please, but Maria low key feels like a boy mom to me, but not in the weird Freud way, lmfao. Like we established earlier, Maria’s key trait is her loyalty. I think this loyalty would be extended to her children. We know she’s loyal to Altaïr (it ends up killing her), but I feel like it would go insane with her children. When she learns of Sef’s death in The Secret Crusade, this woman breaks down in tears instantly. WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE MOTHERLY RAGE WITH ABBAS, UBISOFT. WHERE WAS IT. Anyways.

Masyaf is a pretty cutthroat environment to raise a child, especially when you consider that Abbas is apparently lurking in the background scheming during Altaïr’s reign. Something I wish we learned more about (and something I just find fascinating in general) is the political environment of Masyaf. Altaïr implemented a lot of changes to the Brotherhood that faced backlash, one of the key ones being allowing women in the order again (ahem, Maria). I know Maria said she was uninterested in the politics of running a house, but I do think she’d kind of have to play her hand in politics in Masyaf, kind of how Altaïr realizes he’s not exempt from politics since he’s literally shaping them. If Maria wants her kids to be safe, especially as sons of the Master of the Assassins, she’s gotta play her cards well. This is why I think it does make sense for Maria to calm down after having children to be more similar to the Maria we see in AC Reflections and AC Revelations. She can’t just fight everyone like she did when she was relying solely on herself. Now, she has people relying on her, and I think it makes sense for her character to chill out more (though without losing her spunk) to ensure her family is safe.

For those that have ever watched Magnificent Century, basically think about how Hurrem went from fighting everyone to playing her cards wisely so her kids wouldn’t die or do stupid shit. That’s how I feel like Maria would be.

Something else that’s interesting about Maria to me is her relationship with Altaïr. Duh, you’re probably saying, but hear me out. We know that while she and Altaïr were inseparable during their marriage, there was one thing that strained it: the Apple. It makes sense why Maria would be so pissed off at it. She’s seen Altaïr control men’s minds with it. She’s seen how it takes him away for days at a time with its secrets, to the point she is begging him to throw it away. Back to the point about loyalty to her family, whereas Altaïr seeks knowledge, Maria just wants her family protected and safe because she loves them – including her dumbass husband. It’s ironic that the very thing she fought about with Altaïr is the thing that killed her.

So we’re finally at AC Revelations, and I am truly shocked that you’re still here. Kudos to you. At that final confrontation scene with Abbas, that loyalty for those she loves comes to a head. When Altaïr whips out the Apple, Maria begs and pleads him to stop, because she knows if he uses the Apple to control someone, he will only be proving Abbas’s point, which will only fuck them over. In The Secret Crusade, we also have Malik’s head on top of this scene to make it worse. Maria’s position is again one of desperation. Her son is dead, one of her best friends is now just a head, and her husband is about to go sicko mode. She is screwed and she knows it. What she doesn’t know is that she’s about to be stabbed by Swami (I’m going with the revelations version shut up) in a last ditch effort to stop Altaïr from using the Apple. Altaïr doesn’t listen to Maria, and it kills her. He kills her.

… SO I HAVE THOUGHTS.

I think Maria dying from the Apple makes sense, I do. That’s not my problem. My problem is how AC Revelations basically dumbed her down to this motherly, homely figure which is the like, ANTITHESIS of what Maria is. Where was the feminine rage??? You’re telling me this woman would not be about to SLAUGHTER someone after learning that Sef died?? You’re telling me she would just pull an AltaïR thiS iSn’T yOu???????? Are you so fucking for real right now??? It pisses me off because it nukes her character. While yes, it makes sense for her to be a much calmer woman and 67 compared to 30, this is still Maria. Don’t act like she and Altaïr don’t have fucking anger issues and be so fucking for real.

Here’s my ideal scenario for what should’ve gone down. I think once they pulled Malik’s head out, there should’ve been all-out chaos rather than this bullshit “We killed everyone loyal to Altaïr before he arrived.” Maria should’ve been right there with them with a sword out. Altaïr, in a desperate attempt to calm everyone down, would take out the Apple and try to control everyone. If you’ve seen the long ass discussion about how Revelations fucked up Altaïr’s character arc, this also helps remedy that because Altaïr is pulling out because of his arrogance in believing he can control the Apple. News flash: he can’t. Maria, while fighting for Altaïr, would somehow be killed either by the Apple or like similar to how Swami accidentally killed her. Something along those lines where it is Altaïr’s fault. That’s how she should’ve gone out, not some weird pick me bullshit.

Anyways. RIP Maria Thorpe you would’ve loved Crusader Kings 3.

I definitely missed some points about her character but this is already 7 pages long on Google docs so I am NOT writing anymore. God bless.

TLDR she's a baddie and I need her so so so bad

[sc4llywag]

Ok more asks cause I can: So like AltMal could have happened if Ubisoft weren’t cowards and also if they didn’t need Altaïr to have children because bloodline shit. But do you think it could’ve happened had Kadar not died? Or do you think his death was a necessary catalyst?

GTHRHSHSGEGW bro has me deep in thought like the thinker

Well

I believe they'd still have their rivalry, and perhaps Altaïr would not mature due to their mission succeeding.

This wouldn't be the case though. Al Mualim would still be corrupt and still send Altaïr on his journey to kill the bad guys because who else than his trained weapon? His eagle.

I think that Altaïr would see Malik every once and a while because of course they're still friends and still have a deep connection due to them growing beside each other. Kadar being there would even strengthen their relationship I believe.

Altaïr would be mature, and I think Malik would admire that in him. Seeing how he grows from his arrogant annoying rival to a smart, strong thinker would make Malik go "OOO that's soooo hot"

I'm gonna sob my brain is rotting over Altmal❤️

Rahh I love thinking about their relationship so fucking much thank you asker‼️🗣️

[sc4llywag]

This is so real but can I just point out that Altaïr is written so well anyway???

He goes from an arrogant asshole who doesn't follow the creed saying his way is better, attempting to assassinate a MASTER TEMPLAR and insensitively putting his friends in danger, one of them losing their life to his ignorance.

But then you FEEL his development through the dialogue with the assassin's and templars, he GROWS. The character development is one of my favorite things ever. Especially with Malik.

He goes from being pissy at Malik and ofc RIGHTFULLY Malik snaps back and puts him in his place.

Then you see how they slowly get nicer in their dialogue together, becoming more respectful and kind. Especially in the apology conversation between the two of them because GOD that made me so happy.

They had so much potential as a ship but NEVERMIND THAT this is Abt Altaïr.

He also gets more curious by questioning the creed and mystery of Al Mualim and the apple. I love his development and I'll die on that hill!!

I'd go into Ezio but this is long enough lmao

See the problem is I can acknowledge that Ezio is probably a better written character than Altair and his interactions with other characters like Leonardo and Rosa are all handled fairly well but also there’s just something about Altair being such a fucking idiot that he basically has to run around the Holy Lands sulking while Malik calls him a little bitch that I don’t think any other ac protagonist has ever matched

[blackflash9]

Dissecting the Misconceptions Surrounding Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton

Hey there, fellow Assassin’s Creed enthusiasts and lore lovers. I’ve been working on a composite post to untangle all the misconceptions, misinterpretations, and half-truths about Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton, his journey, and his role in Assassin’s Creed III. This character, his story, and his motivations are so often misunderstood or overshadowed, and it’s high time we give him the depth and clarity he deserves.

Here’s some of what I want this post to cover: Connor’s Identity as Ratonhnhaké:ton • Breaking down the duality of his identity as both a Kanien’kehá:ka man and an Assassin.

• The cultural nuances of his upbringing and how they shape his worldview.

• Addressing common fan assumptions about his “stoic” demeanor versus his actual emotional and passionate core. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connor’s Relationship with Other Characters

• His dynamic with Achilles: mentorship, respect, and generational misunderstandings.

• His complex relationship with Haytham Kenway: trust, betrayal, and tragedy.

• His role in the Brotherhood and how it reflects his ideals of justice and freedom. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Historical Context and Its Role in His Story

• Exploring how ACIII depicts the American Revolution through Connor’s eyes.

• Dissecting the balance (or imbalance) between historical storytelling and Connor’s personal arc.

• How Ubisoft’s narrative decisions impact how players perceive his importance to the overarching story. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misinterpretations and Fan Perception

• Tackling the "boring" label and where that perception comes from.

• Why Connor’s moral compass is so important, even if it doesn’t lead to the “flashiest” decisions.

• How his unique position as an Indigenous protagonist adds layers to his narrative that are often overlooked. -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Connor’s Legacy in the Assassin’s Creed Universe

• His influence on the Creed, especially regarding justice, truth, and freedom.

• Where he stands in comparison to other Assassins in the series.

• What the fandom can learn from re-evaluating his story with fresh eyes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This isn’t just my project—it’s a collective effort to shine a light on the richness of Connor’s character and story. If you’re passionate about this topic, message me or reply here. I’d love help with research, writing, or just brainstorming ideas. Whether you’re well-versed in the series or love deep dives into narrative analysis, there’s space for everyone in this project.

Let’s give Ratonhnhaké:ton the attention he’s always deserved.

[thesharktanksdriver]

Blood's Thicker Than Water (Platonic)

Made this cause I love assassins creed and I hate how they left the plot point about Desmond having a kid from a one night stand. Like sure there’s a comic for Elijah but let’s be real, who here has read that comic?

Sorry if any of them seem out of character, I haven’t played the games in a long while lol

Also thanks to my friend for streaming the games so I can get back into them lol

You never really met your dad but from what your mother described him as he was….a troubled soul

Now to be fair you’ve never exactly met Desmond Miles yourself but from the stories she told it’s obvious he had his fair share of demons

Some of which seemed to spill from the cracks of his soul from the short time she spent with him

A bartender is what he was, until he suddenly up and vanished from said bar in 2012 and died not too long after

It didn’t really make sense then even to your young mind

The gap between his sudden disappearance and death leaving too much unsaid for your mind not to be annoyed by

But as a child you eventually put the thought away

Eventually you forget

Instead going on to pursue your next whim as you focus on the present, or in your case Learning about the past in the present time

Unlike your fascination with your father that went away, your love of history never faded with time

It just seemed to grow the older you got

Your not sure why but something about history just clicked with you

It was somewhere within the range of middle school and reading national geographic that you had realized you liked it

That despite how some areas of it were bleak and disturbing it was interesting

And it got even more so interesting as you delved deeper into the depths of libraries

Nose buried in books lined with dust and old parchment

Yellowed pages and old ink that you carefully decode from centuries of lost meaning and metaphors lost to the modern age

You studied from the ancients all the way up to Victorian

Easing your way though literal centuries of historical records as you soaked up information like a sponge

And it’s there you vegans seeing an odd…repetition of events that seemed to occur

Odd assassinations plagued each era you looked into, all of which connected somehow by people in odd dress

In some journals that had luckily stood the tests of time you uncovered more eye witness accounts

A solider’s log back in the revolutionary war talking about an odd man meeting with his superiors in the dead of night

The diary of a log master who wrote of an odd frequent visitor that had an odd blade hidden beneath his sleeve

The drawing of a Victorian child being freed from a factory that had a hooded lady and man on the rooftop

I’m one you found a symbol, one created from the bottom perspective of an eagle skull, something also commonly associated with these hooded figures

What’s odd as well is that with these hooded assassins you also find traces of another group

One well know to historians such as yourself

Oddly enough the symbol of the Templar knights keep showing up even after their annulment

It’s odd, but what’s more odd enough is that both seemed to be tied to other historical artifacts

Ones well kept in archives and from the public eye

Ones you shouldn’t technically know about if not for you sneaking into sections your don’t have the status to enter

Their always gold with odd symbols. Somehow always pristine and polished despite the fact their dated to be from before ancient times

They for some reason seem to call to you specifically

Tempting you with forbidden knowledge you wish to taste like Eve

But for now you choose to wait until you can do proper analysis on them without the risk of punishment

So you lie and wait

Admittedly you didn’t think anyone expected for you to be this good at your job

In their defence you were a university student here on Co-op and not an actual full time historian

Hell you were in first year for gods sake

But somehow despite it all

Despite the fact you had actual historians and people in the history program years above you here you quickly began to become an outlier

A shinning beacon within the large archive, so much so that you began being allowed in the restricted sections you already snuck into

Mind you, now properly allowed there with some supervision of sorts gave you much more flexibility in research

You got to touch these artifacts

Hold them in gloved palms as silk covered finger glide across its edges and ridges

You study them extensively decrypting and decoding the ancient texts and hieroglyphs

Jotting down what you found in both a report and your own personal journal

Your not sure why you do so but you chock it up to making sure no one takes credit for your work

And this continues to the point your eventually allowed alone with them

It’s great

You dedicate yourself to this task as you learn more and more

Soaking up knowledge like a sponge as you find out more of what was previously lost

Find new angles and perspectives on events

For history isn’t just a set time and date, it’s interpretation based on what we know from sources

And even then sources can be biased

Sources can lie and silence another person’s view on the event

Your more than happy to try make your own interpretations

Admittedly when you were asked to study what looked to be a necklace from these unidentified ancient artifacts you were ecstatic

How could you not be?

Intricate gold woven in something akin to Grecian jewelry

Yet also had hints of something akin to Egyptian

It also…glows? Or at least you swear you’ve seen it glow gold and pulsate a few times but that could be the sleep deprivation speaking

Either way it’s an honour

One you don’t take lightly as you study it

Spending countless restless nights and days trying to crack its code

An unknown source has been funding the archive and your research quite a bit

Betting big money on it much to your surprise and suspension

You get that this is potentially something big but it feels out of left field

Especially since no one knows the name of the company

It’s just under an anonymous donation every month

It’s sketchy

But you aren’t one to argue about free money to further your and your colleagues pursuit of knowledge

Not when this beautiful place used to be underfunded

Not when most historical records were donated by people with a good conscious

Not when this place was almost shut down

With a sigh you continue on your work

Diligently tact checking and writing up a storm

Your writing looks like chicken scratch but that was a commonality between all history majors

Well, along with being giant nerds

And it’s there at that desk at 3 am in the morning, tired and only running on 3 hours of rest you find something peculiar on the necklace

A sharp jaded edge that you absentmindedly prick yourself on by accident

With a groan you wipe the blood away on your pants

Then going up to get a bandaid

You swore to god if you died of tetanus you’d be positively pissed

Unknown to you the necklace starts to glow

When you get home your more exhausted than usual

Your limbs feel like their kade of concrete and your head is stuffed with tissue

Eyelids trying to glue themselves shut

You practically kick off your shoes before tumbling to the couch

Not bothering in changing clothes or showering for the sweet relief of sleeps embrace

So you flop down face first into the old leather cushions of your couch

Only putting in the effort of fishing a hand to grab a throw pillow and blanket from nearby that you burrowed yourself into

A comfy cocoon/prison you couldn’t will yourself to leave even as you swore for a moment you heard something in the house

But your mind writes it off

Your too tired to question anything let alone get up

All you want is sleep

And that’s exactly what you get as your eyelids shut

You fall into the realm of dreams, odd ones playing out in your mind

Blurred images of odd men

A weird void-like realm

The cries of an eagle overhead

A single word appearing in your head

Kenway

And then your eyes snap awake when the sound of arguing fills your ears

Yelling of several male voices jumbling up your already fogged up sense as you practically fall off the couch in a mixture of fear and confusion

Curses escaping your mouth when suddenly the voices go silent and your left in a realm of fear

Hair standing on end as the creaking of the house makes you more alert

Despite the fact you’d never fought a day in your life you will up the courage to grab a baseball bat and cautious cross to where you heard the commotion

Careful steps on the non-creaky boards of the home that you’d luckily memorized

And there you find several men in old garb

Accents of Red tying them together like a string of fate

Or a trail of blood fainting their very existence

they turn to you with sharp eyes

It’s the one in modern clothes that surprises you the most

The face of your supposed dead father staring back at you

Ocher brown eyes that had long lost their life now rejuvenated as they seem to find familiarity in your own features

Some of which mirror his own along with some of the others in the room

The bridge of your nose

A all powerful spark in your eyes as they flick between everyone and escape routes

The way your lip slightly twitches when you try to keep a brave face

Your posture as you decided what to do

It’s all too familiar to him and them in a way that isn’t just coincidence

Especially not when all of them are Kenway

Not when he had been able to prove to them that fact through the experience of virtually living through their lives up until his death

“I’m not sure who the fuck all of you are but get out of my house.” Your fingers twitch and flex as your palms grow sweaty, the wood absorbing the pressure and moisture “especially my dead dad look-alike”

You all but confirm his suspicions

Their suspicions

And it looks Ike for you tonight will be much longer than you anticipated

Turns out that artifact you were studying wasn’t just as normal one

Neither were the other ones you looked at

The way they explained it as was their “artifacts from dead gods”, a fallen civilization that engineered humanity into being their slaves

It’s a lot to take in

Even more so when your suspicions of something bigger happening throughout global history with those odd deaths were real

Oh, and these were you dead ancestors and dad somehow back from the grave and now in your home

…..yeah safe to say that’s a lot to take in after an already very long and tiring shift

You sit there as they explain this, half asleep, and half exasperated

Cause how the hell are you supposed to believe all this bullshit that for some reason feels correct

Something in you tells you that their right yet your mind is fighting that logic

You’d always been a logical person, when it came to most situations you used your brain instead of your heart

And in those cases things ended up fine

But now your faced with this

A situation where your heart is screaming for you to listen as your brain tries to take this all in

Cause logic is completely out the window at the moment

For now you have to trust them even if your still afraid

I mean, how couldn’t you be?

But you get the sense that they understand

At least a little bit by how their also thrusted into a new environment without much say

Perhaps that (along with your own apprehension) is helping comfort them as well

So for now they’ll stay

Your just thanking (the dead) gods that grandma and grandpa’s old home is big enough for all of them

Altaïr Ibn-La’ Ahad

The oldest down the line of your dad’s side of your lineage finds himself often reading through your books in your study

It was a bit of a surprise one day entering it to find him sitting in a spare chair but you don’t mind the silent company

Especially as he seems to find interest in your studies

Occasionally he breaks the silence and asks you a question about the subject he’s reading about

He’s by far the oldest (even if he’s back in the body of his prime) of them therefore he’s the one who has the most figuratively to catch up on

So you indulge him

And also asks questions as well that he seems eager in answering

Knowledge connects you both, scholarly intellect being the bridge between the two of you despite centuries of time apart

Typically he asks about thinks such as modern life and what is know about his home, what happened to it? What it’s known of his era

You answer as best you can

Especially since that era of time isn’t exactly your forte

But he appreciates it anyways

Appreciates that you try, appreciates that you passionately care about history in the first place

Admittedly your mom was supportive but never understood your love of history

She’d listen to your rants and long conversations with a polite smile but you knew she never understood what you were talking about

But he does

He does and contributes whole heartedly in just as much passion

It’s nice

What’s also nice is that he’s studied the artifacts you now study as well

So now your both constantly coming up and developing ideas together

A constant back and forth

Hypotheses, discussion, and testing

Delving deeper into discovery like you’ve wanted

But with this he also helps you see where passion and obsession mix together

After the loss of his wife and son he delved into studying as a form of escape

It drove who was left away

Made the pit in his heart deeper

He doesn’t talk about it often but he seems to see how you may go down the same path

And he warns you of it

Unlike his younger self (that he now appears as) he’s wise if a little rough around the edges

He encourages knowledge but not to the point where it’s an all encompassing and toxic obsession

Within the household he seems to take a somewhat neutral but quiet role

He helps out and offers advice and guidance

Much like a teacher and grandfather of sorts

Speaking up when he has to and making sure the house doesn’t end up in disrepair

He seems to have a fascination with modern appliances, or at least holds a thankfulness for them

Like a few others he sticks to his robes most the time but you’ve seen him sport more modern clothes once awhile

Stuff still somewhat reminiscent of what he wore before but with a modern flare. Things with hoods and draping. Silks and wool. Something with an accent of red mixed in

Sometimes when you fall asleep in your studies you find a blanket draped over you and a cup of tea at your side

He won’t admit it’s him but he’s the only one who knows your tea preferences

He keeps his worry for you deep down but it’s somewhat relived when seeing that you take his warning of not taking the pursuit of knowledge too far

“It says here there was something called the “French revolution”. Would you care to explain what happened here to me?” He asks making you pause your work for a moment, when he sees your smile he knows your answer. Sure he read some of this book and got the gist of it, but something about seeing your eyes light up at his inquiry makes him feel at peace for a moment.

“Would I ever!”

Ezio Auditore da Firenze

This man is quite literally all up in your (and everyone’s) business

Not in an annoy way per say but he’s definitely curious about the lives his descendants have led (both good and bad)

Ezio is very clearly a family man and it’s somewhat ironic to see since half of this household has some sort of familiar issue

Most of which is some sort of daddy issue stemming from either Haythem or Edward that trickled down the line to you

Something that Ezio is seemingly trying to wrap his head around

Out of the others he’s the one who opens up the most

Partially because you think he misses his immediate family and friends

It must be a lot to handle being away from home, now in a foreign land where everything has changed

Despite that though he keeps a brave face

Almost always flashing a smile as he drags you from your study to have some “bonding time”

You won’t admit it to his face but you don’t mind

Especially as he gives your poor hunched over back a break

And treats your pallet to some good old fashioned (literally) Italian food and not cup ramen once again

He tried it once and threw your supply out, saying he’d be supplementing you with food from now on

You can’t exactly say your disappointment or upset from the heaven that is fresh baked garlic bread and pasta

He cooks not only for you but for the others of the house as well, saying his sister taught him lest he piss off his future lady

Taking in their suggestions and cooking foods from their homes as a way of him offering comfort

Whilst he does these tasks he often hums in his mother tongue of Latin

You don’t have the heart to tell him it’s a dead language

Especially when he seems so happy that you can somewhat understand it

He’s happily rambling and teaching you words

Helping you sound out phrases and pronunciation correctly unlike your Latin professor

Some of his songs he lightly sings under his breath get stuck in your head since he has a good singing voice

But despite the facade you see the cracks

Sometimes you find him looking at modern objects mumbling about how Leonardo would have loved to see this or made something similar

Or how Claudia would’ve liked this book

How Petruccio would have loved this toy

It….leaves a bitter taste in your mouth

Once upon a time you felt this same type of longing for family

Once a time you thought of you dad before going to bed and staring at his old Polaroid with hope

One that would never come to fruition (until now)

It’s why you indulge him, to keep his mind off the deeper plunge of melancholy

Compared to the others he’s relatively open to modernizing

In fact he seems somewhat excited in these things

Raiding your wardrobe like a damn fashionista and critiquing what’s good quality

He also has a wide variety of looks, not sticking to something similar to his time of dress

Versatile and somehow up to date? Your not sure how but somehow he’s in fashion?

Like he must’ve found a copy of vogue or something cause there is no way he just guessed that this was the new trend

When you pressure him on it he replies that he’s simply that amazing

You call bullshit but have yet to find evidence

But in the meantime you ask get him to tell you about Da Vinci and you furiously jot down what he says

Sometimes when he looks at you he sees flashes of Claudia’s quick wit

It makes him long for home yet as he looks at his descendants and ancestor he also feels….something

A small pit of warmth developing as he gets to know the inhabitants of this house longer

Meet Altair besides through a weird vision

His home is in Florence yet that feeling of comfort from the Villa is bleeding into these old (yet new) walls

“So this painting is his most famous work?” He asks looking at your computer with a bit of confusion, his scared lips quirking at the digital image.

“Yeah. This is actually probably the most famous painting in the world”

“Really? Of all his works this one is considered the best? I’m not doubting his skill but of all his pieces?”

“Believe me, I get it. It’s only this famous cause it was stolen”

“Stolen?!? Tell me who did it! I swear-”

Edward Kenway

For someone who was a feared pirate on the seas he’s surprisingly much less violent than you’d think him to be

Sure, he’s scary as hell still but at least he’s not stabbing you in the back and making off with your grandmas pearls or something

Still your a bit unnerved by him considering you did a project on him back in middle school and he’s now in your home

Munching on some god damn biscuits as if this was a normal situation

His son Haytham avoids his as best he can but he seems to bond with his grandson quite easily

Or more easily than he does with Haythem

It takes some time but you eventually go to him when you find him awake at the dead hours of night

A whisky bottle in hands as he occasionally takes a swig in silence as he stares out the window

You don’t talk

You don’t need to when he drinks in silence for awhile staring at the moon before eventually talking about the guilt

In his pursuit of power and gold he let people die

Greed woven into his soul as he sacrificed good men for his cause

He changed and did good yet his past haunts him

Hands stained red

Guilt eating away

A son who doesn’t want anything to do with him

At some point when he stops his rambles you speak

Reminding him that while his actions weren’t good he changed

It doesn’t wash the blood away but it stoped more from staining his hands

Though Haythem avoids him Connor is more than eager to fill his place

It doesn’t fix his overlying problems but it does help

In the morning he ends up talking with you more after this as your initial fear melts away

You end up seeing Edward Kenway, not the fiercesome captain of the Jackdaw

You see a man burdened by past mistakes and still wishes to do better

You see a human being at its core

With history it’s easy to forget the people your looking at was once alive and a breathing being

One who was just as flawed as you and I

But seeing a infamous pirate captain cry about issues pertaining not just time him made you remember that

He isn’t opposed to modernizing but seems to keep a certain sea-like touch to his appearance

Clothes for labourers and something loose is what he normally sticks to

He’s lucky though since he doesn’t exactly have traditional robes and can incorporate what he appeared in with a modern flair

Occasionally when he gets drunk he slurs out old shanties and talks about his epic tales

You might or might not have freaked the fuck out learning that James kidd was actually a woman

Mind blown

Ezio and Altair had to drag you away from your computer from writing an entire essay

Sitting on your countertop he holds a glass of whiskey in hand, one held out for you as you sit down beside him. The moon casts its gentle rays and lights the marble slab you both sit on. “I prefer Rum but this’ll do” it’s said in a playful tone that makes you nod and take a sip.

“I can grab some captain Morgan later…speaking of which, did you know him?

“No, but I did find a few of his things laying about “

“Care to tell?”

“Aye, sure thing”

Haytham Kenway

As the only Templar in this house it’s safe to say he’s definitely the outlier of the bunch

A relative lone wolf from the group that all hold some sort of Ill feelings towards him

From his father its confusion and sadness

The others it’s a mix of that and anger

From Connor it’s just plain…well your not quite sure how to describe it

The two’s entire family situation is just plain messy and thick with tension that their blades could cut through

But here’s the thing, in this house your also an outlier

A neutral zone so to say

Hell, the entire house seemed to be a haven of sorts from their whole Templar vs Assassin conflict

To be honest you don’t really care about this secret war

Well that’s a lie you are interested in these war of secret societies but you don’t specifically care to get involved in their politics

Not when you have business in interfering in it unless a fight breaks out and your telling everyone to calm the fuck down

So safe to say your kinda the only one who talks to Haytham

He is…well sometimes he’s a bit of an ass (in the British type of way) but at the same time he’s good conversation

Specifically when it comes to that of morals and philosophical beliefs

He is a conflicted man

A flawed one

But he holds his beliefs and morals despite the fact he’s been hurt and betrayed by a man he viewed as a mentor

He doesn’t talk about it much but he’s still hurt

Still seething with venom that burns his soul and flesh

Makes him want to lash out despite his upperclassman appearance and attitude

That despite it all he loves his son, so much so he willingly walked into what would be his death knowingly

That despite what happened he loves his dad yet can’t face him yet on account of what he became

What ideals and morals he still believes in even now

It’s perhaps he’s venting this to you rather than a journal because he knows you won’t judge him unfairly on the basis of what side your own

Your judging him as a flawed man and as an equally flawed person

It’s with him as well you open up about your own frustrations

How you still don’t know how to feel about this all

The fact that a lot of what you once knew was flipped on it’s head

Along with the fact your not even sure how to address your dad

It’s an entire mess but perhaps your both messed up together and that also draws you both to talking

To discuss your feelings of insucurity and confliction

To feel comfort that your not alone in not having your emotional shit in order

On some especially…emotional nights you both both have a cup of tea

He seems to enjoy that each time you use a different type, much of which used to be hard to obtain due to shipping and it’s prices

He hasn’t really yet grasped modern technology but your slowly helping him with it

It’s kinda like trying to teach a grandpa to figure out a phone, but now it’s him with the concept of a microwave

Like some of the others he’s yet to really also change his clothes to something modern

There has been a few times though he sported sweaters and vests

Your now working on helping his wardrobe since he prefers a sophisticated look

Occasionally he looks at the photos that line your walls, looking as you evolve through the ages

It’s…odd

With Connor he never had the chance to watch him grow

Never a snapshot to immortalize what he was like a child but now ones of you litter the walls like paintings

He feels melancholy

Yet at the same time he’s happy to get another chance maybe

One that is seemingly being helped by your gentle hand unknowingly

“I never thought about it until now but the stars are different” he says taking a sip of his matcha tea, he lets it pool on his tongue and experience the flavour. Not his favourite but not the worst

“That’s cause of light pollution here…though the stars do move so it it’s possible they’ve shifted position in the sky”

“Do they teach you about the stars in your schooling?”

“Yeah I took some. Not sure why, it just kinda spoke to me. Maybe it’s the Kenway blood”

Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor Kenway

Of the group Connor is the most quiet and surprisingly the one whom you connect with the best for some reason

Perhaps it’s cause your both socially awkward in ways that let you relate

Or the fact you’ve both been ostracized by society for various reasons

His company is that of a quiet one but one you accept it with ease as you both sit and enjoy each others company

A quiet kinship made of unspoken but understood words from one another

The reminder that someone else is there and your not truly alone

He is perhaps the one you feel you can understand the most

And it’s the same likewise for him

Your both people deeply hurt and still bleeding internally

People raised by only their mother in a cruel and harsh world

People who were let down one way or another by their father

People who are still mad and angry but use that to further their determination

It’s odd but you feel truly understood

Like your soul was peeled back to reveal at your core your still a lone spirit lost in the world

One clinging to what they know as their only lifeline in this confusing and jumbled mess of a situation

The hulking 6 foot 2 man shows you trails near your home

Taking to the forest paths you’ve know your entire life and helping you discover even more about them

And while he does this he teaches you more about the world as you both walk the old beaten path

He tells you how to identify what type of tree is which, which stones are likely geodes and what tracks belong to who

It’s honestly petty interesting especially since he adds snippets of stories from his heritage

In return you talk about what you know as well

Snippets of your own knowledge that he seems to store into his mind just as you do with his stories

An equal exchange of sorts

On these walks you begin to notice he takes you out on these when your at your most stressed

The times in which your mind is overworking and consuming itself with anxiety

The times in which you need to breath

Connor doesn’t seem like one to vocally express his care but he does so through action

Small inconspicuous actions that mean a lot more than what meets the eye

It’s seems that his towards you is helping you when you need it most

Taking you away to just take a moment for yourself

To just breath in the fresh air and let the sunset coloured leaves of autumn crunch under your boots

Letting the cold breeze take away your worries

It’s perhaps better than any type of verbal support

Yet another unspoken action of care and compassion through knowing and watching

Of watching and knowing when you need a break

When you realize this and give him a small tired smile as a thanks he seems to know

Only giving a small nod with a minuscule smile of his own

It only grows bigger when you begin to ask him if his traditions, of the stories and practices of his people that he’s more than willing to tell when he knows you ask out of genuine curiosity and respect

Connor is somewhat 50/50 in modernizing

He adapts quite well but still needs help with certain things as he navigates the situation

But like usual he is anything but resourceful as he watches what you do and figures it out

He helps the others quite a bit with what he’s picked up and somewhat takes pride in the fact he can help them

Whilst he’s privy to wearing his robes he isn’t against more modern clothes

The only problem though is sometimes finding stuff that fits him considering he’s not only a giant but also fairly muscular

But your both eventually able to find some stuff for him to wear that he likes

He really appreciates though that you try to buy clothes and jewelry from nearby indigenous peoples

It might not be his but he appreciates the sentiment and familiarity that the beaded jewelry give him

“I’ve lived here my whole life and walked down these paths a thousand times yet it seems more like your the local here” you say with amusement as you follow Conner through an area you’d be never been before.

He smiles, it’s small but there as he adds “just a matter of perspective. You see the paths your used to and I see ones you hadn’t noticed”

Desmond Miles

Yeah so this is entirely awkward for you

Like how the fuck do you emotionally deal with this and the fact your very dead dad who didn’t know you existed till now is now very alive

And living in your house with his very dead ancestors that are also now alive

Case and point you don’t, specifically you ignore the problem and act like everything is fine

You lock yourself away and try to avoid him like the plague

Somehow Scurry past him and into the kitchen to grab something before returning to your abode to eat

But then things got complicated

Things change

You began talking to the others

Slowly coming out the darkness of your study and joining the dinner table

But you still try to avoid him

It feels like the sight of him burns your mind, all those nights as a kid coming back to you

The hope and then disappoint in learning he died and that he likely never wanted you

Your mother never said this but the other kids did. They always teased and picked at the fact you were a mistake

It’s why you push so hard now to be the best, To prove them wrong (to prove to yourself that your worth existing)

The fact is that now he’s here and you don’t know how to deal with that

How would you even start?

What do you even say to him?

You quiet down when he enters a room because you don’t know what to do

Whatever your about to say dying in your throat like a caged bird and all that came come out are garbled noises as you evade him

Eyes casting down to your hands like a child averting their gaze from their parent when in trouble (he is your dad so it’s the same thing right?)

Leaving the room he’s in as quickly as you can once a take is done

The others notice quick, I mean how can’t they? A damn butter knife can cut through the tension

The whole thing with Haytham and Connor is less tense than this

But what can you even do?

How in thick do you talk to him and how can he even talk to you?

Your 18 and in university, he’s 25 and was a bartender in New York before apparently sacrificing himself for the world

He’s closer in age to being a big brother rather than your dad.

But even besides that he’s been long dead and gone since 2012

It’s been years since that point and more importantly he’s someone important and your not

He’s an assassin born to a bloodline of other assassins

Someone who was raised in this tradition with greatness not only in his origin but also in his death

And your you

A child born from a one night stand who’s only achievement is being good at knowing about old people

It hurts but it’s true

If he’s a star then your a candle compared to his light

A mere blip or spark to the greater picture

There had been times he looked like he wanted to say something but you scurry away before he can say anything

Sometimes you catch the looks and small gestures Ezio tries to make as if to encourage him to go up to you

How Connor sometimes brings up to you how he wishes for reconciliation with his dad and that perhaps it’s possible with your own

Altair not beating around the bush and plainly telling both him and you to talk

But it all feels for naught and dies when those feelings and thoughts return

But eventually he corners you

Well not really corners you per say but he catches you as you leave your study after a talk with Altair

“Listen I don’t have any grudge against you. For one you died, I’d be a dick if I blamed you for that or your decision to save the world and whatever. Second you didn’t know about me in the first place” you say briefly looking up at him before averting your gaze, he looks like he wants to say something but he can’t get a word out before you continue “but you don’t have to act like my dad or anything. You never asked for me, it was a mistake, I was a mistake and I’m fine with it.” (Your lying to yourself)

You leave before he can get a word out, and he’s left alone in the hallway. When he returns to Ezio he just sits down in silence. It’s enough for everyone to know I didn’t go the way he wanted.

Admittedly when you begin to notice odd figures at the achieves you write it off

I mean it could literally be anyone plus the supervisors aren’t making a fuss about them here

If anything their welcoming them and looking at them with hopeful eyes

Small glances full of opportunities in them

It’s odd but maybe their just some non-profit here to support the archive

Or even private benefactors of sorts

But then they turn their attention to you

Plastic smiles on their faces, artificial pleasantries as their main spokeswoman sits in front of you in a slick suit

Her stilettos tapping against the ground as your eyes trail to her bodyguards of sorts

They stand not too close nearby

Watching

Waiting

And then she begins talking

And slowly you grow more and more uncomfortable

Hands playing with one another, fingers twitching in your palm as crescent are indebted in your skin

They apparently are interested in your findings

In your research

But more specifically you

They’ve researched you…a lot

Down from where your mother was born to her great great something grandfather

And your father

…but that’s not public knowledge

It wasn’t even on your birth certificate

This….this isn’t

She smiles though now the darkness melts away into something more knowing

Dangerous and sadistic of sorts

And it’s there on her little pin showing her name you recognize the logo

Within your house you’d vaguely heard whispers of the others talking in hushed tones

You didn’t mind

The less you know the better in that sense

Out of sight and out of mind

But sometimes you’d hear the mumbles of a name that you didn’t put together until now

One spat with venom just as they did with the word of the Templar

Abstergo

You barely have time to react before your black bagged and sufficiently knocked out

Mind drifting to that of panic

What would happen to you?

What will happen when the others find out?

But then those thoughts fade away into the dark void of sleep

When you wake up things are odd

Everything is a sterile white and too bright for your foggy sleep tinged eyes

The room is blurred as is your senses as you weightlessly drift

Everything feels odd

And then it happens sharp and pure pain that leaves you writhing and screaming into the void

And that’s when you notice that white light had left and your in a void of sorts

Empty glitching effects all around you as your left to look around in confusion until you see something

A memory? Specifically one of your memories

Your staring at a simulation of sorts of your past self

A 8 year old in their bed with chubby cheeks pulled up into a melancholy smile

You recognize this moment, your small hands holding a picture that had long been put away into a scrapbook and forgotten

Your left wordless and confused

And then that bitch’s voice appears again and she explains

This entire thing is a simulation of your memories

And essentially their gonna go through your head picking through them to not only learn what they want but then use you as their lab rat cause of your bloodline.

Cause apparently memories of your ancestors could be accessed that way and it was generally easier to have a descendant rather than finding objects and artifacts

And it’s there in that simulation it feels like your mind is being ripped apart

Memories ripped from your mind to play out in front of you as she makes comments and documents them before their forced back in and another is ripped out

Like book having pages torn out and then crudely stitched back in

It hurts so damn much

Over and over

Your just left in screaming again on the ground of this simulated world as she makes idol comments

Left begging for it to stop

For someone to help

For the love of god someone help you make it stop

Of course this would happen to you

You’ve always had shit luck despite your whole family motto being “make your own luck”

What utter bullshit

You can’t make good luck from bad

Can’t just change things when the scales are already tipped one way

But then like a miracle from above she goes quiet and suddenly the memory is gone

And your left in the void still reeling from it all

Still on the glitching ground before once more white encompasses your view

Blinding and bright as your still recovering

And then an unfamiliar voice tunes in

“Your safe” it’s heavily accented, in an Irish twang that’s soft as he says these words to you. A reminder that your ok now, it’s over. “Can you walk?”

You try to look at him with squinting eyes yet they still can’t adjust, your limbs feel heavy like solid rock. Unmoving even as you try. With some difficulty you shake your head

“Aight, I’ll have you carry you then. Are you alright with that?”

“Just get me out of here…please. I just want to go home, I miss my family” it sounds pathetic but as tears begin to fall the stranger doesn’t seem to think Ill of you.

“Don’t worry, I get what that’s like.” The tone is sympathetic and like before is soft “you’ll be home I no time, I promise”

You think for a moment before responding “I trust you”. For a second you feel him go still at that before he picks you up.

For awhile there’s buzzing alarms and panic as your saviour gets you out whoever’s you were taken too

There’s not a moment of silence as he sharply runs and dodges past what you think to be gunshots

Occasionally he grumbles something but for the most part he seems calm

Composed despite the chaos of it all

So much so that it makes you wonder if this is an average Tuesday for him

There’s so much shout and yelling for your already pounding head

But sometimes the yells are silenced as the sound of a blade cuts it short

Footsteps far behind eventually stopping

Sirens getting more and more distant and allowing you and the man to breath

It’s there in the pocket of silence you learn his name

Shay

It sounds familiar, like really familiar yet you can’t put your finger on it

Either way your grateful because how can you not be?

Your away from that place

Away from the torture of having your mind picked apart like a lab experiment

Having the privacy of your memories looked at and prodded

But now your somewhat okay

Your eyes feel weird, your vision feels weird like it keeps switching between something

Your at least somewhat able to walk though it’s unbalanced

but Shay doesn’t seem to mind

He offers an arm that you cling to for support

A kind smile on his face as he makes sure you didn’t injure yourself further

And then you notice his clothes are….old

Like Haytham and Connor level old

And…shit

It’s halfway home through the trails you recognize due to Connor that your vision changes

The world feels bigger as if your third eyes opened or something

Shays figure and presence is highlighted in a clover green

And perched nearby is another green figure, one waiting for a good moment

Shay follows your sight before promptly having to duck out the way from a knife that flies at his head

He pushes you back behind him, you stumble back vision switch between monochrome and normal as someone else grabs you

Instinctively you almost yell before realizing who was now helping keep you steady

And the other person now attacking Shay

“Connor! He’s good! He saved me!”

“He’s a Templar!”

“So is Haytham and you haven’t killed him…again have you!”

At that Shay pauses, turning to look at you with confusion as Connor stops his attempt as slitting his throat

Ezio on the other hand helps you up but keeps a firm protective grip

Watching Shays movements like Connor in apprehension before the two settle down and stare at you for more detail

Both waiting on your word

“He saved me and today has been a long ass day-“

“You’ve been gone for 4 days”

You pause momentarily at that before adding “long 4 ass days of having my mind literally ripped apart. Can we please head back to the house and settle this there? Thank you”.

The moment you get back your almost immediately tackled to the ground by a familiar white and red hoodie wearing absent (dead) father

It’s….odd but nice

Desmond (still feels too awkward to call him dad) is holding you like a lifeline and you notice bags beneath his eyes

He looks like hell

But none of the others are any better either

They all like positively exhausted yet light up when seeing your safe

Your home

It reminds you of your mom when you returned home from school

The long work day evident on her brow but her smile lighting up the room at the sight of your face

It’s no different compared to then except for the fact they all (except Haytham) then protectively pull you away from the nearby Shay who’s being glowered at by Connor

Safe to say it’s a little awkward until you somehow pull free of Desmond’s death grip hobble your ass between the two lone Templars and Assassins

A long discussion having to take place between them all as you not only explain what happened but also it seems you all forget one crucial thing

It seems you forgot about your mom’s side of the family

Whoop de Doo you have more things to process and so does everyone else here

Specifically Connor and Haytham Because before apparently knew (or know of) Shay

Great, another complex relationship in this household like there needed to be more of that

But with this entire situation it also highlights something bigger

Your not safe

None of you are safe

Perhaps you never truly were

And that in turns leaves you with the difficult decision of what to do next

Because In this difficult game of politics between two ever warring groups your a neutral force

You wanted to stay that way but unfortunately fate had other plans

as your drug into this game your left with limited options of sides for not only yourself but for the others who seem keen on following you

Even the two (former?) templars seem to follow your decision

So When Des…er your dad suggests finding his old friends it seems like the best option

It’s either that or be kidnapped and prodded again and who knows what abstergo will do to everyone else (even one’s that once upon a time we’re on their side)

Besides, he says you’ll get along well with someone named Shaun so It can’t be too bad

So he sends out a message and you leave the home you find yourself look at with melancholy

It stopped being a home when mom died but now it seemed like it was just that again

Only time can tell what will bring upon you next

But….you think you’ll be ready for whatever is thrown at you when you have this odd group of family at your side

The expression of blood is thicker than water never really held much weight since you only ever had your mom until she was gone

But maybe you understand it a bit better now

[especiallyhaytham]

The Mystery of Hope and Gist in Rogue

So, here's the backstory. I always thought it was odd how Hope Jensen's character design is so... Victorian. No, actually. As someone mildly versed in Georgian fashion, her clothes are quite literally from another time, and she looks nothing like the other characters in the game. It's such an anomaly, not to mention ugly (subjectively), and it's bothered me for years.

First of all, I happily recognize that Assassin's Creed is allowed to take liberties with fashion history. In any historical entertainment piece, there's usually a few good reasons why the clothing isn't 100% accurate. I also recognize that certain design choices might be made to convey a character's personality, which is a whole other kind of analysis that isn't going to be relevant here. We're purely talking about the physical style components from now on.

While Ubisoft can sometimes go a little crazy with character designs, they aren't in the habit of bouncing completely off-the-wall. They do know the rules, and they know how and when to break them. Many of the designs in Assassin's Creed are actually quite clever in how they play with fashion history. Connor's look seems inspired by military uniforms. Shay is clearly partial to greatcoats. If it was possible to be "sensibly Rococo", Haytham is.

But Hope is another story. Her dress isn't a well-researched artistic interpretation of the 1750s; her silhouette is from another century. Puffed sleeves absolutely do not belong here, and neither does that frilly brooch or layered nightmare skirt. Nothing about her evokes Colonial New England, except for her lace cuffed sleeves (it should be said, that's the only part of her outfit that I like). She looks far more like a Frankenstein amalgamation of the late 1800s.

At first I thought this might just be some weird one-off on the developers' part, since Assassin's Creed doesn't have the best track record visually designing female characters compared to male ones (Like Élise? Not as diabolically out-of-place as Hope, but still pretty bad). But then recently, I found myself taking a good look at Christopher Gist. "What in the world?" I thought. "There's another one?"

His design is also very oddly Victorian. The waistcoat is what tipped me off, since pinstripes and decorative lapels were very much not a thing during this time. Lapels hardly existed at all in the 1700s, and only ever functionally (essentially an extra piece of fabric on your coat that could be pinned back in summer and buttoned up when it got cold), and pinstripes didn't first appear until much later, during the Victorian era. Perhaps Gist stands out a bit less than Hope, since his hat, cravat, and overcoat are pretty ambiguous when he's standing next to other 18th-century characters, but alone he looks like he'd be more at home in Red Dead Redemption.

So now there are not one, but two Victorian characters in a game that takes place over a hundred years before. Now I'm thinking that it's likely that they both came from the same source. The funniest thought I had was that maybe there was a junior developer who was really into Victorian fashion, and with the time and budget constraints, no one bothered to revise the designs. A less entertaining explanation is that maybe they were scrapped characters from Syndicate, which would have been in early development stages at this time.

Syndicate is the most plausible explanation, but at the same time Gist and Hope don't strike me as "Victorian England". I really don't know enough about 19th-century fashion to say for sure, but after making the comparison to RDR, they certainly seem to be leaning more American Western. It is the same time period, but styles varied slightly across the continents.

After doing some research, I found a game published by Ubisoft in 2013 titled Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, which is set in *drumroll* the Old American West. Considering Rogue was released only a year later, as well as Rogue being infamous for borrowing so much from Black Flag, I would not be surprised if assets from other projects also found their way into the game.

The thing though, is that Call of Juarez was not directly developed by Ubisoft, while Rogue was, and I don't know how feasible it is that they would share assets. Again, maybe they were stolen from Syndicate, since I can't pinpoint any part of their designs that would say otherwise (other than Gist generally looking like a cowboy). A third explanation is that perhaps Ubisoft was developing their own Assassin's Creed Western game which was scrapped early, though I haven't found anything solid on this.

It's a mystery that we can't really solve without directly speaking to someone who was on development (which believe me, I have so many questions about Rogue I would sell my soul to interview someone). But in lieu of that, even though I can't parse over every single detail, I think I've come up with some reasonable speculations. If you're like me and ever wondered why Hope and Gist look the way they do, hopefully now you know a little bit more.

[spurgie-cousin]

Bold of you to assume the French wanted to prepare some thing that makes sense as a social/historical commentary.

I just think they brainstormed the craziest ideas and then used them all 😂 

Oh, let's have a random guy hanging out on the roofs. Also rats. And some guys dancing on the ruins of Notre Dame. And why not Minions? And a hot air baloon. And of course, a burning piano. It will all make sense, somehow 🤷

(submission)

‐------------------------------------------------

The guy on the roof was a character from Assassin's Creed I think? I don't play the game but I heard an online commentator talking about it and his significance

Actually as a history nerd, they really did squeeze in a lot of historical/cultural symbolism: the balloon cauldron was a nod to the first manned hot air balloon flight which occurred in Paris (I think even in that exact area), the shiny woman in armor I think was supposed to be Joan of Arc? There were a lot of nods to French literature too, I wish I could find a well-written analysis of it all but all that pops up when I search are articles about the Last Supper portrayal and how Christians can't get over it (pretty sure the blue guy was supposed to be Dionysus also?? can't confirm though).

The biggest stretch was definitely the minions though LOL I think they justified it by saying there was an animation studio in Paris who does the Minions....... but I'm sure the studio just paid big money to squeeze them in bc of the new movie

[ibnnlahad]

i think arno should have gotten to confront shay. while i understand that arno's character wasn't one to seek revenge in the typical sense, particularly not for his father's death, i think it would have been both compelling and fitting if we'd gotten to see their confrontation. like a final boss, even. we could have gotten so much from their mere interaction.

[teecupangel]

So, concerning the origin of Lucy’s betrayal, she talks about it in AC1 and, considering Project Siren may or may not have already started during this point, this could all be a lie she told Desmond so he’d sympathize with her (although AC wiki does consider this to be canon based on her wiki page):

Lucy: Warren saved my life. So, if he wants to yell a little, let him.

………

Lucy: Sometimes I wonder if they weren't behind it all. If they manipulated events so I'd get desperate. They can do that. They can do anything. I didn't think when I agreed to come here... they even told me I'd be trapped. For 6 months, a year max. Once the product launched, there'd be no need for secrecy anymore. But, until then, I'd be a "guest of the company". At least... that's what they said.

Desmond: And when the Animus was ready?

Lucy: They came in while I was sleeping. Three guys... guns...

Lucy: They dragged me out of bed... God... the worst part is, I knew them. One guy, Richard, we ate lunch together sometimes. And now he was gonna... They were cracking jokes... I tried to pull away... he hit me... and that's when he told me I was going to die.

Desmond: Christ! What did you do?

Lucy: Nothing. I kept telling myself it wasn't real. And then Warren was there, shouting at them to get away from me. And they listened.

Depending on how much you believe her lines (if she was telling the truth, the semi-truth, or just flat-out lying to gain Desmond’s sympathy), these lines could add a different spin to her character and to her relationship with Vidic, especially if you include this line:

Lucy: When they first approached me, I was finishing up my Ph.D. The university made it clear I had no future there. They didn't like the subject of my doctorate... called it pseudo-science. Said keeping me on would discredit and embarrass them. It was the same everywhere. Other universities... companies I interviewed with... pretty soon I was out of money and out of time.

First of all, it’s canon that she was cut off from any communications from the Assassins once she received her orders to infiltrate Abstergo according to the Lost Archive DLC of Revelations:

William: Italy, to Abstergo's new research facility. I want to know what they're after with the Animus device. Your third teammate has been kept outside the Assassin Order, waiting to be called upon.

Clay: Lucy Stillman.

William: She's been trained to infiltrate Abstergo. Since the age of 17, the girl has lived outside our ranks. All her ties to the Assassins have been erased.

And, if it’s true that she had problems getting a job and being validated by her work (which could have been perhaps intentional to catch Abstergo’s attention but highly unlikely?), this meant that Abstergo came to her when she was at her lowest, alone and far away from the people she had known and trusted all her life.

She was vulnerable and Abstergo gave her a new life, made her feel wanted and liked.

Gave her relationships.

Then took it all away from her.

They didn’t have to do it but they deliberately chose Richard to be one of her executioners, someone that Lucy knew by name and they even made fun of her fate, acted like her death meant nothing to them.

Like she meant nothing to them.

That’s when Vidic swooped in.

Saved her.

Protected her.

Gave a new life once more.

Lucy owed Vidic her life, she said so herself.

And that…

That is how many cult leaders get the loyalty of their followers.

First, they take a vulnerable person (Lucy who was isolated from everything she knows). Give them a place to feel loved and seen (Abstergo and Richard and her other friends). Then take it all away and drag them back to the loneliness and isolation they were in (the ‘failed execution’) - this is normally done by bringing them to the forefront and making them remember all their (perceived) failings but, in Lucy’s case, by destroying any relationship she had fostered in Abstergo, including what might have been her social safety net then the cult leader would make them feel loved and wanted, maybe go “I believe in you” or “I forgive you” depending on the context (Vidic saving Lucy).

So yeah… if we truly do believe all the lines Lucy told Desmond in AC1, then the line “If they manipulated events so I'd get desperate…” becomes different. The whole “I’m a prisoner” was a lie to make Desmond sympathize with her but it’s also the truth, whether she knows it or not. She is a prisoner and her Templar allegiance had been tainted from the get-go, by both the Assassins (Bill) and the Templars (Vidic).

The idea that she believes the Templars would ‘take care’ of humanity is tainted by the fact that her idea of ‘care’ is what she experienced from Vidic.

Indoctrination.

… which is what the Templars want to do to the world but Lucy only sees the good thing about that indoctrination. After all, that’s how she was ‘saved’.

And I like the headcanon that she didn’t know Clay would die because of her actions (or her inaction) because she trusted Vidic too much. She believes he’s a ‘good’ man.

But also, Vidic is her cult leader. His words are law. She cannot go against him because she believes she is nothing without his approval. So even if she knew it was dangerous, she would believe Vidic if Vidic tells her that Clay would be fine. Even if she didn’t believe it, she’d still go along with it because Vidic’s words are law.

This line from Vidic:

We're counting on you, Lucy. You have served the Templar Order well, and we never forget loyalty. Oh, yes. Once inside their hideout, perhaps you might ask the Assassins why they left you alone for so many years.

The first two lines are Vidic reminding Lucy who was there for her when she had nothing. Who had seen her loyalty. Her ‘worth’.

But the third line?

That was said to remind Lucy that the Assassins abandoned her. It’s not him suggesting that she asks them. No. That’s Vidic reminding her that the reason why she had been so alone for so many years was deliberate on the Assassins’ part.

Also, the only times we see Lucy actually going against Vidic is when she’s playing the part of the good cop to Vidic’s bad cop so even that is tainted with Project Siren already working in the background. We can’t be sure how much her actions in AC1 are acting and how much is true concern for Desmond brought by her guilt over what happened with Clay. Even when they left, all of her emails to Vidic talked about concerns for Desmond’s health but she never does anything about them. She always listens to Vidic.

Because, in the end, Vidic brainwashed her and indoctrinated her to believe that his way is the right path.

All lines from the game came from 21st Century Conversations and Memories of Clay

Feeling a little bit under the weather, so I'm gonna cheer myself up by trying to write a lil character analysis for Lucy.

(Warning: I am writing this mostly off the top of my head, not to mention while sick so my brain isn't exactly working as it should, so if you find anything you would like to correct/expand on feel free to comment/reblog)

Out of the modern day gang, Lucy seems, at least initially, like the least interesting: Rebecca is a bit of an adrenaline junkie who discovered her aptitude for technology while bedridden after sustaining an injury caused by her passion for extreme sports, Shaun is a conspiracy theorist who was forced to join the assassins after his snooping got him into trouble, Desmond is a man who ran away from a cult and had to build a new life for himself, only to then find himself dragged back into it once again.

Each of them has an interesting and unique reason for being where they are when we first meet them, and each is the result of an active choice that lines up with their equally unique personality.

And Lucy? Lucy is a spy. She became one because that's what the assassins needed at the time, and then she became Vidic's assistant because he manipulated her into it.

And how did she become an assassin? She didn't, she was born into it.

Out of all the "origin stories" for the modern day gang, Lucy's stands out as it has the least amount of active choices on her part.

The most active we see her as is in AC1, where she regularly fights with Vidic over a variety of matters, but mostly Desmond.

By the time of AC2 Lucy's role as animus expert has been taken over by Rebecca, who also acts as the nice, friendly presence in the group, pushing Lucy into the role of leader instead, and now that she is no longer playing good cop to Vidic's bad cop we start seeing that she can be quite bossy at times, but also that she's under enormous amounts of stress, as we can infer from multiple occasions.

As Brotherhood comes out we learn even more information, most importantly a)that she feels guilty for Clay's death, as well as her current treatment of Desmond and b)that the years spent as a captive at Abstergo have led her to feel disconnected from the rest of the world.

And then she dies, and it is revealed that she'd been a traitor all along.

So far I have been ignoring this piece of information as it was clearly a last-minute decision to justify Kristen Bell's departure, and I think that, for the purpose of this analysis, it would be interesting to take a minute to compare pre-reveal Lucy to post-reveal Lucy.

Pre-reveal Lucy is a likable character, but not a particularly deep one. She mostly functions as a love interest for Desmond and a straight man for the rest of the gang, by which she's largely overshadowed.

Post-reveal Lucy, on the other hand? She's a much grayer character. While I would still describe her as a largely reactive character, the choices she does make tell us much more than just "she's a good person" and "she's loyal to the assassins". 

First of all, her betrayal: while we are not given any real explanation as to how it happened (was she found out? Had the templars always known? Or was she the one who willingly revealed herself to be an assassin?) we do know from an interview with the lead writer of Revelations and Lost Archive (source: "The Assassin's Den - The Lost Archive ft. Jeffrey Yohalem", on youtube) that the main drive behind her loyalty is the conviction that the templars will "take care" of humanity, herself included. Paired with her previously mentioned feelings of disconnection from the world, that would lead me to speculate that while she does take on the role of caretaker more often than not she herself desires to be taken care of, more so than she desires her freedom, and she projects those feelings onto the rest of humanity.

Second, Clay's death: this is the one that made many fans dislike Lucy's character, as she leaves him to die when she had the perfect opportunity to save him by running back to the assassins with him.

While there are plenty of ways to interpret this, I personally believe that it was simply a bad call on her part, possibly caused by her overestimating Vidic's and her own abilities to cure him, as well as the nature of the doctor's intentions.

As stated by the official wiki, in fact, when talking about subject 15 "Lucy Stillman eventually became concerned with the condition of the subject and advised Warren Vidic to cease exposing her to the Animus.[2] Warren agreed and insisted Lucy take the day off.[3] He then sent an e-mail to Steve Gibbs informing him of the need for "disposal units" at the labs as well as the drafting of a fake accident report by James Morse, implying the termination of the subject.[4]", which might suggest that Lucy is a much more naive character than Desmond's pov would have us believe, at least when it comes to Vidic.

Third: this might be a bit weird but… all the tiny choices she makes when interacting with Desmond and the other assassins, what she chooses to reveal and what she doesn't… the reveal of her betrayal puts all the information given to us by pre-reveal Lucy into question, thus making her an unreliable narrator.

Considering that the rest of our information regarding her comes from Juno (the mother of all bitches) and Clay (whose pov was heavily manipulated by said mother of all bitches), both also unreliable narrators…

What we do actually know about Lucy is very little, and idk I think that makes her even more interesting.

So, uhm, yeah. There's a lot of other stuff I wanted to cover, such as the many ways I believe she is a tragic character and how her interactions with other characters (Coff coff Daniel coff coff) could have been very interesting to see but alas I am tired and my brain wants me to go to sleep already.

Bye and thanks for reading this.

Here's a cookie as a reward 🍪

[hardcoregamer]

Assassin's Creed: Every Assassin Ranked

With over a dozen playable Assassins from the games to consider, not to mention the myriad of ones from the comics or NPCs from the games, answering that question is difficult. While the answer to that question may come down to personal preference or an analysis of personality, it can also be determined by examining character's feats, how remembered they will be throughout history and how long they remain in the Assassin's Brotherhood.

Check them out!

[sc4llywag]

your thoughts on shay? <3

OMG RHEHRHEH I love Shay SO MUCH HOLD ON GUYS

God there's so much to love about him, he goes from being constantly berated during his time in the brotherhood to saying fuck them and going to the templars for his bettered life.

I think his character is so complex and it is so much more than just, I am doing this for the templars, he's doing it for himself.

Hes so silly too I just love how serious and goofy he is GAH I just love that trope.

I just think it's so devastating what he went through, losing something he loved, killing his BEST FRIEND and possible lover God he was so heartbroken. Then he meets cool important Templar man and dedicates his whole years to the order to find a fuckin box, it hurts so badddd.

I heavily ship Haytham with him too and it hurts so bad how they didn't have them have any fling in the game bc Haytham would MOST DEFINITELY be with him then send him off and forget about their relationship God he's such a DICK LIKE THAT

All things said I love Shay sososososo much and I wish he got a longer more deep game but I love Rogue either way, it's so underrated.

Thanks for asking anon HEHEHEHGS

[yotko97]

Here are the ways you can maximise on marketing and advertise your next film

Artists and filmmakers, we can be honest with ourselves here. Marketing and sales is not our strong suit by default. Even with our producers there’s always seems to be this ick about promoting our short films for a lot of reasons. The main reasons I can pick out are to potentially coming off as a shill or a sellout, fearing that doing so can turn off our potential audience and people that surrounds us, thinking that word of mouth alone is enough and that by some miracle that doesn’t involve the actors or the director or the cinematographer that our short film will be most popular around the world amongst the rest . Another big potential reason is this air of cynicism that no one would be interested in seeing our films except fo other filmmakers or these small, niche groups of people who tend to go to film festivals; that your film has no place in a commercial sphere. This is especially true for filmmakers with their short films.

However, the reality is that without some form of marketing budget or plan in place with your short film, with the exception of applying to “insert film festival name here” then your short film will only be known by a few people at best and will get lost within this ever expanding pool of other short films being produced around the world. Now I’ll also give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you’re a first time indie filmmaker that is actually enthusiastic about getting your short film seen and known across the globe but not sure or confident in how to effectively do it or what the best methods are due to not being well informed in films school or whatever. In these cases, not to worry. I had the same concerns before I started on filming my first short film FULL CIRCLE. A majority of what I learned was from Alex Ferrari’s book “rise of the filmtrepeneur” as well as being an avid listener to his “Indie Film Hustle Podcast”, along with first hand anecdotal accounts of implementing these techniques you’ll know later on in this blog.

Here are the essential ways to maximise your marketing for your short film(s);

Know Your Audience

This is an imperative to know and learn for your productions here on out as every film and every genre caters to some sort of niches or even a group of niches. Trying to cater to most amount of people possible that is limited to a specific genre or two is only applicable to big budget features that already are already popular like the marvel cinematic universe or Disney due to having million and millions available in their advertising budgets and for being in the game for nearly a century. The trick for short films to have a fighting chance to get seen by people is to answer this question “Who is this film for?” It’s not enough to just say yourself. What would help is to analyse your script and uncover what key identifying features are present in your script, genre and plot, then correspond to existing or emerging niches that exist in this world. Here’s a personal example. For my short film FULL CIRCLE is about an assassin on the job who only realises something’s wrong when it’s too late. It was colour graded into black and white and the genres it fits into are noir, action and drama. My audience from my analysis were people who are interested in the following;

Noir films

Black and white videography

Hitman/assassin lore (from Hitman game series to Assassin’s creed series)

Femme fatale characters

Australian short films

Bloody scenes

Experimental and artistic

Short films

Guns

Action

Drama

Spies

That’s 12 niches I identified that I also marketed my short film to. Doing this will give a clearer direction in who are the right audiences for your short film and will be most receptive/loyal to your future productions.

Have a budget for social media ads

This may sound obvious but I stress this as it’s essential for any project, for any production no matter the scale or type of film. Think about it. How else is anyone going to know outside elf your cast + crew that your short film exists. In any other project in any other business in any other industry, there are marketing budgets for brand awareness, otherwise they would go bankrupt or they would be rejected by every single investor before they could pitch their start up. For all films, including short films it’s no different. Luckily, more than ever before we have a wider reach of people to promote your short films thanks to the vast internet and social media where instead of the olden days you were limited to word of mouth, local film festivals and marketing firms that are out price range for the average indie filmmaker. Nowadays you can set the budget to virtually any capacity affordable in your budget. Here are the social medias you can place paid ads onto or to boost posts for wider promotion;

Facebook

Posts = min: $2 per day — max: $500 per day

Ads = min: $2 per day — max: $200 per day

Stories = min: $2 per day — max: $500 per day

Days = min: 4 — max: 36

Instagram

Posts = min:$2 — max:$1000 per day

Reels= min:$2 — max:$1000 per day

Stories = min:$2 — max:$1000 per day

Days = min: 4 — max: 36

Linkedin = min: $350

Days = min: 4 — max: 31

X/Twitter = min:$20 — max:$8000 per day

Days = min: 1 — max: 30

Tiktok = min:$20 — max:$74,000 per day

Days = min: 1 — max: 7

Tiktok Ads manager = min:$50 — max:$10,000,000

Days = min: 1 — max: 364

Google ads = min:$2 — max:$1000 per day

Days = min: 1 — max: 364

Reddit = $20-$10,000 per day

Days = min: 1 — max: 364

Create a marketing plan within your production at the start

It’s essential to maximise the marketing and economic advantages early on in your filmmaking progress, as boring and icky it night sound to creatives. Let’s make an analogy here. If we view a film production akin to a startup venture, then any businessman worth their salt would do their research and planning on how to sell and showcase their product/services in the most efficient way possible. It would be a display of great ignorance to skip this step or overwrite it due to lack of interest based in its antithetically practical nature compared to creativity that naturally comes to filmmakers. It’s all well and good to come up with a great and cool narrative, setting and maybe even a message underlying your film idea; after all, it’s the whole basis to filmmaking. However, marketing despite its recent lazy and borderline cynical, sleazy undertones in modern examples at its very core is just a way to tell the masses “Hey! This cool thing exists, this can benefit your life in this way, you like it?, here it is available for $X amount”. Marketing if done right and ethically is not a dirty word in my opinion.

Create Behind the scenes Content

You know how common this is right know growing with indie fans bug budget productions showcase what went on into making their films. This can garner interest and some educational insight for your audience to see the journey through and through your short film production. You can also in tandem release it onto your social media platforms across the board for maximum exposure as well as help you identify your potential audience for your short film at a deeper level.

Create unique content related to your short film

One interesting route is to create a certain type of content that’s related to your primary short film or production. One example is a short documentary of mine about a middle aged bodybuilder that’s also a stay at home mom. We created a cooking video detailing and cooking recipes in her book containing dishes she ate during her training period. This in tandem will help drive traffic to the short documentary once both are finished and uploaded for my audience.

Use indirect or unconventional methods to promote your short film

There are many, many ways to promote or showcase your film than ever before and it never hurts to think outside the box when it comes to getting the word out. Her are some ideas if you’re struggling to come up with examples;

. Podcasts = They have been booming in popularity since 2017 and have exponentially been listened to around the world since the global lockdowns during 2020–2022. There are ever-growing amount of podcasts existing around the world with each one fitting into multiple interests/genres, from filmmaking to medical podcasts. It would be wise to not just research and contact on filmmaking podcasts, but also podcasts who entire theme aligns with any niches/genres your short film fall under. My suggestion would be to listen to a few podcasts you’re interested to feature in, then try to contact them via insta DM or even better, email if you can, then see which ones are interested in interviewing you about your short and go from there. For filmmaking podcasts, I’ve developed a list here to save you the trouble and time. For other themed podcasts, Feedspot is a good source. Happy hunting.

. PR Firms/Radio stations = Just like in big budget films, there are PR firms around the world that specialise in promoting and exposing independent films, no matter the project and budget level. I’m also currently compiling a list of PR firms and radio stations around the world that specialise in film marketing and PR. Stick around for that soon.

. Merch = Yeah, you heard me. Indie filmmakers reading this might be turned off on this prospect due to uncertainty, no knowledge on how to make Merch online or may think it maybe a tacky and unfit decision to associate with your genre of short film production. Those can be understandable reasons but almost any film production, whether is a feature, short or even a documentary can attach a type of appropriate Merch such as the universal tactic of putting a films poster on a T-shirt and further spread the word by selling online or even in person. I did this with my first short “FULL CIRCLE”. Some good drop shipping sites like Printful, Printify or shopify are good Print on demand sites to use if you want to have a crack at it with a wide range of customisable apparel/accessories.

. Blogs/Articles = I know I sort of covered blogs and articles in my short film monetisation blog but they’re also a great way to further spread the word about your short film in text form to your audiences. Many filmmakers I personally know kinda sleep on blogs since they think its reserved for awkward fan fiction you’d find on Tumblr or were a passing online trend sometime in the 2010’s but died out. Rest assured people still like to read and potentially hear about your short film with would further grow and funnel your personal audience for your shorts in the near future. These are the blog sites I’d recommend;

Medium

Substack

Your own blog form on your own website

Ghost.io

Patreon

Buy me a coffee

Blogger

Tumblr

I hope these ideas help you in your next short film productions. Any feedback ,no matter how positive or negative are most welcomed.

[lamialamia]

D, g,m,n for the HBO war asks :)

d. what was a character arc in any of the shows that left you unsatisfied?

oh boy. but I will be truthful, and the answer might not come as a surprise for you: Crosby's arc. Even though Anthony Boyle is intensely charismatic, this character arc is very half-baked. The first half (which i consider from episode 1 to 6) is really nice. We get to see Crosby become more confident, and grow into his role as the group navigator. But then the writers decided to engage in the romantic sub-plot with Sandra that is character assassination to them both, and instead of letting him sit and ponder about the shitty things that happen, Crosby always get a verbal hug from his bff, Rosie. Which means he never have to really face his demons.

I can go on and on. But don't worry, I'll be writing another meta analysis about this stupid arc 🙃

g. masters of the air and generation kill both seem to have more discourse surrounding them than the other two. which did you enjoy more, and why?

answer here

m. what do you think is the best quote of each show?

THIS IS HARD

BoB: "It's called wounded, peanuts. Injured is when you fall out of a tree or something."

TP: "You can't dwell on it. You can't dwell on any of it."

GK: "Point, Ray. I was one of those unfortunates adopted by upper-middle-class professionals and nurtured in an environment of learning, art, and a socio-religious culture steeped in more than two thousand years of Talmudic tradition. Not everyone is lucky enough to have been raised in a Whiskey Tango trailer park by a bowlegged female whose sole qualification for motherhood is a womb that happened to catch a sperm of a passing truck driver."

MOTA: "It'd be me and it'd be you."

n. if you create content, which show do you have the most wips for? choose one to talk about in depth.

I definitely make the most stuff for TP. And right now I'm writing about 2.5 Wips for Sledgefu because they are my O-T-fucking-P.

So, there is this Pacific Rim AU. I wanted to write a vague one-shot. It is no longer an one shot >"<

Sledge and Snafu are two young guys who are fighting monster together and they are in love but don't know it yet and the psychic brain melt is making them crazy and now they engage in a co-dependent Co-pilots with benefits situation where they fuck and don't talk about their feeling.

And they are fighting giant monsters inside a Jeager named Dastard Queen that have a hidden blade (like Assassin's Creed, but with a giant robot) and a supersonic beam in the chest.

I have too much fun writing it, can't you see hahaha

Ask me anything from this cool thing

[miralyk]

oh lore for your nuzlockes???? i'm curious, what's on ur mind for " crosslocke " and characters like ethan

(the original drawing in question w reblogs turned off and what may have incited this ask)

AUGH sorry for not getting to this asap bc my house's power (and thus my progress finishing and uploading charm/sticker art) is still being fixed atm, but i have a lot on my mind!! this'll at least be an interesting read to hopefully have you guys interested and spend time biding on atm, so i won't put this under the cut.

crosslocke is basically just what i call "crossover" nuzlockes i've played and talked about before with friends; two years ago i was bored during spring break and wanted to play an omega ruby nuzlocke to be more interesting -> thus nicknamed everyone i caught after resident evil characters bc i was hyperfixated on the franchise at the time, and what started as a jokey theme ended up being "wait these ideas w how both pokemon/re click together are actually cooking", so it ended up being a pretty thorough au!

for my personal crosslocke runs, basically it's a gijinka and/or mystery dungeon sort of au where everyone's pokemon people, haha; my trainersona's a shiny zorua/zoroark with aura powers exploring the various regions, and meet other people and how they manifest both their pokemon powers and aura in unique ways. so far i have 4 crosslockes, so i'll summarize their concepts and what they're crossed over with:

rising ruby (enhancement hack for omega ruby) x "resident evil" = an aurapocalypse where instead of a biological infection, it's aura being mutated,, a new twist to re's viruses due to how chi philosophy, which overlaps both the physical and spiritual, work in people and the environment's aura. it's played both for comedy and drama, like ethan coming back, Again, but as an aura-mutated Ghost zombie,, But also still unaware of his new infected state until everyone starts screaming at his new look lmao

eternal x (enhancement hack for x) x "kingdom hearts" = the crosslocke world is one world that's an "unreality" like quadratum to the kh world, and explores how magic and light/fairy-types vs darkness/dark-types play out,, along with how technology that integrates such magic can either aid or abuse (eg kh's synthesized ultima weapon and pokemon's engineered ultimate weapon have some similarities, don't you think)

prismatic moon (enhancement hack for ultra moon) x "jojo's bizarre adventure" = after the reality-warping events of the resident evil and kingdom hearts crosslockes that tampered with the natural order/balance of aura, ultra wormholes open up to different realities and timelines, in which kao cooperates with various jojo characters "eyes of heaven"-style, esp given her unique circumstances of not being a stand user, but a hamon an aura user able to still perceive/interact with stands + directly control aura in general, which stand users are incapable of doing

sv+ (enhancement hack for scarlet) x one piece academy/gakuen, the spinoff au manga = kao's aura powers are basically seen as conqueror's haki when roped into an alliance with the straw hats to uncover mysteries of not just the academy's treasure hunt, but phenomena like terastalizing and area zero. again like any other crosslocke, mostly for fun, but there's still drama due to the game events, hooh boy LMAO

depending on how retelling these stories would go (realistically, maybe something like a "story recap/analysis video essay" and jaiden animations way of regaling stories to summarize the au and whatever's drawn for them), i'm open to playing more crosslockes and talking about them not to just friends in private, but publicly online! depending on how pokemon legends Z-A turns out, it could be crossed over with assassin's creed (given the precedence of isu technology and the overlap of ancient technology w history and humanity), stuff like that ( ´ ∀｀;; )

what i like most about crosslocke is how it funnily enough ended up being a fun and experimental thing like nuzlocke comics and the dnd-esque culture of drawing and artistically interpreting your personal gameplay + sharing the experiences with others, not to mention how it accidentally also became a homage to the very first nuzlocke (comic) itself,, a guy being bored with pokemon and thus played a nuzlocke naming everyone after pop culture icons/characters, especially the titular nuzlocke being a nuzleaf named after john locke from lost.

given the circumstances of the world and my personal life, i don't want to put all my eggs in one basket investing (too much) in these nuzlocke aus, but we'll see how it goes; i love unique ways of experiencing stories and sharing them, and especially as someone who has a lot of personal experience and friends with nuzlocke comics, something that's very underrated today, it'd be a lot of fun to at least try out a little in the future if things are able!