#i will even throw in desmond's ancestors in this idea because i can
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teecupangel · 2 years ago
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Hope you don't mind me popping in here again ^^* But here goes. The Animi that could access memories were developed to specifically access Desmond's DNA, no? All initial tests were done on it. And Layla based her Animus on those Animi. So imagine if she, having not known much about Desmond or how he impacted Animus project, didn't know adjustments are needed. And when she accesses Bayek's memories, the Animus loads a tagalong with it. One that can be perceived by those in memories
I will never mind getting any messages hahahaha.
........ Okay, so when I started writing this, I went off track and focused too much on how to make it believable. I'll focus on how this could work but down below is my usual "let's screw with canon to make this fic work"
Let's say Desmond's DNA is in the Animus Layla is now using.
Layla won't realize it at first. Maybe she'll feel like something is off but she'll chalk it up to bugs that haven't been fixed. Abstergo is AC franchise's fictional counterpart of Ubisoft (even though Ubisoft also exist in their universe) so bugs are to be expected since there's no day-one patch.
Glitching in the corner of Bayek's eyes that Bayek doesn't react to.
There was one memorable glitch where there seem to be someone standing in the shadows while Bayek uses the Apple to bash the head of his target. Again, Layla isn't sure if it's important or not. But she now starts keeping an eye for it.
So she starts to notice them.
Whispered words that the Animus doesn't translate. Some sounding Arabic. Maybe Latin or Italian? Layla can't be sure. Another language she doesn't understand at all.
Then she hears singing. Sea shanties. English sea shanties. She's not sure if the Animus was translating it or if it's something all together but she gets curious.
But she's deep into Bayek's story now.
She's engrossed and she follows Bayek but she sees them. They're getting bolder. More noticeable.
Aya glitching into a woman wearing an armor with a cross.
Bayek's allies glitching to people wearing clothes more befitting the 15th or 16th century.
Food in the marketplace glitching to food that shouldn't be available in Egypt during that time period.
Bayek himself glitching and saying words of another language in another voice not his whenever he skins the animals he had hunted.
And then...
Bayek meets a boy who asks him to leap from the temple of Zeus.
A boy who says his name is Esio.
And that's when the Animus crashes.
When Layla boots it back, Bayek is standing in a white space.
That's strange?
The Animus says it's loading but the loading screen should be black, not white...
Layla starts to wonder if she should shut it down and check if everything is alright but the loading finish and Bayek is standing in the same place once more, a few feet from the small pool that cushioned his fall.
But the boy isn't there anymore.
Instead, Bayek is facing a young man wearing a white hoodie and jeans who waved his hand at Bayek and awkwardly greeted, "Heeeyyy."
Before Layla could react, Bayek's entire form glitched for a moment and he greeted back, "Hello."
"Uuuhhh... Layla, right?" The man asked and Bayek frowned at it.
"No. I am Bayek of Siwa." Bayek answered with a shake of his head.
"Oh, man. I feel like Minerva, right now." The man mumbled under his breath before he just shrugged and said, "So, yeah. Layla. I know you can hear me. My name is Desmond Miles."
"And... your Animus kinda loaded me in." Desmond paused for a moment before asking, "I know it's a lot to ask but..."
"Can you... I don't know... try and contact the Assassins or something for me?"
(Cue a fic where Layla and Desmond try to converse using Bayek as their mediator and Desmond's DNA has screwed the Animus so badly that Bayek has now gained some sort of 'conscious' and knows what's happening thanks to the Animus going "fuck it" and just using Bayek's past memories and actions to create a Bayek AI all in an attempt to keep the program from BSOD-ing)
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teecup's usual off-tangent 'i will make canon bend to our will and beg for more'
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As far as I know, the Animus Project's main goal was to use genetic memories of the descendants of both Assassins and Templars to find and retrieve POEs. Desmond wasn't the end goal but ended up being everyone's jackpot due to his genetic makeup and (well) all the Isu 'favoritism' he had.
However, we can make an argument that the Animi used for 'data collection' in Black Flag were programmed specifically to access Desmond's DNA only, otherwise they would have gotten errors from the people like Noobie using it and getting conflicting memories (from Desmond's DNA and from their own genetic memory). (The same could be said for the ones they use for Arno's memories but I think the DNA sample they used for that one is Callum's dad from the movie who is canonically Arno's descendant)
If you read Layla's emails in Origin, she does talk about how the Animus in the movie (called the Aerie) was created based on her suggestions and that one of the main reasons why she went rogue is because Sofia Rikkin used her idea but never got her in the Animus Project (she was planning on using the Animus to show Sofia that she does deserve to be in the Animus Project). AC wiki also states that the Animus Layla uses in Origin was stolen from Abstergo. She most definitely tinkered with it though but...
Well, I honestly believe Desmond's data isn't in the Animus she would use in Origin.
I think Abstergo has two main branches of the Animus Project
The secret one led by Sofia Rikkin devoted to using the Animus to find and retrieve POEs
The entertainment section that 'developed' Black Flag to Unity for PROFIT
They would both have Desmond's DNA but I think the entertainment section is the one using it the most (especially considering the fake main menu in Unity showed that they did release games based on Desmond's other ancestors including Haytham). Sofia Rikkin's Animus Project probably has it in storage or may be using it to test new features (kinda like how QA teams that test on a laptop's disc tray have specific discs to use and are not allowed to use personal discs).
BUT Noobie in Black Flag did give Rebecca files because they were being blackmailed by John the IT guy so what's to say they didn't give the Sample 17 DNA as well? Also, Rebecca's Animus has Desmond's sessions in it. What's to say the Animus didn't copy Desmond's DNA for faster loading?
In other words, Layla's Animus as it is in Origin? I think it's possible (but not that likely) that it would have a copy of Desmond's DNA. We can raise that possibility by handwaving it and say Layla stole an Animus that was currently being tested so Desmond's DNA was copied into it.
But the Animus she uses in Odyssey and Valhalla where she would most probably have coordinated with Rebecca and maybe even received past Animus data from Rebecca? That can easily be contaminated with Desmond's data by accident. (especially Valhalla where Rebecca took over Animus duty)
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sulfies · 6 months ago
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How mad do you think the ancestors would get if they started getting frisky with Desmond and he started bleeding one of the others!
Like if Altaïr just got Desmond's shirt off but now Desmond's eyes are gold and he has Ezio's fucking grin
How do you think they would react to this? Would they be jealous or interested? Anyway hope you're having a good day!
Ur mind is so huge🫣 thats such a good idea ughhh
While their main bae is Desmond They also are into eachother so they would fuck but they just like being w Desmond mainly, and getting to be with the others is like a nice bonus. So they do all date eachother but If Desmond wasnt into and ok w it they wouldnt care about becoming more that close friends idk if that makes sense. So non of them would ever get a bad reaction to a bleed of another but they prob would stop the first time just to make sure Desmond's ok with it as well outside of a bleed. (ı need to make a relationship chart lmao)
Altair
Altaïr would be into it 100% prob would have fun with it tricking Ezio!bleed into it being a dream just to get more reactions or teasing him a lot like "what would people say, Mentoré having a wet dream about the brotherhoods greatest"
Connor!bleed would get him going too because seeing Desmond be more shy ,be impressed when Altaïr throws him around bc he isnt actually built like Connor would be fun. Basically he would enjoy Connor!bleed acting less experianced, blushing like crazy, hiding his face since Altaïr gets to pull old tricks he knows Desmond likes and see different reactions as if its the first time
I think with Altaïr!Bleed would be the only one to make him jelous and feel weird just bc he knows how annoying/smug he can be lol and both would fight a bit on who does what or if they even do anything till probobly Bleed!Altaïr would go "try everything once" lol I can see Bleed!Altaïr even maybe not letting Altaïr touch as he talks like "sucks to be you I get to be in Desmonds Skin feel everything he feels"
Ezio
Altaïr!bleed gets him going also and he likes bickering with a more smug Desmond who is meaner to him and ofc roughhousing. He would def talk about it to Altaïr to annoy him "do you also react that way when I do-"
Connor!Bleed again he is very into a silent, more threathening but shy Desmond that he has to put more work into. Probobly the eye contact 👁️👁️ Connor!bleed does gets to him a lot and effects him more than he lets on. He also enjoys imagining how Connor would look if he did the same lol. He would also Enjoy Connor!bleed forgetting Desmonds actual strenght and tryng to pull his hands to hide his face only for them to not move under Ezio
Ezio!Bleed he is 1000% into it and has the most fun lmaoo not even a question. they just both look at eachother in "oh this is going to be fun~" and the whole hideout has to wear earplugs
Connor
Connor probobly would be the most hesitant and vary of em all, the bleeds would have to make the first move or convince.
Altaïr!bleed scares him in a good way lol, kinda takes the pressure away from him and he enjoys how much more outspoken Des is "do that, dont do this" and he also does enjoy the teasing he gets a bit.
Ezio!bleed would make him blush like crazy and prob he would hide his face 90% of the time bc of the dirtytalk if Ezio let him (he doesnt ofc)
Connor!bleed... I think Connor would be weirded out and would take a few times of it happening for him and the bleed to even be like "lets try if we like it" maybe outside the bleed Desmond has to go "go have fun, If you cant trust yourself who else"
Once both got over their shyness Connor would prob learn a lot about himself lmaoo and maybe is like "maybe I should be more vocal during it hmm" or just enjoy a more silent quiet relaxed fun? But tbh probobly most of the time Connor would just turn it into a cuddling and small touches session.
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michelles-garden-of-evil · 3 years ago
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Episode 46 Review: 2 Theories About Jean Paul, Erica, and the Locket
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{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }
{ Full Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }
In this great house on Maljardin, evil lives, even amongst the dead, and the poison this evil spreads threatens Erica Desmond, who lies frozen in this cryocapsule until the day a scientific miracle returns her to the living and back into the arms of her husband Jean Paul Desmond, who has defied powers real and imagined to assure his wife’s return from beyond the veiled curtain of death. Strange happenings are forcing a decision that could doom Erica Desmond...forever. 
Hello and welcome back to my Garden of Evil, where today we will examine Jean Paul’s reaction to Dr. Alison Carr’s new discovery about her sister’s bloodied locket and two possible explanations of what it may say about Erica’s death and Jean Paul’s state of mind. I could do an entire recap of this episode if I wanted to, but I'd rather narrow the focus of this entry to the theories that have been floating around my head for a while (one since before I started this blog, in fact).
A brief summary of the important stuff that happens in this episode: Alison learns that the blood on the locket is human blood, type AB-, which leads her to conclude that it must be Erica’s, because both she and Erica have that rare blood type[1]. She also tests the poison found in the glass of wine that Holly drank from two episodes ago and finds that it’s not the missing cyanide, but an unknown poison of vegetable origin. Elizabeth defends herself to Matt, telling him that she has no motive to kill Holly, not even her inheritance--and, surprisingly, he believes her. And then Raxl and Quito steal the rabbit from Jean Paul’s room and stumble upon that wonderfully sinister skull, which will co-star with Jacques in Episode 47.
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Jean Paul receives irrefutable proof that the locket found around the rabbit’s neck belonged to Erica.
Outside of those plot points, this episode focuses primarily on Jean Paul’s confusion over how a bloodied locket even ended up in the cryonics capsule with his beloved Erica to begin with. When Alison shows Jean Paul the blood sample under the microscope, he's skeptical at first and tries to convince her that she either bled on it or someone else somehow put her blood there to confuse him. I would say it boggles my mind how someone with an IQ of 187 like Jean Paul can conceive such a ridiculous theory, but, honestly, it doesn’t. The popularity of conspiracy theories and other misinformation in our time has convinced me that human beings of any intelligence level can trick themselves into believing anything, no matter how patently absurd, if they want to believe it enough.
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Subtle Dark Shadows reference?
I can’t tell how much of the next part where Jean Paul continues speculating about the locket is actually in the script and how much is just a particularly bad line flub. Listening to his dialogue, it sounds like a combination of both, but it’s hard to tell given that the character is supposed to be very confused already. Here’s an exact transcription of what he says:
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Jean Paul: "Well, maybe I-I-I put the necklace on her neck without realizing it. I perhaps didn't put it on her when I put it in the capsule. It could have happened that way very easily. You see, I had thought I had. You didn't see me do it, did you, Raxl?" Raxl: "No." Jean Paul: "Quito, did you?" Quito: *shakes head* Jean Paul: "Well, there you are. You see? She could have cut her finger a while before she died, and so the blood got on the locket, and maybe I put the locket in the, uh, dresser drawer, and it was left there, and in my grief I didn't know what I was doing and I gave her another piece of jewelry which I put around her neck. Don't you think that probably is what has happened?"
Vangie isn’t convinced of any of these theories, and neither is Raxl. The latter believes that the locket appeared because of evil, “slimy like a snake, ugly like a black rabbit.” (WTF? The rabbit is adorable!) Jean Paul accuses Vangie of suspecting him, but she insists she doesn’t. Of course, he doesn’t believe her and he takes out his anger by breaking Alison’s microscope in half, throwing it to the ground, and accusing Erica of mocking him.
In the next scene, he ruminates in his room over the likelihood that he killed Erica, intentionally or otherwise:
Could I have killed my Erica? Could I have slain my love? That's impossible! Oh, you would like it, Jacques Eloi des Mondes, my bloody murdering ancestor. If it was so, how you would rejoice! But then, if I didn't put the locket in the cryocapsule with Erica as I thought, what other things that I believe as facts--things which are part of my life and experience--may be no more than creeping, malicious, lying fancies? Perhaps I didn't love my Erica at all. Perhaps I hated her!
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Jean Paul pondering whether he truly loved Erica.
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Getting dramatic!
Later, while lying on his bed in shirtsleeves, he realizes that he genuinely loved her, but that his memory is still faulty:
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Jean Paul: "I loved her. I remember how I loved her. There was no world but the world outside, and then there was another world and that was us. Oh, how I loved her, so good, so beautiful, but what happened at the end? I can't…was the necklace with Erica when she was sealed in the capsule? I can't remember."
But later on when he visits the Great Hall (inadvertently giving Raxl and Quito the opportunity to retrieve the Rabbit of Evil), Jacques torments him by implying that Jean Paul, like him, is a murderer. “Think there’s a chance you may have murdered your sweet Erica?” he asks. “That blood was very interesting, wasn’t it?”
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Jacques hinting again that they’re the same man, or just that the apple doesn’t fall far from the proverbial tree? Or perhaps this is like that one line from Game of Thrones: “You can’t kill me, I’m a part of you now.”
Then we get this exchange which acts as a segue into the next scene:
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Jacques: "So maybe you killed your little love before you put her in that tin coffin, hm? Maybe there is no pristine, pure body to revive. That's what's been on your mind all day, isn't it?"   Jean Paul: "Even if it has been, I certainly wouldn't tell you."   Jacques: "You can have no secrets from me, anyhow. You know, if you ever are thinking of murdering again…" Jean Paul: "I did not kill her!" Jacques: "All right!" *laughs* "But whether you did or not, you might want to kill someone else one of these days." Jean Paul:  "Good night." Jacques: "All right, run away, but you might find an example of my skill nearer than you know and sooner than you think."
After he storms out of the Great Hall, Raxl and Quito return, the latter carrying the rabbit. Before they can sacrifice the rabbit in an effort to rid the house of its evil, it jumps from Quito’s arms. While trying to catch it, he bumps his head into a painting of mysterious ancestor Étienne des Mondes and knocks it off the wall, revealing a hidden cupboard with a skull swinging from a rope through its jaws.
We’ll discuss this skull in the review for next episode, where it becomes the focus. For the rest of this review, however, let us turn our attention to two possible interpretations of the Jean Paul and Jacques scenes in this episode. My theories are as follows:
Theory #1: Jean Paul killed Erica and is living in denial
Jean Paul’s reaction to learning that his deceased wife’s blood is on the locket and especially Jacques’ comments about it seem to imply that Dan Forrest’s theory about murder may not be a red herring after all as Ian Martin would have had us believe. Remember that, although Jacques is evil and Martin’s episodes portrayed him as the Father of Lies, he and Jean Paul may or may not be the same man. That could mean anything from Jean Paul having a split personality to Jacques having transported himself forward in time to live as Jean Paul Desmond before the events of Episode 1, but I’ll save those ideas for another essay. The point is that Jacques seems to know Jean Paul as well as he knows himself, and as such knows things about him that the other characters don’t.
It’s possible even that Jacques has observed and interacted with Jean Paul since long before Jean Paul freed him by removing the silver pin from the conjure doll’s temple. Think back to Jacques’ introductory scene in the pilot, where he responds to Jean Paul’s proclamation of “on this island, from this moment forward, I am God” with “bravo.” He could speak through the portrait and even give characters visions before Jean Paul freed him! Also think of all the things he’s referenced that a man from the 17th century wouldn’t be aware of: merry-go-rounds, bus time tables, the figurative expression “jack up by the bootstraps,” and whatnot. Assuming Jacques is a spirit like he claims, he’s been observing and learning things on Maljardin for a very long time! Sure, he looked confused about that fountain pen in Episode 4, but perhaps that was only because he hadn’t had a chance to practice using one before Jean Paul set him free. If Jean Paul killed Erica, Jacques would know about it and may even have encouraged it by communicating with him through the portrait. There’s no indication that the scene in the pilot is the first time he made contact with his descendant. It could be the second time, the fifth, the tenth, the thousandth, or more.
Also note that the exact cause of Erica’s death is never made clear. Jean Paul claims in Episode 5 that she died of eclampsia, but the Lost Episode summary for Episode 47 from the CBC program log indicates that Dr. Menkin’s missing notes would have eventually revealed her to have “died attempting to gain eternal youth.” The latter could have meant anything from plastic surgery complications to swallowing gold à la Diane de Poitiers. It’s not even clear if the attempt at eternal youth is truly the cause of her death, just what she was doing when she died. This leaves the possibility of homicide open.
But did Jean Paul (or Dr. Menkin) intentionally kill her, or could it have been an unpremeditated, spur-of-the-moment decision? I believe the latter is more likely. Jean Paul seems genuinely confused by her death, and even by whether he loved or hated her. It’s possible he already wasn’t in his right mind before her death and may even have blacked out during it (although probably not because of possession, as he had not yet freed Jacques). Perhaps the artificial intelligence hinted at by the reference to W. Grey Walter’s “Imitation of Life” factored into this: for example, the implant inside Erica’s brain may have malfunctioned, causing her to become violent and attack Jean Paul and/or Dr. Menkin.
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961)
Another thing to consider: Strange Paradise shares many plot points in common with the Roger Corman/Vincent Price movie The Pit and the Pendulum. In the film, we have (1) a husband whose wife recently died under mysterious circumstances, (2) whom he comes to suspect he accidentally murdered. (3) His doctor is living at the castle with him, when (4) a sibling of his deceased wife comes to investigate her death. Among the ghostly happenings in the house, (5) a portrait of the wife is slashed. Finally, (6) the husband goes mad and (7) is possessed by an evil lookalike ancestor, in this case his father. While I don’t think that we can accurately predict planned revelations in Strange Paradise using the events of a film written by someone unaffiliated with the show’s production, it is interesting to note that Vincent Price’s character accidentally buried his wife alive. This connects to the events of Episode 44, where Erica’s spirit possesses Holly and tells them to “let [her] out,” although in Erica’s case it’s more likely that she’s just been resurrected from death instead of being buried alive.
END SPOILERS
Theory #2: Jean Paul is imagining things
Another possibility is that he didn't kill Erica and is using the new (apparent) evidence to construct a false memory of killing her. Although most of us like to think of memory as infallible, numerous studies have proven that it's anything but. This can occur on a collective level, such as the famous Mandela effect where, prior to Nelson Mandela's actual death in 2013, many people misremembered him as having died in the 1980s. More often, however, individual people remember false versions of events from their own lives.
In the late 20th century, numerous psychological studies identified the way that even changing small details of a story--changing a stop sign to a yield sign, for example, or adding the detail of broken glass to the story of an accident--could alter a subject's memory of it, creating a "misinformation effect." During one such study, researchers used a fake advertisement showing Bugs Bunny in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland to trick their subjects into believing that they could meet Bugs at the park (despite Bugs being a Warner Brothers character and Warner Brothers being affiliated instead with Six Flags). For 16 percent of the subjects, it worked, and they described further false memories of meeting Bugs at Disney, adding details like that they touched the ear of his costume[2].
Speaking of false memories of amusement parks, I swore for years that I remembered visiting a dinosaur theme park in the northern Ohio woods back in 1998 or 1999, when I was five or six. I never questioned whether the memory was real until one day when my family drove past a drive-through dinosaur exhibit and my dad said to my mom, "They didn't have anything like that when Michelle was a kid." Skeptical of his claim, I did some Googling and discovered that there was a dinosaur-themed park in the woods near Sandusky called the Prehistoric Forest that looked much like what I thought I remembered[3]. When I sent my parents the link to the article about the Prehistoric Forest, both of them denied ever taking me there or even having heard of the place. Nevertheless, I swear I've been there or somewhere very similar. I think the most likely explanation is that I dreamt about it, but that the memory of the dream was so vivid that I mistook it as one from my waking life.
Much as a researcher can convince their subjects to believe that Bugs Bunny appeared at Disney or I convinced myself that I had visited a place like the Prehistoric Forest, Jean Paul is capable of brainwashing himself into thinking that he murdered Erica. This isn't even the only time he speculates without clear evidence that he’s guilty of murder. We'll see something similar in Episode 137 regarding the murder of a different character, whom Jean Paul will successfully convince himself he killed despite hazy evidence at best.
Note that these two theories are not one hundred percent mutually exclusive. It’s entirely possible that Jean Paul killed Erica, but misremembered specific details about her death or how he felt about her. Also note that this show contains quite a few retcons, one of which we saw last episode. Just as the trajectory of this show has changed significantly from Ian Martin’s original plot, the truth about Erica Desmond’s fate is currently in flux within the show’s universe.
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The contents of the secret compartment that Raxl and Quito discovered.
Coming up next: A delightfully chilling episode where Jacques uses the skull that Raxl and Quito found to further terrorize his guests.
{<-- Previous: Episode 45   ||   Next: Episode 47 -->}
Notes
[1] While rabbits can have type AB blood (or type ZY blood, using the system from this 1954 study) and they cannot tolerate injections of Rh-positive blood, they have different antibodies in their blood from those of humans.
[2] Elizabeth F. Loftus, "Memories of Things Unseen," in Current Directions in Psychological Science 13:4 (2004), pp. 145-146. There are other examples from other studies, including one involving false memories of witnessing a demonic possession, but the Bugs one is my personal favorite. Also, this period of Strange Paradise puts me in a rabbity mood.
[3] Coincidentally, the Prehistoric Forest's entrance appeared in the 1995 film Tommy Boy, which also featured Colin Fox and Pat Moffat (Irene Hatter) in supporting roles. There was also an animatronic dinosaur attraction at Sea World Ohio called Carnivore Park that operated in the late 1990s. Despite having visited that Sea World many times as a kid, I couldn’t have gone to that exhibit because we couldn’t afford to go there in 1998 or 1999.
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esamastation · 6 years ago
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hopeatermain · 7 years ago
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WHAT THE F-
A [PROTOCREED] one-shot which focus more on the [PROTOTYPE] part. Contain spoilers for the end of [PROTOTYPE 2]. If you haven’t read Fucked up shit, prepare to be horribly confused.
Rating: T for swearing. Lots of swearing. And slight description of body horror.
Genre: I have no idea. Again. The parts between James and Alex are pretty serious, but since the scenes between Alex and Desmond are basically them explaining to the other why they are completely done with life, I think it’s safe to say there’s some comedy.
Summary: While slowly digging in Alex’s memories, James Heller find something he could have lived without knowing... Also, Desmond is done. With everything.
Word count: 2 466 words (The longest thing I write is a fucking flash-back)
Stop. Fucking shit. Since the fight he won against Mercer (whom he promptly “ate” once it was over), there was a shit ton of memories of he was not able to access. By “shit ton”, I mean Alex’s memories themselves. He had to give it to the little shit, he was persistent. Each time he tried to get something out of him, he acted out and his own body stopped responding until he stopped. 
But gradually, James was able to erode Alex’s mental barrier and access these memories. His life before Gentek. His transformation into the BLACKLIGHT virus. His fight against Greene. His reasons to do... that after he fought so hard to avoid something similar. But there was one thing he clinged to, no matter how hard he tried to rip it out of him.
The reason why he decided to seek out people before the second outbreak.
“Mercer, for the last time, it will be easier for us both if you simply gave up and let me saw that memory.” No. That would break you. “Bullshit. You said that about everything else. And yet, I’m still standing. You should start waving the white flag already.” And then, pain shot through his body. Not again. Oh and fuck it, how bad could it be? Alex had done the same thing each time he tried to dismantle his memories further. So he pried further and just found a name before Alex mind closed itself again.
Who the fuck is Desmond Miles?
THE ONLY THING I’LL BE WAVING WILL BE YOUR DECAPITATED HEAD ON A STICK IN FRONT OF YOUR WEEPING DAUGHTER!!!
The pain doubled. Shit, Alex apparently really liked that particular memory. He reacted less violently about more personal memories. The pain was so strong that James didn’t immediately remarked the tiny tentacles that were slowly growing out of his back. And when he did, it was too late. Oh, you want to know what that memory is about? THEN TAKE IT.
“You know, I know how to climb walls.” “I can run up them. Now stop bitching and get on my back already.” Grumbling, the assassin got onto Alex’s back. And he shot through the air, and started running up a wall once the height provided by the jump wasn’t enough. “So... Desmond,” Alex still had difficulties with the existence of that guy. “What if you told me about your story.” “You go first.” “Are you seriou-” “MERCER!”
Hope you’re happy with yourself. You got us right in a trap. Shut up annoying voice! He reached the roof and put Desmond on the ground. “Uh, what’s happening?” “Blackwatch. That’s what’s happening!” He morphed his claws on. “If you want to survive, you should hide.” “I know how to fight!” “You’re just human, and they are trained military. You’re fragile.” The only answer of the man with the white hoodie was to glare at him with murder in his eyes.
And then, the shooting started.
At the slight horror and extreme exasperation of Desmond, Alex proceeded to rip a vent system of the roof to throw it at the helicopter, which started to go down in flames while the surviving soldiers jumped out. Five soldiers. All Blackwatches. Good. No guilt there. Time for our Meal. A manic smile appeared on Alex face as he slowly walked toward the Blackwatch soldiers, who started shooting, their chief shouting orders. Wasn’t going to save them and- wait.
They all got electric batons. Shit. Shit.
He was slowly being backed to the edge of the roof. They would chase him. And he was still tired of his fight against Greene. “So, Mercer. Have nowhere to run now, do you-” The sentence of the soldier finished in a stabbing sound. A slight metal point could be seen going out of the soldier’s neck, before retracting, letting the soldier collapse.
Desmond.
The two who were next to the dead immediately turned their gun toward him. His only response was to duck the moment one fired, killing the one in front of him, before stabbing with his hidden knife the one who shot. The other two were made quick work of the moment Desmond got another knife out. Once they were dispatched, Desmond turned toward Alex, his expression neutral and his gold eyes glowing slightly.
“So... what was that you called me earlier? Fragile?”
James blinked a few times, still disoriented by the memory that was forced onto him. He looked at the tentacles on his back, only to realize they had taken an humanoid form. “GET BACK IN HERE MERCER!” “FUCK YOU” And his mind was assaulted by more images.
“I’ll ask one time: Who the fuck was that?” “Blackwatch. Black ops, if you want. Once deployed, they are given full power over the military to stop whatever is a treat to anything in the US. In this case, the BLACKLIGHT virus.” “Is that the outbreak you mentioned earlier?” “Yes.” “Why the fuck would they use military forces to stop a virus outbreak?” “Eeeh... virus zombies?” 
“I die for a few months and suddenly, there’s a zombie apocalypse.” “Only in Manhattan.” “Of course it only happened in Manhattan. It couldn’t happen in fucking Madagascar, of course not.” “Desmond?” “DEAD EGOMANIAC LADIES WEREN’T ENOUGH” - “Are you okay?” - “NOW I HAVE TO DEAL WITH FUCKING THIS!!!” “HEY!” “WHAT?!” “Calm down. I can explain this shit to you. But you have to explain to me what the fuck happened to you.” “You’ll explain to me on the way out.” “Okay.”
As Desmond got back on Alex’s back, the former scientist started to explain. “Okay, so forty years ago” - “Why forty years?” “Shut up and let me talk. Forty years ago, the government started fucking with viruses. No, they never heard of fucking zombie apocalypses before, it’s apparently a fairly new concept. Anyway, their reasons for doing that was to make perfect soldiers or some shit like that. However, they ended up killing an entire town in Idaho called Hope and only one survivor was left. Remember this, it’s really important because apparently, for some fucking reason, the course of my life looks eerily like a video game.” “It’s okay, I know that feeling.”
“Now, let’s skip forward a few months ago. A scientist, working at Gentek” - “Wait, isn’t that a branch of Abstergo that makes biological experiments?” “I don’t fucking remember, but they do make biological experiments. Are you going to let me talk?” “Sorry.” “Thank you. Now, where was I?” “The scientist working at Gentek.” “Oh yeah! Anyway, the Gentek scientist discover this shit, because of course the government facility which was stupid enough to fuck with a zombie-creating virus was Gentek. He then takes a sample of the modified virus with him, which is dubbed BLACKLIGHT. Gentek’s answer is to send Blackwatch, the assholes from earlier, until he is basically backed against a wall.”
Alex watch over his shoulder, making sure he has Desmond’s attention. Upon witnessing he has all of it, he continues. “But because the scientist happens to be a fucking asshole, instead of turning himself over, he fucking releases the virus in spite.” “Wow. What a dick.” “I won’t even get mad at that one because you’re fucking right, that was a dick move. Anyway, the virus decides ‘fuck it’ and decides to possess the corpse of the scientist.” “What thE FUCK” - “I know, I had the same reaction when I discovered what I was.” “WHAT THE FUCK” - “You’re taking it better then I expected.” “I saw weirder shit. But still - Wait. YOU’RE A LIVING VIRUS?!” 
“Yeah... Relax, I have no plans to contaminate anyone. Having BLACKLIGHT without being a zombie is weird enough as it is, I don’t plan on giving it to anyone.” “Okay... so, Mister Virus Guy” - “Alex. Mercer, if you want to be formal.” “I’m a bartender assassin who relived the memories of his ancestors and who just came back from the dead. I don’t care about being formal, I want answers. So, Alex... can you please continue the story?” “Okay, but you need to stop interrupting me.” “Then make it short.” “Okay. So, I thought I was the scientist. I woke up in a morgue with freaky powers. I escaped. Remembered my sister. Decided to find my sister so she could help me. Decided that if anyone touched my sister, I would eat them. You are allowed to make a comment.” 
“What the fuck.” “Besides that.” “What do you mean by eat them?” “Consume them. Use my freaky virus powers to absorb them and their memories.” Desmond’s only reaction was to look at him with an expression which could only be described as a little terror, a little confusion, and a little ‘I-am-so-done-with-my-life’ attitude. A lot of that last one, actually. But beside that little detail... “What the fuck, man.” “I should have expected that look. And that answer.” 
“Anyway, I think freeing the sole survivor of the first outbreak from Gentek is a good idea. It was fucking stupid and only worsen everything. I ask my ex for help. My ex betrays me and send a Blackwatch captain on me. I get a parasite. I get the help of Ragland. Since he’s one of the few nice people I know, he accepts to help me. I get better. I eat my ex. I infect the sole survivor with the parasite. She just puke it out with a Supreme Hunter. The Final Zombie Boss, if you want. I kill the survivor and eat her. The Final Zombie Boss kill the captain that gave me the parasite earlier, who happens to be the only Blackwatch guy who isn’t a complete asshole, and tries to kill my sister. I eat the Final Zombie Boss. One nuclear explosion later, the virus outbreak is finally starting to calm down and I muse on the meaning of life. And then, you appear in a fucking dumpster and fuck up my vision of life by existing.”
He blinked. Fuck. Whatever the fuck Mercer was doing right now, it didn’t meant anything good for anyone. James looked behind him. Mercer was almost out, but still connected to his back. Apparently, this exhausted the former scientist more than it exhausted the former sergeant. “What the fuck are you trying to do, Mercer?” “Didn’t know you where so... dumb. What does it look like?” And, with a pulse of the tentacles connecting him and Mercer, other images appeared in his mind.
This is the worst summary of the last year I have ever heard. Well, fuck you too, annoying voice. “Your turn to explain this shit to me.” “What shit.” “Oh, you know... why you are visibly done with everything... dead egomaniac ladies... Assassin bartender... Your fighting skills... Reliving the memories of your ancestors... Coming back to life...” “Your voice got a octave higher, it’s really funny.” “Fuck you too.” “Okay, so open your ears well because what I am going to tell you is really fucking weird. Where do you want me to start?” “How you came back to life.” “I don’t know. Choose another topic.” “Assassin bartender?” “Yeah, that’s a good starting point.”
“Okay, so you need to know that there’s a pretty big conspiracy going around, a group out to control the world. You may know them as Abstergo. I know them as the Templar Order. Or the worst part of the assholes who made my life a living hell. The second part of said assholes is the Assassin Brotherhood, in which I was born. However, since my trainer, who also happens to be my dad, was a fucking asshole and I never had any actual proof that templars where an actual thing, I became disillusioned and ran away at sixteen. I ended up being a bartender in New York, and had a pretty good life. I even ended up creating my own drink: the Shirley Templar.”
“Hum...” “Sorry, nostalgia.” “No, it’s okay, you seem to had a pretty good life. Wish mine when I was still human was as good. It’s just that naming a drink after the ones who your parents constantly warned you about seems to me like being fucking stupid.” “...Shit.” “What?” “I think I just got how Abstergo found me.” “Because of the shitty name of your drink.” “Yeah...” “...Dumbass. You were kidnapped?” “Oh yeah! So that’s where it gets fucking weird: you see, apparently, we have the memories of our ancestors somewhere in our mind, it’s called genetic memory. So, Abstergo kidnapped me to relive these memories. Else, you deserve points for that insult.” “Shut up and continue, what your saying is actually interesting.”
“Okay, so after reliving the memories of my ancestor, the Syrian assassin Altair, I escape with the help of other assassins and, with the help of something called the Bleeding Effect, I start reliving the memories of another ancestor of mine, an Italian called Ezio, and then an Mohawk called Ratonhnhaké:ton, or Connor for short. I had some serious problems during that time. First, the Bleeding Effect caused me to have some trippy hallucinations. Also, remember the tidbit about dead egomaniac lady?” “Yeah?” “Well, she’s actually an Precursor.” 
“A what.” “A Precursor. They were there before us and created these objects with tremendous power. They’re called the pieces of Eden.” With that, Desmond looked at his arm, melancholic. The burned one. “You should bandage it. It would look less suspicious and you could always say it’s just a bad burn.” “I’m going to do that.” “It looks like it hurt.” “Oh yeah, it hurt like a bitch. In some way, we could say one of these Pieces of Eden gave it to me. But mark my word, Alex, I’m going to heal from that and kick the ass of that bitch Juno. She made me kill my girlfriend. And it’s because of her I died.”
“Wow. Your life sucks.” “Well, it’s always better than being a slave of the Precursors, I guess.” “What?” “The Precursors created us to be their slaves dude. They’re the gods of mythology.” Alex only reaction was to look in front of him, looking somewhat spooked.
Well, that was some pretty fucked up shit.
And he could have gone without knowing all of this. He looked behind him, searching for Mer-
Fuck.
“SIR! We have a problem.’’ “What is it?” “James Heller just contacted us.” “Wait - former sergeant James Heller, the one who was contaminated with BLACKLIGHT?” “Yes, that one. Apparently, Alex Mercer escaped by forcing him to do the inverse of consuming by making him relive what he described as world-shattering shitty memories and he’s now running free. He also - Mercer, not Heller - wrote ‘ah ah, sucks to be you’ on a wall.” “... What the fuck.”
This took a lot of time to start, but it practically started to write itself alone after a while. Lot of setting up for the big story. UNTIL THEN!
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jillinabox · 7 years ago
Text
Assassin’s Creed
from a Film student’s perspective
a.k.a. Things I liked about the AC movie
I held off on watching it b/c of the bad reviews I’d heard, but (as an AC fan, not a newcomer,) I actually find little flaw in the movie! The issues I had while watching resolved themselves while I was watching.
The eagle sequence that always precedes a change of scene with the sluggish pace of a Disneyland tour? That is the Animus mapping out the setting of the ancestral memory. In the present day, it signals the start of a Leap of Faith.
The billion-dollar fog machine (bleeding and animus) effect? It allows for the moment when Cal looks down at Ojeda who he is cruelly butchering and the two men are indistinguishable between real or a projection. The heavy use of back light also cuts a silhouette out of Cal, further erasing his identity and highlighting Aguilar. This is the moment for the audience to slowly realise that Cal has fallen to his ancestor’s pace and is breathing the role. The fog serves as both a visual and a metaphorical reminder to not take things at face value, or that “nothing is true,” and its heavy presence in the scene marks the moment when Cal prioritises anarchy over morality and is confused on every facet of his life except that he wants his father and mother to pay for his loneliness (allowing the destruction of the Creed would reduce his parents’ sacrifices to moot). The fog’s “draggy” effect also mimics that of the AC2 bleeding effect, where Desmond can trace the movement of the ghostly projections.
Another significant fog scene is when Cal is still in the Animus and he sees Aguilar walking towards him, when after an hour of watching Animus projections move around Cal as if he’s Aguilar, we know this isn’t a work of the animus. Cal is having a bleeding effect within the Animus. And he’s accessing all of his Assassin ancestors. This counts for Fridge Horror and Awesome.
Mama Lynch’s message to Cal beyond death is like Minerva calling to Desmond from Ezio’s time. Hair-raising and awesome.
Replacing the artefact in Alan’s hand with a fruit. Assassin, indeed. While I understand that the movie couldn’t resolve the Assassin-Templar war, the ending still would have left much to be desired if not for the BAMF Cal assassinating Alan in true Assassin style.
Speaking of Aguilar’s assassination of Ojeda, it’s like watching your player avatar while spamming the attack button. Aguilar catches Ojeda with a unique attack combo, following another combo, and another –– and not only are his movements familiar and awesome, but dramatised (smoke, slow-mo, avenge your beloved, bass-boosted music). Unlike in the games, you can also see Aguilar’s face while he shifts between anger and hurt throughout his punishing. You can see Sophia’s (movie-counterpart to Lucy) face as well while she witnesses Cal’s rapid descent to insanity as he perfectly synchronises with Aguilar. Here, I appreciate the casting of Marion Cotillard, because motionless acting requires skill; Cotillard and Fassbender remind me why AC has to go hard or go home when it comes to the casting and production of a film about the franchise.
The Abstergo security standard arms include crossbows. Awesome.
Moussa. The best side of the Assassins, a peacemaker who can still kick butt. He shines in Michael K. William’s delivery of, “Will you let us free?” and in the scene where he drops a basketball –– signalling that his hands are free to the security guards –– then drops some bombs. Moussa has a heart of gold and crazy sleights of hand.
Cal’s “What the hell is going on?” closely mirrors Desmond’s WTF moment in AC2 and my sentiments exactly after world domination dreamers and conspiracy murderers meddle with Cal’s lunchtime. Even after 7+ games of the creed, the movie manages to not only surprise me with the old idea of the Illuminati, but make the conspiracy and history believable.
Kurzel always manages to direct diegetic light so that the Apple looks like it’s glowing. As a film student, I love it; the temple window, the Animus projectors, etc.
The non-combative staff in all white wear what I thought were simple dress shirts and white slacks, but on a second look I noticed that their collars close with a significant gap between flaps so that it looks like they have a white band under their collars, like a Catholic priest. Seeing as they’re Templars, this detail is cool.
Throwing knives while leaping rooftops. Very assassin-like. Don’t even get me started on Le Parkour, it’s the game mechanics exactly –– along with, good or bad, the delayed changes of camera perspective as the system catches up with player movement. If you merge the cut-crazy camera from AC death scenes with AC rooftop chase scenes, you get the movie.
I just can’t stop gushing over the detailled replication of character movement between the film and the games. If a movie-based game came out that allowed my avatar to creep, fly, and attack exactly like characters from the movie, I’d be all over it. With AC, we have the opposite, but newcomers who watch the movie before playing the game will be pleasantly surprised, imho. The visuals in the movie also closely follow those found in the games, from Abstergo’s halls lined with plasma light fixtures that turn red during security breaches, to the (what I felt) random gardens in an Abstergo facility (esp in AC3), to the (what I strongly felt) futuristic but aesthetically horrifying Abstergo architecture (like a Japanese product, I swear. Good at hardware but not at interface). The reenactment of a Rizi painting (La Inquisición Española) via Aguilar’s memories is also enough to make this history nut gush.
Papa Lynch isn’t a burly assassin thirty years after his capture, but a prisoner who has been as disarmed by Abstergo as possible; he’s gained weight and been used by the Animus to the point of mental destabilisation. Kurzel breaks the cliché of the protagonist’s handsome dad biding for escape.
An apple-sized Apple, as opposed to a volleyball-sized one, allows the audience to immediately draw lines between the prototype model Cal first picks up and the round fruit Nathan tries to steal from Cal’s place at the lunch table. While a red and green fruit bears no resemblance with the golden artefact besides a spherical shape, their matching size makes it easier for Kurzel to prod the Apple into our subconscious awareness as we go deeper into the movie. I do appreciate that Kurzel made Cal’s apple a Granny Smith aka a Golden Apple (heh).
Consider that –– since the dawn of Hollywood –– we’ve been force-fed white casts, exaggerated “foreign” accents, or no foreign languages at all in movies that deserve better (The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise? Exodus, starring Christian Bale?? I love all these actors, but the casting directors should think twice). Then look at AC the movie: unashamed of speaking Spanish for half the film (with the local accent, too, I dig it) or of learning the Creed in Arabic, not afraid to cast POC for extras and main roles, and not censoring anything the game franchise doesn’t censor. 
Let’s face it, AC has been breaking boundaries since game one, and it’s only proper the movie follows suit. 
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teecupangel · 11 months ago
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I really don’t want to add onto your pile of asks you’re working through but I had an idea I just had to send: the Ratatouille thing, but with like Altaïr controlling Ezio or some other combo of the ancestors congrolling each other!
Idk if Desmond’s there too or not, I’m mostly just imagining Ezio fanboying over being possessed by the Altaïr, while Altaïr is just acting annoyed at the whole thing but also fanboying himself over all the knowledge he now has access to.
And then imagine throwing the players into the equation. Just pure and complete chaos, somebody is screaming, guards are getting alerted and killed, and nothing’s actually getting done.
The Ratatouille AU where the ancestors can hear Desmond while ‘playing’, its more unhinged cousin, the Ratatouille AU where Desmond can hear us and the outside POV of Al Mualim thinking the Apple broke Altaïr. (I hope I didn’t forget anything else)
“It is truly an honor-”
“Yes, you’ve already said that.”
“Words cannot express-”
“Then don’t bother saying anything. No. Don’t open your mouth. I don’t have time for any of your insincere drivel.”
Ezio grew quiet as he stared at the open journal on the desk in front of him before he noted, “You are more easily irritated than I imagined.”
“Only when I’m around people who waste my time.” There was a half a second moment of silence before he added, “Or when the person I’m talking to is not saying what he truly wishes to say.”
Ezio rested one of his elbows on the table and placed his chin on his open palm, “It’s simply quite curious that the day I lost Desmond’s voice in my head is the day you tried to control me.”
“I was trying to connect to Desmond.” His voice was laced with annoyance and he took a deep breath before reminding Ezio, “As I explained before, it was never my intention to connect with you, Ezio Auditore. But now that I’m connected to you, I can’t even try to connect with Desmond at all.”
Ezio hummed.
Sure, he had been elated when Altaïr had introduced himself.
But, at the same time…
He had been worried.
According to Altaïr, he had learned of a way to connect to Desmond using the Apple after hearing a disjointed message that told him he should be able to do such a thing by forcing the Apple to do his bidding.
Altaïr was unsure himself because and he quoted, the voice ended the message with a ‘…. maybe? We believe in you, short king!’ which makes Ezio and Altaïr believe it was a message from one of the many voices that Desmond says he could hear.
Ezio had been worried because he lost Desmond’s voice a few days before Altaïr connected with him so he can’t help but think they were connected.
But both of them do not have any other clues other than the possibility that the Apple that he had been searching could hold a clue to why Altaïr had connected to him instead of Desmond.
And maybe Ezio himself could connect with Desmond as well…
Right now…
“Señor.”
Ezio closed the journal and put it on his bag as he quickly stood and turned towards the door.
“We will be docking in Barcelona shortly. Capitana told me to inform you that the guards will be checking the ship but they will start on the deck. They won’t be looking at the ‘place’ he showed you last time.”
“Grazie.” Ezio said with a nod even though the messenger could not see him, “Please give the captain my thanks as well.”
“I will, señor. Good luck.”
Ezio took a deep breath before he said, “As much as I would like to continue to look for the Apple, it’s important-”
“Oooohhhh. I don’t remember this cutscene.”
Ezio stopped.
That wasn’t Altaïr’s voice.
It was a woman…
“Hello?” Ezio asked as he looked around.
There was no answer.
Ezio opened his mouth-
“Are you one of Desmond’s voices?” Altaïr asked before he could.
There was a moment of silence before…
“Are… are you talking to me?”
“Yes.” Altaïr and Ezio answered at the same time.
The voice grew quiet once more before…
“Uuuuhhhh… shit. Did I… fucked my DS up???”
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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So I read the Desmond is English mastiff post.
You know what's bigger than that? Kurdish kangal. (no not the Anatolian shepherd, there's a difference) those fuckers get BIG and I mean BIG bc they're herd protection dogs and throw hands with wolves. So I'm cackling bc I can just imagine how terrifying and ridiculous it would be that Desmond is that big of a dog, he's practically a beast at that point.
Let me raise you another thing. Desmond the Danger noodle. Desmond the nope rope. Pick a snek, any snek.
Here’s the Desmond is a mastiff for anyone curious
I’m not sure if I got the images right as wiki links both Anatolian and Kurdish Kangal to the same Kurdish Shepherd wiki but here are the images that thekennelclub.org.uk added:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
They’re really big and I can totally see Desmond fighting wolves and cougars with Ratonhnhaké:ton as this kind of dog.
It would be funny though if, since he’s a shepherd dog but also Desmond ‘My self-preservation radar is questionable’ Miles, he doesn’t herd sheeps, he herd wolves.
Ratonhnhaké:ton has no idea how he did it and Desmond would like to swear the wolves followed him home, he doesn’t know how to herd at all.
Of course, he can’t defend his honor because Ratonhnhaké:ton can’t understand him anyway.
But hey, at least, it wasn’t a bear.
Right?
… right???
Also, it would be easy to get Desmond to his other two main ancestors since Kurdish Kangal is a traditional Turkish breed. This would make it easy for Desmond to get to Altaïr since he canonically visited Constantinople in 1204 so he could have gotten Desmond then and brought him back to Masyaf as a gift to his sons (who became Desmond’s herd… together with the other children around their age).
Ezio could also meet him when he’s in Constantinople. Maybe even have Desmond be the strange dog who appears whenever Ezio is looking for a memory seal. He has read tales of how the Levantine Brotherhood had a large dog as a protector of children so Ezio is pretty suspicious of the strange large dog who seemed to be connected to the memory seals. (Also, this gives Ezio a companion he can share his true feelings about the Creed and the life he lives as an Assassin, knowing the dog can provide comfort and would not say anything to anyone).
If you want Desmond as a snek boi, here’s the idea of Desmond being a snake
And here’s Desmond as a bigass Ttanoboa that can and will gobble enemies up here
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teecupangel · 11 months ago
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Hello dear angle. I'm back with an ask that idk if it's wierd or not. Actaully I'm trying to start a fanfic about a civilizade xenomorph society and I'm turing everthing I like to these cute little parasites. So… I wanted to ask what do you think about an android Desmond with his three white xenomorph ancestors? I've read several comics and novels of alien and what I discovered was that xenomorphs were created to be a biological weapon. So I was thinking what if Desmond android was created by abstergo to controll the xenemorphs. He is like a queen to them because of the DNA they share. In this au the assassin-templair war is not still over. And even in the sky they are trying to take cotroll over the galaxy. What if Desmond works in one of abstergo's labs. Until he saw a xenomorph for the first time in his life. It was pure white with a strange looking mark on its forhead. Some thing about this mark was familiar to him which he didn't know why. The first time he saw it he felt a strong bond between them. He felt so safe around that monster. It felt like family. Like home. He put his hand on the glass. The creature came closer with curiosity and placed its hand where was desmond's. And suddenly something flashed before Desmond's eyes. A face. A man with white cloak that was standing there and staring at him in a kind smile. And then he was in the lab again. He stared at the monster and smiled. "Ezio. So it's your name."
I will leave it from here for you. I belive in you. You can turn this to a movie that worths watching. And mabey it's ezides? I love ezides fanfics and i don't know why. They're kinda apposite but still cute. Your blog is wonderful 🤩
(Thank you! While I cannot promise I can make this a movie worth watching, I will do my best to make this something monster fuckers would at the very least be curious about XD)
It’s not weird. I mean, I’m fine with weird ideas XD
Also, Alien is one of my favorite horror movies.
For this one, what if we just throw away Alien/Prometheus canon and spin this into another AU (mainly because this gives us an excuse to not use the canon explanation of white xenomorphs and the proto xenomorphs.
For this one, let’s set up Abstergo as being sorta in a decline after humanity decided to live among the stars. While they had been focused on profiting and trying to eradicate the Brotherhood, Weyland-Yutani slips pass them and became the juggernaut corporation that more or less controlled human settlements.
DESMOND was meant to be the prototype of an android line that should have exceeded everything Weyland-Yutani approved androids could.
But there were a bit of problem with DESMOND. For one, he appeared too cold, less expressive than the cheapest android and has a hard time understanding orders.
It was a failure.
So Abstergo had to pivot and create a new product. They manage to get samples of Weyland-Yutani’s ‘prized’ secret project and a basic ‘overview’ of what it’s meant to be.
Unfortunately, the samples didn’t have enough genetic information to complete their version and they thought, “Hey, you know what we have? The DNA sample of some dude that died during the 21st century! That might work!”
In their defense, the lead of the project, Dr. Vidic (relation to the late Warren Vidic is unknown), believed in this ‘rumor’ that Sample 17 is the golden ticket to Abstergo’s success. It was the key to the success of the Animus Project. Why not this project as well?
If the human DNA is unusable for this project, Sample 17’s Isu DNA might be what they needed.
For this one, they made three Prototypes to use for different ‘experiments’.
They were called Zero-One, Zero-Two and Zero-Three.
Zero-One is taken to the deepest part of the space station to be experimented on.
Zero-Two is kept in one of the more secured floors to be observed with limited ‘contact’.
Zero-Three is kept on stasis while Zero-One and Zero-Two are being ‘observed’. Once the observation period is over, Zero-Three will be eliminated and dissected to gather more data using what data they gathered from Zero-One and Zero-Two.
DESMOND has been turned into a messenger android, delivering devices and other items and acting similar to someone who takes picture of the person who took a package.
It was one of the few things it could do without having to be supervised the entire time.
It is during one of its delivery to Dr. Vidic that it sees Zero-Two.
There was something about Zero-Two that makes it feel something.
Makes him feel something.
Their first meeting ends with him calling Zero-Two ‘Ezio’.
His Ezio.
DESMOND starts visiting him whenever he has the chance.
And Abstergo sees this all.
Hard not to considering the floor Ezio is in is covered in surveillance tech.
Dr. Vidic thinks this is a good thing.
DESMOND can communicate with Zero-Two. With enough time, DESMOND can be used to control Zero-Two.
No.
Control an army of them.
So he takes DESMOND under his wing and starts to supervise the meetings.
The tried and true method of carrot-and-stick.
With DESMOND being the carrot.
During that time, the team in charge of experimenting of Zero-One fuck up big time.
Maybe they didn’t take in consideration the idea that Zero-One would use its acid blood to destroy its cage.
Maybe they underestimated Zero-One’s intellect and it manages to get them to open the cage by pretending to be sick or dead.
Whatever the reason will be, the end result is the same.
Zero-One kills the team that has been experimenting on it and starts to hunt down everyone in the Space Station.
During this time, Dr Vidic gets the idea of hunting Zero-One using Zero-Two.
And he does it by having DESMOND become bait because he knows Zero-Two will protect DESMOND.
He didn’t take in consideration that DESMOND’s connection might not be exclusive to Zero-Two alone.
So when DESMOND sees Zero-One, he sees him about to kill another Abstergo personnel. The personnel begged for help but DESMOND simply stood there.
Dr. Vidic thought (as he watched the feeds from a drone) that DESMOND is doing as ordered, to find Zero-One and to place himself in danger until Zero-Two gets to his position (Zero-Two has been fashioned with a device that would push a strong sedative inside him in a push of a button, deliberately placed in a part of his body that he cannot use his acid blood to dissolve it)
Zero-One kills the personnel and starts moving to DESMOND’s position on all fours. A predator slowly making its way to its next kill.
That’s when Dr. Vidic sees DESMOND take a step towards Zero-One and reach a hand.
Without any mirror, DESMOND touches Zero-One as he says, “Altaïr?”
“You want to kill them all? Okay.”
“… We can do that.”
.
Unorganized Notes:
They take Ratonhnhaké:ton out of stasis during Altaïr’s rampage and DESMOND stays with him because he hasn’t gotten used to moving yet and is the most vulnerable of the three.
Considering it’s me, I would suggest we just turn this into all three main couples (AltDes, EziDes, ConDes) for triple the ‘fun’.
They feel a connection to DESMOND because he is created to be a complete copy of Sample 17 with an android body. Technically, his ‘genetics’ is more or less in that ‘white fuel’ he creates himself and a bunch of 1s and 0s makes up Sample 17’s entire DNA.
In a more… ‘strange’ level, they feel a connection to DESMOND and DESMOND feels a connection with them because they’re the closest species to one another. Both created from Sample 17.
If you want smut in this one, well, they see DESMOND as their Queen and they have the instinct to mate with their Queen because Sample 17’s genetic code had a hardwired ‘order’ of needing to reproduce sexually. (to create Desmond Miles but the order is still there). Otherwise, they feel the need to protect DESMOND and to satisfy his every desire.
The xenomorphs take one more and more characteristics of the ‘target’ ancestor in terms of personality and habits. On the flipside, DESMOND starts acting more… ‘selfish’ the longer he stays with the three.
This would end with the space station succumbing to the xenomorphs but Dr. Vidic manages to send out an SOS before he dies.
This is the part where we can focus on developing DESMOND’s relationship with the xenomorphs (insert smut here if you want).
Then… an Abstergo rescue ship is pinged on the radar and… more cannon fodders as well as the possibility of finally leaving the space station.
The twist is there’s an Assassin aboard the rescue ship and this Assassin would get in contact with DESMOND and realize who he is based on because the Brotherhood never forgot Desmond Miles. (this gives us the chance to make this either (1) DESMOND and the xenomorphs joining the Brotherhood for a sorta morally gray good guys scenario or (2) they kill the Assassin and go on full on corrupted “the world against us” setup)
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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You know worms are harmless things right? Just there burrowing or something and one day I thought "what if Desmond got turned into a worm?" But! Worm Desmond is small! What can he do to help the Assassin's? And now imagine this! One of his ancestors surrounded by enemies and injured and just when they think it's the end a giant worm the size of a train pops out of the ground and crushes everyone and then the thing is infront of the ancestor and thinks they're gonna die too and then the worm just shrinks down to a typical worm size and just lays there as if nothing happened at all.
It would be cool if Desmond was a Mongolian death worm but I'm fine with anything else
This would be fun because Desmond would see himself as useless and, really, this was the Isus’ cruel joke (maybe even Juno) since he couldn’t do anything with a small wiggly body like his.
Still, he persisted and tried to make his way to his ancestor’s main base of operation, wiggling and eating his way from the place he had woken up in… as a worm. He tried to keep underground to not be seen by both humans and any animals that would like to take a bite of him.
Depending on where he had been transported, he could reunite with his ancestor:
Altaïr: Somewhere in the Kingdom section of the AC1 map. Altaïr had just been on his way to his next mission when he saw crusaders harassing one of the outlying towns that were under Masyaf’s protection. This would still be an arrogant Altaïr and he would call out to them and call them cowards who prey on the weak instead of taking one or two down by surprise first.
Ezio: It would be fun (and angst-y) if Desmond finds Ezio while he’s fleeing from the Borgias after the fall of Monteriggioni. He’s heavily wounded and bleeding and the horse he’s riding on was tired with some of Cesare’s soldiers about to catch up to him.
Ratonhnhaké:ton: Somewhere in the vast frontier. Ratonhnhaké:ton is a hunter so he had been hunting for the homestead when he noticed a group of marching redcoats with what seemed to be ‘prisoners’. He tried to save them but it had been a trap and those prisoners turned out to be redcoats themselves and they managed to hit Ratonhnhaké:ton on the head while he had been trying to protect them.
So Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are in a pinch because of circumstances. Altaïr is in a pitch (which he will adamantly deny) because he’s an arrogant dumbass. So Desmond is panicking because he has no idea how to help, oh god, did this even happen in the past? He meant present! Fuck, time travel tenses are fucking hard.
Focus, Desmond!
In his blind panic, he just charges toward the enemies, hoping to… he has no plan! No hope! Just pure panic and a ‘fuck it, let’s see what I can do once I’m there’.
Then when he’s right on top of the center of the enemies…
He doesn’t know why but he felt his entire body warm up.
Almost too hot but bearable for someone like him.
Then…
He just erupted from the ground with large maw open and just… gobbled the enemy right on top of them while toppling those nearby. Then he quickly returned underground.
And sprang back up to take another enemy.
Like some kind of deadly whack-a-mole… (Whack-a-worm?)
(I know you just wanted him to drop over the enemies but I kinda like the idea of Desmond just straight up eating these poor dudes for some reason. No, there is a reason. I love the Tremors franchise and this ask reminded me of a Graboid. Sorry.)
By the end of it, all the enemies had been swallowed whole and Desmond sprang back up one last time to throw up all of the non-organic matter he had swallowed as well.
Seeing the disgust (and fear) on their ancestors’ face, Desmond let out an almost coo-like sound as he tried to say “yeah, me too, buddy, eeeww” and then poof’ed, he’s his old little worm self once more.
He rolled around the ground and looked up to his ancestor with a “pick me up” like gesture.
When their ancestor just kept staring, Desmond tries a “please?” gesture which he was sure wasn’t really helpful.
But… for some reason… his ancestor picks him up anyway.
Unorganized Notes:
The three can’t explain it but there’s something about the worm that ‘calls’ to them. Like they know that it wasn’t a coincidence that they were saved and spared.
Desmond cannot communicate with his ancestors. Even trying to wrap his worm body in a writing tool proved too hard. Up to you if that changes once they get the Apple.
Altaïr would study Desmond and give him various different ‘food’ to see what he would eat. He records everything in a separate journal with sketches of Desmond. Desmond has made a ‘draw me like one of your French girls’ and a ‘no, no, draw me on this side, this is my good side’ joke so many times even though Altaïr just keeps sighing and gently pushing him to get back to his old pose without understanding why Desmond liked those poses so much whenever he starts sketching him.
Ezio eventually fell unconscious and, when he woke up, he thought it had been a fever dream. Until he sees Desmond had hidden in one of his pouches so that the young woman (who was canonically the model of Mona Lisa according to the Reflection comics btw) wouldn’t see him. Ezio is a bit wary of Desmond because he remembered how Desmond had grown so big all of a sudden but he warms up soon enough when all Desmond did was wrap around his neck and chill while he makes his way to Roma. Desmond has a harder time helping Ezio because the flooring of the streets of Roma means he’s ‘headbutting’ each time he pops up and he does have to throw up the ‘tiles’ or whatever they’re called. Ezio’s recruits usually are wary of him but warm up to him once they see that he’s mostly just harmless if Ezio isn’t fighting. They like to feed him fruits and meat that Ezio starts trying to stop them because Desmond keeps eating them until he bloats up and Ezio feels that it’s bad for Desmond. The moment Leonardo is away from the Borgias, he starts studying Desmond. He had wanted to study Desmond the moment he saw him with Ezio but he couldn’t because of the whole Cesare-as-my-current-art-sugar-daddy situation.
Ratonhnhaké:ton believes Desmond is sentient and a hunter himself so he doesn’t try to coddle him and usually lets him get his own food whenever he goes hunting himself. Desmond doesn’t mind since he can eat dirt anyway but Ratonhnhaké:ton still shares a bit of his hunt with him anyway. Desmond doesn’t understand why though since Ratonhnhaké:ton told him specifically to hunt by himself. Ratonhnhaké:ton doesn’t say it out loud but he always worried that Desmond was not eating as he assumed Desmond is a carnivore that needs to become big to hunt down prey. Nah. Desmond is like most worms, dirt is fine. Ratonhnhaké:ton wasn’t worried about bringing him to the homestead because he trusted his instincts that were telling him Desmond was a friend. He truly believes Desmond is some kind of ‘animal’ that just hasn’t been discovered yet.
All three of them tried to give a name to Desmond and, for some reason, they all come up with the same name even without Desmond’s questionable charade capabilities: Desmond. Altaïr believes the name comes from a dream he once had (Desmond is just “???!!!”), Ezio believes he’s just using a name that had been in his mind a lot since Vatican and Ratonhnhaké:ton is perplexed why he picked such a foreign name but it just seemed right, like he just knew that it was Desmond’s name.
I know some people might be squeamish with worms so I’m going to use the “Keep Reading” function. Below is what the Mongolian Death Worm looks like.
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Also, the whole ‘sprout from the ground to devour people’ thing that derailed this ask is because of the Graboid. It’s not an actual worm but it would be fun if Desmond looks like a white Mongolian Death Worm but his big form is more similar to the albino Graboid (which is meant to look more like a Mongolian Death Worm than the usual Graboid):
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teecupangel · 2 years ago
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OG anon of the Reborned Desmond in Unity. I'm mighty proud that my ideas spur you fun writing. I'll confess you a secret, I'm also og anons of the ideas I've sent you prior but I don't wanna have you see me aggressive or pushy because I enjoy your content immensely (I had bad experiences of people's harsh words in irl and online on my personality). Anyway, it's similar in Unity idea. What if Desmond is reborned in AC Rogue, like became Shay's childhood friend or Liam's older or younger brother. Or possibly in a time earlier so can Desmond be established in Brotherhood maybe master assassin for Connor's happiness. Haytham's confusion and frustration in some point in the plot that Desmond won't kill him but has a look of a disappointed or pained look of a family member and Lisbon is saved. Desmond and Shay could become platonic soulmates or slow burn childhood friends to lovers (up to you) or better yet Desmond unintentionally became mentor (he was supposed just be an assassin in the background damn it lmao) and Shay is like a bodyguard or right hand which had these intense sexual tension between the two. Sorry for messy and long ask
Ah, well, I don’t see a problem with your personality and I like the ideas you throw at me. To be fair, I do try to limit my time with everyone’s asks to a certain time so I can still write. So if you don’t see an answer, that only means it’s been pushed to next day or something.
Alright, let’s think about how to make this work.
As usual, we’ll keep the same limitation as the Unity AU one
Desmond remembers his life as Desmond Miles
Desmond will have his ancestors’ memories and skills but those memories will be vague
So he either gets reborn as Shay’s childhood friend or Liam’s older/younger brother. Since Liam is Shay’s childhood friend, we can combine the two and make Desmond’s Shay’s childhood friend who is also Liam’s sibling.
Now, according to AC wiki, Liam was Achilles’ first acolyte and it was Liam who also recruited the rest of the Colonial Assassins. He’s pretty much Achilles’ second in command and maybe even being groomed as the next mentor.
In this scenario, Desmond and Liam would both be inducted into the Brotherhood together (whether we keep the whole “Liam’s father got executed to save his son” part of his backstory is up to you, nonny) with Desmond being more of Liam’s shadow. Many will see him as the little bird who whispers in Liam’s ear. Everyone in the Brotherhood knows that if you want Liam on your side, you get Desmond on your side.
We’ll get to Shay later as we need to talk about how Desmond’s inclusion would affect the Colonial Brotherhood as a whole.
Achilles Davenport
Desmond would still remember how Ratonhnhaké:ton thought of him as a father-figure. He also remembers how Achilles sometimes treated Ratonhnhaké:ton like a stubborn child so he has mixed feelings for Achilles. What he does remember is that Achilles’ family would die. Here’s where we get a bit creative with this. Desmond doesn’t have actual medical know-how. What he did had was a Shaun who was more than happy to explain what killed Achilles’ family and how that could have been prevented, which literally boils down to “cleanliness”.
So, in this scenario, Desmond is kind of a clean freak. People assume it’s because he used to live in a dirty place and Liam never tried to correct them that Desmond had always been a clean freak since they were children. The homestead is always clean, especially the kitchen. Achilles learned to live with it because his son loves the ‘wash your hands’ song that Desmond taught him. In this case, Abigail and Connor live and that means that Achilles would be ‘milder’ than his canon characterization. (Maybe Abigail even treats all of Achilles' students like her children as well?)
Hope Jensen
The main difference for Hope in this scenario is how she controls her gangs. Desmond knows it would be impossible to stop crimes from happening but his words and his adherence to the Creed would resonate with Hope. Instead of having something akin to a Proto-Rooks, Hope would be in charge of something similar to how the media portrayed the golden age of the mafia. They’re criminals, yes, and they sell illegal shit but they’re organized and they have a code. They protect the people in their district and take care of crimes not their own. In exchange, the people (and maybe even the police) look the other way when they do illegal stuff. (Hope becomes a mix of Vito Corleone and Red Hood in this scenario… does this mean Desmond accidentally created the mafia in New York during the 18th century?)
Kesegowaase
Not much would change for Kesegowaase although he would consider Desmond as a close friend. They’re also hunting buddies and Kesegowaase would notice how many of Desmond’s movements are very similar to him or to other tribes that he knows of. Desmond would just wave it off as a coincidence or maybe even say “I had a great teacher”. Kesegowaase would seesaw between thinking Desmond had been trained by one of his people (or one of the other tribes) and thinking Desmond may have been blessed by one of their spirits.
Louis-Joseph Gaultier
Oooohhhh bbooyy. This one… okay. So… Gaultier will be the one that keeps butting heads with Desmond. A lot. Desmond would even argue against his inclusion as he sees Gaultier as violent and arrogant but Achilles will argue that his connection with the French army made him invaluable. Even his suggestion of just keeping Gaultier as an ‘ally’ would be denied because Achilles sees how loyal he is. “He is loyal to a master, not to the Creed!” will be Desmond’s main argument. So there are a lot of times that he and Gaultier would argue on what it means to be an Assassin and what the Creed means. Gaultier would emphasize on Desmond’s Irish immigrant heritage to belittle his knowledge about the Creed and Desmond will argue that blood doesn’t matter. On the flip side, Desmond’s constant arguments with Gaultier and critiquing of Gaultier’s actions make all the other Assassins have a better understanding of the Creed and what it means to be an Assassin.
Liam O'Brien
Honestly, I think Desmond should be his younger brother, mainly because that would make Desmond be of a similar age as Shay and because Liam just has big bro-vibes. Just imagine him being a protective older brother who likes to tease Desmond. In this scenario, Liam would feel responsible for Desmond’s safety (especially if we do decide that their father still dies for Liam’s mistakes) and he’s a bit overprotective at times which Desmond finds both tiring and also makes him feel warm inside. Liam would also be torn whenever Desmond and Achilles would butt heads. On one hand, Achilles is like a father to him, on the other hand, Liam also knows his brother long enough to understand that everything Desmond does is for what he believed is right. Achilles may have been the one to choose Liam to be an Assassin but Liam knows that it’s Desmond who embodies what being an Assassin is supposed to be.
And now, we get to Shay Cormac.
Shay met Liam first and Liam was the one to introduce Desmond to him. Desmond has no memories of Shay at all since, even before the memories of his Bleed took a hit, his memories of Haytham stopped before Haytham met Shay. Not only that but Achilles never told Ratonhnhaké:ton anything. All Desmond knew is that the Colonial Brotherhood will be destroyed by the Templars while Ratonhnhaké:ton was young. So he grew up treating Shay as a friend. They separated due to their family situations but Liam later reunites with Shay and invites him to the Brotherhood.
And this is where Shay gets hit.
Growing up, he saw Desmond more as Liam’s little brother. A small kid that Shay needs to keep an eye on because he can be a little strange and has a mischievous streak that no one would believe. Shay has lost count of how many times Desmond had made some asshole’s life hell without anyone realizing it was him.
So when he heard Desmond was one of the high-ranking members of the Brotherhood, he wasn’t surprised. Desmond had always been a sneaky little shit.
Then…
He saw Desmond as a young adult for the first time, maybe while he’s looking over reports Hope was showing him concerning the current situation in New York, and Shay just…
Stared.
Desmond as a child was cute. Maybe a little too thin but that was unfortunately normal for them. He always wore Liam’s old clothes which were too big for him.
But Desmond in his Assassin robes? Wearing clothes that actually fit him? Having grown up into a fit young man?
Shay gets hit hard. And Desmond is simply too happy to see him again to see it.
But Hope notices it.
And Liam freaking notices it too.
And now Shay doesn’t have to just deal with his growing affection for an oblivious Desmond. He has to deal with Hope’s teasing and Liam’s seesawing erratically between teasing him and threatening to eviscerate him. Shay’s crush is going to be the worst kept secret in the homestead that even little Connor Davenport knows about it.
But Desmond doesn’t.
Why?
Because Desmond is too focused dealing with the whole Kenway drama at the moment.
Because no matter who Desmond gets reborn to… He will always prioritize the three men he cared for the most.
And, at this point, Haytham Kenway was already in America (but Desmond has no idea where) and there were even slow ongoing talks of an alliance with Ratonhnhaké:ton’s tribe that Desmond has taken charge of.
And this is where I go back to my try-and-tested idea of Desmond spending lots of time with baby!Ratonhnhaké:ton and being bff with Kaniehtí:io. (*whispers*Ratonhnhaké:ton and Connor Davenport being brothers *whispers*)
But let’s focus on the first part of Rogue for this one.
One way for Desmond to learn that Achilles is messing with Isu bs is thanks to Hope. Hope and Shay were the ones to be ordered to find and analyze the precursor box and either of them could tell Desmond about it but, at this point, Shay is still ‘new’ and may be trying to get some brownie points from Achilles. On the other hand, Hope has long been converted to Desmond’s side and would definitely tell Desmond about all of these because she’s heard of how dangerous these items are from Desmond himself.
Desmond would strongarm his way to being part of the mission and might even sneak into Morrigan as a stowaway and only show himself when they were nearing Lisbon. Thanks to Desmond’s ‘affinity’ with POEs, Lisbon will definitely not happen (hell, we can even use some of the plot points from A Pirate's Son for this part XD) and the second part of Rogue would be changed to Desmond and Shay trying to secure all the other POEs in the manuscript they have.
And… maybe they start getting close during their travels and something develops between them during that time… (nudgenudgenudge)
Sidenote: This is also a bit similar to the idea I was thinking of based on @twitcherpated’s suggestion in AO3 of Desmond being reborn as the actual Connor Davenport. The only difference is that Desmond would be a bit young in that one and won’t be able to stop Lisbon but, even if he’s young, he can still comfort Shay and stop him from doing anything drastic while still in shock.
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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What's your stance on what-if-character-x-was-evil AUs? Asking because when Kassandra showed up before Layla in the flesh my brain went "...and she clearly works for Abstergo."
While I admit I didn’t think Kassandra would be part of Abstergo when I saw her appear at the end of Odyssey’s main game, I do think it would be fun to think about how she would have ended up as a member of Abstergo.
Also, what idea we can throw into the wall into how she would have ended up as part of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order? XD
Hell. I know the Inner Sanctum is the highest members of the Templar Order but I kinda like the idea that Kassandra would be above them, sorta like the true Grand Master and shadow head of the Templar Order.
That would have been a fun twist to explore…
Although, in terms of Odyssey the game, it would have been a twist ending that would have polarized the players and the DLCs have to work hard to make that twist believable.
In fanworks and AU ideas? Go wild, everyone.
Now, let’s talk in a more general way about how we can implement ‘what-if-character-x-was-evil’ AU ideas in Assassin’s Creed:
The easiest way to do this is to make their backstory different (for example: (1) when Desmond left the Farm, Vidic found him early on and became a father figure that manipulated him into hating the Assassins or (2) Al Mualim’s indoctrination of Altaïr dug deeper than it did in AC1 and he grew up completely loyal to Al Mualim to the point of joining the Templar Order himself with his ‘father’ or (3) Arno is raised by Bellec himself so he’s absolutely one hundred percent a willing accomplice to all of Bellec’s plans and hates the Templars for killing his father to the point that he doesn’t believe the Assassins and Templars can co-exist)
A fun way to do this is to corrupt the characters themselves. This could end in two different main categories:
They are corrupted by the POE and this could be (1) full-blown ‘power corrupts even the best of us’ type or (2) 'I will do these unforgivable sins because the alternative pushed by the Calculations will bring about a fate worse than death to the world and those I care about, this is my sin to bear alone' route. (3) There's also a combination of (1) and (2) that I like to call the N-route of "Have I not suffered enough? Do I not deserve my own happiness even if it means the suffering of others?!".
This one is my favorite because I love fucking with Desmond using the Bleeding Effect: it is not the characters who become corrupted but their digital avatar in the Animus. Either because Abstergo skimmed on QA or this is truly a bug in the Animus that they didn’t think would happen because all that reading of the POE’s corruptive powers messed with the Animus itself and that corrupted versions of the Assassins? That’s the one that appears in the Bleeding Effect. Just imagine Desmond having corrupted versions of his ancestors whispering to him, slowly driving him mad all the while giving him the attention and kindness he didn’t receive as a child. And Desmond would be weak to their whispers because he believes he knows them, had relived their lives… and the corrupted versions know they need Desmond on their side.
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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Hi. You are my angle, Seriously! I'm so proud of you and your wild imagination.❤👏
What if Desmond and his ancestors were liveing in The Farm and watch movies in their free time together?
How whould they be during watching the lord of the rings and the hobbit?
Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying all the ideas I’ve been throwing but I want to make it clear that the only reason why I can throw so many ideas in this blog is because of the asks I receive so thank you to all those who take the time to send me asks :)
I would assume that we are talking about the Farm in South Dakota which means that this would be set in a modern-day AU where Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are kids living on the Farm so let’s set that up first.
Altaïr could easily be an orphan, having lost his father during the Great Purge. I know this is mean to do but the Great Purge happened when Desmond was a child so Umar’s death would force Bill to tell Desmond about the Great Purge instead of keeping it from him to ‘not scare him’. This would make Desmond understand just how ‘scary’ the Templars are since this would mean he knows someone who died from Templar hands.
Ezio would be from a big Assassin family as well but it’s only his siblings and mother in the Farm, at the moment. (If you want Giovanni and Federico to get axed during the Great Purge as well, go ahead, if you want Petruccio added into the mix, I mean… that’s cruel but I won’t stop you) Maria Auditore could even be the reasonable adult figure who keeps William Miles in check for this one.
Ratonhnhaké:ton, well, I guess we’re on the road of killing parents in this ask so Kaniehtí:io is dead in this one too BUT, since she’s not an Assassin (although assassin!Kaniehtí:io would have been so cool), she didn’t die from the Great Purge. He’s currently living with his grandfather. Haytham is still a Templar and he doesn’t know he has a son.
That’s right. We’re keeping Edward alive because… we need an adult who would be willing to smuggle goods for the kids and have a home that could be their ‘safe haven’ where they could watch movies (and eat ‘forbidden food’… candies, I’m talking about candies and sweet food/drinks).
So, in this case, Edward would be the one to smuggle in a VHS player (which he managed to get for cheap) because he wants his grandson to have some kind of childhood that isn’t just training and studying. Later on, he gets a cd player and then a dvd player but the boys love the VHS player because it has all their childhood favorites.
It’s an open secret that Edward lets the boys watch movies whenever they visit his grandson and Bill looks the other way because he sees how happy Desmond always is when he goes home (and hyper… definitely sugar rush, Jesus Christ, Edward).
So, you wanted to focus on Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit…
Now, the Fellowship was released in 2001. If Edward was able to acquire a copy (bootleg DVD copy) the following year, the boys would be around 14~15 (if we assume all four of them were born the same year as Desmond), they’ll definitely watch it after training and they’ll love it. Edward would even get them a copy of the books because they heard it’s a book adaptation and they’d want to check it out. Of course, they’re teenagers at this point but the Kenway home always makes them feel like they could still act like kids so they’d definitely play fight the action scenes when it's just them, might even try out the moves they see for fun.
Hell, when they jog around the forest for training, someone could randomly shout “Get off the road!” and all four of them would just rush off the road and hide, confusing the other children first then later on the other children would just sigh and shake their heads, thinking this is one of the four troublemakers’ dumb ideas again.
Watching the next two movies of LOTR would be a big deal for them. And you bet that they always rewatch the movies every time a new version comes out (the release of the BluRay version, the extended BluRay versions). It’s a big deal for them and even Bill has to workaround their ‘yearly Extended Versions marathon’ schedule even though he’s the mentor and they’re already Assassins out in the field. It doesn’t matter if they’re in different parts of the world, they will find a way to get into a specific location where they can relax and have their yearly Extended Versions marathon.
The Hobbit movies?
Oh, man. They watched those in the theatres when they first came out. Went in the film cosplaying as fucking nazguls of all things. It’s mainly to hide their identity so Bill doesn’t bitch at them later but they find it funny too.
And you bet they also had the Hobbit Extended Versions as part of their yearly Extended Versions marathon.
Sidenote: The yearly marathon is an important private affair of which only Grandpa Eddie has been allowed to join. Shaun has tried to join a few times but he is always stared at for a moment before a resounding no is heard from all four.
I know this was meant to be fluff but the backstory added angst. I like to think this is a case of “finding happiness even after everything” kind of story.
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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That’s so true. Also, even if we assume Ezio’s short blade and sword (if he is even armed with a one-handed sword) and Altaïr’s short blade and sword cancel each other out in terms of weight, Ezio still has a crossbow on his back and also a few bolts. He also has a Hidden Gun. Those would be heavier than Altaïr’s throwing knives.
I would also like to add that my headcanon is Altaïr relies on speed to take down opponents bigger and more armored than him and that Ezio is more muscular than Altaïr which was developed because Ezio did learn to fight open combat with his uncle’s mercenaries who weren’t Assassins so the feeling of ‘heaviness’ Ezio had could also be attributed to the fact that he didn’t focus on speed but on strength like Mario’s mercenaries did.
(Sorry, I have the same problem so I want Desmond to have our problem with that flag as well XD)
More “Desmond controls his ancestors badly as he’s one of us”:
Ezio: Merda!
Desmond: Why did you do a leap of faith?!
Ezio: You made me do it!
Desmond: Nooooo. I wanted you to jump to the next rooftop. Aw, shit. We went over the time. (groan)
Ezio: (sigh) Let’s do this again… I suppose. (already walking to the starting point since he knows by now Desmond would keep doing this until they ‘clear’ it)
From @maythevoidnotscreamback
Holy SHIT! This idea is AMAZING!!! My fave parts involved Haytham and Ratonhnhaké:ton. I also think it would be even more interesting with bits of Desmond talking about some stories he experienced while dreaming of some of Edward's Bleeds just to get Haytham off his high horse about how 'bad' Ratonhnhaké:ton does at sailing. Or maybe even to, hopefully, tell some truth from fiction regarding some things that Haytham might have been told about his father. (1 of 2)
Something like, "And how would you know?! You've admitted you never came to him as you did me." "Hey, I might not have experienced his life as I have you and Ratonhnhaké:ton but that doesn't mean my dreams regarding him are any less real. He is as much a part of me as Ratonhnhaké:ton is. As YOU are, much as I want to beat your face in sometimes." (2 of 2)
I'm glad you're enjoying this, hahaha.
Canon-wise, that would be hard to do because the audio log from AC Valhalla did have a date of December 20.
Oh yeah, and yesterday... just before bed, I had a memory on a beach in the Caribbean. With a bunch of sailors. Or maybe they were pirates? I don't know. No idea. (from Desmond_02.WAV)
But, according to Desmond’s Files in AC Initiate, they retrieved the Grand Temple key by December 20 and the screenshot reads 18:something which meant they got the key at around 6 pm.
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According to Google Maps, it takes 5~6ish hours to get from Turin, New York (where the Grand Temple is) and Rockport, Massachusetts (where Davenport Homestead is) so that would mean that Desmond had to get the location of the key at around 12~1 pm (if we say that it took an hour or less for them to pack everything in the van). Since we know that Desmond took a break on December 20, our best guess is that break when he had the time to talk to Rebecca and record that audio would be while Shaun and Bill are preparing the van.
Which means Desmond was most probably starting to Bleed Edward after Sequence 9 (the earliest sequence I can think of is Sequence 10ish but Sequence 11 is a safer bet, imho).
What we can do, however, is add in a scene like this:
Haytham: Perhaps someone with more experience should take the wheel?
Desmond: Fine then, you pompous ass! Adé! Take the wheel!
Faulkner: Capt’n, who’s Adé?!
Desmond: …… I… I don’t know…
Ratonhnhaké:ton: (takes over) Desmond? Are you alright?
Desmond: I think I just had a Bleed while in the Animus… oh fuck.
Ratonhnhaké:ton was too focused worrying on Desmond that he did not notice how his father had surprisingly turned quiet, simply starting at him.
No.
At Desmond.
Because the accent and the way he spoke together with calling out for someone called Adé who could take over the helm.
Haytham knew that Desmond was calling for Adéwalé.
His father’s longtime friend and quarter master during his sailing days…
As well as…
The Assassin Haytham had ordered the death of.
Here's an idea I think you might enjoy: animus but Des is in their head, controlling them. They can feel it and talk to him and everything, ratatouille style.
……………… You know what would be funny, nonny?
If Desmond sucks at controlling them.
Like, we’ve heard the rites of passage in AC games:
We make them jump instead of doing a leap of faith
We accidentally make them climb the wrong high building and the actual viewpoint is the tower next to it
We miscalculate a jump and fall into the waters below or into an unsuspecting civilian
And there’s the game specific problems I refuse to believe I’m the only one who suffered thru it.
So just imagine Desmond trying to control them in the Animus and they know they’re being controlled.
There’s this… change in the air around them. It feels more charged. More… mysterious.
And they also become clumsier for some goddamn reason.
Incidents include:
Altaïr falling into the waters in the docks of Acre for the fifteenth time and he just hisses under his breath, “What is wrong with you?! Do you enjoy seeing me wet?!” and Desmond’s just “Dude, your control sucks!” which leads to Altaïr having an argument with Desmond under his breath about how his ‘control’ (whatever that means) does not suck, Desmond just sucks at this thing he likes to call ‘platforming’ and they both just agreed that, yeah, okay, they’re gonna assassinate Sibrand by going around instead even if it meant Altaïr had to walk slowly and pretend to be praying the entire time.
Altaïr breathing heavily as he glared at the ten (nope, five more guards found him in open combat, damn it) guards trying to kill him. One of them stepped forward and raised his sword. Altaïr readied himself and he still got hit, “(Growl)! Desmond! Get your timing right!” “Your Hidden Blade counter timing is too fast, Altaïr! Let’s just use your swor-” “No! You will learn how to counter using the hidden blade or, I swear, I will find a way to control you and drill it to your body myself!” (Guards just glance at each other, thinking “oh shit, he’s insane”)
Ezio just staring into the sky as he places his hands on his waist as he called out, “Desmond! How about we try this again later?” “No! I almost got it!” “……… It’s been an hour, Desmond. Let’s try clearing this tomb after-” “No! We’re gonna get that Armor today if it’s the last thing we do! Just… this goddamn time limit is annoying! Time limit sucks!” Ezio who is already used to the mysterious voice (who calls himself Desmond)’s strange words: “………… (sigh)”
“I can take them out. Desmond, please, I’m begging you, let me take them out. I can do-” (Desmond takes control and Ezio watches as his recruits take down the targets) The recruits looking at Ezio for approval. Ezio: Bene, that was a good takedown. (inside, Ezio is just tired because Desmond is enjoying all this ‘summoning’ thing too much…)
“Why can’t we have different lethal bombs?! You have the ingredients for it!” “I don’t know, Desmond. Could we just please finish preparing all the bombs?” “Dude, wouldn’t it be better if we have, like, all of these bombs?” “… I don’t think I have enough space in belt for all of them…” “You should get a bag.” “(Sigh) Desmond, we already talked about this. This Animus of yours don’t allow more ‘inventory’, right?” (inside, Ezio is wondering what his life has become that he sorta kinda understand the words leaving his mouth)
“Desmond… I’m imploring you to not mess this up.” “I’m trying, man, this is hard.” “Who are you talking to, Haytham?” “Ziio! No… no one.” “…” “… sigghhh… Desmond say hello to Ziio.” “Hi, Ziio.” “… is this a curse placed upon you white men?” “…” “…” “…” “Perhaps.” “Sorta?”
“You are a Templar. May the Father of Understanding guide us.” “May the Father of Understanding guide us.” “Wait, what?!” “…” “…” “Master Kenway, is something the matter?” “… no, Charles. I simply… remembered something foul.”
“It’s okay, Desmond. You’ll get this soon enough. Just take a deep breath and………… Desmond. Desmond. Please stop doing whatever you’re doing right now. My head is starting to hurt.” “It’s not me! The cameras of these tree view points sucks ass!”
“How is it you came to captain a ship, given the way you sail?” “Oh, screw you, Haytham! You wanna talk shit, why don’t you try doing this shit yourself, huh?!” “…” “…” “…” “… Apologies, father. Desmond was out of line.” “No, I’m not, fuck you, Haytham!” “I can say with absolute delight I have not missed you one bit, Desmond.” “Bite me, tacohead.” “I still do not know what that means.”
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michelles-garden-of-evil · 4 years ago
Text
Episode 33 Review: The Gentle Zombie
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{ Not available on YouTube }
{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }
{ Screencaps }
And now, following our over-4,000-word-long sojourn into the eerie, isolated estate of San Rafael on Tuesday, we at last return to the even eerier and even more isolated locale of Maljardin, THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES’ Garden of Evil! *sting*
Once again, Colin Fox has the day off to recover from his spinal injury the year before, meaning we get another Foxless episode. Unlike some of the previous Foxless episodes, however, this one is a real treat. We get the first centered around the mysterious Quito, Jean Paul Desmond’s silent manservant, Raxl’s closest companion, and owner of the adorable Chalcko, mascot of this blog. We also finally get payoff for my least favorite Maljardin-era subplot, the saga of the Holly portrait--which, if you ask me, is long overdue--and it’s good.
The Lost Episode summary for this episode indicates that it was always intended to focus on Quito. As usual, the Cleveland Plain Dealer provides the most detailed and best summary (and I am not at all biased, despite living in Cleveland):
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Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer (October 24, 1969). The “Repeat” part is a misprint, as the episode only aired once on WKBF.
Interestingly, we already saw Quito give Holly the gift of a sparkling stone three episodes ago in the aired version of Episode 30. For whatever reason, the executives and/or Ian Martin himself decided to have this event occur earlier in the series’ timeline, possibly with its original importance to the overarching story decreased. The second sentence of this summary, however, remains accurate, as you will find in this review.
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Quito kissing the cryonics capsule.
The episode begins with Quito visiting Erica Desmond's capsule and bringing more flowers for her. Both the way he kisses the capsule and the fact that Jean Paul doesn’t make him give Erica flowers show that he, like Raxl, truly loves her.
After leaving the crypt, he visits the Great Hall following a painting/bickering/recap scene between Tim and Holly, to stare at the portrait of Erica--or, rather, the roughest possible approximation of her appearance, because Jean Paul has done everything in his power to make Tim’s project as difficult and frustrating as possible for him (see also my post on Episode 24). A drum pounds for suspense, he turns to face the portrait, and, just as he reaches out to touch it,
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HE COLLAPSES!
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Fortunately, Alison and Dan come in from outside at just the right moment for her to check his pulse. She believes him dead at first because he has no heartbeat, but then hears him breathing despite him continuing to have no pulse. She concludes, much to pragmatic lawyer Dan’s shock, that Quito must be a zombie as he once said (this is another instance where I can’t recall which episode, unfortunately).
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This is what the Holly portrait looks like now, by the way.
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A close-up of the face. Still looks approximately halfway between Holly’s face and Erica’s in Tim’s original sketch of her.
They leave Holly and Tim alone with Quito while they go to the lab (in Alison’s case) and the crypt to search for the missing cyanide (in Dan’s), when they hear Holly scream! Dan, who was so close to making friends with Chalcko, bolts upstairs to find the mysterious servant previously thought to be dead (un-undead?) has once again come alive. He starts to pursue Holly, but Alison stops him, so he turns around and tears the cover off the Holly portrait. “Is it Holly, or my sister Erica?” she asks herself out loud. “I can’t tell!”
The rest of this scene suggests that perhaps Quito, too, can’t tell, or at least sees too much of Erica in Holly to ignore. Most likely, that’s why he’s drawn to her and waits on her as though he were her servant as well as that of Jean Paul and Erica. Dan attributes Quito’s fainting to the shock of seeing a portrait that so captures Erica’s likeness that the uncanny resemblance between her and Holly frightens him.
Two and a half months ago, Curt of the Maljardin Blog wrote that the production crew did not cast an actress to play Erica at the beginning of the show, as evidenced by their use of crew member Lara Cochrane to play Erica’s corpse in Episodes 1 and 4. But now I wonder, what if Ian Martin originally intended for Sylvia Feigel to play Erica as well as Holly, given his frequent mention of their alleged resemblance? It seems like an odd decision, especially because I believe that Sylvia was originally destined for a dual role as both Holly and the blonde girl whom Tarasca sacrificed in her nightmare. But, if Sylvia Feigel was supposed to portray the living Erica, would that mean that Erica’s past incarnation was not Jacques’ wife Huaco, but the sacrificed girl? It wouldn’t make sense for Erica’s past counterpart to be her instead of Huaco, unless he decided to also give Sylvia her role, which would have made her Huaco’s third actress. But this is all extremely unlikely, especially because such a quadruple role seems like far too much for a single arc of a live-action series. Even Dark Shadows didn’t make its actors play four roles in the same arc.
All right. Enough of a theory that I myself don’t completely believe, even if it is possible (if improbable) that Ian Martin intended it. Matt-- who, naturally, hurried down the steps when he heard his stalkee screaming--thinks that the reason why Quito fainted upon touching the portrait was because he "sees something of Erica Desmond in [Holly]." I believe there’s more to it than that, though. There must be something supernatural going on that made him faint, something like Erica’s ghost exerting her power over him. But they never did explain this bit, so--like most of this show--it’s up to interpretation.
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Tim: “Quito, I thought you were dead!”
Quito touches the portrait and then his heart. “Only Raxl can tell what he’s trying to tell us,” Matt claims, but Alison, too, understands the message. Quito, whom Dan calls “a soulless man,” loves Holly.
This horrifies Holly even more than Matt’s affections. She shouts “NO!” and Quito retreats to the crypt. She throws a fit, disgusted by the thought of “a monster who lunges at people” wanting a romance with her, and even accuses him of pushing her down the staircase, even though Quito was in the temple at the time.
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For the Serpent’s sake, Reverend Stalker, leave her alone! The last thing she needs is your “comfort” when we know that what you really want is to get in her pants!
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Holly: “Drag, drag, drag, the Reverend Matthew Drag!”
I’m dying of laughter at this terrible line.
Dan suggests that, if Jean Paul can’t bring Erica back to life, he may decide to replace her with Holly. We know that Jean Paul would never do that, but that his ancestor Jacques almost certainly would--at least once he got bored with his lovely witch Elizabeth/Tarasca. (I’m still not convinced, though, that he doesn’t want to make her sacrifice Holly, either just for fun or so that she--and, after their marriage, he--can get her fortune.)
Tim begs to differ about the painting’s resemblance to Erica, once again lampshading the absurdity of the whole situation. You have an artist painting a portrait of a dead woman, using a living one as his model who may or may not resemble the show’s current image of Erica Desmond. He took on this commission to save his life, but, now that he is on Maljardin, he’s in more danger than he ever was while the Mafia was pursuing him. And now a zombie passes out, and the other characters blame it on Erica’s likeness to Holly, which Tim must know is a completely ridiculous explanation. I’m telling you, someone’s spirit--either Erica’s or Jacques’--made him collapse. And if it was the latter, most likely Jacques intended to kill him a second time.
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Quito in the crypt.
I want to shift focus now to the subject of zombies and their portrayal on SP, as well as what we know of Quito’s past. This section will contain references to slavery and suicide, so, if those subjects trigger you, you may wish to skip ahead to the next section, beginning with another copy of the photo of Quito looking into Chalcko’s birdcage.
Before I got into SP, I was long predisposed to dislike zombies because of the clichéd way that most horror movies and shows depict them: namely, as mindless creatures focused solely on eating human brains. Hordes of walking corpses who go on living only to consume and destroy are a useful metaphor for the effects of things like consumerism and social media addiction, but they don’t make for interesting characters; in fact, they make for rather dull ones, in my (highly unpopular) opinion.
But Quito was shown from early on to be a very different kind of zombie, almost the opposite of the Dawn of the Dead type. We see hints as early as Episode 12 that he has thoughts and feelings and now we have confirmation that he even has the capacity for love. He appears mindless, soulless, and unfeeling to some other characters, but those who know him well like Raxl and Jean Paul know that, despite his silence and his undead state, he has a mind, a personality, and even a heart. It doesn’t hurt that Kurt Schiegl gives Quito a great deal of expression and personality through his body language; we may not know exactly what thoughts are going through Quito’s mind, but we can get an idea. (And he never once expresses an interest in eating brains, which is another plus.)
The reason why Quito is so different from most modern portrayals of zombies is because he is based on an earlier conception of who zombies are and how they are created. In the traditional beliefs of Haitian Vodou, a zombie is created when a Vodou sorcerer or bokor resurrects a corpse to serve as his personal slave. While there are many theories as to when these legends originated, the most likely theory (which Mike Mariani argues in The Atlantic) is that they began during the period of French colonialism. During this period, which stretched from 1625 to the Haitian Revolution at the turn of the 19th century, most of the population of the island of Hispaniola (then known as Sainte-Domingue) was enslaved on sugar plantations, which required back-breaking, often deadly labor. This, combined with the other indignities of slavery, drove many enslaved Africans living there to commit suicide in an effort to return to their home countries. The idea that those who ended their own lives would be stuck on Sainte-Domingue eternally as zombies came about as a way or Haitians to discourage suicide. “Death was better than slavery for many – the suicide rate among Haitian slaves was very high. It was bad to be a slave,” Amy Wilentz writes in her review of the Vice documentary I Walked with a Zombie. “Worse would be to die and discover that, rather than returning to Africa, you continued to be enslaved as a dead person, run by a master, doing his bidding – and this is the fear that created the ‘Americo-normative’ zombie, as we know him.”
According to Mariani’s article, zombies did not become associated with bokors until after Haiti won its independence and subsequently abolished the institution of slavery. He calls this “the post-colonialism zombie, the emblem of a nation haunted by the legacy of slavery and ever wary of its reinstitution...The zombies of the Haitian Voodoo religion were a more fractured representation of the anxieties of slavery, mixed as they were with occult trappings of sorcerers and necromancy.” Wilentz associates this with “the fear of re-enslavement,” for “no one wanted to be dead, consciousness-less, and working for free for a master,” especially in a country that had fought so hard to rid itself of its shackles.
The show canon for Strange Paradise has not given--and will not give--much information about Quito’s backstory. What we do know is that he is a native of somewhere near Maljardin, descended from an indigenous Central American culture related to the Aztecs, and that was alive during the same period as Raxl. He was Jacques’ “servant” (more likely a slave) in the 17th century and, at some point before Jacques’ death, became a zombie. We also know from his reaction to the Conjure Man’s name in Episode 13 that the Conjure Man did something to him at some point that traumatized him, which may or may not have included the spell.
The Paperback Library novel Island of Evil, however, gets far more detailed about Quito’s backstory and shows his transformation into one of the undead. In the novel, Jacques forces Raxl to relive a particularly painful memory from the 17th century in order to coerce her into doing his bidding in the then-present. In her memory, Raxl visits the pregnant and bedridden Huaco des Mondes during a dinner party, although Jacques has forbidden them from meeting with each other. When he catches her returning from Huaco’s room, Jacques gets revenge on Raxl by stabbing Quito (who is her husband in the books) and then forces an African Vodou priest whom he recently purchased to resurrect him for his guests’ entertainment.[1] It’s worth noting that, like the zombies of Haitian folklore, the Vodou priest tells Raxl not to allow Quito to consume salt: “Should he eat either [salt or meat],” he says, “he will know he is a dead man.”[2] Thus the book canon connects Quito both to the horrors of slavery in the colonial-era Caribbean and to early zombie folklore, before zombies became the brain-eating monsters they are usually portrayed as today.
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Quito checking on his adorable bird. Curt recently mentioned the possible connection between Chalcko, Huaco (Jacques’ “pigeon”), and Erica (Raxl’s “little bird”) in a post on his Tumblr, which was a piece of possible symbolism that had never occurred to me until then.
Dan reveals to Matt that Jean Paul has a Stanford-Binet IQ of 187. I’m noting this only because I’ve referenced it before in regards to Jean Paul’s alleged intelligence juxtaposed with his tendency to make stupid decisions. He may have an IQ of 187, but that only applies to his book smarts, not to common sense decisions like the knowledge that you should never make a deal with the Devil unless you are absolutely certain that the Devil won’t screw you over, or that you can defeat him through loopholes or some other, similar means. Even the smartest people--even those with an IQ of 187--can be manipulated, and that is true of Jean Paul, whom THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES has successfully outsmarted. I wonder if he even suspects that Jacques has no intention on bringing Erica back to life, as he revealed fourteen episodes ago?
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Holly talking to the cryonics capsule.
At the end of the episode, Holly visits the crypt to talk to Erica’s capsule. “ Mrs. Desmond,” she says, her hands on the capsule, “I want to say something to you. I don't know if you can hear or not, but I'm so afraid. I’m afraid of Quito, I’m afraid of my mother, and also of the Reverend. Mrs. Desmond, I’m so afraid somebody wants to kill me. But not your husband. I love him the way I love my father, but I'm so lost and so alone. Please help me...I want to know what it was that Quito and they saw in the picture.” 
Quito catches her talking to the capsule and approaches her, his arms outstretched. “No, please!” Holly pleads, finally screaming and running from him, leaving the zombie with a heart alone in the crypt.
Upstairs, Holly calls for everyone to “see what you’ve done,” and the camera cuts to the portrait, which now bears a slash across the middle:
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The end of the ill-fated saga of the Holly portrait.
“There is your spirit of love,” she cries, “or is it hate?” Alison, Matt, Dan, and Tim stare on, shocked and appalled by the slashed portrait and forever unaware of the identity of the culprit. The episode implies that the responsible party is Jacques Eloi des Mondes by showing a shot of his portrait glowing shortly before this scene, but this episode’s trivia on StrangeParadise.net indicates someone else. As with the trivia for Episode 30, it has to do with plot points that ultimately remained unexplained on the show, but nevertheless contains spoilers for the true nature of one character, so read at your own risk.
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The first time since the pilot that Jacques’ portrait has glowed.
Coming up next: The characters react to the slashing of the portrait and we learn a telling bit of backstory about Elizabeth Marshall.
{ <- Previous: Episode 32   ||   Next: Episode 34 -> }
Notes
[1] Dorothy Daniels, Island of Evil (New York: Paperback Library, 1970), pp. 92-99. I will cover this book and the other two Paperback Library novels in more detail in a future series of posts.
[2] Ibid., p. 100.
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teecupangel · 1 year ago
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So I’m going to include @kingdomheartsrox's reblog:
Definitely interesting! Wasn’t expecting the part with Haytham at the end! I wonder how this would work in Black Flag with Edward?
Because…
The idea is that the Gold Truth only comes into existence when Desmond’s ancestors connected with the Reader and the Reader could only connect to them because Desmond started reliving their lives.
So, in this AU, other than the three main ancestors, Haytham Kenway has access to the Blue and Gold Truth because Desmond relived some of his memories before focusing on Ratonhnhaké:ton’s memories.
Unfortunately, this means that Edward Kenway (even if he could see the Red Truth), had no access to both the Blue and Gold Truth.
I am also unsure if anyone not related to Desmond like Arno (or the other main characters) should have access to the Red Truth though because the Red Truth is meant to be a close connection to the Calculations and the Calculations were focused in ensuring Desmond Miles would be born and raised the way the Isus wish for him to be which makes the following ‘unnecessary’ for the Isus’ plan:
Shay - Haytham already has access to the Red Truth so the Isus can just focus on him
Shao Jun, Arbaaz, Nikolai, Arno, Jacob, Evie - Has no close connection to Desmond’s bloodline
Bayek, Aya, Kassandra, Eivor - Is too far that many ‘miscalculations’ they might make can easily be corrected along the way by actual Red Truth bearers.
The Red Truth itself isn’t something the Isus have so Kassandra won’t receive it after opening her Isu sixth sense of knowledge. It was specifically added into the bloodlines that would later converge towards Desmond using the Calculation to predict which bloodlines it must be injected into. This was Minerva’s last-ditch effort to ‘help’ Desmond.
So… yeah…
No Blue or Gold Truths for the others, sorry.
(Also, I was tempted to give it to Arno just because I do agree with @witchofthecoffee that Arno would be throwing blue truths all over the place like AC’s version of Battler. He does do ‘detective work’ in his own game XD)
You know that one scene in TAWOG where Nicole shows Gumball about the subtext? What if only Desmond can see texts of what people actually mean when they talk so it's helped him a lot but it also gives him trust issues because he feels like everyone has a hidden agenda
I am obligated to do this first of all:
Desmond would loovveee to be transported to AC1 in this case because THERE are NO SUBTITLES there. Can’t check the subtext IF THERE’S NO TEXT.
Okay, so my eternal annoyance for AC1 not having subtitles out of the way, let’s talk about how this would play out.
For those unfamiliar with that scene, it’s the Fuss episode and this is the closest I could find (start at 3:30ish)
And, and, and, let’s make it much more complicated because we are talking about text in this case.
So there’s this visual novel (there’s an anime too but if you have to, please check the manga adaptation instead) called Umineko No Naku Koro Ni wherein there’s this whole ‘who dunnit’ mystery going on that the main character must solve. I’m not going to go on details but the important thing to note is that they use colored text in the series as part of the ‘game mechanics’. We’re only going to make use of one:
The Red Truth.
Anything said in red is the truth. It is the undeniable truth.
However, anything said in red may be open to interpretation.
Anything said in red is the truth but it does not mean it is the entire truth.
Making the subtext more about saying the truth would make him all the more paranoid.
Because Desmond would rely on the red truths.
And Desmond could mistake it for the full truth.
So, for example, Bill could be saying “It’s alright if you can’t do it. Just keep trying.”
And the red just behind Bill would say,
“William Miles expects Desmond Miles to be able to do this.”
Which is the truth but it leaves out the part that Bill is saying he expects Desmond would be able to attain this specific skill with time and training.
Desmond would assume it means that Bill is lying.
So this red truth? The subtext it is meant to show? It’s undeniable but it can be vague or can be misinterpreted.
Because it operates on fae truth rules.
Also, the entire setup with Lucy would make Project Siren hard to accomplish because Desmond had to live with the Red Truth his entire life so he knows that what he needs to look out for is what the Red Truth isn’t saying.
“I’m on your side, Desmond.” “Lucy Stillman is trying to help mankind.”
“Warren isn’t that bad.” “Lucy Stillman is indebted to Warren Vidic.”
“I’m an Assassin… like you.” “Lucy Stillman was born and raised to be an Assassin.”
Wanna make it all the more confusing? Like reaching half of Umineko level of confusion?
His ancestors can see the Red Truths as well.
But that's not all they can do. Not all Desmond could do.
Altaïr’s talks with Al Mualim are filled with Red Truths about how Al Mualim believes what he’s saying, how he’s doing what he believes is right.
Then Desmond hears Altaïr talk and…
“If humanity is meant to be guided then does that not go against our wish to protect humanity’s free will?”
It’s blue.
Desmond had never seen blue text before.
But Altaïr seemed to understand what it is. His synchronization with Altaïr tells him what it means.
It wasn’t directed at Al Mualim at all.
The Blue Truth is meant to be anything directly questioning or opposing the Red Truth.
And Desmond’s eyes widened as a new text appear even though Al Mualim did not say anything.
“Al Mualim’s desire is to control, not to guide. Do not let him know you know, Altaïr.”
It’s gold.
And Altaïr’s connection tells him what the Gold Text means.
It’s called the Gold Truth.
And it is a truth that is always directed at Altaïr.
So he tries it out once he's relatively safe (could escape easily if he wants to, already cased out the warehouse for every possible exit point), talks to Lucy who has been ringing red flags all over from the very beginning and he goes “Lucy, you said Vidic saved your life, right?”
“Yeah, when I was in Abstergo.” “Warren Vidic stopped Lucy Stillman from being executed.”
“He’s a Templar and he saved you…” Desmond focused on the red text as he said, “Doesn’t that make you compromised?”
All three of them stared at him and Lucy’s lips moved but she could only let out “I- Desmond, I’m not-”
Shaun and Rebecca immediately defend their friend but Desmond pays their Red Truths of “Shaun Hastings trust Lucy Stillman.” and “Rebecca Crane is trying to diffuse the situation but she is offended for her friend.” no mind focused on the Red Text of “Warren Vidic stopped Lucy Stillman from being executed.” as it changes to…
“Lucy Stillman is a Templar. She is using you to find Ezio's Apple, Desmond.”
Just to clarify, I am messing with what the Blue and Gold Truths are meant to represent in Umineko. It’s… more complicated than that in Umineko BUT, for this idea:
Red Truth: Truths pertaining to the world or the people around Desmond (and his ancestors)
Blue Truth: Possible truths that Desmond (and his ancestors) can only use to ask for clarification or to challenge the Red Truth being given to them.
Gold Truth: Truth that seemed to be directly talking to Desmond (and his ancestors). Can only appear if a Blue Truth is spoken.
And, yeah, the Gold Truth? It’s the Readers trying to push what he is allowed to do in the Gray.
(I wished the yellow font was less... painful to see. But hey, just assume it's meant to symbolize how bright it is. It's a feature)
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