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#soulmates are isu bullshit
teecupangel · 9 months
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Hear me out:
Soulmate au where soulmarks were created by the Isu to ensure that the right matches would be made in order to get to the chosen one.
They appear the moment two soulmates see each other for the first time, and they start itching after a few days of separation. After a week or so, they start burning.
By the time Desmond is born soulmarks are exceptionally rare, so he does not expect to get one himself, (and by all means he shouldn't get one, since we know that he is the chosen one) but he does, and it's right after he wakes up in Abstergo's Rome facility.
He's really hoping that his soulmate is the cute blonde lady, and not the crazy old guy.
(Ideally this would start as a Desmond/Lucy story only to then switch to a deconstruction of the soulmate trope as they both fall in love with different people instead. Time travel might be involved, for AltDes purpuses.)
(It's up to you whether Desmond and Lucy's soulmarks are a mistake on the Isu's part or something more sinister, maybe Juno's plan to get a new body by being reborn as Lucy's daughter after Desmond dies to save the world? Of course this would imply that in this timeline she doesn't kill her in Brotherhood...)
Or…
It’s a man-made created soulmark?
Like Abstergo managed to get the device that had been used to add the soulmark into humans and they tried to reverse engineer it?
It’s not perfect but they managed to make it work and all they have to do is inject a person with the ‘solution’ from the device that makes use of other chemical components that would trigger the ‘soulmate symptoms’ plus a secret ingredient.
The blood of the intended ‘partner’.
This isn’t how the device actually worked. The device itself used the DNA as seen in the calculations to set up the solutions which would be added to the humans’ genes using another device but Abstergo can’t find the device itself (the device is actually the Eye in the Grand Temple as that’s the one which has the capabilities to see into the future and thus can connect with the Calculations stable enough for the Capitoline Triad to add in the solutions into the Calculations) without the need of any injections to the targets.
So, Abstergo make do with creating an injection, calling it ‘YN-001’ and they injected it to both Desmond and Lucy while Desmond was unconscious so it only triggered when he first got out of the Animus and his eyes met Lucy’s.
Why?
Because by making Desmond believe that Lucy is his soulmate, he’d be easier to control for Project Siren.
But it all come crashing down when Juno controlled Desmond in the Colosseum vault, calling Lucy an abomination and showing everyone using the golden holograms that Lucy and Vidic had injected Desmond with YN-001 to make him believe Lucy is his soulmate.
If you want Lucy to live, Desmond’s feelings for her (which he believed to be love because he did believe he and Lucy were soulmates) makes him able to control his body before he stabs Lucy and he managed to strike a little to the right, missing her vital organs instead.
He still falls in a coma and Clay tells him the truth of Juno’s words. How the soulmate system had been created to ensure that Desmond was born. It was never about fated love or true happiness, it had always been to ensure the birth of the chosen one.
So… AC Revelations happen with Desmond jaded because of Lucy’s betrayal and the truth about the entire soulmate system.
When AC3 rolls around, Desmond actually confronts Bill and asked if he ever loved Desmond’s mother.
The hesitation in Bill’s voice as he tells him that he cared for his wife and she cared for him as well was all Desmond needed to know that they might have been soulmates but his parents didn’t even love one another.
So what did that mean for Ezio?
For Altaïr?
Ezio got the courage to leave the Brotherhood because he believed that Sofia was his soulmate and that they were meant to be together.
Altaïr married Maria and raised a family with her for decades because of the soulmark they shared.
Did that invalidate their feelings?
Did that invalidate their love for one another?
Desmond didn’t want to believe it.
Because if that was true…
If the whole soulmate system was meant to ensure that people would give birth to individuals that would later end up becoming part of Desmond Miles’ genes…
Then… didn’t that meant the feelings soulmates held for one another were their chains?
That they were unable to break from?
Unorganized Notes (AltDes because I was given an option and I will take it XD):
Desmond is under the impression that the soulmate system can influence feelings. It does not. The soulmate system relies on humans believing they are meant to fall in love with their soulmate to work. It can only trigger hormones and the burning sensation if they’re not with their soulmate but, other than that, the feelings are their own.
Desmond doesn’t believe this as he did fell in love with Lucy but her betrayal and the truth about the soulmate system made him believe that his own feelings were 'created' beyond his control and the only way to finally stop the feelings is after their ‘part’ of the calculations is done (which is true as Bill and his wife have been separated since the attack on the Farm and Bill doesn’t show any pain that should have come from the ‘burning’).
Desmond gets sent back in time a few months before the start of AC1 (late June 1191). From there, Altaïr and Desmond meet and they fall in love.
Desmond’s love for Altaïr is real for him because it’s not the soulmate system. However, he also knows that Altaïr would fall in love with his soulmate once they met. Altaïr doesn’t believe he has a soulmate and his feelings for Desmond are real for him as well. He also knows that Desmond hates the very concept of soulmates while Altaïr actually holds it in a high regard because his own parents were soulmates and he lost both of them at such an early age that he wished to believe they had been happy.
Desmond knows that and that’s why he could never tell Altaïr the truth about the soulmate system. It would be cruel and… Desmond loves Altaïr too much to tell him that his parents had him to ensure that Desmond Miles would be born.
Desmond is also jaded enough to tell Altaïr that once he meets his soulmate, he will ‘forget’ about Desmond so… Desmond doesn’t care how fast they were moving. He only had a few months with Altaïr and he was greedy enough to take and take as much as he could until Altaïr would no longer be by his side.
Altaïr wants to show Desmond that he won’t go anywhere even if his soulmate were to appear so he indulges all of Desmond’s wishes.
Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship is a secret… with only Kadar knowing about it because he saw the both of them together once and he promised not to say anything.
Then… June 1191 came and it’s up to you if Kadar survived or not.
Throughout Altaïr’s hunt for the Seven, Desmond is the only person who stayed by his side, not judging him for his failures. Some of the Assassins and informants try to help Altaïr because they wanted to but their actions are tainted by Al Mualim’s orders to make Altaïr work for their support. Because of this, Altaïr feels isolated with Desmond being the only one who stayed by his side. Desmond doesn’t stop him from thinking that because he knows their time together was slowly coming to a close so he holds Altaïr as tightly as he could for the few remaining weeks they have left.
Until…
September 1191 rolled around and Altaïr meets Maria Thorpe. His soulmark appears at the same time hers did and they both stared at each other with wide eyes before Altaïr runs away.
Instead of going to Malik like in canon, he goes to Desmond and Desmond knows just by looking at the rattled expression on Altaïr’s face that he had met Maria. He unclasped Altaïr’s hidden blade and stares at his soulmark, marking Altaïr’s left arm, before saying goodbye. Altaïr tries to stop him but Desmond tells him that the soulmark cannot be erased and Altaïr is ‘destined’ to be with Maria.
“Maybe… maybe in six years… you will remember that you loved me. Maybe…”
Altaïr promises never to forget his love for Desmond but Desmond believes he will forget it. Instead of saying that though, Desmond just smiles at him and tells him he has to go to Malik and save the Brotherhood.
The rest of the plot happens and Altaïr returns to Jerusalem as soon as he could even as he took the mantle of mentor. Instead, he finds Desmond’s home empty and… Maria there, holding a letter that Desmond had given her when she had been looking for Altaïr.
So, more angst happen here and there, Altaïr refuses to fall in love with Maria, Maria is torn between wanting to hate Altaïr and pitying him because she can see how much Altaïr was in pain, and…
Well, we can go for various endings for this one…
Possible Endings:
Downer-ish ending: Altaïr and Maria do fall in love in the end but Maria will always know that Altaïr’s feelings for her paled in comparison to how he feels for Desmond. When Sef is born, their soulmark stop trying to burn them if they try to leave each other’s side but, at that point, Altaïr loved his sons too much to abandon them. (If you want to turn this into a bittersweet complicated ending: Desmond visits after Sef’s birth and he asks Altaïr if he remembers how he loved him, Altaïr replies he never forgot and Desmond would have to live with the guilt of hurting Altaïr needlessly but still remaining by his side and becoming Altaïr’s lover who has a strained relationship with Maria)
Good-ish ending: Kadar stops Desmond from actually leaving and Altaïr manages to catch up, begging Desmond to stay by his side. His soulmark with Maria forces Maria and Altaïr to be near with one another every few days but Maria knows Altaïr’s heart belongs to Desmond. Desmond feels guilty for hurting Maria but Maria just waves it off as she has no reason to fall in love with a man in love with someone else. Maria and Altaïr’s chains finally break when Sef is born and Maria leaves Masyaf as she had always felt like a stranger in the Brotherhood (happy ending for Maria and our KadMar agenda: she goes stay with Kadar in Jerusalem instead and this could end up as romantic or platonic).
‘Golden’ ending: Altaïr uses the Apple to find a way to erase his and Maria’s soulmark with Maria being his ally as she doesn’t want to have a soulmark of a man who is obviously in love with another person. The Apple brings them to an Isu temple and Desmond is also there because, the truth was, he couldn’t bury his feelings for Altaïr and he wanted to be selfish for once so he was looking for a way to erase Altaïr’s soulmark so he can ‘remember’ Desmond. They end up using the device in that Isu temple after Altaïr tells Desmond that he never stopped loving him and the reason why they’re there is to erase his soulmark as well. Maria’s just there, feeling pity for the pain the two had gone through but also annoyed because a lot of the drama wouldn’t have happened if. They. Had. Talked. To. Each. Other. Instead. Of. Desmond. Running. Away. In. The. First. Place. Anyway, happy ending with Altaïr finally erasing his and Maria’s soulmark and Maria goes her own merry way with her dreams of wanting to find her own path.
(sidebar: if you want a soulmate AU AltDes, then may I suggest Zero Eclipse? The soulmate mark is an Isu invention in that one too (by the Isu Inanna) with a similar premise of ‘you will earn your soulmark if you do what we want you to do and follow the Calculation we chose’)
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ff7-has-taken-me-over · 9 months
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AC Soulmate AU where in a persons final moments, if they have not yet met their soulmate, they are able to meet them and spend those final moments with them.
I’m thinking like if one person dies before the other than either they will just kind of exist in a grey space with no proper conscience until their soulmate dies and then they’ll wake up and meet them. To them it just feels like it’s been mere moments since they died and not the possible few hundred years or what not. Or they could just get pulled through to the time their soulmate dies and it’s just a big time fuckery, I dunno.
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mellanmir · 10 months
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dancing to the melodies of dreams
Story idea: Altair/Desmond, au: soulmates (where you get a mark and visit your soulmate in your dreams like a ghost, but they can't see you) and add a pinch of isu bullshit and you get a very confused and worried Umar and an Altaïr who really doesn't see what the problem is. It is not an imaginary friend.
Snippet (unbetaed):
Umar Ibn-La'Ahad is a working assassin — a good one at that, if he is allowed to say so — and is not unfamiliar with dangerous situations. Yet, never has he felt fear so strong it seems to squeeze all life out of him. He had his fair share of escaping dangerous situations, where his discovery would mean certain death, when you become hyperaware of the blood pumping in your veins and the air rushing into your lungs and the world just becomes a just a bit sharper, when your senses expand beyond their normal limits, and you just know where your target is. But that is a familiar state of being, a well-worn fear, known nearly as well as an old friend. In comparison, there is nothing more nerve-wracking than having to sit beside Maud and watching her laboring hard to give birth to their child. Helpless for this is a fight he can not bear in her stead. Not that he would ever tell her that. She would just laugh at him and tease him for weeks, reminding him of all the times she had bested him in a fight. But he can see the worry slowly etching itself between the wrinkles of the midwives, the nervous glances the assistants throw at each other. It has been many hours, yet there doesn’t seem much progress. He is not sure if Maud has picked up on it yet. He hopes not because this is just additional stress she surely doesn’t need at the moment.
More hours go by, and the winter rain beats merciless against the roof and walls, now no longer drowned out by Maud’s cries of pain and he never hated the silence more. He is holding her up now. She is too weak to even sit on her own, resting most of her weight on him. Compared to him, his wife, with her paler skin — a remnant of her grandparents’ legacy — looks even more white in contrast to his own. It feels clammy and cold and Maud’s body looses more strength with each hour passing, but her will only growths. Her eyes are sharp and alert and in the light of the candles, they glow like the golden pommel of her sword.
The winter storm is dying down outside and Umar can feel the end coming. Maud is screaming, using the last of her strength for bearing down and pushing, trusting in Umar to hold her up and the midwife to catch the baby.
Her scream tapers off and then her head lolls to the side and she becomes eerily still against him and for a heart stopping moment, Umar fears she became literally dead weight in his arm. Then he catches the faintest in- and exhale and the barely there beat of her heart and he wants to say a prayer in gratitude. It dies on his tongue and nearly chokes him when he notices it’s too quiet in the room — aren’t babies supposed to scream? — and sees the oldest midwife carefully disentangle the umbilical cord from his child’s neck. He strangled more than one person in his life; he knows what it means.
He wants to scream and cry, rage against the unfairness of it all. Instead, he carefully rises and carries Maud to the bed, so the assistants can clean her up. Now he says a quick prayer, eternally grateful that she isn’t awake. He feels hollow, like every good feeling and all his happiness has been washed away.
He doesn’t even remember crossing the room. One moment he was beside his dying wife, the next he stands next to his dead child, the midwifes carefully cleaning him of blood and other fluids.
He has a dead son.
Then suddenly one of the midwife starts a prayer of praising Allah and the other bundles his child in swathes of warm fabric in a hurry.
Maud gave birth to a healthy, wailing and very displeased son.
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esamastation · 5 years
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Sorry, I said it wrong. (Actually that tends to happen a lot). I mean, in one fic you had stuff coming from the dragons/Isu mixing with humans, and it being purely the eagle vision that was sorta-magic, and the leap was just skill based, and the genetic memory chemically activated. In another, you had the Isu genetic engineering for Desmond basically absorb and adapt to his circumstances, and so the sorta-magic develop in response to his or his ancestors needs.I'm running out of space (1/?)
(2/?) in another everything was a result of Isu genetic engineering/ancestry combining with a goauld host for a parent, with the eyes an Isu thing and genetic memory a goauld thing. Where do you draw the line between sorta-magic and skill-based for the assassin feats, does it change from fic to fic, and do you have any other ideas/headcanons/cool concepts for the origin or reasoning behind the sorta-magic? 
Yeah it varies from fic to fic, depending on which fits/is more interesting/is the funniest. Mostly it tends to run along the same lines - Eagle Vision being Empathy/Telepathy, Point of View being a sort of area-clairvoyance. Leap of Faith and the hardcore-parkour is mostly skill based, etc. I kind of vary how strong each aspect is depending on fic - Trade Winds and High Profile, I think, has had the strongest Eagle Vision stuff so far? and Gift of Living Well but it had so much other magic stuff going on so it’s hard to say.
No new ideas, right now... aside from the idea that Isu-bullshit-magic also gotta give the Assassins super strength and super durability too, because like 70% of the Leap’s of Faith should end with the Leap of Faith-er breaking their neck on the side of a hay cart. Also, the many times people (Ezio) climb and do ridiculous stuff with massive stomach wounds. Haven’t explored that much yet, aside from Impermanence where it was more for laugh. Should do a more serious take on Assassin Super Strength sometime.
Also I have been thinking of the whole connecting-with-actual-eagles thing that came in later games. In Trade Winds it might pop up as people-connecting-with-dragons, but who knows. I once thought of using it as a sort of nonsense-telepathy-soulmate thing, with people with Eagle Vision being able to connect and see through each others eyes, etc. Could be fun.
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Zero Eclipse
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/n1J5E0S
by teecup_angel
The day Desmond was born, the name of his soulmate was branded on his left wrist. At the age of sixteen, he ran away from the Assassins and tried to live a normal life, hoping to meet his soulmate in the outside world. At the age of twenty-five, Desmond gets kidnapped by Abstergo and learns his soulmate was Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an Assassin from the 1190s and his ancestor.
(Soulmate AU)
Words: 5991, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: M/M
Characters: Desmond Miles, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Lucy Stillman, Warren Vidic, Shaun Hastings, Rebecca Crane (Assassin's Creed)
Relationships: Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad/Desmond Miles, Rebecca Crane/Shaun Hastings
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Romantic Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bleeding Effect, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Minor Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad/Maria Thorpe, Desmond Miles-centric, BAMF Desmond Miles, ... later, Protective Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Isu Bullshit (Assassin's Creed), William Miles' A+ Parenting
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/n1J5E0S
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