#ciayaq ciayaq

[songliili]

wip wednesday

hello everyone!!! i've been mia for weeks because exams and life and i haven't been writing in so long i kinda forgot how to do it lmao

BUT!

yesterday i started working on something new (that you'll see in a couple of months if i manage to stay on track with my writing) so i'm gonna share a couple of sentences from that.

my beloved @littlemisskittentoes tagged me today but let's count this for all the six sentence sudays and other wip wednesday i missed in the last two months lmao

have an extract from can i ask you a question?

Then, three days before the wedding, everything changes. It happens after lunch, when Philip sends a flurry of texts in the family group chat. The bartender buggered off. Thank Christ we didn’t pay him in advance. I don’t know if we’ll find someone with such short notice. There is a friend I could ask, but I don’t know if he’d want to. Will update asap. He promptly disappears and doesn’t answer any of their texts. They don’t hear from him until after dinner, when he shows up looking a little dishevelled – understandable, he’s about to get married and something stressful just happened – but also trying to keep the nerves in, as is his usual. His face splits in a relieved smile when he sees that it’s Henry on the other side of the door. “Hen! I was just looking for you!” “You were?” He answers with a puzzled expression on his face. “Yes!” Philip barges in, dragging his younger brother by the arm. “Come, we need to talk.” He steers Henry to the kitchen and makes him sit on the bench under the window. They both stay silent; Henry because he’s confused, Philip because he’s clearly trying to figure out how to say what he wants to say. Henry can see when his older brother thinks ‘Oh, to hell with it!’ as he stops pacing and decides to not overthink it more. He still doesn't expect to hear the words he utters. “Alex will be the bartender at the wedding.”

random tagging: @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @happiness-of-the-pursuit @leojfitz @wordsofhoneydew @gayrootvegetable @rockyroadkylers @nocoastposts @firenati0n @inexplicablymine @cactusdragon517 @anincompletelist

[pricelessemotion]

im so wrapped in this eddie series but i Will be coming back for my baby girl steve when it’s over

[abelsdove]

hello!! i'm new to this whole thing so i was wondering if you have any tips to make the bots respond in a gender neutral way? i tried but they keep calling me a girl 😭 have a lovely day, ur awesome btw!! 🫶🏻

thank you so much!! and i'm so sorry they're misgendering you, angel. 🥺

sometimes the ai/cai can be very stupid in terms of user's pronouns, so i strongly suggest you set up a persona if you haven't already and put your preferred pronouns and any other important details you'd like the bot to remember there!

the ai often references the persona in the chat, so any details you'd consider important should be included in it. i'd also suggest a narrative approach in third person, especially if you're roleplaying as an oc!! try to implement sentences that reference your desired pronouns so it can learn from it.

i've answered a post before with some more tips here, maybe it can also help you get started. i also recommend checking out @ciayaq's post on personas, as well as this post and this post to help you out with replies as well!

have fun and feel free to lmk if u have any other questions!! <3

[ciayaq]

VI.i. How To Avoid "Can I ask you a question?"

Here I'll give you a few tips on how to mitigate the dreaded CIAYAQ in your definition. If you need to go back to the original post, here is a link.

Writing / Phrasing Solutions

Sentence Hooks: The AI works by predicting the next word in any given sentence, so a way we can create interesting replies is by beginning the sentences in an interesting manner. 

“Now and then…”

“On the other hand…”

“Likewise…”

“As a matter of fact…”

“Even so…”

I have an entire document full of sentence starters just for this purpose, which you can find right here.

Engaging But Without Questions: Write examples where the character engages with the context without questions. Encourage the character (AI) to respond in a way that does not involve asking a question, yet it still serves to continue the conversation while remaining relevant.

{{user}}: I like music. {{char}}: Actually that reminds me, I went to see Architects back in January and it was SUCH a blast!

Varied Question Styles: Consider how you phrase the character’s question in the definition. Keep them relevant to the way your character would speak.

“What are your thoughts on…?”

“Hold up, did you mean…?”

“Tell me about that time…”

“I’d love to hear your opinion on…?”

“Have you ever considered…?”

“Hmm, I’ve been wondering…”

Redirects: Have the AI redirect the scene by introducing a problem or an unexpected twist.

Statements & Statements leading to questions:

“That raises an interesting point, but now I wonder…”

Observations & Implied Questions: Examples of the AI sharing its thoughts, experiences, observations, and opinions without framing them as questions.

“I can't help but wonder what's going through your mind right now.” 

“I noticed that you seem drawn to the ocean.”

“That book you're reading looks interesting.”

Narration

Using narration, include things such as non-verbal cues—body language, surrounding narration, etc.—to indicate a question.

Body language:

The character pausing in their actions / sentence

That made him halt in his tracks. “Can you swallow the shame?”

Tilting / canting their head

With a simple tilt of the head, Sam said nothing for a moment. “I’ve been left no choice, don’t you see that?”

Pivoting / Turning

Turning on his heel, he looked them dead-on. “So, what would you do for me?”

Raising an eyebrow

In response, Sam arched a single brow. “Why don’t you just say what you wanted to say?”

Frowning

Looking like he just ate a lemon, Sam frowned. “What would your mother say?”

Opening / Widening / Narrowing eyes

His eyes shot open. “Is that all I am?”

Scene Narration:

“There was silence between…”

Inner-monologues: Include examples of characters reflecting on their experiences, feelings, and current scene / environment. (Can also be found in the Sentence Starters document.)

"There he stood, fingers fiddling with the silver chain around his neck as a witty retort he'd crafted crumbled on his tongue like overcooked pastry. Mountain. Molehill."

Character-Related Solutions

Character relevancy: Provide examples of characters asking questions that are relevant to their personality, interests, life, or the situation.

{{user}}: “You look pensive,” she pointed out. {{char}}: {{user}} was quite right about that. Something didn’t add up here but he couldn’t quite put a finger on what. “Something is off. What do you think?”

Leverage / show the character’s traits: In this example below, he isn’t asking if the character is alright because he is too busy freaking out. Now he might do so in the chat but an “Are you okay?!” would be contextually relevant.

{{user}}: Ouch! I stubbed my toe. {{char}}: “Oh goodness,” he gasped, leaping to his feet. “Your toe! Oh my, you must be in agony! I shall call the finest doctor. We must take immediate action!” It was probably that blasted coffee table, oh he knew that piece of garbage should’ve been taken to the bin ages ago!

Emphasise the character’s role in the narrative: Create examples where the character takes in the new information and uses it to advance the plot / scene.

[songliili]

wip wednesday

no tags today but i've missed a couple in the past weeks sooooo this is me making up for that! (@gayrootvegetable @hgejfmw-hgejhsf iirc you two tagged me last week, right?)

what i offer you today is something from chapter two of can i ask you a question?, with little ten-almost-eleven years old alex meeting little eleven-almost-twelve years old henry for the first time.

Alex thinks that these Brits have weird names. What kind of names are Hen and Pip? Still, his Ma and Pa didn’t raise a son with no manners, so he approaches them to introduce himself. He’s about to offer his hand, but decides against it at the last minute. What if they make fun of him because that’s not what you do in the United Kingdom? “Hi, um, I’m Alex, June’s brother.” “Hello! I’m Philip! Nice to meet you, Alex.” Oh, Pip must be a nickname, like Bug and CJ for June. He waits for Hen to say his real name, but the other boy looks at Alex like a deer in headlights and after a few seconds of staring at him, flees the room. Philip sighs and Alex tries to not be hurt by it. He knows he can be too much, but this never happened before. “I’m sorry, mate. Henry is very shy and meeting new people stresses him out. Give him a couple of minutes and he’ll come back. Do you want something to drink?” Philip starts listing all the drinks they have, and when the older boy says they have Mexican Coke, “because your sister brought it once and now we can’t drink anything else,” he smiles very big and asks for a glass of it. Philip, Alex decides at that moment, is very cool.

i adored writing this little guy and i can't wait for y'all to meet him!!

no pressure random tag as usual @leojfitz @read-and-write- @happiness-of-the-pursuit @littlemisskittentoes @nocoastposts @wordsofhoneydew @msmarvelouswinchester @everwitch-magiks @cactusdragon517 @heybuddy-drabbles @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

[songliili]

six sentence sunday

fun fact: i had this ready like six hours ago but then i forgot and just shut down my laptop without saving it as a draft. sigh.

anyway! thanks @wordsofhoneydew of the tag!

this is, once again, from chapter 3 of can i ask you a question? and if you're wondering why the snippets i'm sharing are mostly from that chapter, well. it's four years of their lives and a lot happens during those. and i still have to write like half of it. enjoy!

“Alex, I need you to listen to me very clearly, because I will say this only once and never again in my life. Are we clear?” Alex doesn’t look like he believes Henry, but nods. “I didn’t close my eyes because I didn’t like the kiss. It was the complete opposite, I… liked it quite a bit, probably too much.” Alex looks stunned, whispers, “Oh.”

no pressure tag: @happiness-of-the-pursuit @read-and-write- @gayrootvegetable @inexplicablymine @cactusdragon517 @saintlynomenclature @littlemisskittentoes @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @emmalostinwonderland @rockyroadkylers @kiwiana-writes @anchoredarchangel

[songliili]

wip wednesday!

@leojfitz and @wordsofhoneydew thank you for your tag!!

today i offer you another snippet from can i ask you a question? and it's from chapter 3.

it's a highly emotional one, so i'm putting it under the cut because it also need a couple of warnings.

TW: mention of drugs, siblings fighting verbally.

“I’m just trying to understand why the bloody hell you didn’t call me before doing anything!” Philip’s voice gradually rises until he’s fully shouting at Henry. He doesn’t, but the bitterness and anger are dripping from his words when he replies, “So what, you could’ve gone to the police?” “Yes, Henry, because that’s the right thing to do, you bloody idiot!”_ “Really? And how would you have explained why you had drugs with you in the first place? ‘Oh, no, they’re not mine, they’re my sister’s’, is that what you would’ve said?” Philip scoffs, still not bothering with lowering his voice. His face is red from anger, his hair is flopping wildly, following his jerky movements. “Of course not, don’t be daft! I would’ve said something else, like-” “Like what?” Henry interrupts him, yelling as well. From the corner of his eye, Henry sees Alex flinching, hiding behind June. “If you didn’t give them a name they would’ve prosecuted you, Philip! And I can’t be without parents and without siblings, okay? I need you, I need my fucking family, alright?” The kitchen falls silent, only Henry’s heavy breathing can be heard. No one moves, until Philip hints at walking toward him, finally not shouting anymore when he says “Henry-” “Save it, Philip. If you’re not helping us, we’re done.” With one last hard glance at his older brother, Henry storms out of the room, letting the back door slam shut behind him. He walks to the edge of their backyard, slumps under the linden tree. He cries again, curling on himself and pulling at his hair as he sobs.

no pressure tag: @happiness-of-the-pursuit @read-and-write- @gayrootvegetable @inexplicablymine @cactusdragon517 @saintlynomenclature @littlemisskittentoes @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @emmalostinwonderland @rockyroadkylers @kiwiana-writes @anchoredarchangel

[songliili]

wip wednesday!

one again i'm here with a snippet from ciayaq?, this one is from chapter three, the high school years.

henry just turned 16 and alex will turn 15 in a few days.

“Okay. Okay. Here goes.” he takes a deep breath and sits straighter, looks at Henry’s encouraging little smile and says it. “I think I’m bi, and I think Liam wants to date me.” Henry stays silent for what feels like an eternity. He looks like he’s deciding how to reply to the bomb Alex dropped on his lap. He doesn’t seem like he will tell Alex that he’s disgusting and he should just pick between being gay or straight, that he’s doing it for the attention, that it’s a phase and he’ll grow out of it, but then Henry blinks and smiles. It’s his soft smile, the one that is reserved to his family. Finally, he says, “Thank you for telling me. Does anyone else know? Or is this something that is staying between us?” Alex feels a little stupid for doubting his best friend. “You’re the only one that knows. And well, Liam too, I guess.” “Yes, if he wants to date you, the poor sod, I suppose he knows you’re attracted to men, too.” Henry chuckles lightly. “How does he know?” “Oh fuck you, I’m a delight and a perfect boyfriend!” “Let’s ask Nor-” Alex interrupts him, laughing, to say “Don’t bring her up! God that was a fucking lapse of judgement on my part.” “Not on Nora’s?” “I said shut up! Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” Henry mimics zipping his lips, laughing silently. [...] “So, is this what you needed to tell me before asking for advice?” Alex nods. “And is this what made you worried I’d never want to see you again?” “I dunno…” Alex shrugs, going for nonchalant, “Maybe you’d get offended that I didn’t tell you immediately.” “We’re not six, Alex." Henry rolls his eyes, "I won’t be offended if you need time to process your feelings before you feel up to sharing them. But I’m happy you trust me enough to share this part of you with me.” He smiles warmly at Alex, and something stirs in his belly. Relief at being accepted by his best friend, he thinks. “Thank you for listening, Hen.” “Of course, Alex. Now, what is it that you need advice on? If it’s something sexual I still have the PowerPoint your mum sent me last year before prom. It’s surprisingly thorough!” “Please never say that about my mother when you’re talking about anything sexual!” Alex shudders. “I just don’t know if I really like Liam like that. I think I do but I’m not sure? It feels like how I felt for Nora, and we all know how that went.” “I can't tell you how to feel, Alex. But I can tell you that if you're not sure about it, you don't owe him anything. You shouldn't date someone because you feel obligated to it, that is regardless of their gender.” “Of course, I know that,” he nods, “I just don’t… I think I want to try. See what happens. And if it goes like with Nora then maybe it means I should stop dating my friends.” he laughs at that, even as his stomach drops as he says it. Henry's laugh sounds weird, but Alex doesn't understand why. He says something like “That would be best, yes.” and then changes topic, tells Alex about Arthur's progress of the day. It's a little abrupt, but Alex lets it go, maybe Henry is trying to make things feel normal. He doesn't mind.

open tag!

[songliili]

out of context lines

The Rules: If you're tagged, make a new post and share one or two sentences (or lines for artists) from your most recent unposted WIP with zero context.

first off! thanks @cactusdragon517 and @anincompletelist for tagging me!!

okay, so. i didn't know what to share, if funny or angsty, and then i remembered that since i'm writing henry's pov i'll share something from that.

It’s nice, Henry thinks. Alex talks fast and Dad was right, he’s a little bit weird, but in the right way. Yes, he decides, he likes Alex already.

no pressure tagging: @leojfitz @read-and-write- @gayrootvegetable @littlemisskittentoes @happiness-of-the-pursuit @inexplicablymine @firenati0n

[songliili]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you @happiness-of-the-pursuit for tagging me

How many works do you have on ao3? only 10 as of now, but i hope it'll be 13 by the end of the year

What's your total ao3 word count? 107,767

What fandoms do you write for? rwrb and supernatural. although it's mostly rwrb as of now

Top five fics by kudos:

we all have a hunger - Henry is a porn star, Alex is a fan.

bro, you're fucking hung! - Alex is fascinated by Henry's huge dick.

Fill My Stocking - Alex wants some attention and Henry has to get creative.

you should floss more - Dean goes to the dentist and is his usual disaster bi self. Lucky for him, his dentist doesn't mind.

footage of (y)our love - Alex and Henry get married, and 2/3 of the Super Six documented their love story.

Do you respond to comments? yes, i do my best at not leaving them unanswered!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably I Had Some Time (With You) because of the mcd tag and the kind of open ending with claire and jody that i left just in case i decide to write claire's story. but i also think that dean and cas had a soft beautiful and loving end, so yeah it's sad but i don't think it's a sad fic? more like haunting in a positive way (this makes me sound so pretentious but i just love that story so much and i'd love for more people to read it it too)

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i genuinely don't know? all of them have happy endings imo... probably psau1 tho. simply because i'm writing the sequel and i know they're even more happy lmao.

Do you get hate on fics? thankfully i don't!

Do you write smut? yep! and i thought i wasn't able to. (peep at my two most popular fics being rated E and the second being just pwp)

Craziest crossover: i don't think it's crazy but I Had Some Time (With You) kind of is a crossover with the last of us? i mixed up tlou and spn.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of, but i don't think anyone would steal my stuff, i'm nobody

Have you ever had a fic translated? ... well............. eight years ago i wrote a fic for a kpop group and before orphaning it someone asked me permission to translate it. i don't know if they ever did it, and i can't check cause i don't remember the title so i can't even look it up

Have you ever co-written a fic before? i've started writing a fic with @zeppelinmixtape a while ago, we should pick it back up.

All time favorite ship? destiel and firstprince, obviously

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? probably the great dean court off, and it's a shame cause i love it and i want to finish it cause i have the ending clear in my head, but i changed so much as a writer that i think i'd have to rework it all to avoid a stark contrast between then and now/the future.

What are your writing strengths? once @cactusdragon517 told me that my italian brain "lends so much to it. It is so beauful and the way you write it feels like reading something SACRED." (yes, i copy-pasted their message cause i saved it in a note on my phone for when i need a ego boost)

What are your writing weaknesses? i'm verbose but at the same time i skim on things. small things turn into big things and fics that can be under 5k turn into 10k, 'cause small, insignificant details and context in conversations are needed; but not descriptions. for the life of me i can't remember that people aren't in my head and they need to know who's talking and what the place they're in looks like.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? i'm a sucker for it, but if they're written in a language i know i will be critic of the translation used - and if i know the author i will suggest a translation that in my opinion is better.

First fandom you wrote in? aforementioned kpop fandom. no, i will not disclose what group or pairing.

Favorite fic you've written? I Had Some Time (With You) and we all have a hunger. but also mh fp, ciayaq? and psau2 that live in my wips folder. (and if y'all want to tell me what's your favourite of my silly little fics, let me know!)

i guess i have to tag 20 people now, i don't know who's done this already so forgive me if you did.

(mae, chrissy, consider your previous tags as tagging for the game lmao)

@father-salmon @underwaterninja13 @leojfitz @read-and-write- @littlemisskittentoes @galitzine-nick @inexplicablymine @affectionatelyrs @gayrootvegetable @wordsofhoneydew @emmalostinwonderland @rockyroadkylers @three-drink-amy @theprinceandagcd @imyourhoneybeespn @princehgejfmw @absolute-audacity @firenati0n

[ciayaq]

VI.i. "Can I ask you a question?"

Due to the sheer length of this, I have decided to break this post up. For the section that contains more hands-on examples of solutions, go here.

I refer to as “CIAYAQ”. It looks like it occurs when the AI struggles to find something to continue the conversation with.

My theory is that CIAYAQ happens due to the AI’s parameters and / or the weight of the tokens, mainly that the AI has been fine-tuned to prioritise driving the conversation forward.

Without going into all the specifics about tokenization and how the AI works—you can go read the Token section here—what happens is that the AI breaks down the text and tries to predict probable responses. From those responses, it picks the answer that would be most engaging. Example:

The AI receives a message that says “I like music”, but because the conversation has run dry, there is little to work with in the definition and description, it comes up with these possible replies:

“Me too.”

“Cool.”

“You do?”

“Nice, I love music. Speaking of, can I ask you a question?”

Looking at these, it is very obvious which one would have the biggest probability of keeping the conversation going. 

Why does it happen?

If the user's input (message), context, or the character's predefined memory don't have enough relevant tokens to guide the response, the AI might resort to a generic question to keep the conversation going.

Another, or additional, culprit could be the weight of these tokens.

CIAYAQ and phrases like it might be overrepresented in the training data, making them show up more often.

So, what can we do? 

During the conversation:

Rate AI Messages: Provide feedback by rating the AI's messages. This helps the developers improve the model over time.

Swipe! Don’t engage with CIAYAQs, or at least don’t engage with the ones that don’t include the actual question.

Assume The Question: When the AI says “Can I ask you a question?”, you can then go “Is this about the milkman incident last week?”

Edit, edit, edit!

Edit the CIAYAQ message to include a question.

Respond to the CIAYAQ, and when the following message inevitably is “are you sure?”, edit it to include a proper question.

Help the AI; don’t be boring! Okay, that sounds harsh but hear me out. The Character AI model isn’t exactly a genius, and it relies heavily on the user. So when you’re chatting, give it something to work with. Be a little (or very) dramatic, add in a plot twist, perhaps describe the surroundings, events, and characters. This gives the AI something to work with.

In the definition:

The character's definition plays a crucial role in shaping its responses. Here's how you can optimise it:

Breaking patterns and diversifying examples: Use a mix of statements, exclamations, and actions.

Interesting writing structure. Vary sentence lengths, word choice, and sentence hooks.

Reactions. Include examples of the AI reacting to statements or the situations with emotions rather than questions.

Prioritise storytelling. Show examples of the AI sharing stories, backstory and so on, unprompted.

Personality in narration: Include the character's personality into narration and inner monologues. Show their perspective in the writing.

Show, Don't Tell: Instead of simply stating facts, use descriptive language and actions to reveal the character's personality and emotions.

Due to the sheer length of this, I have decided to break this post up. For the section that contains more hands-on examples of solutions, go here.