#Or ogres. unlimited ogres. But no ogres

[quikyu]

References for Momo!

[scatmaan]

this is right after she killed nettie

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

The Shining Knight

Sir Justin was once a celebrated knight of King Arthur's Court, renowned for his valor and unwavering chivalry.  Sir Justin had defeated a mighty ogre who was actually Morgaine Le Fay in disguise.  As thanks for his many acts of bravery in defense of the realm, Sir Justin was presented by Merlin with three precious gifts.  These gifts included an enchanted sword that could cut through near anything, an impervious set of armor, and a flying stead named Winged Victory.  

By means left unrevealed, Sir Justine survived into the modern era having not aged a day.  He used his knightly skills to fight crime and came to be known as 'The Shinning Knight.'  The hero was recruited in to the Justice League following the Thanagarian invasion and served in many missions.  Herein, Sir Justine was often teamed up with The Vigilante.  Although the two did not have much in common, the pair got along great and made for a formidable crime-fighting duo.  

Among the many missions that The Shining Knight served included the battles against Mordru, the ‘Dark Heart,’ the Ultimen, General Eiling and the final confrontation against the forces of Darkseid.

Actor Chris Cox provided the voice for the Sir Justin with the chivalrous Shining Knight first appearing in the debut episode of the first season of Justice League Unlimited, ‘Initiation.’

[stuffman-main]

brief summary of all games bought/acquired during steam sales

death stranding - qwop with a billion dollar budget. this game is simultaneously dogshit and an utter masterpiece. kojima is a genius and should be given unlimited funding at all times.

roadwarden - randomly gifted from the same grab bag (thanks oarfish!) but i wasn't enjoying this one. essentially a "you play a level 1 peasant dying of dysentery" vn, a subgenre of fantasy i don't particularly care for.

crystal project - this game is half ff5 and half minecraft parkour and i know that doesn't sound amazing, but it is.

core keeper - about ten hours into this but decided i didn't like it enough to continue. it's a game that's similar to the least entertaining parts of terraria (i.e. digging in random directions for ore).

tactics ogre - fft is a clone of this game, so obviously, it rules.

chained echoes - i lost interest in this one pretty early, i didn't like the characters, and full heals between every battle sounds convenient until you realize that means they don't give you any resources to dump to kill annoying enemies. your damage output is always the same. also, the dev appears to have a preoccupation with trolling the player.

artificial dream in arcadia - just started this, seems rad.

flipwitch - very mediocre metroidvania porn game with a lot of fetch quests. nice to look at, at least.

[queenpiranhadon]

You're being interviewed for a position at Adventurer's R Us:

They offer a living wage for a 32 hour a week position with full health, life, death, dental, and dragon insurance. Double the mandated sick days. 4 weeks of vacation a year. Ample hazard pay. Magic artifacts are supplied. (TL;DR, you want this job)

Interview questions:

You enter a dungeon with low ceilings but ample light. The hallway suddenly forks, you don't know why, but you know one way leads to a room with 17 violent bunny-rabbit sized horses that eat blood and the other leads to a room with a single horse sized bunny-rabbit that drinks bile. What do you do and why?

What flavor of ale cream (its ice cream but with ale, probably magic) would you be and why?

You are wandering through the forest, and encounter an ogre bridge, what do you do and why?

If given infinite gold and technology, how would you design a spell book for the blind?

(All actual interview questions, with some paraphrasing)

woah okay this is so cool you are officially amazing

I…would either turn around and leave from where I came from- or if that’s not the choice- the horse sized bile drinking bunny, as even though bile is disgusting, it’s survivable

If I were a flavor of ale cream, I think I’d be cookies and cream, because I think the variance in textures, visuals, and flavors accurate represent how different I can be at specific times

I would probably see if the ogre is hostile or not, and if it is, find another way to cross without engaging and provoking conflict

If it have unlimited resources, I could possibly develop technology for bionic eyes that would allow the blind to see, instead of changing the physical book- as their newfound sight could be used for other things as well

AHHH THIS WAS SO ACTUALLY SO FUN TY FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR WAY TO DO THIS 😭😭

[self-loving-vampire]

tried to search for one of your posts to no avail. it lists rpgs you're significantly interested in or have played, with varying exclamation marks, under Keep reading. could you send the link to it if you can find it?

Unfortunately it would be pretty difficult to find for me as well but given that it's likely out of date I will take this opportunity to try making a new one (hopefully won't forget anything either). Thank you for this!

This time rather than symbols I will just list them all under more specific categories. Some of these are likely to change over time as I play more of the games (I have not finished all of them).

The list below also excludes browser games and MMORPGs. It's also likely to be incomplete.

RPGs that I have not played but am interested in and wish to at try at least for an hour or two

Oubliette.

Futurewar.

Avatar.

Beneath Apple Manor.

Dunjeonquest.

The Return of Heracles.

Phantasie.

Deathlord.

The Bard's Tale.

Starflight.

Alter Ego.

Wizardry IV.

Wizardry V.

Wizardry VI.

The Magic Candle.

Knights of Legend.

Dragon Wars.

The Dark Heart of Uurkrul.

Champions of Krynn.

Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire.

Fate: Gates of Dawn.

Disciples of Steel.

Gateway to the Savage Frontier.

Star Control 2.

Dark Sun: Shattered Lands.

Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures.

Pool of Radiance.

Realmz.

Ravenloft: Stone Prophet.

Little Witch Nobeta.

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.

Diablo.

Diablo 2.

Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance.

Albion.

The Witcher 3.

Baldur's Gate 2.

Baldur's Gate 3.

Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen.

RPGs I have played just a little bit of, not enough for a full assessment

Ultima VI.

Ultima Underworld.

Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams.

Darklands.

Betrayal at Krondor.

Balrum.

NetHack.

Dungeon Master.

Dark Souls 3.

Bloodborne.

Fear & Hunger.

Library of Ruina.

Valkyria Chronicles.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.

Arx Fatalis.

Dungeons of Dredmor.

Final Fantasy 7.

Jagged Alliance 2.

The Witcher 2.

Darkest Dungeon.

Wizards & Warriors.

Chinese Paladin.

Shadowrun Returns.

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown.

NieR: Automata.

Eschalon: Book 1.

Labyrinth of Touhou 2.

Luminous Arc.

Medabots - Metabee Version.

Wasteland.

Mass Effect 1.

RPGs I didn't enjoy that much (your opinion may be different though, and even I don't think all of these are entirely bad)

Ultima VIII.

Ultima IX.

Baldur's Gate 1.

Gothic 3.

Fallout 3.

Fallout 76.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Final Fantasy XIII.

Fallout 4.

RPGs I have played that were fine on the net (maybe even enjoyable) but which did not cause truly strong feelings

Path of Achra.

Legends of Amberland.

Queen's Wish: The Conqueror.

Avernum: Escape from the Pit.

Din's Curse.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (without mods).

UnReal World.

Final Fantasy 6.

Silent Storm.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

System Shock 2.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura.

Might & Magic 6-8 (all played together on the 8th game's engine through a mod).

Caves of Lore.

Ultima ADOM: Caverns of Chaos.

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic.

Monster Hunter Tri.

Elminage Gothic.

Class of Heroes.

MegaMan Battle Network.

Legend of Grimrock.

Legend of Grimrock 2.

Tainted Grail.

Torchlight 2.

Wizardry I-II-III: Legacy of Llylgamyn.

Wasteland 2.

Sacred.

Warhammer 40k: Mechanicus.

Terraria.

Dragon Marked for Death.

Bravely Default.

Pokemon games in general (I actually prefer Touhoumon personally).

Evenicle.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.

Dragon Age: Origins.

Mass Effect 2.

RPGs that would be so good if not for a couple of things (still usually worth it!)

Ultima IV.

Ultima V.

Ancient Domains of Mystery.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Erannorth Chronicles.

Kenshi.

Geneforge: Mutagen.

Caves of Qud.

Din's Legacy.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel.

Loop Hero.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

Wizardry VII.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (with mods).

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.

Pillars of Eternity.

Deus Ex.

Disgaea DS.

Disgaea 2.

Disgaea 4.

La Pucelle: Tactics.

Soul Nomad & the World Eaters.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Risen.

ELEX.

E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy.

Mount & Blade: Warband.

Path of Exile.

Tyranny.

Temple of Elemental Evil.

Ashes 2063.

Wartales.

Demon's Souls.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Darkwood.

Odin Sphere.

RPGs that I strongly recommend, although they may still be VERY flawed, remember to look into them or ask further questions to see if they're for you

Tales of Maj'Eyal.

Ultima VII: The Black Gate.

Ultima VII: Serpent Isle.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Dark Souls.

Elden Ring.

Code Vein.

Disco Elysium.

Divinity: Original Sin 2.

UnderRail.

Mary Skelter 2 + Remake.

Gothic.

Gothic 2.

Wizardry 8.

Princess Maker 2.

Fallout.

Fallout 2.

Fallout: New Vegas.

Chrono Trigger.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Planescape: Torment.

Tales of Berseria.

Etrian Odyssey IV.

Elona.

The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.

Pathologic 2.

Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia.

Slay the Spire.

[oooohno]

Ship your moots with a character they never did/ they only once mentioned

OH 😈 This got super long so I’m sorry lmao

@kuroosdarling - Taro Kabakura from wotakoi for sure! He’s a scorpio & he would definitely keep you on your toes & annoy the shit out of you in public only to cling to you like a baby koala once you’re home heheh. Or Guren Ichinose he’s so sexy & so insufferable too! Would definitely be an excellent banter partner but he’s so loyal & committed! Like once you’re together that’s it, he’s ready to propose & grow old together.

@ohtokki - Yuyeon Na from romance 101. He’d play games with you & try to be the best boyfriend ever! He’d love to take you to arcades or do other fun things together so you can share your interests & passion for things. Or Hirutaka Nifuji from wotakoi!!! He loves gaming too & although he doesn’t always show his affection outright he feels very deeply & once he’s comfortable around you he’d definitely be a lot more open about his love for you. Would definitely give you the world if you asked him to! Also he’s afraid of thunderstorms & just imagine you both curling up under a biiiig fluffy blanket to settle his nerves 🥺

@1812p4n - Kakashi Hatake from Naruto. He gives me slight Teppei vibes bc he’s always there for his friends & teammates & would do anything for them and you. But sometimes he just talks absolute nonsense lmao. I think he’d help you grow too, push you a little to try out new things but would never outright pressure you. He’s also an avid reader (although his choice in boobs is questionable lmao). Or Kirishima from bnha! He’d be such a sweet bf & would always be there for you & try to lessen your stress & the weight you feel you have to carry with you through life. He’s such a golden retriever bf & I know he’d do everything to make you happy <3

@134340am - Mitsuya from Tokyo Revengers, he’s such a gentleman & he can design & sew you really pretty clothes 🥺 he’s also super attentive & always there for you! He would love to take you on beach dates or get you pastries & fancy drinky drinks before your lectures & would love to do pamper nights with you. You two would be the prettiest couple around & that makes me swoon!! All in all he gives househusband vibes & that’s the best vibe ever & you only deserve the best.

@kyopmi - Odanna from Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi. He has a very calm & gentle personality & would take care of you in every way. He’s a demon ogre & verrrrrry handsome in an elegant way but he’s super strong & would protect you with his life. Also he’d love to take you on fun adventures through the demon realm & buy you as many pretty things as you’d like. Also loves to call you his wife <33333 ‘sorry can’t do that I’m taking my wife on a date’. Or if Ogre’s are not your thing then Tadashi Kikuchi from Skate the infinity! Very pretty, very gentle, very much a soft lover with a resting bitch face (Omi Omi coded if you will, just a smidge more soft looking)

@yuutakittie - oooooh me thinks Iruka Umino! He’s warm & friendly & would definitely give you the world! He’d be a sturdy reliable shoulder to lean on & would always try to cheer you on or at least try to support you in very way! Or Tanjiro Kamado from demon slayer! He’s so husband shaped it’s unreal! Also slight Yuuta vibes bc they both would fret over you & your well-being 24/7 <3

@mattsunkawa - Kosuke Wakamatsu from Kuroko no basket, he’s a bit abrasive & loud but he cares very deeply & hates any form of disrespect & injustice. He looks out for others & steps in to help others stand up for themselves. I think he’d definitely be a great bf & would do anything for you + protect you at all costs! He’s like a German shepherd bf that only calms down when it’s you who tells him to cool it lmao.

@andypantsx3 - Daisuke Kambe from Balance Unlimited. He’s a little shit with lots of money to spend and a big heart, it gives sugar-daddy shouto vibes. No more explanation needed. Or James Moriarty from Yukoku no Moriarty, he’s a genius with little shit vibes & an interesting moral compass (let’s just kill the bad guys vibes hehe). Would definitely love to tease & play games with you. But once enough is enough he’s very serious about your relationship & would actually do anything & everything for you.

@strawberrystepmom - Kojiro Nanjo or Joe from Skate the infinity. Great boobs what more is there to say? Also he’s a chef!!! So you could both feed each other so well!!! And he can do super cool tricks on a skateboard & he has a warm & cuddly personality. Sounds like a heartthrob to me <333

@heich0e - Yukio Kasamatsu from Kuroko no basket, he gives Iwaizumi vibes & I’m a dedicated Liv x Iwa shipper <3 or if we’re going for the more ‘wet-pathetic-kitten’ blorbo then I’d say Yato from Noragami. He’s an almost forgotten God & essentially homeless or shrineless (at least in the beginning), so he’d definitely show up unannounced, make himself feel at home & then raid your fridge <3

@burnishedcrown - Tomoe from Kamisama Kiss. This is a shot in the dark but from looking at your blorbo list I think he could fit in there too. He looks super grumpy & will use every opportunity to complain but he’d bend over backwards if it guarantees your happiness. He cooks, he cleans, he gives great gifts & he’s dedicated to his partner aka you

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

3, 6, 13!

3. Character you hate and one reason why?

Previously answered, but I'll throw in another character just for funsies. Fenris. Because they are actual Nazis. Still don't know why they even appeared in Marauders when they did nothing and contributed nothing to the story, except making everyone look bad for tolerating them as a part of HFTC.

6. What's the funniest retcon?

I'm tempted to say St. John abruptly going from English to Australian, although I greatly prefer Aussie Pyro.

But in terms of actually important retcons.....Squirrel Girl being declared actually not a mutant and that is canon forever was pretty funny. It was obviously an editorial decision so they could use her in cartoons before Marvel got X-Men rights, and the comic was very tongue-in-cheek about it.

Not intentionally funny, but the whole complicated "Xorn was Magneto but just kidding he was actually Xorn, but not really, and now there are two Xorns" thing. It's just a perfect example of how comic book continuity can become a clusterfuck. I still like it better than Morrison absolutely trashing Magneto's character, though.

13. Team up you'd love to read?

Oh, there are so many, mostly involving Pyro. After Marauders, I want to see more Pyro and Bishop. And Pyro and Iceman. And it is absolutely criminal that Pyro never got to really interact with Shinobi, and barely got to interact with Callisto, I feel like they would have gotten along. Or rather, Pyro would admire Callisto like he does with Storm, and Callisto would barely tolerate him. Pyro and Avalanche because it's been too long.

Also Storm and Callisto, we could always use more of that. Possibly on a heist together.

I have this vague self-indulgent AU idea about reformed Changeling somehow not dying way back when, and he and Banshee wind up teaming up to track down the remaining Factor Three members and bring them to justice. Banshee was coerced into being part of Factor Three with a bomb inside his headband, so he's not a fan of Changeling (although it was technically Ogre who did that), so they would go from enemies to reluctant allies to co-workers with mutual respect for one another, and eventually.....unlikely friends!

That X-Men Unlimited story got me loving Feral and Marrow together.

Blob and Unus just because it's also been too long.

Toad and literally anyone, Morty needs a friend. Third Eye seemed willing to reach out in the Sabretooth series, maybe him.

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Is there a Guilty Gear character/characters who who perform or withstand Akuma's Raging Demon attack?

Order-Sol's "Dragon Install" (Killing Realm) (aka Dragon Install Sakkai) is about the mechanical in-game equivalent... though by its nature it is closer to Geese Howard's Deadly Rave or Noel Vermillion's Gun Kata Drive stances.

In a realistic situation, Sol Badguy's fighting style isn't as honed as Gouki's is... but he has the raw speed, power, and fighting instincts to make up for it (at his peak, that is...).

Similarly, Azrael in the BlazBlue universe is also about equal in terms to Gouki, or rather Oni (Gouki's awakened form, aka Shin Akuma).

Though, if we're talking about technique similarities... Millia Rage's "Iron Maiden" Instant Kill functions about the exact same way that the Raging Demon surrounds and pummels the victim... however, instead of merely getting beaten to death, Millia impales her opponents with hundreds if not thousands of Living Lancers from her hair, truly the definition of an "Iron Maiden" (the torture device).

About the only thing that could probably surpass Millia's technique would be Venom's Terra Machina System, which he used to defeat Bedman.

I would compare Terra Machina System to Servant Archer's "Unlimited Blade Works" reality marble (though it is not dissimilar to Bedman's Nightmare Theater or Faust's Realm of Doors).

However, because Venom draws out most of his Ki from his own body to summon the technique... it's nowhere near as efficient compared to Raging Demon, which Gouki can utilize without risking his life to do so (unlike Venom's technique which nearly killed him).

If Gouki were to fight in Guilty Gear's world... most likely he'd meet his match against the likes of Kum Haehyun who is not dissimilar to Gouki's rival: Gouken.

As a side note however, Happy Chaos' gun firing technique Deus Ex Machina uses a similar principle mechanic to the Raging Demon... only he uses Dimensional Bullets instead of fists.

As for who could survive the Raging Demon... most immortals like Slayer and Raven could probably survive it. Sol probably could as well, but it would probably take some time to recover from it.

I would also argue that Potemkin has the capacity to block most, if not all of Gouki's fists during such an attack. Given how strong his master Gabriel is... Gouki wouldn't be much to compare with.

Though, now that I think on it... Chipp Zanuff's Banki Messai (Hundred Ogre Slayer), probably exceeds the Raging Demon in number of hits and combo sequence (not to mention speed)... though it probably doesn't have as much power compared to Zansei Rouga (Star Slash Wolf Fang).

[freepassbound]

top 5 favorite movies?

In no particular order...

"Groundhog Day" Possibly my ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy movie? (which is a pretty disturbing statement if you stop to think about it - might need to bring this up in therapy 😅) Unlimited time to learn... everything, help others, break bad habits, and end up with a healthy loving relationship? I'm not in as bad a place as Phil Connors was at the start, but still... yes, please. (and a relationship that was kind of D/s? His line is literally "Is there anything I can do for you... today?" - to which she responds very sultrily "mmm... I'm sure I can think of *something*..." while literally glancing down between them (and she's looking from a 'higher' viewpoint?!?!? ...let's move on 😅)

"Entrapment" Look, I have no defense. 😂 It's absurd, it's over-the-top, it's fun, it run fast, and it has Catherine Zeta-Jones doing that 👀.

"Shrek" I mean... more wish-fulfillment, in a sense? My nickname in school actually was "Ogre", and there's a lot of me there - isolated partly because of introversion, partly because I didn't (don't 😬) believe anyone could put up with me; occasionally funny; secretly kind... who gets to have a great adventure and finds a supportive friend and love with a lady who ends up being just as weird as he is and they revel in their mutual weirdness? *sigh*... And the movie itself?

It really is that good.

"Charade" One of the best little-known movies - has a little bit of everything: mystery, thriller, action, horror, comedy, romance... all done excellently (though it's hard to go wrong when you're starting with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant), with at least two twists that are actually iconic (even if no one realizes where they're from).

Also it's primarily known here for this gif:

...starting to see some themes here. 🤔😅

Finally...

I mean... c'mon. Had to be.

"The Princess Bride" This is a great movie from start to finish. As close to perfect as cinema gets! If you don't love this movie, I have some serious questions for you at the very least.

[lyonnerileyauthor]

Knowing the Ogre's Heart is now available!

This super steamy, sweet book is now available on Amazon in the Kindle Unlimited program! It follows two childhood friends, and their journey to protect each other, though a bandit king will do his best to keep them apart. Read it here!

Be sure to check the content warnings on my website, as this book contains some darker themes, violence and gore.

[wornoutspines]

𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙞𝙜...𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨?

Pick up a copy of OGRES AND OTHER DATING DILEMMAS by TJ Nichols and find out just what you’re missing!

✦ https://getbook.at/Mytho8 ✦

Ogres and Other Dating Dilemmas is a standalone novel that ties into the Mytho Investigations series. For readers who like size differences, awkward human heroes, cinnamon roll ogres, magic, mayhem, and happily ever afters. Read free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription!

.

Connect with the author: FB/IG @TJNichols.author  

.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Playing with AI Writers

For the moment, let's set aside the question of whether the writing is stolen. In theory if you write prolifically yourself and/or it grabs exclusively from public domain, which is a LOT of text, a language model could get something that behaves much the same as the current stuff, even if the current stuff may have shitty moral undertones if its creators did a copyright violation because they're lazy.

In other words, from a structural standpoint, that's not the problem. "Ethically sourced" AI chatbots are possible.

I want to talk about the results, things I appreciate, and the current endemic problems.

So, most of the time the way a chatbot works is by slicing pieces of speech patterns into what it calls "tokens." These are usually a sentence long, but not always. It then finds sets of tokens that seem like the next piece of what should be said, like a longer-form version of how your autocomplete works on your phone. You press "t" and it offers the most likely options, probably "the" and "this" unless you have odd writing habits (more on that in a sec) and then if you follow up with u for "tu" it updates, tuned to the extra information; "the" and "this" are now impossible, and the most likely words starting with "tu" are "turn" and "Tuesday." With tokens all sliced up and vaguely grouped in a way we'll say is kind of like letters for the sake of letting this metaphor make sense, you can see how putting in a sentence - "I attempt to pick the ogre's pocket without waking it." - is much like putting "t" into an autofill-enabled device on a phone or word processor. Adding another sentence might get you closer to your preferred response, being as it is, in this metaphor, akin to typing "tu" rather than "t"; You're feeding in two tokens to help it respond with superior search results. For example if you follow up with "My arm grows weak as I near the creature and smell the flesh that I realize used to be my squad." that is a very different - more fantasy-horror - vibe, and both the odds of the creature waking and the results of its waking will be substantially altered by such a follow-up.

Now, in spite of how much I've enjoyed playing with AI storytelling devices on my own machine, I'm gonna trash these programs for a hot minute: The unsolvable problem is that context matters. People are treating AI-generated text like some magical context-maker machine, the way people who've had 1 but not 2 years of physics might think if they get their ring of magnets at just the right angle they'll get another ring of magnets inside them to spin infinitely for unlimited free energy. This metaphor is, I should mention, very good.

Because just like the fake infinite energy machine, there are a bunch of people trying to profit off of the idea that AI is infinite context-value for no work.

Because just like the fake infinite energy machine, it's not like there's no such thing as an engine; just not an engine that makes infinite power for free. The problem with AI writing isn't that it can't get you toward having a written document full of interesting and potentially even copyrightable text. It's merely that it has a bunch of hidden costs that make it way less efficient and valuable than the pitch men are claiming.

Let's talk Voice. AI doesn't have a writer's voice, because it's literally taking individual sentences from 800 writers at a time. And it can't get voice. You don't sound more like Sir Terry Pratchett by making Death TALK IN ALL CAPS. You sound more like Sir Terry Pratchett by making Death honestly as merciless as real Death and yet a compassionate and even relatable character. There's no combination of tokens, short of recombining the tokens into the original texts they were taken from, thousand monkeys on typewriters style, that results in doing that.

I do want to give props to the mimicry for a second, though. If you start a conversation with Bob-bot as Roger, and you want the story to go a certain way, you can keep feeding in tokens to improve results, right? And there's a fairly natural way to do this: By writing an extra sentence after your own response. I shake my head and grip at my hair like I want to pull it out. "Sure, that sounds like a great idea. Why don't we eat the children while we're at it?" Bob-bot can tell I'm being sarcastic, and while he isn't sure of why he can tell that I'm royally pissed off at his suggestion.

Not only does that last line of extra "here's what my interlocutor knows" prompting help a lot with getting the conversation to avoid some of AI writing's natural pitfalls, but after 10-20 exchanges, I noticed that Bob-bot started copying my formatting. [What Bob-bot does] "What Bob-bot says!" [What Bob-bot intends, or how Bob-bot's action affects Roger emotionally]

I actually found that really cool! But. But!

Let's talk rerolls.

This kind of thing is more immediately visible in AI Art; Discussions of how "prompt writers" who fancy themselves AI Artists are simply unable to fix "their" work, because the problem with an AI-generated picture is usually that it has bad fundamentals on proportions, has like six light sources (because different pieces of the picture are copied from different works), and most of all because the current generative programs are bad at segmenting their resulting images by physical zone. Once they make something with sixteen pirates behind Superman, they don't remember where in the picture there are sixteen pirates, so if they put that in without you ever asking for any pirates (let alone sixteen) they don't know how to take pirates out of the picture, where some dude you hired off of Fiverr would just go, "Oops, yeah I included a layer from a different picture because I'm working on six commissions at once, let me delete that rq" and it'd be fixed. With the AI you're better off just running the program again, asking for a new (equally flawed but for different and hopefully less egregious reasons) picture of Superman.

But the same thing happens in the AI writing. I had a character named Ari and apparently a lot of other people had male characters named Ari, because the chatbot constantly misgendered her even though I established in the character bio that she's a girly, womanly, female, feminine DAAAAME. I also had a female goblin at one point, and the misgendering on that one I understand a bit better (though I found it deeply annoying) because the proportions of written genders of goblins are WAY less close to parity than the proportions of written genders of humans or elves. If you think of all goblins in all fiction this thing would be pulling from, it's gotta be like 90% or more that "goblin = male" right? Makes me wonder how often it'd misgender dwarves.

Further props to the program: Much like how my mom's phone at first would attempt to correct "lesbian" to "Lebanese" but soon learned that no, mom really did intend to write the word "lesbian," local-memory caching does start to fix this problem as it goes. You can edit the AI's response so that "As Ari rounds the bend, his breath catches at the scene before him" -> "As Ari rounds the bend, her breath catches at the scene before her" and each time you do that the misgendering gets less likely for future replies within the same story.

...But this is where we get into that bit, before, about the hidden costs. Between its inability to generate a consistent tone, its complete inability to carry a story without you providing multiple pages of background and worldbuilding design docs, and the editorial work you'll have to do cleaning up its replies and/or writing stage direction into your replies and/or flat-out rejecting something that feels completely tonally unacceptable or just plain ignores the situation AI: "I stab the ogres with my +9 ogre-slaying knife!" Me: "You're not THERE! You're at the CLUB!" there comes a point where you have to compare the value of how much work you put into this engine in order to get an output you're happy with not against infinite time, but rather...against the mighty story-generation engine known as A Page of Blank Paper.

I've found that for all but the most intentionally-rambly forms of writing, the latter has a lower time cost, fewer bad detours, and easier repair work between starting the production and getting to something I'm really happy with.

AI Text Generation is really impressive, and the things it does that impress will likely continue to get more impressive, but until it fundamentally changes how it seeks out its results, those impressive things won't solve the fact that it's inferior to simply writing well. And if you're not good at writing well, I have my doubts that you'll even catch the fact that there are sixteen pirates behind your Superman and your outputs are gonna be shit but you won't realize it. (Which I guess is an endorsement for AI Text Generation as a choose-your-own-adventure toy, if you're bad at writing?)

[kral-games]

Delve into the captivating realm of Japanese folklore with Oni coloring pages. Express creativity by reimagining these mythical ogre-like creatures renowned for their distinct features – horns, tiger-skin loincloths, and club-wielding strength. Providing unlimited fun, these coloring pages serve as an exciting cultural exploration for children and adults alike.PrintDownload

[joyffree]

It’s not paranoia when they are really out to get you…

➱ The Other Witch Series Urban Fantasy by Heather G. Harris

I’m Amber, potion and rune mistress and all round witch extraordinaire. I’ve spent half my life building my career and I finally feel like greatness is within my grasp. I’ve been working on a special potion, a potion that could change everything for witches and wizards everywhere. Unfortunately some people are allergic to change and will stop at nothing to keep the status quo.

A price has been put on my head – and my enemies are coming for me. Vampyrs, ogres and black witches are gunning for me, and they want me dead by any means necessary. In their infinite wisdom, the coven council assigns me my very own griffin bodyguard – and of course, the one they assign is none other than my most hated enemy, Bastion.

Bastion comes with his own baggage. He has a black witch’s curse upon him and it is slowly killing him. To save myself, I’m going to have to lift the curse and work with him – because another black witch is circling and she has me in her sights…

I need to save my enemy, finish my potion, and hunt down the black witch – if she doesn’t kill me first.

Don't miss this witchy series if you like humour, heart and a strong heroine with a slow burn, enemies to lovers, fade-to-black romance.

@HeatherGHarrisAuthor Hosted by @LadyAmbersReviewsPR @Heather62368890 @AGARCIA6510

[joepawlowskiauthor-blog]

A winged terror, a fatal homecoming, an ancient ogre with malicious intent. And that’s just the beginning. Echoes From a Shoreless Void by award-winning author Joe Pawlowski. Ebook $3.99, paperback $11.95, free on Kindle Unlimited.

#horrorbooks #horrorstories #horror #supernatural #thriller #suspense #greatreads #pageturner #KindleUnlimited