#his memories

[teecupangel]

AltDes where they both find a wooden box when they were kids, finds out anything they put in it gets sent to the other so they send letters and things for the other and overall just being happy

To ensure that they won’t tell anyone about the box, the best time for them to find the box would be when Altaïr is eleven and Desmond is ten. And, to make sure that they can’t send something too large, the box itself would be as big as a ring box. Looks like a metal box without any opening and it only opens when they press their thumb on one of the sides.

To Altaïr, he acquired the box while he was looking over his father’s things after his death. When he opened the box, there was already a note inside it. He opened the note and it was written in the letters used by the Crusaders. The scholars in the master’s library had taught him how to read their alphabet and he had been learning new words with the books the scholars suggested he read so it was easy for him to read what the note said.

“I hate it here.”

Altaïr wasn’t sure what to think about this.

Did… did his father write this? Was this how he truly felt about their home?

About being an Assassin?

He knew that Al Mualim would be disappointed if he heard of this so he folded it back and returned it to the box, closing it quickly.

And keeping the box with him to make sure no one would find it.

It started out as a heavy weight around his neck but he got used to it soon enough. Saying it was a memento of his father was enough to stop anyone from suggesting he stop wearing it. And, he always made sure to wear it underneath his robes so it wouldn’t bother him during training. A night after grueling training, he opens the box once more to look at the small note.

He blinked when he saw that there were seven more different notes in the box now, all small enough that folding them together didn’t even fill the box. He picked all eight and only after unfolding each one does he realize that the original note is no longer there.

‘I hate training.’

‘Mom left again.’

‘It hurts. I want mom.’

‘Dad hates me because I’m weak.’

All other notes were blank and the last three notes he read were barely readable, blotches of ink marred with dry tears that almost washed away the ink. Altaïr’s heart began to beat faster.

This… this couldn’t be his father.

He doesn’t know who ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ were but the writing themselves…

Altaïr knew now that they were written by someone young… like him.

And lonely… like him.

Unsure of what else to do, he placed the eight notes inside his journal and ripped a page off his journal. He ripped it to be as small as the other notes before he deliberated on how to write. Considering the writings all were written in the crusaders’ way of writing, Altaïr decided to write the same way. It… it looked strange compared to the notes he had received but it would have to do.

He folded the note and placed it inside the box before closing it. He waited for three seconds or so before he opened the box.

The box was empty.

.

.

To Desmond, he found the box while he was out training, the kids doing their daily run around the forest that hid the Farm. He had been lagging behind and the other kids had stopped trying to tell him to keep up. Desmond would catch up sooner or later.

Desmond fully stopped once the kids were out of view, taking a deep breath as he stretched. He wasn’t necessarily tired but… well…

He just wanted to take a break.

There really was no reason for it.

…

There was really no reason for any of this anyway.

He sat on a nearby rock and frowned when he felt something protruding under his left foot. He lifted his foot and blinked when he noticed that something was sticking out of the ground. Curious (and pretty bored), Desmond dug the ground until he was able to take the box. Desmond thought it looked cool so he put it in his pockets and started to jog once more to catch up with the others before they return to the Farm.

A few days after he found the box, his entire body ached from that day’s training. Tears fell from his eyes but he refused to make a sound, not wanting his parents to find out. He took the box that he had hidden underneath his bed, taped to the frame. He was just rolling it around his hands, trying to distract himself when he pressed his thumb a little harder than usual and it opened. He blinked and found it empty.

Maybe he just wanted to vent.

Maybe he just… he wanted to confess the darkness that had started to get a hold of him.

He ripped a small piece from one of the pages of the notebook he got from his mom and just wrote ‘I hate it here’.

He folded it and put it inside the box then closed it. He took a deep breath and placed the box on his chest as he stared at the ceiling.

It felt nice.

Confessing.

Then the dread crept up on him.

What if his dad found out about this box? Saw what he had written?

Desmond panicked and opened the box again, planning to take the note out and thro-

…

…

It was empty.

Desmond tried to look for the note, wondering if it had fallen from the box but he didn’t find anything.

Out of curiosity (and maybe he did think this dumb idea of his might work), he placed the box on the floor to make sure anything that falls out of it could be easily seen and placed another ripped blank paper in the box. He shut it closed then opened it as soon as he could.

It was empty.

He lifted the box and looked around.

There was no paper.

Desmond’s lips curved into a grin.

He has a magic box.

He has a magic box!

He did the same experiment two more times just to be sure.

Each time, the blank paper disappeared.

It was a freaking magic box!

Anything he put inside would disappear.

And…

And…

Desmond used it to confess his secrets so they would disappear afterward.

Then…

A few months later...

Just when he was about to put another secret (‘I pet the guard dogs’) inside his magic box, he blinked when he saw a small piece of folded paper inside.

He… he was sure all of his secrets had disappeared.

He flipped the paper open and tilted his head.

It was a bit hard to read but he was sure the writing on the paper that was clearly not his said, ‘Hello. Did you get this message?’

Unorganized Notes (it was getting long):

Desmond and Altaïr start becoming pen pals. The smallness of the ring meant that they got creative with their folding and Altaïr learned how to mimic Desmond’s writing so he could write smaller.

Once Desmond realizes that Altaïr’s first language is Arabic, he suggests Altaïr writes in Arabic first then add a translation below it so Desmond could learn. Sometimes, Desmond tries to write in Arabic as well and he grins whenever Altaïr would add notes about his translation in his next letter.

They find out that anything they receive from the other that they put back in the box does not, in fact, return to the original sender. It just completely disappears. This means that Desmond’s ‘I hate it here’ that Altaïr had returned to the box disappeared.

They can only put small things in the box so Desmond usually sends Altaïr candies and other sweets that he can put inside (or break into smaller pieces). Altaïr would always feel bad because the smallest bread the bakery in Masyaf had were these small balls sometimes covered in honey. Desmond loved them so Altaïr try to get some regularly. The baker believes that Altaïr loves the bread so he always makes some for Altaïr.

Altaïr keeps the wrapper the candies had in a separate box, pressed between the pages of a book about the gods of Ancient Greece. Desmond keeps the flowers Altaïr sends him pressed in the notebook he got from his mom.

They do find out that they’re from different time period. Altaïr likes to read about the many things Desmond sees as mundane (like the fridge). They don’t really talk about Altaïr’s home because it always makes Desmond sad that they would never meet.

Desmond still runs away from the Farm. Because they don’t talk about Altaïr’s home, Desmond doesn’t know Altaïr is training to be an Assassin. Altaïr also doesn’t know that Desmond is training to be an Assassin and supported Desmond’s plan to run away because he knows how much Desmond hated that the Farm.

They continue to write to each other and send each other small gifts. Once Desmond got a job in Bad Weather, he would buy new candies and chocolates that he could send to Altaïr. Then he saw a small tube of toothpaste that’s for traveling and sent that too with a note to remind Altaïr to brush his teeth because of all the sweets he’d been sending. Altaïr is absolutely fascinated by the toothpaste and even asked Desmond to research it for him.

Desmond knows more things than canon in this one because Altaïr would request him to check stuff out. Mostly inventions Altaïr read from Desmond’s writings. Sometimes, weird information about things like what makes up the first iteration of toothpaste.

In the end, Desmond still gets captured by Abstergo but he had been wearing the box around his neck like Altaïr. He has an easier time synching with Altaïr but his first memory block didn’t end with Altaïr being stabbed. After Altaïr is stabbed by Al Mualim for his failures, the Animus glitches and loads a much earlier memory, ignoring Lucy and Vidic’s commands to stop.

It loads the first time Altaïr wrote to Desmond and only Desmond realized the importance of that memory.

Before the end of his imprisonment, Desmond nicked a few pages of the post-it notes from Vidic’s desk. He couldn’t find any pen or anything (they probably took out anything that could be used as a weapon… against them or on… well… Desmond wasn’t going to finish that thought). Left with no way to write, Desmond used his nail to leave an indentation on the post-it notes, knowing that Altaïr would figure it out. He… he needed to make sure… He placed three notes in the box and took a deep breath before he went to sleep.

As Desmond relived Altaïr’s memories of trying to find the traitor in Masyaf, his heart began to beat faster when he saw that Altaïr climbed the highest tower in Masyaf to sit there. Altaïr had told him about how he usually reads Desmond’s letters high up so no one could sneak behind him.

Altaïr frowned when he saw the blank colorful papers then he used his Eagle Vision. Desmond’s nail-written words glowed white and both Altaïr and Desmond could clearly read the paper. Distantly, he could hear Lucy tell Vidic that the Animus can’t properly load the message and that it was glitching too badly.

The first one read “Is it July 1191 now? If it is, wave your left hand twice right now.” and Altaïr was confused by it but he raised his left hand to wave it twice. He looked around and Desmond could feel Altaïr was trying to look for him or any sign left by Desmond.

Then Altaïr looked at the second paper and it read “Templars got me. I’m seeing your memories.”

The third paper says: “I’m seeing your memories of July 1191.”

That’s as far as I got. The idea is: Desmond and Altaïr use their ‘connection’ to change the past. Desmond doesn’t feel it at first then the ripples start showing the more he changes Altaïr’s past.

[sealestial-k]

I'll be honest I don't understand why people keep saying Crowley remembered the Metatron - like Yeah of course he remembers him, he just saw him, big floaty head, while watching Gabriel's trial. Not something you forgot right away. And I think that's as far as his memory goes. He never said The Metatron's name, it was Aziraphale who said that. He was asked , and Crowley gave a very Crowley answer.

[bonnie-bug]

ohhhhh the fly wasn't beez THE FLY WAS GABE

[kedreeva]

It is with the heaviest of hearts that I bring you sad news today. Murphy, the eagle who incubated a rock (and later raised a foster eaglet after his rock "hatched"), passed away at age 33 (almost a decade longer than long-lived wild eagles!). A tornado hit his local area. It's believed he sustained blunt force head trauma, likely from spooking during the high winds, as his cage and fellow eagles were unharmed.

Murphy is survived by his foster son, Baby 23-126, who was successfully released into the wild, and a second foster eaglet he was still caring for; this eaglet is expected to be able to be released as well.

I know a lot of people on Tumblr enjoyed seeing his story, and I know we will remember him fondly.

[eggsistential-breakdown]

Okay, but hear me out -- what if his parents weren't usually red and blue?

[trekkerac]

he's like a faulty lightbulb

[deepspacenova]

I ALWAYS KNEW CALEB'S KISS WOULD BE OUT OF THIS WORLD

[habken]

dekus

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael Afton’s happiest day in FNAF

[prlssprfctn]

Desperately need petty Alfred, whose form of bullying Bruce for something is, like, moving all furniture in the cave on one inch. Just one. A barely noticeable difference, and yet, it is m a d d e n i n g.

Bruce, blindly trying to reach for the pen as he realises that they are slightly, slightly lefter than usual: (Slow processing)

Bruce, raising his head to the celling, desperate : ...What did I do this time?!

Jason, who was adopted recently, confused: Is he... talking to God?

Dick, snorting: Something like this.

Dick: So, there is a thing... When Alfred is mad—

Many years later, Bruce and Tim return to the Batcave and realise that all stuff there is moved on one inch. Bruce is confused, because he is very, very sure that he didn't fuck up anything recently. Meanwhile, Alfred is just glad that his newly brought back alive grandson found a very healthy way to punish his father for not killing Joker.

[soapbbox]

You know how in TFP Optimus can’t really remember what happened during his time without the matrix. Yeah. The sad version of this what if Optimus met cogless Megatron.

Cont from this, and this

[alfheimr]

hi i remembered i like transformers a normal amount

[astearisms]

catalysts, protectors

[samstree]

R2-D2's favoritism towards Anakin is so funny like, he's canonically the most foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, grump old cat-coded droid. The cute appearance is only an illusion to lure you in just so he can tase you, and maybe also kick you from behind just because he wants to. Even the disney princess Obi-Wan loved by all animals on first sight doesn't get along with R2. But he just. likes. Anakin. He's the wingman, he's emotional support, he's a good helper in battle. He carries snacks and checks if Anakin is hungry. He looks at this also ill-tempered angsty goth kid and said, yep that's my bff. Meanwhile Anakin goes around saying things like R2 is such a sweetheart 😌he's a little angel he's literally the best buddy anyone could ask for and I will risk my life to save him. Everyone else just looks like the demon droid and be like what the fuck are you talking about.

[keferon]

Empurata!Prowl tries to actually communicate for the first time

What if he wants to say something but he can’t. What if he has no voice to speak, no face to emote, no hands to write. What if every attempt to communicate a message is essentially a puzzle of wit and creativity and yet, the first thing he goes through all these troubles for. Is to say “I love you”?

Don’t ask me how did they get in this room. I have no idea. They escaped the battlefield somehow haha

Next->

[feminist-space]

"Balaji’s death comes three months after he publicly accused OpenAI of violating U.S. copyright law while developing ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence program that has become a moneymaking sensation used by hundreds of millions of people across the world.

Its public release in late 2022 spurred a torrent of lawsuits against OpenAI from authors, computer programmers and journalists, who say the company illegally stole their copyrighted material to train its program and elevate its value past $150 billion.

The Mercury News and seven sister news outlets are among several newspapers, including the New York Times, to sue OpenAI in the past year.

In an interview with the New York Times published Oct. 23, Balaji argued OpenAI was harming businesses and entrepreneurs whose data were used to train ChatGPT.

“If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he told the outlet, adding that “this is not a sustainable model for the internet ecosystem as a whole.”

Balaji grew up in Cupertino before attending UC Berkeley to study computer science. It was then he became a believer in the potential benefits that artificial intelligence could offer society, including its ability to cure diseases and stop aging, the Times reported. “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the newspaper.

But his outlook began to sour in 2022, two years after joining OpenAI as a researcher. He grew particularly concerned about his assignment of gathering data from the internet for the company’s GPT-4 program, which analyzed text from nearly the entire internet to train its artificial intelligence program, the news outlet reported.

The practice, he told the Times, ran afoul of the country’s “fair use” laws governing how people can use previously published work. In late October, he posted an analysis on his personal website arguing that point.

No known factors “seem to weigh in favor of ChatGPT being a fair use of its training data,” Balaji wrote. “That being said, none of the arguments here are fundamentally specific to ChatGPT either, and similar arguments could be made for many generative AI products in a wide variety of domains.”

Reached by this news agency, Balaji’s mother requested privacy while grieving the death of her son.

In a Nov. 18 letter filed in federal court, attorneys for The New York Times named Balaji as someone who had “unique and relevant documents” that would support their case against OpenAI. He was among at least 12 people — many of them past or present OpenAI employees — the newspaper had named in court filings as having material helpful to their case, ahead of depositions."