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i’m 90% sure this is what was going on

#🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 ACCURATE #haytham kenway #Charles Lee #ac:iii

them🥺🥺

#SCREEEEEE #LOOK AT THEMMMMMMM #ALL of them 😭😭😭😭 including the ones from Rogue who always get forgotten #the boys are back in town.mp3

How many years is it now that I’ve been in this fandom, and yet I’ve only just realised the blatant symbolism of how the Assassins wear white, while and Templar colours are black and red.

In other words: Ubi planted the symbolism of the Assassins being heroic and good, and the Templars being evil, for the majority of the series…and then expected everyone to listen when they brought in Shay who is not evil, but still wears those colours…

And by the way, I’m all for that messing up of expectations and subversion of traditional symbolism…but this exposes that a lot of the fans who are quick to write off Shay as evil (often, dare I say, without even playing the game) are simply just not questioning anything beyond what they see in front of them, at face value.

Somewhat ironic, for a series all about questioning everything. “Nothing is true, everything is permitted but all people who align with the Assassins are god-like and perfect and all Templars are evil and never even slightly OK not even at all .” 🤔

#ac rogue #shay cormac #(^ dare I say but that is why we NEEDED a game like Rogue to try and break into this problem…but I fear it just made it worse)#hmmmmmm #I probably realised this a long time ago… but the penny just dropped #also it’s excellent how I dive deep into complex character and thematic analysis of these games and yet I miss something as obvious as this #🤦🏻😂#ngl it is definitely ubi’s fault for being so rigid about a clear moralistic paradigm and then trying to subvert something that is so rigid #and expect people to be open to seeing the grey areas #which by the way happens to be the main reason I love the series because there IS a lot of grey area #but at the same time the creators seem bent on showing a one sided perspective #with THE SINGLE EXception of Rogue #which also goes to show why the game is not so popular. (among other reasons)#but it remains my favourite of the series and with good reason: I was never sucked into the concept of Assassins being ‘all good’#and Templars being ‘all bad’. but maybe I’m an exception 😂#SCREECH I JUST REALISED THAT THIS IS WHY IT’S GENIUS THAT HAYTHAM WEARS BLUE #because he is presented as ambiguous. The whole of his character design is supposed to be mysterious and hinting at dual allegiance #but then he has LITTLE STREAKS OF RED like DAMN that’s clever #I never noticed that before #add in the whole layer of eagle vision’s #blue and red dichotomy and you have a very clever play with colours there for sure #haytham kenway

Me in 2019: AU where the Finnegan’s son is actually still alive and squabbles with Monro over harbouring a random half-dead ex-Assassin in his house and then squabbles even more with his Ma when she tries to give this guy his clothes, but ultimately he and Shay becomes best of friends, nay brothers and he helps Monro and Gist train Shay up in the Templar ways (while getting way too drunk and having way too much of a good time when the Colonel’s not looking)

Me in 2022: Wait, what do you mean ‘AU’??? it’s canon to me now

#I have been writing this for 2.5 years #and it reached the stage where if I ever revisited Rogue #i ended up genuinely confused as to where Declan is #and what’s more: some dear rp partners of mine have ended up saying the same thing 😂#I sometimes get a burst of pride for how Declan has become possibly the most fleshed out OC #I have ever written in my life and has sparked a hardcore interest in this period of history #and it just… it’s all because Ubi didn’t bother to write the character themselves. I mean. damn.#this is why we make our own canon lads #never let anyone tell you otherwise #👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#my work here is done *salutes*#ac rogue #the finnegans #the Finnegans’ son

larosaescarlata

- I am face to face with The man I used to be Dreams I dared to dream When love was all The innocence of youth Like memories of truth return To learn forgiveness - (The Man I Used To Be - The Count of Monte Cristo) Listened to the Count of Monte Cristo musical again and I thought this song fits Shay so much looking back to his Assassin days- (The musical kinda fits him so I even thought out some kind of Count of Monte Cristo AU with Shay based on AC Rogue oop- SSJDF)

#shay cormac #ac rogue #this is beautiful #in every respect #the poetry of this

shaycormacaroni

“ In 1755, Monro's men found the Assassin Shay Cormac adrift and unconscious in the Atlantic Ocean. Monro decided to rescue him, despite William Johnson's furious objections. “

#👏🏻😂oh the perfection of this #colonel george monro #william johnson #shay cormac #the extraness of the infighting among this motley crew never ceases to entertain #i love them all for it #The sheer audacity of Monro to go out wielding the weapon of KINDNESS I mean #he is a caring colonel after all…. if also hella scheming #and how much do you want to bet he did this to spite Johnson :P I’m not denying that even the colonel himself #isn’t beyond petty retaliation of that sort #Johnson: pisses him off repeatedly #Monro: says nothing. smiles. :) then comes back with a rescued ex-assassin #absolute gold dust A++++

So, my phone’s autocorrect apparently wants Shay’s name to be:

Shay Cormorants

Shay Comrade

Shay Corset

Take your pick...

#Shame it wasn’t Auks because that is essentially canon #shay cormac #😂

gurlbye-1-deactivated20240327

What would assassins creed characters reaction be if they read fans posts about them and tweets about them 😭😭?

Haytham most definitely would be like : meme from (@fxllxxt-nxw-vxgxs )

Connor :

Shay:

#the most accurate characterisation of these three i have ever seen #haytham kenway #shay cormac #Connor kenway

beesmygod

why dont the assassins creeds go back in time and kill some dinosaurs

bullshitcockroach-deac

okay FIRST OF ALL you FUCKING CASUAL thats not even how it works!! they dont physically travel back in time, but have vivid hallucinations of time travel thanks to the magic of technology and agent pre-human godspecies!!!!!

beesmygod

why dont the assassin creeds just fly the eagles into the pope

#I mean #what was ezio even doing for all those games #just #fly those goddamn eagles into the pope already #.....#😅

witche-nerd

A piece of media: This is a complex story where no one is evil and no one is a saint. People are a reflection of their world, their life experiences and trauma. Morality depends on context from which you view the character. You are not supposed to find every character good or even likable. You can take sides and find real life parallels but the biggest point is to make you think and maybe recognize the flaws in yourself as well as the goodness in those you hate.

Tumblr: okay so THIS is the bad person and THIS is the good person. This is the oppressor and this is the oppressed. This is the abuser and this is their victim. If you like this EVIL character you are clearly the same as my asshole dad who reminds me of this character. Not taking a moralistic stance on a fictional story means you are amoral. Analysis is actually about figuring out who the bad-est person is so you can disavow them and who the good-est person is so you can root for them. The media you consume reflects your values and the characters you find interesting are clearly the ones who are exactly the same as you.

#*SCREAMS*#you all know exactly why

schmude

Since Haytham's book killed my soul, I drew this.

#just sobs tbh #haytham kenway #edward kenway #ac forsaken #JGLGKGKTKTKG FUCK YOU UBI #😂😂😅😅🥲😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Source

#haytham kenway #connor kenway #ac3 #tfw a game is a DECADE old and people still find new ways to meme about it…oh that’s my kind of content🙏🏻#👌😂

The Colonial Templars trying to have a meeting whenever Haytham’s away:

Haytham hearing about this later:

#haytham kenway #charles lee #colonial templars #ac3 #handforth parish council meme #this meme ages like…something that ages really well #- it still makes me laugh whenever youtube recommends it to me ok #😂 anyway this is my take #i know that in canon he left Lee in charge a lot of times #but given that i make my OWN canon around here #i honestly hand on heart do not think that Haytham trusted puppy dog ‘notice me senpai’ Lee for a moment #(i mean the one from the ac3 early sequences in the 1750s)#later it’s different but honestly #even then i feel like he would be a bit sus #i just want to see how the chaos would inevitably unfold the moment Haytham goes out of the room #‘cause for a bunch of lads who are ‘all about order’#they really truly are a motley crew and we all know it #i can see it now—- modern AU where the assassins get hold of leaked footage of a zoom meeting with Haytham’s Templars 🤣

shaycormacaroni

#haytham and shaun being in the same segment gets me every time #too true #and I think Kidd responding like that is essentially canon #assassin’s creed meme

graveb0und

So the long story is, I made up a Shaytham fic-writing cheat sheet that includes a bullet-point timeline of every relevant canon event as well as other bits of lore that are just useful for writing and I might drop it maybe eventually,,

But the short story is while researching for this cheat sheet, I found out Haytham only calls Shay by his first name when they’re alone, no that is not mentioned on any wiki page, and yes I triple-checked every cutscene. I don’t know what it means but I just think it’s exciting.

oldselfshiplady

So, I just want to add a little bit of a note to this, for clarification and nuance. That is a common and period-accurate way to treat someone in that time, even if you knew them pretty well. People simply did not use first names nearly as much as we do now, particularly not publicly. Using someone’s first name was a sign of how close your relationship was, it’s true, but you wouldn’t necessarily, especially not as men, call one another by first names, either in public or in private. It does denote a kind of intimacy, though it wasn’t necessarily romantic intimacy. Hence the phrase “first-name basis,” and how being allowed to call someone by their first name required their consent. It definitely meant something, just not always intimacy in the same sort of way we mean now.

Like now, it also depended on the people involved and how comfortable they were with being casual with others. So Haytham calling Shay by his first name is both a sign of respect and that they are close enough to have that sort of first-name basis. I can’t see Haytham being the sort of person to informally refer someone by their first name in general, even privately, and when he does, it’s usually around other Templars. Of course, the existence of Charles Lee refutes this entirely, as Haytham almost immediately calls him Charles, in public, and to others.

However, nothing I’ve said precludes this as a headcanon for the ship! There is no reason it couldn’t be interpreted as special, because while Haytham is formal and pays utmost attention to the etiquette of the time, he also makes an exception for Ziio, as well, who we know was important to him. Or, maybe it’s a starting point for Haytham and Shay! Whatever the situation, there’s no definite reason rule out this behaviour as insignificant or that the only explanation is historical precedent. I only point it out to say that the writers of the game probably didn’t have that in mind when they wrote it, but as always, canon is merely a suggestion. Just wanted to add a bit of history as a jumping-off point.

As a writer myself, I also want to add it’s entirely possible that the way Haytham treats Shay differs from the way he treats characters in AC3 is because there were different writers involved, iirc, and because he interacts with so few others in Rogue. Still not a reason it can’t be special.

graveb0und

Yes!! All of this. I love period social nuances and they’re so ingrained in my head that I didn’t think to point any of this out.

Even outside of a “romantic” context, (sorry, I’m putting Shaytham down for a second), calling someone by their first name during this time usually pointed to having a very close relationship with that person. I don’t know if Assassin’s Creed meant for it to have quite that much significance, since it seems like it’s something Haytham just decides to do the second he meets someone, but it’s also something that he only does with a handful of people.

I’d have to do some deep diving back into all of Haytham’s cutscenes to figure out exactly why he does this (that is, why he only drops formalities with certain people, close or not. Obviously it means something for his character in the grand scheme, I just don’t know what). In Shay’s context though, Steven Piovesan mentioned in an interview how Haytham handles him differently than the other Templars because of his history. It would make sense for him to not want to alienate Shay– who, (1) is his best asset for getting rid of the Assassins, and (2) has a record of volatile loyalties– by coming off as harsh and cold. He needs Shay’s help, and doesn’t want him to think he made the wrong decision, so he immediately jumps into this kind of confidant relationship with him, perhaps as a brother or parent figure (which, coincidentally, takes up the spot that Liam and Achilles used occupy).

Realistically, it’s hard to say whether or not Haytham actually thought of Shay that way, or if he just saw Shay as an immediate solution to his problem, and so he cleverly used him and then got rid of him– which would be very on-brand for our Grand Master. But I like to be optimistic and think that maybe, Haytham did come to enjoy Shay as a friend and protégé, if only because of a line at the end. When Achilles calls Shay disrespectful, Haytham says jokingly, “Yes, we’ve been working on that.” That reads to me, (again, completely in a non-ship context), that Haytham knows Shay as well as, if not better than Achilles, and instead of ridiculing and casting him off like the Assassins did, the Templars embraced his flaws and encouraged growth. Drawing a thread to his relationship with Connor later on, perhaps a part of him admires Shay’s strong morals and ability to adapt, and he is proud of everything he has managed to overcome and accomplish thus far. Honestly, it’s just a really nice way to round out the entire literary foil that is Liam/Achilles/Shay/Gist/Haytham.

imakemyowncanon

…Permission to jump in here and remind everyone of one of the most tragic moments in the game which is where Colonel Monro, with his dying breath, looks Shay in the eyes - having only ever called him Master Cormac - and whispers: “Shay…”

[was going to put a gif here but it’s too sad]

If that isn’t a display of the deepest intimacy, trust, and everything else I don’t have the words to express, then Idk what it is - added to the fact that this is the only time he calls him by his first name AND (as @oldselfshiplady astutely mentioned) that it was very unusual for this time period unless you were close with that person (and dare I say would be even MORE unusual for someone of a senior military standing) then…… All I can say is that for all their faults Ubi really nailed it with that moment. 💔

Also, if I may give my two pennies worth on why Haytham calls Lee ‘Charles’ from the get go - I feel that this may have been a decision on the part of the writers to denote their difference in rank, as Charles exclusively refers to Haytham as ‘Master Kenway’ for this part of the game. However, as previously mentioned, it doesn’t actually make that much sense given how, when you compare this to how Monro treats Shay - always using ‘Master Cormac’ as in opposed to his first name, despite not only difference in Templar rank but ffs this man’s a blinkin’ Lieutenant-Colonel in the British military and he still has the courtesy to call Shay ‘Master Cormac’. And I seriously doubt Haytham would actually have that much less decorum than Monro, being brought up as he did. Therefore, I put this discrepancy down to the differences in studios.