Elipses's Blog

Oh Simon how I love you sm. Because Epic is my special interest, I haven’t been able to draw proper modern clothes in so long. So I decided to play dress up with my Hail Mary engineer Simon. Unlike how canon Simon’s relationship with Rocky would probably be like, I imagine these two are great friends. He was hesitant at first, but seeing how talented of a builder Rocky is made Simon immediately turned into a yap feast.

Also as you might’ve noticed, I’ve named this au Iron Hail Mary! I just needed a simple name so I could separate it from non-au shenanigans. It felt most fitting since technically it’s more of an Iron Lung characters put in the PMH universe au (although I do have some ideas to better incorporate some Iron Lung concepts).

Doodles as promised:

 @pscentral​ event 37: color challenge (insp • template)

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

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

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

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

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

Why is this important?

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

Hope Jensen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The man who killed Desmond’s mother.

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

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

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

People see him as a genius youngster.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Desmond’s side though?

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

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

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

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

Or…

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

.

.

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's a short and simple answer to this.

Achilles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But then he met the man.

And he knew that wouldn't be the case.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh

yeah, that checks out.

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

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

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

It's not until months later that they meet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bullseye

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I read ‘ancestors as animals’ and immediately thought: “Desmond as a Disney Princess? Desmond as a Disney Princes???” XD

Okay.

So this seems like a two part scenario with the first part being more like a prologue of Desmond’s ancestors being able to watch Desmond from the past. Maybe during the time that they were in possession of the Apple.

Although that would be a bit hard to explain because Ratonhnhaké:ton thought the Apple he received from Washington was dangerous and he would never willingly ‘poke’ it.

So an alternative would be that they all catch a glimpse of Desmond while the Apple is in their possession but they believe that it is meant to entice them to touch the Apple more, to find out more, and let the Apple sink its claws into them further and further.

So they resist its calls. Even Ezio who had been given a glimpse of someone saying the name ‘Desmond’ and a vision of a man turning to face him. But he had been so tempted. So very tempted that it was only because he was not alone that he could resist the temptation. It was only because he knew the effects it had on Leonardo after Cesare made him access the Apple’s knowledge that stops him from succumbing to it.

But Altaïr… Altaïr had resisted for so long, had controlled himself, and only studied the Apple for a specific amount of time. Then… Sef died… Malik died… Maria died… And Darim left him.

All alone.

And so Altaïr stopped resisting. He let the calls of the Apple consume him.

And that’s when he met Desmond Miles.

No.

Not met.

He watched.

And he felt the loss of another loved one, of a family member, once more.

So when Altaïr took his final steps in a library void of any knowledge or books.

He whispered to the Apple his final command.

An Apple that had long bent to his will.

An Apple corrupted by the will of one poor miserable old man who was tired of losing everything.

And that whisper became a wave that corrupted every other POE connected to the same network as this abomination formed by both the will of the Isus and that of an old man with a lot of time in his hands.

The wave grew into a tsunami…

That covered and destroyed part of the calculations that the Isus have prepared.

Not enough to change the events that must come to pass.

But just big enough…

To wash old entities into the final part of the calculations, destroying what was meant to happen.

And creating a pit of sand where a castle could be built…

And destroyed once more.

Now. For the second part!

The easiest way would be if the animal turned Assassins found their way to Desmond on their own while he was growing up.

And it would be so easy for all of them to be different types of eagles or some other kind of avian but I kinda like the idea that Desmond’s main ancestors would be Ratonhnhaké:ton’s DLC animal spirits and it’ll be:

Ratonhnhaké:ton

Ratonhnhaké:ton is the wolf because Connor means ‘lovers of wolves’ or ‘master of hounds’ and he has to have the ability to call ghost wolves with a howl.

He finds Desmond while he’s in New York (maybe before he was a bartender) as a cub and Desmond thought he was a dog.

By the time Ratonhnhaké:ton had grown into an actual full-sized wolf, Desmond knew he was a wolf but just kept telling anyone who ask if that was a fucking wolf that it’s a ‘dog’.

Because he doesn’t want anyone to call animal control, Ratonhnhaké:ton has to stay in his apartment.

Ratonhnhaké:ton tried to save Desmond when he got captured by Cross but he was too late and he spent the entire time of AC1 and AC2 trying to find a way to get from New York to Rome.

Shaun almost had a heart attack when Ratonhnhaké:ton entered their hideout during one of Desmond’s Animus sessions.

Desmond likes to say “don’t be stupid, Shaun, he’s obviously a dog.” to Shaun, straight out lying to him. (He’s not trying to gaslight Shaun but if Shaun starts doubting himself, that’s on him)

Ezio

Okay, I know Ezio means eagle as well but Altaïr is gonna be the eagle and nothing can change my mind on that.

Which means Ezio gets to be the bear that they find sleeping in the Sanctuary underneath Villa Auditore.

Like, Desmond and Lucy just enters thru the ‘back door’ of the Sanctuary and Lucy’s like “Desmond… don’t move.” and Desmond’s like “???” then he sees the bear and goes “Holy shit, Lucy… is that a fucking bear” “Sssshhh, it’s still sleeping. Let’s just bac-”

Ezio wakes up and yawns, making both of them freeze before he turns to see Desmond and his bear face lits up because “Desmond!” which sounds like a bear roar to them.

Cue Desmond and Lucy screaming in a high-pitched tones when the bear suddenly charges them and then we have a comedic chase scene where Ezio the bear chases Desmond around the Sanctuary while Lucy climbs one of the statues because every man for themselves, Desmond, oh screw you Lucy!

It finally ends with Ezio bodyslamming Desmond and… just staying on top of Desmond and giving him a bear hug. Ezio is a big bear and Desmond just lies there, thinking yeah, play dead, might work.

Once it’s certain that the bear just wants to hold Desmond (and groom his hair apparently), Lucy gingerly walks away, ignoring Desmond’s death glare, to open the secret passage.

Ratonhnhaké:ton the wolf rush inside because he heard Desmond shouting and, really, it took both Shaun and Rebecca’s combined weight to stop him from trying to follow Desmond and Lucy in that underground passage.

It ends with the wolf and the bear just chilling near Desmond whenever he’s in the Animus and the three humans that are not named Desmond are starting to think that something strange is going on.

Altaïr

Okay, so Altaïr is an eagle in this one and he’d been trying to find Desmond because, out of all the ancestors, he’s the only one who actually thought… yeeaaahhh… this is probably my fault.

Unfortunately, his clearest memories of Desmond are when he had been abducted by Abstergo and got sent to Rome so he caught up to Desmond while he’s in the Rome facility in AC1.

He tried to help the Assassin team that tried to get Desmond out but they were outgunned and no one really paid attention to a fucking eagle until it started crying at them and leading them out of the ambush point they found themselves in.

After that, Altaïr had to leave because Abstergo seemed to think he’s some kind of Assassin spy. What? Did they think Assassins could have some kind of special bonds with an eagle or something? How ridiculous.

Anyway, the heightened security of Abstergo kept Altaïr from thinking of how to help Desmond out and, really, it was a good thing Lucy got him out because Altaïr had been debating how painful it would be to divebomb the wall of windows in the Animus level.

He follows them to the warehouse hideout and had been planning to make himself known when he sees the wolf barreling inside and… well… Altaïr could feel something different with that wolf. So he just… starts observing them first, perched in one of the many beams, silent and quiet.

When they got to Villa Auditore, Altaïr had been tempted to follow them in the mines but decided to just wait for a bit. Something was deep underground that felt the same as the wolf. He just doesn’t know what.

Altaïr was pretty sure he’d been quite sneaky but then Desmond climbs up the tree he had been using to keep a lookout of the villa and asks if he had followed them from Rome and Altaïr is impressed that Desmond actually found him. He must be better than Altaïr assumed (no, Desmond always knew he was around because he gave off the same feeling the wolf and the bear gives him) and Altaïr finally decides to join Desmond and sits on his shoulder as they make their way back to the Sanctuary.

When they get there, Shaun takes one long look at the eagle on Desmond’s shoulder, turns to stare at the wolf and bear near the Animus and just… gives up. Just one long suffering sigh and turns around while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Other possible animals to include:

Edward: It would be fun to make him some kind of fish like maybe a goldfish or a beta fish that Desmond could keep in a small aquarium in his apartment. Like, he has no real ‘importance’ to the plot but he kept Desmond company before the plot. He could also be a jackdaw because that’s the name of his ship. XD

Haytham: Some kind of fluffy cat. He’s so fluffy he keeps getting petted which stops him from doing whatever he was planning to do. Seriously. He’s been taken to the pound and adopted so many times that Haytham has lost track (of how many times he had been taken and where Desmond was)

Aquilus: It would be fun if he was one of the guard dogs that the Farm had. He always let Desmond pet him and tried to console him as a kid. When Desmond ran away, Aquilus helped him navigate the forest before staying behind even though Desmond begged him to come with him. Aquilus stayed on the Farm to keep the other guard dogs from chasing Desmond’s scent and helping Desmond leave.

Other possible MC turned animal (I just went with my first thought so none of this… other than Arno… are sorta final?):

Shay: I’m thinking crow since that’s one of the Morrígan’s primary ‘forms’

Arno: Okay, okay. So… hear me out. Arno as a… sea otter. Wait, wait, wait. I have a reason for it! Sorta. Kinda. Anyway. Arno shares the same birthday (August 26) as one of the oldest sea otters right now: Rosa the Sea Otter. ……… Yeah, that’s it. That’s the reason why I want Arno to be a sea otter. I said I had a reason, I never said it was a ‘good’ reason.

Jacob and Evie: a pair of corgi the same size and breed as Desmond the Dog. Jacob believes that whoever reincarnated them as corgis had a bad sense of humor. They get mistaken for the royal corgis a lot and it’s quite annoying.

Bayek: Amun is usually symbolized by the ram-headed sphinx so a ram maybe?

Aya: the same snake that she got the venom she gave to Cleopatra

Kassandra: Okay, this is gonna be weird, probably, but I’m thinking maybe a goat? And! It’s not because she put the eye of ‘Cyclops’ into a goat’s ass, alright? Her ship is based on the goddess who nurtured Zeus and she used goat’s milk in that myth so I thought… it kinda works??? Also, it would be funny if Kassandra wondered if she was being punished for the whole eye on the goat’s ass incident by being turned into one.

~~ part 1 & 2~~

Desmond has regrets touching the eye, but at least he gets to see a familiar face.

——Me rambling under cut——

Minerva just going:

I get it. I have a lot of ideas I don’t wanna write too. We write what we want and what makes us happy. Sometimes, the ideas we have are just ‘hey, you know what would be awesome/fucked up’ but at the same time we’re like ‘hhhmm… yeah.. not gonna write that…’ Sometimes, ideas just remain ideas in the end and that’s okay.

Okay, but on a more serious note, this has soooo many things that could go wrong. Like, Minerva’s pretty much going “fuck it, I’m already dead by this point, it’s no longer my problem!” and screwed up everybody in the process.

Let’s not even focus on Desmond yet.

By blowing the lid on what the Isus were, Minerva had effectively hit a deadly blow to every religious organization in the world. Not only that, the scientific world would be scrambling as everything they know to be true about the world must be scrutinized now that they know that there was an ancient civilization before them.

Then there are those drenched in power and those who desire power.

Politicians, terrorists, CEOs of corporations that control the world, etc…

They would be scrambling to get ahold of these POEs because they would be a source of power that they do not have but crave.

And now we get to the shit that comes to light because of Desmond…

The Templars and Assassins.

The Templars have it harder. Soooo much harder.

They’re Abstergo. Their deeds have been broadcast which included Desmond’s abduction, forcing him to relive his ancestors’ life, toying with his feelings using Lucy Stillman and…

Oh yeah.

The Great Purge gets uncovered too because Desmond hears about it and there are journalists and conspiracy theorists that smelled blood in the water and they’re definitely eating everything they can.

The Assassins are panicking but they’re fine, all things considered. They’re used to hiding. Rebecca, Shaun, and Bill are the only ones whose faces everyone knows right now (also Desmond’s mom, I guess?). But the rest can still stay in the shadow.

And now…

The world is shifting.

Religions featuring Desmond as a messiah and even a god (the one true god, the god of humans, not the false gods of the Isus) are popping up and they’re making things... actually easier for the Assassins.

Because they all have the same thing in common.

They wear white hoods.

Some wear hoodies.

Others go for the whole white robes that are pretty much monk robes.

So now the Assassins have an easy way to blend in.

It’s like they’re retreading the path walked by the Levantine Brotherhood during the Third Crusades.

But this time, it is the cults and religions worshipping Desmond Miles that are sweeping the world.

Shaun, Rebecca, and Bill knew that Desmond would have hated this.

He had sacrificed himself so that the world would not treat him as a god.

So that his deeds and words wouldn’t be twisted into fanaticism.

But, in the end, that was what was happening.

The religion and cults are joining together, creating a large religious organization that places Desmond as the one true god (although some say that he is a human turned god, others say he is a reincarnated god). Altaïr, Ezio and Ratonhnhaké:ton are even getting added to the 'doctrines', being called prophets and saints. Some sect even consider them Desmond the god taken human form. Haytham, if he is even added, is more divisive with many sects calling him a false Prophet while others call him a Fallen Prophet.

This religious organization marks every other religion as worshipping false gods and it doesn’t help that Juno has shown herself, protected by her own cult or whatever bullshit those nutbags call themselves (the Instruments of the First Bitch or whatever). Juno is showing a very bad image of the old gods and that’s only making everything so much worse.

And that is how…

Also, the reveal of the Assassin's and how they have been actively preventing the Templars from taking over the world and mind controlling people means the assassins are suddenly REALLY POPULAR!

There are arguments about whether they should be supporting people who kill others even if they do it for a good cause.

Pundits are arguing over everything.

The Daily Show does a segment on it. So does John Oliver. No - John Oliver does a SONG.

And all while this is happening, a large amount of Humans are Believing something. And as we found out from Juno - that can effect reality itself.

(Not included: the 5-minute orchestra titled "What the Fuck, Abstergo" with a chorus including the line "What the fuck, Abstergo")

I FINALLY HAVE THE MOTIVATION TO DO THIS CROSSOVER IDEA!

(The moment for this episode is a cross and the name of the puppet is 'desmond jesus' for some reason)

Anachronism Ahoy:

Look, I know Puppet History wasn't airing in 2012 but I've always wanted to throw this crossover and now I have an excuse to. Just imagine Shane, Ryan and everyone in Watcher got an early start

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver also didn't start until 2014 so I guess we're punting John Oliver into being older in AC verse too.

Edits by me with screenshots coming from these episodes:

Qatar World Cup: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Also, buzzfeed unsolved! I want to read a 500k word fic just about the social media of the world reacting to 'the event' (what would it be called)

Something light and funny - with holy wars brewing in the background, because I have not forgotten them.

Also, as much as fxnws and certain pundits there would probably agree with the Templars and try to support them, I think even their supporters would rip them to shreds for it - cause all those anti vaxxer anti masker and government people will find out that this rich corporation wanted to MIND CONTROL them and also were willing to let them all die in a solar flare while they hid in bunkers and go spare. And I hate to say it but they'd LOVE Desmond for the same reason they love Jesus- he died to save them and everyone loves a martyr - and also he's dead so they don't have to deal with him being a person or disagreeing with them. They can just put whatever they want onto him and he can't protest or disappoint them because he's dead.

On one hand, these are the people that would definitely push the Desmond religion into fanaticism and would be the front liners for the holy war.

On the other hand, there would be those people who would try to temper them, reminding them that Desmond died to save the world and should we really be fighting one another? Isn’t that against his very Creed? (Just imagine how they’d fuck the Creed up to suit their doctrines?!)

Then Juno starts doing crazy shit and rallying her Will of the First Bitch cult and that’s how the holy war starts.

Because Juno can’t believe that Desmond is being worshipped more than her. (Also, Minerva is noted as a ‘reformed’ false goddess who did the right thing in the end and the Desmond religion thinks of her as a saint and welcomes all myths and artworks of Minerva/Athena. Some even call her ‘Saint Mother’ which just annoys the fuck out of Juno who gets called the ‘False goddess’ and the ‘First Bitch’ that they actually got from one of Desmond’s memories)

Also… there’s definitely a sect that cuts their ring finger off as part of their ‘practices’ and another sect that cuts their lips.

… They’re definitely the more hardcore of them.

For nicer things:

A daily show featuring Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson just trying to explain to the masses what all of these means in terms of science.

History Channel just scrambling to make new specials each day and having episodes of them just trying to compare what they know and what they don’t know.

Deadliest Warriors episode just focusing on pitting Assassins and, oh boy, they sparked up the debate of who was a better Assassin, Altaïr or Ezio.

A Forged in Fire episode of contestants being told to make a Hidden Blade. One of them accidentally making a Hidden Blade that needs the goddamn ring finger cut off.

Buzzfeed publishing bs like “Which Assassin are you?” or “Tell me what you last ate and I’ll tell you which Desmond Miles quote you are”. Shaun hates them but can’t stop clicking on them.

Ooh yes, Juno would ABSOLUTELY lead into the first war, be the spark that sets the world on flame. She'd be so upset that Demsond and Minerva are getting more worship then her. Racist (speciest?) megalomaniacal bitch that she is.

And I want all the stuff with people reacting to the Enlightening and the real past. All of it. Tumblr's reaction. Twitter wars. The pope having to give an opinion, the president, various autocratic governments - and ooh. What do you wanna bet every government out there is now looking to grab any Piece of Eden they can?

Pilgrimages to the Grand Temple!

They definitely would. There won’t be any blonde Desmond but Shaun would want to hit something just seeing a portrait of Desmond having light brown hair and it’s so light one can argue it’s dirty blonde at that point.

Also, blue eyes would be a minority because many of them would paint or render Desmond having gold eyes as a sign of his ‘godhood’.

The governments in the world would be scrambling to find POEs and that’s also a reason why the holy wars start. The Religion of Desmond (are… we really calling it that?) sees their greed and goes “blasphemy!” and “sinners!” because Desmond did die using a POE so these POEs must be treated with care and caution. And I like to think there would be some sect made up of scientists who jumped ships who focuses on containing and studying these POEs and they’re the only ‘sanctioned’ scientific religious sect (god, it sounds so weird calling it that) allowed to do such a thing. Anybody else will get holy war in their asses for even trying.

Okay… but think.

The Grand Temple is seen as a base for the Instruments of the First Bitch and now it’s a very disturbing recreation of the holy war in Jerusalem where the Religion of Desmond wants to get it while the Instruments of the First Bitch fights them off. Turin and the rest of New York is gonna get caught in the crossfire.

May I suggest for the pilgrimage instead: The Farm where their god gained his human form.

And I LOVE the idea of the Rome being Monteriggioni, because because I love Desmond and Monteriggioni together!

And yes to paintings of him with golden eyes, and a golden arm because of his burnt arm. But yeah they would absolutely start making him whiter. Basically there's chaos and wars and problems everywhere - and this is the world Deamond is Reborn/Revived into. Where he is literally worshipped as a God.

Someone starts the “Our God Sightings” twitter/instagram/every other social media platform that just retweets/shares every sighting of Desmond Miles.

At that point, even the government are trying to take him over.

Then…

He finally gets in contact with Shaun and Rebecca and they take him away.

Back to Villa Auditore.

And that’s where Desmond hears that Shaun has become…

Pope Shaun Hastings the First.

“What the fuck, Shaun?!”

“You think I wanted this?! The only way we can keep them from completely destroying the world is by leading your damn religion! I don’t even want to be pope!”

“Then why are you the pope?!”

“Because I picked rock and Rebecca picked paper!”

Danny lives with Vlad, who forced him to move to Gotham. Him and Damian had to do a project together. Okay, that’s fine. Damian was insisting they work on part of it at his house. Not as fine, but sure, he can schedule a time where Vlad is out. Damian finds him holding Ellie after he had excused himself to the bathroom? (Ellie is only reason he hadn’t run away yet(he didn’t have the money to care for a baby halfa)). That is a problem.

Desmond: *Becomes a pigeon in the next life*

Introducing Desmond the Assassins suspiciously long-living pigeon.

(I love this for the sole purpose that turning Desmond into an eagle would have been the most obvious choice but you, nonny, deliberately turned him into a pigeon which is hilarious. Alright, let’s make Desmond’s pigeon life super weird)

=================================

When Desmond woke up as a freaking pigeon, he was annoyed at himself. If he knew he could have been anything, he would have picked an eagle or even a freaking cat.

But nooooo. He just had to think he wanted to be a pigeon of all things.

Goddamn it.

Well, no use bemoaning his own cursed life.

He should get high up and see where the hell he was because this open sky was definitely not the Grand Temple.

…

…

…

Soooooo… how was he supposed to fly?

Just… flap his wings?

Flap

Flap

Flap

Fuck.

It wasn’t working.

Okay.

Maybe he just needed… momentum. Yeah, momentum might help?

So Desmond took a few step-

Sigh.

Desmond took a few hops back before running straight ahead into the edge of the roof where he had woken up on, flapping his wings the entire time and…

Yes! He was flying.

Holy shit, he was flying.

Wait.

Nope.

He was gliding.

He was fucking gliding and he was going down fast.

Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohf-

Slam.

Feathers flew everywhere as he smacked straight to a wall.

As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, he began to skid down, falling into the grassy ground with a pathetic thud.

A shadow appeared over him but he didn’t move.

He could feel one of his wings was now broken.

But more importantly, he was too embarrassed by that pathetic attempt at flying that he’d rather lie down on the ground for a while and contemplate just letting this bird life die out here.

“Are you dead, little one?” A voice that cracked at random asked and Desmond kept his eyes closed in total defeat.

He would like to say ‘yeah, pretty much’ and also 'uh, rude?' but it only came out as a sad cooing sound.

“It’s alright.” He felt hands grab him a bit too roughly, making him let out a pathetic cooing sound once more and the hands lessened their grip. He was cradled into someone’s arms and he was bounced lightly as the person carrying him began to run.

When he finally opened his eyes once more, he blinked when he recognized the gates ahead of them.

The front gates of Masyaf…

He was in Masyaf…

And it wasn’t the Masyaf that he had been in pictures after he heard from Shaun that Masyaf was under Abstergo’s control.

No.

This was the Masyaf he was familiar with.

This was-

“Altaïr.”

The teenager holding him stopped running and held him close as a…

Holy shit.

Was that Al Mualim?

He looked…

Young… ish.

“We had been worried. You shouldn’t leave the training ring without being dismissed.” Al Mualim said in a kind fatherly voice that made Desmond immediately want to peck him.

“I’m sorry, master. It’s just…” The teenager (holy shit, it was Altaïr. Not only that… it was Altaïr with a cracking voice! Desmond couldn’t stop himself from finding this amusing) raised his arms slightly to show Desmond who tried to glare at Al Mualim as a pigeon, “This little one broke its wing when it was trying to fly. I figured the healers might be able to do something about it.”

Al Mualim stared at Desmond for a moment before his eyes softened, “Very well. You’re dismissed today, Altaïr. Have the healers check the pigeon but…”

Al Mualim placed a hand on Altaïr’s shoulder and said, “Do not get your hopes up. Sometimes, it is impossible to fix a thing that is too broken already.”

Altaïr’s hold on Desmond tightened just a bit as he said quietly, “I understand, master.”

Desmond let out a cooing “yeah, fuck you too, asshole” that Al Mualim didn’t respond to, which made sense, since Desmond was now a fucking pigeon.

Ugh.

He just knew this new life of his was going to be a pain.

=================================

(More of an idea summary)

=================================

Altaïr

Desmond spends most of pre-AC1 getting treated for his broken wing and trying to learn how to fly afterward. The recruits and novices like him because he doesn’t act like a normal bird and likes to screech whenever Altaïr tries to leave him (in his defense, he was a grounded bird in a place that likes to find ‘alternative’ uses for stuff they can’t use and he can only think of one way to use a flightless bird who can’t even deliver messages).

He likes sitting on Altaïr’s shoulder. Whenever Abbas is nearby and being annoyed, he uses his minimal ‘flying’ skills to reach Abbas and peck him until he falls (Altaïr is always there to catch him). Because of this, Desmond got a hang of gliding and swooping (the falling is, unfortunately, still his greatest nemesis).

Abbas once threatened to cook Desmond and he almost got his eye pecked out because of it. (then received a very descriptive morbid detail of what Altaïr plans to do to him if he ever just as much try to pluck any of Desmond's feather)

Desmond will not, under any circumstances, eat worms. Kadar is the one who finds out Desmond likes fruits. Altaïr says Desmond is getting fat from all the fruits Kadar is giving him but Desmond pecks him. After that, Altaïr just gives Desmond a disappointed glare every time he sees Desmond eating the fruits Kadar brings him (who likes seeing him eat because Desmond makes this little sweet cooing sounds when he eats).

Malik secretly gives a bit of his own food whenever Altaïr is away because Desmond likes staying with him whenever Altaïr is busy. Malik never tells Altaïr about it and Desmond is a bird so it’s not like he can tattletale on him. However, Desmond’s soft spot for Malik makes Altaïr and Malik have a ‘nicer’ relationship… sorta.

Desmond finally learns to fly during Altaïr’s ‘punishment’. He saw Altaïr being chased by guards after killing one of the nines (maybe Garnier?) and he just… swoopes in to peck the guards to give Altaïr a chance to escape.

Maria is the one who actually asks outright why nobody is asking why this pigeon is still alive? Altaïr just says that it might be connected to the Apple of Eden because it does light up whenever Desmond touches it with his talons (Desmond doesn’t feel anything. It literally just lights up like a touch-activated lightbulb and Desmond is both disappointed and amused at the same time. He uses it to tell Altaïr he's been studying the Apple for too long and he needs to take a break.)

Darim likes giving him fruits too but he stops when Sef was born because he wants to be seen as a responsible big brother. Sef, on the other hand, loves Desmond and plays with him a lot. Desmond becomes an unofficial babysitter because everyone just agrees that the POE must have done something to his brain. That’s the only explanation they could think of as to why Desmond acts so intelligent. Desmond questions everyone's sanity for letting a bird babysit two children.

On the other hand, any time Desmond tries to actually communicate to someone by trying to write on the sand or that one incident where he tipped the ink bottle and used it to make some kind of ‘hand writing’, his words always end up gibberish and Desmond isn’t sure if ‘something’ is making him unable to write properly OR if there was some kind of human speech to bird language thing going on in his mind and that’s why he understands everyone but that shit doesn’t work when he’s trying to write his bird language. (Although, he can’t communicate with any other animals anyway)

Desmond stays with Sef when Altaïr and the other go to assassinate Genghis Khan. At this point, Desmond is a freaking master in bird stealth and manages to find incriminating documents that shows Abbas was planning a coup (Abbas and his cohorts got sloppy now that Altaïr was away). The coup was unsuccessful and Sef and Malik lived. (because fuck canon)

Desmond stays with the Ibn-La’Ahad bloodline (especially Sef’s bloodline) until something inside him suddenly calls to him, creating a golden thread-like mist that only he can see.

Having a feeling of where it was going to take him, Desmond only leaves after staying with his last ‘owner’ until her dying breath.

=================================

.

Ezio

When Desmond gets to Italia, Ezio has just been born.

He stays by the window and watches Ezio. The maids tried to shoo him away whenever they see him. Giovanni sees him at least twice but just thought he was a normal bird.

Ezio grew up seeing him as his guardian angel (“Your guardian angel is a pigeon?” “At least I can see mine!”) and that idea only solidified when he was a teenager who just learned pigeons are not supposed to live this long.

However, Desmond keeps his distance because he knows that people would find it weird (and maybe even the devil’s work) if Ezio has a pet pigeon who is still alive after all these years.

He does, however, always fly near Ezio whenever he used the rooftops and stays with him if they’re in a hiding spot or really high up.

This, inadvertently, helps Ezio be better at freerunning and climbing (and stealth) before that fateful day.

On that fateful day, Desmond leaves Ezio to warn the Auditores by squawking really loudly on the rooftop until Federico had enough and went up to see what has Ezio’s guardian angel all squawking up a storm when it was usually silent. Federico sees the guards coming towards the Palazzo and alerts his father because Desmond made a show of diving in and getting one of the wanted paper that they all had to identify the Auditores and giving it to Federico with a flapping motion that says “run, fucking run!!!”

The Auditores don’t get captured but they had to go into hiding instead. Giovanni tries to talk to his friend Uberto Alberti about this with the evidence but Desmond is not having any of that. Federico is stuck because he’s been ordered to protect his family but Ezio was still out in Firenze so Desmond goes to him and takes him to Giovanni.

Ezio gets there in time to see his father being cornered by guards and he and Desmond helps Giovanni get out.

Unfortunately, the only thing that shows that the Auditores were innocent was with Uberti and he had burned it in front of Giovanni for dramatic effect and because he isn’t stupid.

Left with no choice, the Auditore family leaves Firenze to seek shelter in Monteriggioni.

(Altaïr’s statue has a pigeon on his shoulder and Desmond tries to get Ezio to realize that he’s the pigeon by sitting next to his pigeon statue and mimicking the puffed-up pose. Ezio just chuckles and says “Yes, angelo mio, you are more beautiful than Altaïr’s pigeon”)

=================================

(Okay, that’s as far as I got. If anyone wants me to do a semi-summary/semi-fic continuation of the Kenway soap opera, Arno and the Frye twins, let me know XD)

=================================

(Unorganized ideas)

There is no eagle connection ala Layla Trilogy between Desmond and any of his ‘owners’. He's literally just a pigeon with a long lifespan.

Sef once pinched a feather from Desmond without his approval because he dropped the feather that the Rafiq gave him, Desmond pecked him in the ear the entire time they were back in the bureau and the Rafiq just looked at him with an expression of ‘Do you really think I don’t know the difference between a pigeon’s feather and an eagle’s feather? Bitch, I’ve been Rafiq longer than you’ve been alive.’ but only takes the feather silently while Sef grins at him. It took lots of fruits for Desmond to stop being angry at him (and Sef knew he fucked up because the moment they returned to Masyaf, Desmond sat on Darim’s shoulder with his back turned, making Darim go “What did you do now, Sef?” in that tired older brother tone that he has used so many times by now)

Have some Pigeon!Desmond screwing up the Kenway Tragedy (based on @karolamurdock’s ideas too!)

Edward Kenway

Desmond didn’t plan to be Edward’s pigeon. Not really. He was just being the pigeon of whichever descendant of Ezio he finds a connection to then… one day the woman he’s chosen to be with marries a man who has the last name ‘Kenway’ and he realizes that he had ‘unintentionally’ gotten to the Kenway side of Desmond Miles’ bloodline

He thinks Edward is an idiot for leaving his wife but he goes with Edward anyway because he still likes him.

Edward likes to say he’ll cook Desmond whenever Desmond does this cooing sound that Edward just knows means "You fucked up, Eddie!".

Edward did try to name the ship ‘the Pigeon’ but was veto’ed immediately. That did not stop them from calling it the Pigeon whenever they feel like teasing Edward.

Sailors and pirates are superstitious and there’s a rule not to kill any birds while in the sea.

Because of this, Desmond could fly and peck anyone when they get boarded and everyone would hesitate to try to attack him.

Everyone knows Edward has a pigeon. Some even call him Pigeon Kenway. (Who? Edward or Desmond? Both of them.)

Mary thinks Edward is blessed by the pigeon of legends and that’s the reason why she wants Edward to be an Assassin.

Edward thinks it’s dumb that supposedly fearsome Assassins like pigeons. Mary reminds him he has a pigeon on his shoulder right now. “Ah, but I’m not an Assassin, am I?” “And having a pigeon as a pirate makes you oh so frightening.”

Because of Desmond, pirates are commonly seen with pigeons and not parrots in various media later on.

Desmond trying to peck Birch’s eyes out every time he sees him is a definite red flag for Edward and that makes him look into Birch quietly.

He would find Birch's Templar allegiance and this stops his death from happening.

He'll tell Haytham that Desmond is a bird that brings them good luck.

Haytham Kenway

Haytham grows up believing that Desmond is a bird that brings them good luck.

Because Edward lives, he grows up to be an Assassin.

When Haytham is inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood, Desmond is the one who tries to get him to wear his tacohat and Haytham indulges him even though he knows he looks stupid whenever Pigeon!Desmond sits on top of it.

Kaniehtí:io does think he looks stupid with a pigeon sitting on the top of his hat but, at the same time, there’s something charming about it. (especially when the smug pigeon contrasts Haytham's resigned annoyed expression oh so nicely)

Desmond is not subtle at trying to match make Haytham and Kaniehtí:io AT ALL.

Haytham is still a posh asshole but, now, he’s a posh asshole with a pigeon sitting on his head most of the time.

Haytham is just happy that his name does not mean ‘little pigeon’ at all.

Ratonhnhaké:ton

Desmond stays with Ratonhnhaké:ton once he’s born.

Haytham approves of this because this meant that his son will be ‘blessed’.

Ratonhnhaké:ton grows up with Desmond as his companion and they develop their own bird calls to signal each other like a call for "enemies ahead" or a call for "predators to your left".

This makes Ratonhnhaké:ton a deadlier hunter because Desmond is pretty much the pigeon equivalent of a hunting bird by now (just don't ask him to try and grab any animal with his talons, his body can't take the weight)

Ratonhnhaké:ton becomes an Assassin to follow in his father’s footsteps.

He never takes on the name Connor and anyone who can’t pronounce his real name just calls him Young Master Kenway to differentiate him from his father (who is usually called Master Kenway)

Haytham calls him by his real name and Edward does too.

He inherits the Jackdaw from his father.

Some guy shows up red in his sight? Pigeon Bomb away!!!

His current partner at that moment will definitely sus the guy out immediately because their flying guard dog literally put them on their shit list.

Because this is Desmond who isn’t connected to his ‘masters’ the way eagles/ravens are connected to the MCs of the Layla Trilogy, pigeon bombs are the best way he can ‘tag’ the enemies.

I always hc that Desmond’s gold is special in a sense that it’s brighter than any other gold Altaïr has ever seen (not like flashbang bright but like the lightbulb equivalent of white gold) but I also like to add in wisps of blue in his form to show that, even if they haven’t met, Desmond is already an ally.

So yeah, it’s that mix of blue that would always make Altaïr pause, regardless of what Desmond’s ‘occupation’ is. How this would work on either Scholar!Desmond or BastardPrince!Desmond:

Desmond as a Scholar and Erotica Novelist

The blue wisps of Desmond’s form would be strange and would make Altaïr cautious.

At this point, Altaïr isn’t doing the information gathering himself as that’s a novice’s job so his cautious approach would be more because he’s thinking maybe the novices made a mistake or something.

He would observe Desmond first by staying near him.

It would be curiosity that propels Altaïr to observe him. To know why he shows as both important and an ally to Altaïr’s eyes.

But it would be his growing feelings for Desmond that makes him stay. That will end with him screwing up the Templars’ plans and maybe even the whole plot of Altaïr’s Chronicles because he wishes to remain by Desmond’s side.

You know how Altaïr was willing to give up everything and run away with Adha for a chance to be happy? Well, in this scenario, Altaïr is pretty much willing to give up being an Assassin to be a simple scholar with Desmond.

The only thing that stopped him was Desmond who knows that Altaïr is needed by the Brotherhood so that it could evolve and be better.

In the end, Altaïr takes on the mantle of mentor because of Desmond’s words and Desmond ends up being the head scholar of the main library in Masyaf. The letters Shaun and the others recover are letters Altaïr and Desmond send to one another whenever Altaïr leaves Masyaf.

Desmond as the Illegitimate Brother of King Richard:

In this scenario, Altaïr would be ordered to kill Desmond after he already failed in Jerusalem (in this case, we’re going for old!Altaïr has been reborn as Robert to make this more complicated) and got Kadar and Malik captured.

Altaïr would know Desmond as the one who told ‘Robert’ to let Kadar and Malik go (old!Altaïr wanted to keep them so they would be safe while he plans on how to kill Al Mualim) and Kadar would insist that he’s a good man while Malik would say something like “He saved us but we must not let our guards down. For all we know, this could be simply a part of a more complicated plans to destroy us.”

Altaïr would stalk Desmond because the information he received from informants would all point that he’s a good person and they would all be befuddled by Al Mualim would wish for his death when it would be more beneficial for them if they were to assassinate King Richards and have Desmond take the throne instead.

At some point, Altaïr would start stalking Desmond even closer and… he’ll develop feelings for him from afar. He would see his kindness and the way he acts around people and he would understand why Desmond had wisps of blue in his golden form. He was important, yes, but those wisps of blue meant that he wasn’t an enemy. If anything, he could be the best ally the Brotherhood could ever gain.

Then he would see Desmond with ‘Robert’ and would see those private smiles only reserved for ‘Robert’ and he’d grow jealous of their growing relationship.

At some point, Altaïr would stop hiding and just… start visiting Desmond while he’s alone. Short conversations that would soon turn to Desmond asking him to stay for tea.

Altaïr would fall in love with him because Desmond treats him different. He doesn’t know it’s because he is special to Desmond, has been from the very beginning.

So when Desmond is shipped back to England to become the regent while King Richards stays, Altaïr doesn’t think. He joins them back.

At that point, Altaïr’s priorities have shifted to Desmond completely because of how Desmond makes him feel.

And this is a plot where Altaïr would throw away his future as an Assassin to be with Desmond, even if it is to simply be his shadow.

Then Maria tells Desmond to just announce that he’s in love with two men and everything snowballed from there and…

Well…

Altaïr and ‘Robert’ don’t necessary like one another but they’re willing to share Desmond if that makes him happy.

……… Desmond just wanted to retire from all of these political-royalty bullshit.

All of this is high class and Shaun, along with all other historians, pouring over the materials found about the greatest scholar in the Levent. Every new discovery could be the ingenuity of his theories and stories and greatly respected among assassins for his microanalysis of the creed and order, and how it shaped the modern world and he was one of the greatest minds of… crap nope it’s more porn.

“Man, he’s such a bottom.”

“How do you know he’s a bottom?”

“Yeah sure a top would go into such detail about the Mentor’s co-”

“Enough!”

……………

On the other hand prince*Desmond…

I think it would be funny if Altair*Robert (also can we be real Altair would change his name the moment he could get away with it) had to stay in the Levent to tend to the progress of the crusade the proper way by removing the corrupt members as per Desmond’s orders (he was gonna do it anyway this is just so that Richard doesn’t get a tight ass).

So the way that the story progressed since the Templars didn’t follow them back to Masyaf after Desmond let them go, it was just a failed mission that Young*Altair was sent to rectify, which he did just not also mentioning he wasn’t coming back, so it took a few months before AlRob realized that Altair wasn’t at the castle because through the compromise with Malik, appointing him the title of Mentor, did he notice that his younger self wasn’t there.

“There was that mission with the Arc, we had to absolve that failure so Altair was sent to retrieve the artifact on the prince’s boat” Malik explains regret and anger in his face “-he never returned.”

“…You mean to tell me that I sent my prince (yes HIS prince) back alone on a boat with a volatile assassin along with an incredibly dangerous artifact” eye twitch*

-because there was no way Desmond could leave with the artifact so he hid that he had it and acted like the assassins grabbed it.

AltRob and Maria looking at each other in cold terror and he leaves Maria in charge of organizing the Templar of New Order with a peace treaty with the Assassins while rushing back to protect Desmond who was absolutely in a semi obvious not at all secret but not discussed relationship with.

To find that youngAltair has essentially become Desmond’s personal thief/shadow since Des would never ok a kill despite the fact that Altair would in a heartbeat for him.

Cue jealousy and constant dick measuring contests vying in attempts for Desmond’s favor. Like a couple of knights at a Ren fair that wish for the princess’s favor which the country, and the surrounding countries who particularly enjoy Desmond’s reign because it is so entertaining, is all for.

Both feel bad and spurred because Desmond is having soft boy hours because he didn’t get poet on the tik tok test and is stuck being a king, doing kingly duties and doesn’t believe anyone when they say he’s doing a perfect job because he’s not physically helping people, but he can’t concentrate because his closest advisors keep making him horny and flustered….they feel bad but not really.

Also:

"He took the name 'Aquila' because of his love for Prince Desmond. How can you not see that?! Prince Desmond is the reason why he changed his name!" "Oh my god, not everything is a symbol of his boner for Prince Desmond!" "HE LITERALLY MARRIED THE MAN!!!"

For @kitsunesongs

(Just imagine all the misspelling as youtube's auto caption being wonky and not my sleep deprived mind going (⁠ @Д@))

Screenshots edits by me and taken from:

Joan of Arc Leads an Army (feat. Vanessa Hudgens) - Drunk History

Wait wait, Des married 2 Altairs???

Well, Aquila was the name of a boat before you named Aquila the eagle, but i don't think of a boat whenever i read about the bird. ^^ And tbh, would Altaïr accept any other name if he can't have his original name? XD

Based on my tags:

#if i am going to write this #i ain't naming robert de sable altaïr as aquila anymore #you guys will agree that the name will just remind you #of aquila from #ac fic: eagle of alamut #right? XD

Everyone knows that the moment Desmond calls him "Robert", he has fucked up and Desmond is annoyed/angry/irritated at him. XD