#science and technology was always going to give way to magic and not be explored in depth

[stromblessed]

I’ve hit that point where there’s so much about Arcane that I want to discuss and level-set about for my own sanity

only to realize that it doesn’t really matter because season 2 was so noncommittal and so defanged, it unravels season 1 too. Like you really just have to discuss season 1 as its own entity. Looping season 2 into deeper discussions actively makes season 1 crumble into something just as derivative and just as thematically lost. Just imagining that season 2 was what the writers were angling for even in the final drafts of season 1 makes me so sad

[infoshakil260]

OpenAI person working methodology

ChatGPT has set off a global AI wave, and OpenAI has become the hottest star company.

We can't help but wonder why a little-known company like OpenAI created ChatGPT instead of a big company like Google? What is OpenAI’s unique working methodology?

At present, domestic large-scale HE Tuber model entrepreneurship is in full swing, but we have to admit that there is still a big gap between various products and ChatGPT-4. Why are we always one step behind in technological innovation?

To this end, Shangyinshe interviewed Kenneth Stanley, who previously led an open research group at OpenAI. Previously, he was a professor of computer science at the University of Central Florida.

Through this conversation, we were able to get a glimpse of the underlying logic behind the rise of OpenAI. These ways of thinking are not only about artificial intelligence innovation, but also about how we can have a freer life.

The following text is based on our conversation with Professor Kenneth Stanley and his new book, Why Greatness Can’t Be Planned.

1. Give up the myth of goals

Maybe you should get a promotion, change jobs, lose weight, find a partner, make millions, buy a house.

Behind the above-mentioned social pursuits, there is such an assumption: for any social achievement worth pursuing, it is best to set it as a goal first, and then work unswervingly towards this goal.

This makes people ask: Is there anything in this world that can be accomplished without setting goals?

Across most industries, the answer seems to be “no.”

We have become so accustomed to defining all endeavors by “goals” that we have even forgotten that we can question the value of goals.

Goals provide a sense of security. When we feel confused, mechanically and gradually advancing goals can at least allow us to have a fixed and reliable life.

Because the act of “setting goals” itself implies a possibility assumption: as long as you work hard, you can achieve it. As long as the goal is clear, hard work and dedication will be rewarded.

Sometimes goals do provide us with meaning or direction in our lives. But it also limits our freedom and becomes a cage that restricts our desire to explore.

We often miss a lot by being too obsessed with our goals. Goal theory leads us to focus only on the gains at the end, while ignoring the particularity and unique value of each path of exploration.

Our world is filled with goals set to achieve success, which makes our lives mechanical and suppresses our enthusiasm for life.

But in fact, goals often get in the way of achieving more so-called great things, such as discovery, creativity, invention or innovation, or finding true happiness.

That’s because if everything we do is viewed as a stepping stone toward one goal or another, then the process of exploring any complex problem will be riddled with countless deceptive stepping stones.

Deception is often the key reason why goals fail to lead to great achievements. Setting goals and working towards them will do little to achieve them if they are deceptive.

Therefore, the best way to achieve ambitious goals is to let go of the myth of the goal and thus ignore the goal.

It sounds incredible, but OpenAI does. In the first 15 months of its establishment, the company did not have a clear research goal.

In May 2016, the then chief AI researcher at Google visited OpenAI and was quite confused about how it worked. He asked OpenAI what its goal was, and unexpectedly stumped OpenAI: "Our current goal is... to do something good."

However, a few months later, the researcher resolutely resigned and joined OpenAI. He wanted to do something good together.

2. Find a possible stepping stone to success

The hard thing about giving up your goals is that it means giving up the idea that there is a right path. But if the destination does not exist, then the so-called right path should not exist either.

The truth is, there is no magic formula for changing the world. Great achievements have no so-called success script. They often occur without careful planning.

The stepping stones to success are often unknown. Therefore, when entering a world full of uncertainty, being open and flexible to unknown opportunities is sometimes more important than knowing exactly what you want to do.

Everyone should start looking for possible stepping stones to success without setting any particular endpoint in advance.

You have to find the right stepping stone to gain a foothold, and with enough luck and brains, it's possible to discover the path to your goal.

Among the many directions of AI research, AGI (artificial general intelligence) is a stepping stone that OpenAI has found.

The so-called AGI, which stands for "super intelligence", is close to the omnipotent artificial intelligence in science fiction movies. In contrast, artificial intelligence such as face recognition, translation, and Go playing can only complete a single task.

But based on the scientific research foundation at that time, talking about AGI was as absurd as talking about how to live forever.

Scientists all in AGI, if they win the bet, can compare with Newton in textbooks; if they lose the bet, they will become the representative of civil science in the American version of Zhihu Quaro.

But companies all in AGI will most likely become martyrs. Huge capital expenditures have made all AI research by giants serve industrialization, whether it is IBM who believes in "expert algorithms" or Google and Baidu who believe in "deep learning".

The only one willing to be taken advantage of is OpenAI.

Many times, blindly sticking to your original goals doesn't lead to great achievements. Precisely because the stepping stones to the greatest results are unknown, not trying to find something specific often leads to the most exciting discoveries.

A stepping stone does not necessarily mean leading to the final destination, nor does it itself have anything to do with right or wrong, it only involves the process of exploration and infinite possibilities.

The reality we need to accept is that many things cannot be achieved simply through hard work.

Only when clear goals are ignored and the reins of exploration are completely loosened will it be possible to conquer the farthest unknown frontiers.

3. Go in an interesting and novel direction

In fact, instead of pursuing some ultimate goal, it’s better to pursue something new and novel. Because the reward of the latter will be an endless series of stepping stones, that is, the creation of one novelty will lead to more novelties.

In this way, the future is no longer a specific end point, but an endless, undefined path with unlimited potential.

The importance of novelty is that they often serve as stepping stone detectors, because anything novel is a potential stepping stone to something even more novel.

In other words, novelty is a "simple and crude" shortcut to identify interest, and interesting ideas can often open up new possibilities.

Not only are novel and interesting ideas far from trivial, they often lead to new ways of thinking, which in turn trigger greater innovations and discoveries.

The more important point is that by continually making new things possible, novelty and fun can have an aggregating effect over time.

But chasing novelty often means aimless uncertainty. How do we know where to go?

This is actually the key. The greatest innovation processes succeed precisely because they are not trying to go anywhere in particular.

By this logic, we need to give up the false sense of security that comes with goals and instead embrace the unknown, wild possibilities.

Of course, there is still reason to worry that this search for novelty feels unsettling, perhaps even a little resigned.

but it is not the truth. The concept of novelty does not require us to rely on a deceptive compass, only that we compare our current position with the past.

Instead of worrying that we don’t know where we are going, we can compare where we are now to where we have been.

Unlike the future, there is no ambiguity or deception in the past. This comparison does not allow us to judge how far we are toward our goals, but it does allow us to judge the extent to which we are free from the shackles of the past.

This comparison changes the question from "what are we approaching" to "what are we running away from".

And the interesting thing about escaping the past is that it can open up new possibilities.

Although human intuition and hunches often lead us in directions without any goal, we can still eventually discover something different or interesting.

It is therefore no coincidence that the concept of interestingness naturally arises when discussing novelty. When an idea is truly novel, it is enough to make us curious.

[twentyonedental]

Invisible Orthodontics: Exploring the Magic of Clear Aligners

Welcome to our complete guide to the fascinating realm of invisible braces and the incredible benefits of clear aligners. We are TwentyOne Dental. We look forward to taking you on a trip through the transforming world of contemporary orthodontic solutions. In this piece, we dive into the fascinating world of invisible orthodontics at Hove dental clinic and how the revolutionary Clear aligners are revolutionizing the orthodontic field, offering a simple and efficient method to get that perfect smile you've wanted to have.

Unveiling the Era of Invisible Orthodontics

Metal braces made of traditional materials have been used for adjusting teeth for decades. But their unmistakable appearance and discomfort have deterred some from seeking orthodontic treatments. Then there's invisible orthodontics, an innovative approach that has revolutionized the field—the days of the metal wires and brackets that dominated your smile. Clear aligners provide a subtle and attractive alternative.

The Science Behind Clear Aligners

The clear aligners come as the outcome of cutting-edge technology and extensive research in orthodontics. Made of smooth, clear plastic that is medical grade, These aligners sit comfortably over your teeth while gently helping them move into the desired places as they progress. Through gradually adjusted aligners adapted to your teeth' unique structure, the teeth move precisely, giving you the smile you've always dreamed of.

Benefits that shine brighter than ever

Invisibility The title suggests one of the more appealing advantages that clear aligners offer is their teeth straightening, almost invisible appearance. This is a significant draw for teenagers and adults since they can have orthodontic procedures without being embarrassed concerning their looks.

Komfort and convenience Contrary to traditional braces, clear aligners are more comfortable to wear and don't have razor-sharp edges and wires that could irritate. They are also removable, which allows you to enjoy your favorite food and maintain your oral hygiene without causing any discomfort.

Individualized Treatment Plans Every aligner is explicitly designed for your specific teeth, which ensures the most effective and customized treatment plan. The aligners are replaced every few weeks as your teeth develop and align precisely with your orthodontic requirements.

Improved oral health, Clear aligners encourage improved oral health and make flossing and brushing easier than traditional braces. Without wires to move through, maintaining a healthy mouth is easy.

The Journey to Your Perfect Smile

The way to a flawless smile starts with a consultation with our expert orthodontists at TwentyOne Dental. At the time of this initial evaluation, we'll create a 3D digital representation of your teeth. This will enable us to design a customized Dentist in hove treatment plan. This revolutionary technology provides an overview of the view of your smile. It also shows the gradual changes that teeth go through.

When the treatment program is set After that, a set of custom aligners will be developed to fit your needs. Each aligner is a step toward your goal by gently moving your teeth to a more symmetrical position. With each aligner you purchase, you'll observe small changes and be amazed at the improvements your smile creates.

Maintaining Your Radiant Smile

When you have completed your treatment with clear aligners keeping your beautiful smile is equally crucial as the treatment itself, our orthodontists will supply the patient with a retention device to ensure your teeth stay perfectly aligned. Depending on your chosen plan, you may have to wear the retainer for specific periods of the day and the night.

Embark on Your Transformation Today!

The magic of invisible orthodontics as well as the magic of clear aligners, are yours to enjoy. We are [Your Name] and committed to making your journey to a flawless smile as effortless and relaxing as possible. Get rid of anxiety and self-consciousness and experience the awe-inspiring beauty of a dental treatment that fits perfectly with your life.

If you're ready to take that next step to achieve your beautiful smile, call Us at 01273 202 102. Our experts are happy to help you achieve invisible orthodontics. This is where technology meets aesthetics, and the transformation becomes normal.

Conclusion

In the modern world of orthodontics, clear aligners have become the ultimate embodiment of the magic. They are virtually undetectable, as well as individualized treatment plans and unbeatable ease of use, they have revolutionized the way we think about teeth straightening. At TwentyOne Dental, the best dental implant clinic in Brighton, we're pleased to be at the forefront of this revolution in orthodontics and offer you the opportunity to experience the magic of invisible orthodontics in person.

Why put it off? Start your journey to a fantastic smile today. Call us to take the first step towards a better you. Be aware that your radiant smile isn't something you can only imagine - it's a truth waiting to be revealed.

[fruitsofhell]

I have a Kirby Heardle Thread on Twitter so sometimes I go off about how much I love this series' music, here’s 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 so far (with a lot more added in lol):  

     I like how Faraway Halcandra doesn't sound anything like the other themes on the planet. It’s fun though, cause you can imagine this represents the quartet’s wonder at the majesty of being in an other dimension and seeing this legendary ancient planet, but then the actual surface is hell lol.       That’s something I probably didn't think about having played RTDL knowing all the lore beforehand, but when you see Magolor and the StarCutter's interior it really does build that Halcandra will be this magical cool place, only for it to look like THAT. Even within the levels there is another dichotomy between the dystopian remains of the planets once great industry with Egg Engines, and the hellish volcanic badlands of the planet in Dangerous Dinner - yet neither of them are that sparkly sleek greatness promised by the Lor.       The environmental storytelling of Halcandra has always captured me so much, it communicates so much about his ancient civilization and what it’s left behind in a way that makes it stand out from other “Great Ancient Civilizations” in fantasy I’ve consumed. A once thriving, futuristic, space-age civilization that made miracles of technology and magic like the Lor Starcutter... But now what’s left of them are people hobbled up in mechanical junkyards that house only dismantled and shabby remains of their creations, and beyond that is a nightmarish desert of lava and death. If Magolor really lived here, it’s no wonder he was obsessed with the Lor and Crown. You can really see and feel how incredible and majestic the Ancients must have been, and why whats left of their people would search high and low for anything that could give them that feeling of greatness again.      There’s also the very fun detail from later about how the ancients split apart leaving the science faction on the planet while the magic side was banished. Which would seem to imply that the people Magolor is descendant from had a history of power-reaching. There’s 10 million fun little details scattered across the modern games that paint such an interesting picture of what the ancients were like and I could gush about them forever!      Halcandra is super fun especially when compared to the Forgotten Land, both of them being such beautifully designed ruins. Halcandra far more with a feeling of destitution and loss of something great which likely comes from the inhabitants still living there in hellish, miserable conditions, and scrounging for scraps of past glory. But the Forgotten Land has been gladly abandoned and completely reclaimed by creatures who couldn't care less about the lost relics of the past. They only return to these ruins fully of starry-eyed curiosity, and the game wants you to see how beautiful that is. Like with a lot of things in Kirby lore there is a bit of an underlying theme of greed and pride that separates the two places and their inhabitants, and I want it to be explored M O R E !       I am still very very very curious to see how/if the line between the FL and Halcandra will be connected by canon. Kumazaki likes leaving things up to interpretation but I just feel like this thread is important enough and open enough that there are still more deets to come...

[maxwell-grant]

What are your thoughts on Jekyll/Hyde and his archetype of the human periodically changing into a monster ?

Jekyll & Hyde was the 2nd horror story I read following Frankenstein, I got it off the same library and it always stuck very strongly with me even before I got into horror in general. I even dressed up as Jekyll/Hyde as a kid for a school fair by shredding a lab coat on one side and asking my sister to make-up claw gashes on my exposed arm and paint half of my face, although in hindsight I think I ended up looking more like Doctor Two-Face than Jekyll/Hyde, but I was 12 and didn't have any Victorian clothing to use so I had to make do. The first film project I tried doing at film school was intended to be a modern take on Jekyll & Hyde, and I didn't get much farther than a couple of discarded scripts

Much like Frankenstein, Mr Hyde as a character and a story is something that's kind of baked into everything I do artistically. And it's not just me, as even in pop culture itself, none of us can escape Mr Hyde. I would go so far as to argue Mr Hyde may be the single most significant character created by victorian fiction, if only by the sheer impact and legacy the character's had.

(Fan-art by guilhermefranco)

Part of what makes Mr Hyde such a powerful and lasting icon of pop culture is that the very premise of the book invites a personal reading that's gonna vary from person to person. Because everyone's familiar with the basic twist of the story, that it's a conflict of duality, of the good and evil sides, but everyone has a more personal idea of what those entail. Some people make the story more about class. A lot of readings laser-focus on sex and lust as the driving force, and there's also a lot of readings of Mr Hyde that tackle it to explore a more gendered perspective, and so forth.

I don't particularly take much notice of the Jekyll & Hyde adaptations partially because the novel's premise and themes have become baked so throughly into pop culture and explored in so many different and interesting ways, that I'm not particularly starving for good Jekyll & Hyde adaptations the way I am for Dracula and Frankenstein. The Fredric March film in particular is one that orbits my head less because of the film itself (although I do recommend it), but because of one specific scene, and that's when Jekyll first transforms into Hyde on screen.

Out of all the things they could have shown him doing right that second, they instead took the time to show him enjoying the rain.

Just Hyde taking off his hat and letting it all cascade on his face with this sheer enthusiasm like he's never been to the rain before, never enjoyed it before, and now that he's free from being Jekyll, he gets to enjoy life like he never has before. It's such an oddly humanizing moment to put amidst a horror movie, in the scene where you're ostensibly introducing the monster to the audience, and it makes such a stark contrast to the rest of the film where Hyde is completely irredeemable, but I think it's that contrast that makes the film's take on Hyde work so well even with it's diverging from the source material, even if I don't particularly like in general interpretations of Hyde that are focused on a sexual aspect.

Because one, it understands that Jekyll was fundamentally a self-serving coward and not a paragon of goodness, and two, it also understands one of the things that makes Hyde scary: He wants what all of us want, to live and be happy. He's happy when he leaves the lab and dances around in the rain like a giddy child, he's happy when he goes to places Jekyll couldn't dream of showing up, he's happy as a showgirl-abusing sexual predator. Hyde is all wants, all the time, and there's not that much difference between his wants, his domineering possessiveness, and the likes exhibited by Muriel's father and Jekyll's own within the very same film, which also works to emphasize one of the other ideas of the original story, that Edward Hyde doesn't come from nowhere. That no monster is closer to humanity than Mr Hyde, because he is us. He is the thing that Jekyll refused to take responsability for until it was too late.

(Art by LorenzoMastroianni)

While many of the ideas that defined Mr Hyde had already been explored in pop culture beforehand, Hyde popularized and redefined many of them in particular by modernizing the idea. He was the werewolf, the doppelganger, The Player On The Other Side, except he came from within. He was not transformed by circumstance, he made himself that way, and the elixir merely brought out something already inside his soul. To acknowledge that he's there is to acknowledge that he is you, and to not do that is to either lose to him, or perish. Hyde was there to address both the rot settling in Victorian society as well as grappling concerns over Darwinian heritage, of the realization that man has always had the beast inside of him (it's no accident that Hyde's main method of murder is by clubbing people to death with his cane like a caveman).

I've already argued on my post about Tarzan that the Wild Man archetype, beginning with Enkidu of The Epic of Gilgamesh, is the in-between man and beast, between superhero and monster, and that Mr Hyde is an essential component of the superhero's trajectory, as the creature split in between. That stories about dual personalities, doppelgangers, the duality of the soul, the hero with a day job and an after dark career, you can pinpoint Hyde as a turning point in how all of these solidified gradually in pop culture. And I've argued otherwise that The Punisher, for all that his image and narrative points otherwise, is ultimately just as much of a superhero as the rest of them, even if no one wants to admit it, drawing a parallel between The Punisher and Mr Hyde. And he's far from the only modern character that can invite this kind of parallel.

The idea of a regular person periodically or permanently transforming into, or revealing itself to be, something extraordinary and fantastic and scary, grappling with the divide it causes in their soul, and questions whether it's a new development or merely the truest parts of themselves coming to light at last, and the effects this transformation has for good and bad alike. The idea of a potent, dangerous, unpredictable enemy who ultimately is you, or at least a facet of you and what you can do. That these are bound to destroy each other if not reconciled with or overcome.

You know what are my thoughts on the archetype of "human periodically changing into a monster" are? Look around you and you're gonna see the myriad ways The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde's themes have manifested in the century and a half since the story's release. Why it shouldn't be any surprise whatsoever that Mr Hyde has become such an integral part of pop culture, in it's heroes and monsters alike. Why we can never escape Mr Hyde, just as Jekyll never could.

It is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character that almost every country in the world has learned to fear and despise. Our Barbie-doll president, with his Barbie-doll wife and his boxful of Barbie-doll children is also America's answer to the monstrous Mr. Hyde.

He speaks for the Werewolf in us; the bully, the predatory shyster who turns into something unspeakable, full of claws and bleeding string-warts on nights when the moon comes too close… - Hunter S. Thompson

There is a scene in the movie Pulp Fiction that explains almost every terrible thing happening in the news today. And it's not the scene where Ving Rhames shoots that guy's dick off. It's the part where the hit man played by John Travolta is talking about how somebody vandalized his car, and says this:

"Boy, I wish I could've caught him doing it. I'd have given anything to catch that asshole doing it. It'd been worth him doing it, just so I could've caught him doing it."

That last sentence is something everyone should understand about mankind. After all, the statement is completely illogical -- revenge is supposed to be about righting a wrong. But he wants to be wronged, specifically so he'll have an excuse to get revenge. We all do.

Why else would we love a good revenge movie? We sit in a theater and watch Liam Neeson's daughter get kidnapped. We're not sad about it, because we know he's a badass and he finally has permission to be awesome. Not a single person in that theater was rooting for it to all be an innocent misunderstanding. We wanted Liam to be wronged, because we wanted to see him kick ass. It's why so many people walk around with vigilante fantasies in their heads.

Long, long ago, the people in charge figured out that the easiest and most reliable way to bind a society together was by controlling and channeling our hate addiction. That's the reason why seeing hurricane wreckage on the news makes us mumble "That's sad" and maybe donate a few bucks to the Red Cross hurricane fund, while 9/11 sends us into a decade-long trillion-dollar rage that leaves the Middle East in flames.

The former was caused by wind; the latter was caused by monsters. The former makes us kind of bummed out; the latter gets us high.

It's easy to blame the news media for pumping us full of stories of mass shootings and kidnapped children, but that's stopping one step short of the answer: The media just gives us what we want. And what we want is to think we're beset on all sides by monsters.

The really popular stories will always feature monsters that are as different from us as possible. Think about Star Wars -- what real shithead has ever referred to himself as being on "the dark side"? In Harry Potter and countless fantasy universes, you have wizards working in "black magic" and the "dark arts." Can you imagine a scientist developing some technology for chemical weapons or invasive advertising openly thinking of what he does as "dark science"? Can you imagine a real world leader naming his headquarters "The Death Star" or "Mount Doom"?

Of course not. But we need to believe that evil people know they're evil, or else that would open the door to the fact that we might be evil without knowing it. I mean, sure, maybe we've bought chocolate that was made using child slaves or driven cars that poisoned the air, but we didn't do it to be evil -- we were simply doing whatever we felt like and ignoring the consequences. Not like Hitler and the bankers who ruined the economy and those people who burned the kittens -- they wake up every day intentionally dreaming up new evils to create. It's not like Hitler actually thought he was saving the world.

So no matter how many times you vote to cut food stamps and then use the money to buy a boat, you could still be way worse. You could, after all, be one of those murdering / lazy / ignorant / greedy / oppressive monsters that you know the world is full of, and that only your awesome moral code prevents you from turning into at any moment. And those monsters are out there.

They have to be. Because otherwise, we're the monsters - 5 Reasons Humanity Desperately Wants Monsters To Be Real, by Jason Pargin

(Two-Face sequence comes from the end of Batman Annual #14: Eye of the Beholder)

For good or bad, Hyde has become omnipresent. He's a part of our superheroes, he's a part of our supervillains, he's in our monsters. He lives and prattles in our ears, sometimes we need him to survive, and sometimes we become Hyde even when we don't need to, because our survival instincts or base cruelties or desperation brings out the worst in us. Sometimes we can beat him, and sometimes he's not that bad. Sometimes we do need to appease him and listen to what he says, about us and the world around us. And sometimes we need to do so specifically to prove him wrong and beat him again.

But he never, ever goes away, as he so accurately declares in the musical

Do you really think That I would ever let you go...

Do you think I'd ever set you free?

If you do, I'm sad to say It simply isn't so

You will never get away FROM MEEEEEE

(Art by Akreon on Artstation)

[caseeeli]

A brief guide to the art of writing blurbs

[Note: this is a plain text version of the guide I formatted as a PDF, which is available for viewing/download here. This version is lacking the visual aids from the original pdf. To view them, please view the linked file!]

Warning: very long post

So, you’ve done your outlining, and your writing, and your editing, and now, it’s time for the most exciting part of any writing journey: the publishing! Whether you’re making a pitch to a publishing firm, or simply uploading your work online, everyone needs to have a good summary.

A summary serves a lot of purposes, which we’ll explore later, but the most important one is to draw readers in, and make them want to read your work. It’s not always an easy task, so it’s best we figure out how best to appeal to the demographic you’re targeting.

So, let’s get into it! Happy reading, and happy blurb writing!

I - The Purpose of a Blurb

Before we establish how to write the blurb itself, it’s very important to understand the basics: what is a blurb, and what is the purpose it serves?

A blurb is a short summary of a story. The amount of detail it provides about the story is entirely up to the author, and blurbs can vary in length and form very wildly. Generally speaking, a book blurb is usually between 100-200 words. Any shorter can run the risk of not providing enough information to a reader, while any longer can pose the opposite problem.

So, what is the purpose of a blurb? As we said earlier, the main function of a blurb is to engage readers and generate interest in the story it summarizes. But how exactly do blurbs do that?

When writing a summary of any story, you need to hit a few major points to make sure that readers have a good idea of what they’re getting into. Which means that you need to answer a few questions they might have.

The most important of these questions are the following:

What is the genre of this story?

What is the basic premise of this story?

Who is the main character of this story?

What is the primary conflict of this story?

These questions (and the answers we have for each) are going to help form the basis of a strong blurb, and make sure that anyone who eyes our work is going to want to read it as soon as possible!

So, now we know all that, let’s definitively answer this question: what is the purpose of a blurb?

The purpose of a blurb is to entice the reader in by posing a set of questions…and answering only some of them.

So now we know what a blurb and the purpose of one is, and we know what questions we have to answer, let’s go into how we do that!

*

II - The Elements of a Blurb

II-I Establishing genre

One of the easiest and fastest ways to categorise books is by their genre. Without saying a word about the story or conflict, a genre can give a reader a good idea of what elements might be present in the book. Science fiction? They know to expect high-level technology, aliens, otherworldly planets, or a combination of all of the above. Fantasy? They can walk in waiting to see magic, mythology or fantastical creatures of all kinds. Romance? It’s in the name!

Not only is genre a very easy way to set expectations, but it’s also one of the quickest things a story can do. For published books, this can be done even without a blurb – the front cover can usually do it for you! For works published online, it can also be done via use of tagging systems or genre listings.

But we don’t want to have to rely on covers or tags to establish our genre, we should be trying our best to do it ourselves.

So Step 1: figure out what genre your story is!

This is usually something authors know right at the start of any project, before they even put the first words on the page. But for stories where genres can overlap and merge, this can sometimes be more challenging to determine.

If you don’t know what genre your book is, then you should know four of the factors that contribute to make genre: plot, setting, narrative conventions, and the style and form.

Basically everything in a novel establishes the genre! The actual plot, the setting your novel takes place in, any present narrative or genre conventions, and the style and form of the work, can all help establish what genre it belongs to.

Generally speaking, the setting is one of the weightiest factors to consider when deciding genre. A book set on a faraway planet will almost always be sci-fi, just like a book set in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by a tyrannical government will usually be dystopian.

Look at some familiar fiction and the settings they boast: Lord of the Rings spearheads fantasy as a genre, and offers the rich world of Middle Earth. Dune introduces us to the planet Arrakis. The Hunger Games told us about the horrors of Panem. Examining these settings shows off similarities and consistencies among genres.

In addition to setting, genre conventions can also give good clues about what genre we’re dealing with. Genre conventions are tropes, events or other elements which appear consistently or are considered ‘staples’ of said genre.

For example, in a detective story, a genre convention would be a red herring, where misleading clues are planted for both reader and character to be deceived by. A genre convention of a fable would be the lesson that the story is intended to teach, like the benefit of patience in The Tortoise and the Hare. Identifying and researching these conventions make it easy to tell what genre your story belongs to.

Plot is another good indicator: if your plot centres around a grisly murder, then you know you’re writing a crime/mystery novel. If you wrote about the last magic-user in the kingdom, you’re working with fantasy.

It’s important to note that genres are not mutually exclusive. You can have a story which ends up being sci-fi mystery, or western romance, or gothic comedy. What matters is identifying the major genre elements of your work, and then making sure that genre is clear in your blurb. This can be done easily by referencing the conventions you identified in your work. If you have dragons, or aliens, or a serial killer stalking the streets, mention it!

For example, Dune establishes its genre by use of genre conventions such as the story spanning multiple planets and there being the presence of highly advanced technology. The references to the setting, Arrakis, also emphasise this, as the reader has been informed that Arrakis is in fact an alien planet.

With just a few words, we know that Dune is science fiction. The genre has been established.

*

II-II        Establishing the premise

Now that we’re aware of the genre and basic genre conventions that our work subscribes to, and know how to include them, it’s important that the blurb establishes the premise of our story.

The premise of a story is its most foundational idea. The meat and bones of your story – the absolute most basic elements that every other part of it stems from.

The basic premise of Percy Jackson would be something along the lines of, “a boy discovers he is half-Greek god, and is thrown into a world of quests, monsters and chaos.” A premise doesn’t need to be detailed; it just needs to be descriptive.

Generally, the premise is closely intertwined with the genre and the main character. The premise of a political thriller novel will be political in nature, just as the main premise of a fantasy novel might focus on some element of the fantasy world in which it is set. If the main premise of the novel surrounds the main character – i.e., they’re the grizzled detective in charge of a murder case, or the princess trying to save her land from invasion – then make sure to intertwine these elements in your blurb.

Generally speaking, the premise can be tied back to an inciting incident, the same incident that kicks off the plot of your story. This is what you need to communicate to the reader.

Does your story start with an assassination? Talk about it. A dramatic revelation between two long-term friends? Tell us what it is! Your premise is what should fundamentally draw people in. Readers don’t look for new books to read based on what the characters are like, or how good the prose is – they look for the premise, and if it excites them, they take a look.

Check out the blurb for the first Harry Potter novel. We are told in short that Harry is a wizard, which results in him being rescued and taken to Hogwarts, a school of magic. With less than 50 words, the premise which underlines the entire series has been succinctly explained. We now know the basics of Harry Potter. Your blurb should be much the same: do your best to distill the most basic essence of your plot down to it’s essentials (try to make it less than 50 words, to leave room in our 100-200 word blurb for everything else) and integrate it into the summary.

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II-III       Establishing the protagonist(s)

Now that we have our genre and premise down, it’s time to get into the person or people moving your story forward: the main character.

Everyone knows how important a main character is. They are the one that keep us reading a book after the plot and genre have already drawn us in. Their traits, flaws, experiences and struggles are what make us turn each page. Main characters are hugely important to the conception and production of a story itself, and similarly, they are also important to the summary you give of it.

When it comes to explaining protagonists in a summary, there are three things to consider:

Who are they?

Why do they matter?

Why should we care?

Now, you don’t need to go super in depth on all of these things – keep in mind, our word count for our blurb is still short and snappy, so we should try to fulfil these three requirements in as few words as possible. But it might help to examine what we want from each of these questions.

Who are they? This is the simplest of the three. You usually need little more than the character’s name to fulfil this element. Tell the reader who your main character is, so that when they open your story, they can get right into it!

Why do they matter? This one also isn’t too difficult! Establish what role your character has in the story. Are they going to be a plucky young hero? A grizzled war veteran? The noble knight committed to good? Why is the protagonist this character in particular?

Why should we care? This one sounds a bit blunt, but it’s the most important of all. It ties into the introduction of the story premise. What kind of journey does your character go on? Why are we following them specifically, and why should we be excited about it? This element ties in closely with why do they matter?, so if you can combine them, go for it!

It can be difficult to figure out how to gracefully and succinctly answer all three questions, but don’t worry, time and practice are your friends! Try as much as you want until you come up with a finished product that you’re happy with!

One issue that arises here, however, is a simple question that may have come to many of your minds while reading this section: what if I have multiple protagonists?

Quite simply, it depends on what kind of split you’ve established between the members of your main cast. After all, in many novels, not all protagonists are created equal.

Books with multiple protagonists can be classified one of two ways: completely equally focused, or; multiple main characters but only one protagonist.

Like I said, not all protagonists are created equal; some quite literally are not! What you have to do here is look at your work and make a decision: are all of the main characters truly given equal focus – i.e., would an outside observer not be able to classify any of them as the main main character – or is it possible to identify just one as bearing a bit more importance than the others?

Note this: having multiple points of view (POVs) does not necessarily make your protagonists equal.

For a literary example, see Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Throughout the duology, all six of the main cast get significant focus, POV chapters, and plenty of time on the page, but when pressed, every person who has read the books will name Kaz Brekker as the real protagonist.

Go take a look at the blurbs for the following books:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

As you might see in these blurbs, the ways that the protagonist is distinguished from the other main characters is interesting. The blurb for AGOT

takes a curious approach; despite having eight characters other than the single one named in the blurb that have POV chapters and major roles to play, they are only alluded to (see red highlights). This is one option you can absolutely take! Its especially effective where you may begin a story with only one POV character before branching out. But it’s important to note this is not your only option.

The blurb for SOC opts to briefly describe all six of the main cast, with due focus still placed on the actual protagonist (as seen via the emphasis provided by describing Kaz twice, rather than once like the other five). Both of these approaches work well when you have one character who has greater focus, so feel free to pick one or the other, or even combine them!

But what if all of your protagonists truly are created equal?

In that case, the basic advice for introducing characters remains solid; this time, you just have to do it multiple times. Try to provide the same rough amount of advice for all of your protagonists.

Now go take a look at the blurb for The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, a book with three protagonists with roughly equal focus. This blurb is great because all three main characters have the same focus – we get their names, backgrounds, and the stakes which start off their stories. There is no clear ‘real’ protagonist of the three, and if your characters are all made equal, this is a good example to refer to!

Note: if you do take this method, make sure you still are framing the characters within the premise and genre conventions your story adheres to. Don’t get so caught up introducing everyone that you forget to establish what the story is actually about!

Now that you know how to introduce your characters, its important to exercise restraint: when it comes to answering those three major questions about your protagonist(s), it’s better to do the bare minimum.

We don’t need to know the details of their backstory, or what they look like, or if they might have a budding romance with a side character – it is possible to do too much in a blurb, and the longer it gets, the more it will drag to the average reader. Leave the poetic waxing about your main character for the story itself!

In short, if your reader can start to draw up a basic profile of your characters that has anything more than their name, age, and role in the story…you might want to cut things down a bit!

And now that we know how to introduce our characters, it’s time for the last element of blurb-writing to fall into place!

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II-IV      Establishing the main conflict

And now for the final element we need to have in a blurb: establishing the main conflict!

Much like the premise, the main conflict constitutes the bulk of what a story is all about. It drives plot momentum and gives our protagonist(s) some kind of adversarial person or force to face off against. Whether that adversary is an evil despot, a force of nature, or even the dismal state of one’s love life, it’s important to be able to communicate to the reader what conflict they’re investing in! The premise and conflict go hand in hand – usually because one leads directly into the other – so writing them so that they are in fact conjoined is fairly common!

Check out the blurb for the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini, and try to identify the premise, and the primary conflict! This blurb is a nice example because unlike in many others, there is a clear divide between the two.

So how do you cut down the depth and breadth of conflict in your novel to fit into your blurb? Quite simply, give yourself a ‘two-sentence rule’: describe your main conflict in two sentences, no more, and try to see how you can work those sentences into a blurb.

It’s wonderful if you’ve written an 800-page epic full of twists and turns, but for now, rather than agonising over the details, tell us the basics.

Who or what is causing problems for our main character(s) and why? What are the stakes? Will the whole world fall if the protagonist loses, or is the only thing at risk of being lost a $20 bet? Let us know!

Keep in mind that a conflict does not have to be between two characters: as stated earlier, the conflict is simply the main thing against which our protagonist is struggling. If you’re writing a romance, the protagonist’s struggle to accept their feelings could very well be the conflict of your story, so don’t worry about having to identify a character as the adversary!

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III - Fine-Tuning a Blurb: What Else Do You Need?

So, you’ve read all of the above. You know what the elements are, and how they’re written into blurbs. At this point, it might be beneficial to write down your story’s iterations of each of those elements separately. but before you move into combining them into a single blurb, it’s important that we note a few more things first.

So, other than the content of a blurb itself, what's important for making sure they work? Well, there's three main things!

Tone

Detail

Open-endedness

Tone Tone is something that falls to the wayside in one’s mind when writing a blurb, but it’s a very important element: your blurb must maintain a consistent and story-accurate tone for its entirety. Making sudden tone changes can make a reader feel jarred, and in a very unpleasant way. If your story is comedic, make sure your blurb is light-hearted in nature.

If it’s a dark, swelling interpersonal drama, don’t drop sudden jokes or make a sudden comment about a character’s love life. Make sure that the tone of your novel is carried across, because readers will pick up on the tone through the synopsis, and seek to either continue or abandon a story based on it!

Detail A less major detail, but one that’s important nonetheless: don’t overload the reader with detail in the first line of your blurb! Ease them into it a bit more gently. Don’t mention intergalactic wars or tragic backstories right off the bat – start off with more general statements and then get more specific as the blurb goes. Most blurbs follow this formula, so take a read of your favourites to look at how it’s done!

Open-endedness As you remember back in Section I of this guide, we stated that one purpose of a blurb was to pose a set of questions to the reader, and answer only some of them.

Do not give us the entire plot. Do not tell us how it ends, or how the big twist unfolds, or that one revelation that happens halfway through. Make the readers ask, ‘what happens next?’

Making a blurb too straightforward is the death of curiosity – we’ve all seen trailers for Hollywood movies that essentially give the whole movie away. The goal is to not do that. Make sure that though you give readers enough to go off, so they know what they’re getting into, they don’t know every nuance of the story up ahead. Give a direction, not a map.

In summary...

Remember, blurb-writing does not come easily to everyone. There is no shame in practicing, and rewriting your summary over and over. Nor is there any shame in asking others to do it for you.

This guide is just a way for people to be able to identify the elements of a blurb if they choose to create their own, or just understand blurbs as a narrative form better. There are also countless helpful guides, articles and blog posts online which can help flesh out your understanding if desired, so don’t hesitate to check them out!

I hope this has helped, and once again, happy writing!

Novels I referenced here, many of which have good blurbs to check out and analyse:

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Published 1996.

Dune by Frank Herbert. Published 1965.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Published 2002.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Published 1997.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Published 2008-2010.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. Published 2017.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Published 1950.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. Published 1954-1955.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan. Published 2005-2009.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Published 2019.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Published 2015.

Good luck!!!

[larenoz]

There Has To Be Three - Updated

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Originally posted as part of @rnmmarchformeta but updated to reflect some new additions. Only three eps in and already enough for an update!!

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From the very beginnings of the show, symbolism related to the number three has been present.

The most obvious example of this is the mysterious symbol seen throughout the show. We see it displayed in the town lights when the power returns after Max causes the blackout. It has recurred so often in their lives that both Max and Michael have it tattooed on their bodies.

It is initially described in terms of being a beacon. In 1.09 Songs About Texas, Max sees the symbol on the flyer for the Indigenous faith healer, Arizona. It’s here that Max learns about the way the symbol mysteriously forms near certain people, and its link to the silent woman on the reservation.

We later learn that in addition to its role as a beacon, the symbol is used as a lock. It is the Pod Squad placing their hands on their respective circle on the symbol that unlocks Mr Jones’ cell.

And again, we see the number three associated with a lock and key on the box used to house Tripp’s diary left to Patricia.

But is the power of the design intrinsic or is it what the design represents?

Does the symbol in fact represent an important cultural or biological concept for the race of aliens to which Max, Isobel, and Michael belong? Join me dear readers on my journey into the “aliens need to be in groups of three to form stable relationships and be happy” head canon.

Could it be possible that the aliens only function successfully when they form relationships, be they romantic, sexual, platonic, sibling etc when it contains three people?

We see many different groupings of people, that don’t seem to work properly until they are together or that when fractured, bad things happen.

Pod squad - Iz, Michael, Max

Science Bros - Liz, Michael, Kyle

Family - Liz, Rosa, Arturo

Family - Liz, Rosa, Kyle

Friends - Liz, Maria, Alex

Barn Crew - Nora, Louise, Roy

The Parents - Mimi, Jim, Jesse

Manes Men - Alex, Flint, Greg

In 2.05 we are given an answer by Max:

“The thing is, there has to be three. Okay. There’s always three. Until the end.”

“Cause it’s all broken without three.”

This is confirmation from canon that at least for the Pod Squad, three is the magic number.

The question then becomes was Max talking only about their specific situation or is it indicative of the wider cultural/biological alien imperative?

In terms of the Pod Squad, even though they are together physically, emotionally they are distant. The events surrounding Rosa’s death break the trust within the group and the closeness they had before that event is lost. It’s only once those secrets are out in the open and they begin to repair their relationship as a group, that they each start to heal their other relationships as individuals. Obviously, there are other events impacting their individual circumstances but the point holds.

Could this within its full cultural manifestation be that triads are the norm for the aliens? And that the 2.06 threesome is them unwittingly falling into the cultural norms of Michael’s society?

Does the threesome between Maria, Alex and Michael happen because they were already the most likely (basically people who are all outsiders in some way and therefore already breaking societal norms) to be open to unconventional relationship structures and therefore more open to acting on the drive towards a triadic group?

Originally posted by rosaortecho

Like for Kaliz, Kyle provides that balance, cause Max isn’t great at setting boundaries with Liz.

And even with Alex, Maria and Liz, their friendship was broken until they all came back together.

Even in non-romantic/sexual situations the characters tend to work better in groups of three. It isn’t until Kyle, Liz and Michael all start working together that they start making headway on healing Max and it’s only when they all contribute something equally (Liz regrowing the heart, Michael making the pacemaker and Kyle conducting the surgery) that they finally succeed.

I like that alien culture isn’t just a replication or mirror of our world. And that the differences provide a lens for us to examine our own cultural defaults. - eg monogamy (which historically hasn’t always been the default even in the West). Canon has explicitly questioned the assumption that the aliens experience sexuality in the same way as humans. Michael says in 1.11 Champagne Supernova:

“Oh, we are literally aliens, and you’re gonna hold me to some outdated binary of sexuality?”

And Isobel in 2.07 Como La Flor:

“I mean, what does an alien care about human gender constructs?”

It isn’t such a stretch to suggest that how their society structures its intimate and familial relationships is also different than humans? If aliens aren’t monosexual by default, it’s highly possible they aren’t monogamous by default either.

While allegory plays an important part in the storytelling of the show, I wish that they would also take advantage of their sci-fi setting to explore other aspects of the aliens’ culture. Use the sci-fi genre to explore how they are different as much as how they are the same as humans. The story so far has given us so many elements that could be used as a what-if starting point for exploring different possible experiences. For example, how The Expanse has shown that as humanity expands into space different distinct culture develop. In the show, we see the exploration of a polyamous Belter family that Drummer finds herself in - the #PolyamBelterFam

Realistically, we aren’t going to see this. Even though hey even went as far as having portraying a canon threesome but stopped short of fully exploring the potential of this event by giving us a fully realised polyamorous relationship.

Nevertheless, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the “three” symbolism and it’s going to be interesting to see if it gets developed further.

Update 11 Aug 2021 (Post S3 Ep 3):

So only three eps in and we already have new "There Needs To Be Three" content. Let's start with the most obvious!!

Our introduction to the home planet of the Pod Squad gives us this image of the night sky with Three Moons!! Which are sort of in the same configuration as the lock symbol?

In the dialogue of the show, Isobel actually uses the term "Triad" to describe the pod squad:

"Okay, you're right. We've all been hiding things from each other. And it has to stop.

We're not strong unless we're together. It's like you said; there has to be three. We're a triad."

(text courtesy of Saadiestuff transcripts)

In S3 Ep 3 we see Michael coming to possession of some enhanced turquoise. He ends up giving pieces to Alex, while Isobel also gets a piece. Both Michael and Alex use their pieces to boost or interact with some alien technology, while Isobel's piece enhances her empathic power.

This one is purely theoretical at this point, but what about the Lockheart Machine and Jim's Radio - is there a missing third machine to complete a machine/circuit?

[solomonish]

Hii I saw astrology and divination talk and got curious! If you are into it, do you have any even vague headcanon of what Solomon's relevant(?) placements could be? This topic always makes me go 👀 and its funny that even ancient demons got their lil sun sign listed on their profiles lmao.

Completely disregard this if u dont like astrology though oh 🙈😳 and also !!! hope you're having a nice day~💌

HELLLLLLLOOO my love I hope you meant big three signs because that's what I did lol! And no I did not BUT the moment I got the ask that prompted this I did wonder "hmmm what would Solomon's big three be?" and then this ask came in SO...I looked it up lol

I will warn you though that I don't know a lot about astrology other than my own sun sign (Aries) so this is all from a quick little search!! My descriptions of what they're about come from here so if it's wrong.........I tried <3

Solomon's Big Three

Explaining his Sun Sign - Sagittarius

starslikeyou describes Sagittarius like so:

"Born with the Sun in Sagittarius, you are gifted with an abundance of warmth, energy and positivity. Your sign is noted for a willingness to transcend the everyday by pushing boundaries, demanding freedom and seeking to explore unchartered horizons whenever possible. Your journey involves discovering all that is possible.

At a deeper level, your sign is also concerned with the cultural, philosophical and metaphysical frameworks which make life meaningful. Your life path involves searching for truth and then sharing that with others."

Honestly, I think this works for Solomon!! I think his energy and positivity are more calm, but he's very playful and welcoming just in general. Obviously he's all about exploring the unknown [gestures @ immortality] and I definitely headcanon that Solomon knows a little bit about everything. A true renaissance man...

IDK this was short I just wanted to address it lol. Onto the good stuff!

Guessing Solomon's Moon Sign - Scorpio

According to starslikeyou...

"Born with the Moon in Scorpio, you are likely to be sensitive and loyal, but have intense emotional needs...You are likely to give the impression of being perceptive, powerful, and transformational.

Scorpio is also a Fixed sign, suggesting that when you align your emotions with something you desire – be that a friend/lover or an anticipated outcome – you will be constant, enduring and unwilling to let go."

In terms of the emotional needs, I think this might be the weakest part of my argument - but hear me out. The website describes emotional extremes that may swing back and forth, as well as intense reactions to emotions. I could argue that Solomon does experience this - although I think he's gotten good at hiding it.

I wouldn't describe him as having mood swings, but I can think of a few instances where he has shown them. I think this would mainly take place in his anticipation of rejection. We've seen multiple times how he's willing to indulge in being with MC, only for a moment - happy, satisfied - but then he quickly realizes that they could reject him, that they might not want him, and he backs off and retreats again. This isn't exactly a mood swing, but it fits for my argument. He easily flips from accepting and eager to show affection whenever he has the chance to reserved and pulling away. From confident to almost insecure. Additionally, his emotional reaction to the possibility of rejection - or of returned feelings, like in the Threads of Fate devilgram - could also help my case. The website also argues that people with a moon in scorpio are self-aware, introspective, and private individuals, which definitely sounds like Solomon to me.

In terms of intimacy, the website accents a need for emotional honesty, and finding an inner transformation as you share more parts of yourself and expose your vulnerabilities. I've talked about this for long periods of time, but I really, really think that this is the type of beneficial relationship Solomon needs. He needs someone he can trust completely, someone who can get him to open himself up and be a little more free because they accept his past and the parts of him that are messy.

Also the website says this:

"Finally, the Moon here often also brings highly developed intuitive and psychic gifts. You may find yourself drawn to explore the mysteries of life, wanting to know more about magic, alchemy or anything occult."

And if this isn't Solomon, idk what is.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Moon in Gemini for emphasis on communication / knowledge exchange and intuition, Moon in Sagittarius for passion / creativity and a call to freedom, and a tentative Moon in Cancer for intuition and need for connections.

Guessing Solomon's Rising Sign - Aquarius

As starslikeyou says...

"Born with Aquarius on your Ascendant (or Rising), you will find a clearer sense of individuality is gained by stepping back to look at life from an objective perspective. A detached point of view allows for a logical assessment of the circumstances around you, giving you the ability to find, at times, lightning fast resolution to key issues.

This is the sign of the collective over the individual, the group over the singular. You are likely to have an especially broad view on society that allows you to mix with a great variety of people. Your awareness of group and social dynamics is paramount for your overall self-expression. Putting group endeavours first may override purely personal concerns.

There is likely to be a pronounced tendency to act in ways that will benefit the collective, rather than provide personal gain. This then is the rising sign of the true humanitarian, who gets what they need in ways that are socially responsible and considerate.

...You may also be drawn to arenas such as science, politics, communications or human resources, and have a strong social conscience. Usually open to scientific innovation, you can be an early-adopter or work with advances in technology."

This one really hit me as correct because of the whole collective over the individual part. Solomon acts as a sort of guardian for humanity, and he spares no expense to ensure the continued safety of humans. I understand that Solomon formed pacts beforehand and maybe for selfish reasons, but at least now he's put himself in the affairs of demons to make sure humans have some sort of voice. Now that he's in a position of power, he uses his leverage and makes his loyalties known. Demons probably wouldn't eye him so warily if they weren't suspicious of him turning on them or using them - and if he did so, it'd probably be for humans. Whether or not it's a side effect of his warped view on his own humanity, I definitely think he'd put himself in "harm's way" (though with him, the goalposts for that kind of shift compared to other humans) in order for the greater human good.

The sign also highlights intellect and the ability to make specific and well-thought out decisions with complicated information, as well as an impressive intuition. It describes those with this rising sign as idealistic yet practical, somewhat unorthodox or seen as eccentric (and paying the price for this perception), and a somewhat isolated and aloof front. Honestly, the further I read into the page, the more it reads like just an explanation of Solomon.

Honorable mentions i also considered: Rising Virgo for being humble yet sometimes self-effacing, critical and practical tendencies, and and urge to be useful over recognition. Also Rising Scorpio for transformation, charisma and perception, and insight.

ANWAY...I hope this is what you meant with this ask because if not I will feel SO dumb. But either way I hope you enjoyed, maybe even agreed, and I sure hope this information was correct!! And also....I hope your day was/is great too 😘

[hopefulstarfire]

Astrarium: The Adventures Between Realms: An In-Depth Look

What is Astrarium: The Adventures Between Realms?

Astrarium is a massive, written work of online fiction created by myself and my boyfriend Jonathan, with the art department fully manned by our best friend Tai (@cowboytai) and edited/possibly narrated by our other best friend Watta (found here at his YouTube channel).

The story follows the adventures of Artemis, or Ari as she's better known, a human girl raised by Dragons. The Dragons of are the deities of the universe, with a select group delegated to the task of Watchers, whom take the role of nurturing, shaping and recording the histories of the Seven Realms found in their universe. Ari, at age 16, is able to begin her training to become a Watcher (and the first ever human Watcher), and takes the four years of her training to explore each and every Realm, making friends and enemies along the way, and discovering more of who she is and who she wants to become.

We're currently looking at publishing it on its own website sometime in 2022. What we're looking at having done before then is the prologue, first five chapters, and the first trips to every Realm. Currently, we have the prologue and chapters 1-3 finished, with chapter 4 in progress along with the first round of trips. The prologue and chapters 1-5 will be posted together on the launch of the website. We will also have a Patreon set up for it, with some varying reward tiers!

What are the Realms?

There are Seven Realms featured in Astrarium, all named after constellations. They are Hydra (The Water Serpent), Auriga (The Charioteer), Ursa (Greater Bear), Cygnus (The Swan), Orion (The Hunter), Lepus (The Hare) and Lyra (The Lyre). Each one also features its own aesthetics, cultures, and even specialized races/species of civilized life.

Hydra takes place in a very water and island based world, with an aesthetic setting of the Age of Exploration/Golden Age of Piracy. There are seven major oceans on this world, and hundreds of islands, both inhabited and uninhabited and many filled to the brims with treasures. There are also large underwater cities that are elegantly built and homes to all sorts of academic pursuits.

Auriga is a world inspired by both the Old West and the Steampunk fashion and aesthetic. They have new inventions coming out every day, fueled not just by steam power but also by magical crystals. And they thrive off of having big communities that all rely on each other.

Ursa is a very natural world filled with gorgeous forests and lovely springs. It's world is heavily inspired by high fantasy, dungeons and dragons, and a certain other old tale that'll be evident in its cast of characters. It is filled with magics of all kinds and magical creatures left and right.

The citizens of Cygnus live on floating islands, all connected to each other by tethers, and the inhabitants fly anywhere they please. The aesthetic is based in 1920s/1930s fashion and glitz and glam, with a little bit of a seedy underbelly lurking in the city...as well as interesting horrors down in the jungles below them.

The Giantesses of Orion have kept to the simpler life, with a definite cottage core aesthetic throughout. They are an agricultural society with many settlements and even still wandering nomadic tribes that all unite for the big Games every year.

Lepus' people have been facing an endless winter for over a thousand years. The people have long forsaken and forgotten about their magic, and have relied heavily on science and technology to help rebuild their lives and try to find a way to combat the winter. It's a very sci-fi setting with some style influence from all over.

Lyra is the land of the dead and the home of an eternal party. With plenty of Halloween based influences, there is never a dull moment for those who find themselves in the built towns, and those who are stuck in the fog wander and sing their songs until they find their way to a new home.

Outside of the Realms, there is Dragons Keep, a large mountain in space that acts as the home to all Dragons. It's caves are vast and plentiful, winding all the way through from the head of the mountain, where the High Council meets, to the very bottom. And even with many areas claimed and made use of in this large mountain, there are always mysteries to be found.

Who are the characters?

Astrarium has one of the largest casts of characters we've worked with, with tons of new friends, rivals, and enemies for Ari to meet. Along with Ari, there is a main character for each Realm, with a cast of supporting characters.

Ari (she/her) acts as the main protagonist, helping guide some of the plot and seeing everything through her eyes. On Hydra, our protagonist is Gibbson "Gibbs" Cayde (he/him); on Auriga, Huxley "Huck" Holiday (he/him); on Ursa, Ronan Löx (he/him); on Cygnus, Clyde (he/him); on Orion, Fauna (she/her); on Lepus, Henrietta "Henri" Franklin (possibly she/they, still figuring it out!) ; and on Lyra, Alexei (he/him). Also on Dragons Keep, we have Aris' family, with her adopted mother/Mama, Arabella, her Uncle Killick, and her cousin, Libelle, who is a main character for Dragons Keep.

I hope to get to share more about our supporting cast with you all soon, as they all have some very interesting stories to get to share!

We also are working on art for the main characters as we speak, but we do have Ari's done and that can be found here!

More About The Team?

We're a group of friends who have all known each other since, for the most part, high school! While I'm someone that kind of wants to keep private lives private, I can say that these are the best group of friends to have and we're honestly like our own little family. We've workshopped other projects with each other since, God, like, my senior year of high school? Just about? It's been an insane ride together. We're also just a big bunch of nerds who are all really chill and fun to be around.

How Long is The Story Going To Be?

Astrarium is looking to be the longest project we'll ever do in terms of story timeline, and page count. As the Dragons are masters of time, Ari has the ability to actually mess with it slightly and create what is essentially a "Save point" for herself to go back to after she leaves a Realm. So say she leaves Hydra on a certain day. She can make that save point, go hang out in the other Realms, and come back and it'll be either that exact save point she left at or a few hours later, give or take (though, there are chances of "hiccups" in this, usually occurring when she leaves from Dragons Keep specifically, as it is considered to be outside of the normal flow of time!).

My goal is kind of a fun one of I want it to be one of the longest word count stories out there. I don't really know why I want it to be, other than I think it'd be really cool if I could beat out that Loud House fanfiction in terms of longest works in literature. That's just a nice little goal.

How Can Readers Support the Series?

Honestly, the best thing I can ask for is just getting this around! If anyone takes an interest in this series, reblogs and likes go a long way and are greatly appreciated. We also love, love, love questions!! It's a great feeling to see people want to know more and some questions can really get our thinking caps on to develop more and more! When the site launches, we will again launch the Patreon right alongside it, so if you want to financially support, there'll be reward tiers ranging from $1 a month and upwards! We may look at a Ko-Fi as well and if it looks like people are really interested in it, we may open a merch store and I do want to start releasing some of it as actual books you can have for your shelves!

Financial support is 100000% optional, though, for when that does happen, and like, everyone's situation is different, we just want to make it an option for our audience. But the best feeling in the world to us is seeing people's interest and them sharing it with their friends!

And if anyone has anymore questions, please please please feel free to ask! We're gonna be working on getting to share more updates here soon!! And thank you all for your time!!

[jadedindreamz]

Main

Jade is a skilled forensic tech currently employed with the New York Police Department (Detroit in some plot instances). She works with evidence and data analysis on a daily basis including high profile homicides. The tech employs cutting edge technology to base her findings and explore critical DNA clues in lieu of detective investigations. 

While working in the major lab unit at the precinct, Jade also attends scenes of crime depending on severity and uniqueness of perpetration. Most times she resides on site working extensively in the evidence room at times with hazardous materials if not at a particular crime scene.

She is a country girl thriving in a big city. Nothing ever changes in a sprawling metropolis but the ways of technology are enduring. She takes this into consideration as she maintains a professional and skillful approach to analyzing crime. 

Jade is not one to shy away from the grim seedy side of the city. At times she dives in headfirst. All part of her trade, she gets her hands dirty in DNA. Living and breathing the thrill of solving another crime.

Full Bio ‣ Click 

‣ Main verse is always default unless you request a different verse

main v. a jaded flame

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College

Jade’s college days unfold while she starts out in the midst of her studies to become a full time criminal forensic technician. She minors in med science coinciding with her strive for knowledge in criminal sciences. Her affinity for these subjects gives her an opportunity if she decides to switch majors. It is something her father encourages but Jade’s mind is set on entering the field of investigative sciences work. This would land her a position at the police department which is a goal she strives for. However, he is none too happy with the idea. Her struggle to convince her father this is a good decision puts a strain on their relationship. After all she’s just entered the big city through college attendance. He thinks it’s too dangerous. She believes it is a lucrative career and the chance to better forensic tech and apply herself is one thing she focuses on.

She maintains this outlook while going through a bad break up with her boyfriend of the time. Too much pressure and a whole lot of backstabbing with her best friend dampened that whole thing. Jade is careful, cautious and only befriends those who gain trust. She just isn’t here for drama or lying. She’s here to make something of her life.

Unfortunately it doesn’t prevent the strain with her father. This is the time of her life that things drastically change. Culminating in a car accident, Jade goes through the loss of her father during this time. It puts more anxiety on her shoulders. Mostly she dives further into her work and keeps busy by pushing ahead. It’s the only thing she can do.

college v. take me back to the start

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Fae

The fae realm lives in a secret world. Only those who dare to cross those fated tales of faerie rings could possibly chance to enter. Most mortals do not fare well if they do. However there is talk among fantasies of humans spared among the fae folk. Whether this is fact or mere fiction is up for debate. Fae themselves are mystical beings. Among humans they are pure fantasy but they are very much real. 

Four courts make up the true realms of faedom. Each represents a season and Jade is the rightful queen of the Fall Court. A fae of earthen magic and natural mysticism, she holds an affinity for all things plentiful of the forest. Nature is her call, power a gentle cast but she is no mere waif of a fae. Test the Fall Queen and she will unleash wrath upon those who threaten not only her court but those of her heart. 

Jade herself is quite old ranging from 1300 to 1500 but her youthful beauty does not dissipate. Her pure magic makes her glow, donning silks of emerald and white lace. Colors of the purest heart but a heart filled with a warrior’s song. Her power is great. Yet she sees a rival in the Winter Court’s queen of ice. Jade’s vendetta against the ice queen comes from her meddling in the other courts including her own. However, it was the framing of a young fae by the hated old ice fae that fuels Jade’s ire.

fae v. na laetha gael m'oige

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Famous

Jade takes to the scene of the runway and falls into the glitz of fame. Taking a carefree and fashion forward approach, she strives for women to be treated fairly in a world run by men. Her views are met with a new wave of female empowerment and soon she is noticed by Hollywood.

She has a knack for acting as she moves into television spots and soon a few guest roles on various tv programs. That sucessful turn springboards her into motion pictures. Taking her stance on women paid and treated equally in the film industry to new heights, Jade is a voice for young girls who dream of becoming actresses. A role model who has no qualms speaking her mind on the real issues plaguing Hollywood.

This au is open to any and all celebrity muses. BUT PLS NO REAL LIFE MUSES. This blog will not interact with rps of real life people.

famous v. lady with an attitude

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Mafia

City glam is all the facade a gritty underbelly of criminals need. This is no different for the drifter in heels. Jade might have been born in the country but she sidles into the seedy city with a flair for crooked connections. A life of crime is not what she expected but her hands are clean as far as she is concerned.

Jade wasn't always into the criminal sphere. She was just an ordinary girl working in an accountant's office. Getting into the dealings there by word of mouth, she took information on the boss' illegal activities. In turn she became a mole of sorts when crossing paths with some shady patrons of mob. During her nights out at local lounges and bars, Jade passed on some information quickly gaining attention from the seedy side of life as a reliable source. She becomes a regular modern mafia moll.

mafia v. angel heart just play your part

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Royal

In the medieval era Jade is a lady of the Red Kingdom who traveled there with her father as a little girl. The famed clothing maker is made the royal dressmaker and his daughter is his trained apprentice. Once he begins having difficulty with his hands, Jade begins taking over the task of making clothing for the royalty. While they were not a rich family, her mother dying of fever years before, they have a place in the realm working so closely for the royalty.

However, Jade has no love for the royalty. Their cruel and greedy ways reflect even as she grows up with the Bloody King now a fixture on the throne. she feels trapped and further is devastated by the death of her father. Now as the sole dress maker for a tyrannical king and his subjects Jade must find a way to flee before war comes calling. Or worse. She becomes another victim to the Bloody King's madness.

royal v. who but my lady greensleeves

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[thessclexa]

Blood Moon AU 

OR

The one where Clexa are soulmates tied by a thread that appears once every 100 years during a red moon. 

:::

It must be a mistake.

Professor Lexa Hartwood has studied the history of Threads as far back as it can be dated, which is estimated to be around one thousand years ago. Therefore, humanity has only experienced ten Threads in its years of existence. Lexa wrote her thesis on the evolution of Threads and teaches Blood Moon anthropology. The phenomenon has been known to end wars when people drop everything to follow their Threads; to start wars when family rivals and traditions clash; and yet, nowhere has there ever been evidence of a Thread that travels up into the sky.

Looking at her hand and the faint shimmer of red, Lexa wonders if it’s her personal obsession with Blood Moons to cause her own to be directed upwards. Now that would be a first. Although, certain theories suggest Threads are conjugated by the human mind and in essence, a mental projection without any tangible properties. Given her current circumstance, that theory might prove true. Though, Lexa feels extremely lucky to have this chance. While the general understanding is fifteen percent of the population will experience Threads, based on Lexa’s own research, the number is slightly less at thirteen percent.

Her eyes behold the Thread’s properties, it dances with certain majestic light and twinkles like a distant star. At this point, it might as well be a star. Lexa adjusts the focus on her telescope, trying to follow her Thread but it’s cut off by a cloud. Shifting her scope, Lexa angles it toward the moon, which is still hours away from showing any signs of redness. The curiosity within her grows exponentially, Lexa is further baffled by her Thread in absence of the Red Moon. There are only a handful of instances when people experience a Thread before the Red Moon.

 ///

 The Blood Moon happens every one hundred years and while mankind is no stranger to the red sphere in the sky and its effects, this will be the first time in history when the capability exists to study it. One hundred years ago, there were no rockets, satellites, or space stations. And this is the exact reason why Commander Clarke Griffin of Sky Command finds herself in orbit on the Arkaris 9.

“Do you have those calibrations, Reyes?”

“Yep, right here Griff.”

“Thanks.” Clarke takes the notepad and makes the adjustments. While she waits for the system to upload the manual input, her eyes rove out the small, triangular window and she looks down at the blue planet. It’s a stunning view. Opposite, Clarke looks at the moon; the full moon is less than twenty-four hours away.

“So… we’re a day away and you promised to tell me,” Raven says.

Clarke shrugs, “Historically, only an estimated fifteen percent of the population experience The Thread.”

“That’s not an answer Griff. It was—and still is—a yes or no question.”

“I… don’t know,” Clarke replies.

“What do you mean you don’t know? It’s a thread visible only to and ties you to your soulmate.”

“It’s not only that, it also turns our oceans and crops red.”

“So, you’re telling me if you experience The Thread, you don’t know whether you’ll pursue it or not?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” Clarke says quickly. “And it doesn’t always happen that way. The Thread has been known to reunite long lost siblings and in rare cases, orphans to parents—”

“Which we both know doesn’t apply to you, so your thread must lead to a soulmate,” Raven interrupts.

“I just don’t like…” Clarke pauses, struggling to find the right words.  

“Don’t like what?”

“I don’t like the implication that I don’t have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice, Clarke.”

“It just… takes away the mystery in life. The predisposition eliminates the thrill.”

“So—no? You’re giving up on your soulmate because you’re afraid to miss out on “the thrill”?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You said exactly that.”

“Ugh, I knew this was going to be your reaction.”

“How could you say no to your soulmate?” Raven looks down at her hands wishfully. “God, I hope I get a Thread.”

“Aren’t you… dating Finn?”

Raven waves her hand dismissively in the air. “He’s not soulmate material,” she says and returns to looking at her hand. “What do you think it’ll look like?”

“A red thread,” Clarke replies flatly.

“Ha. Ha.” Raven gives Clarke a deadpan look. “Some say they even begin seeing a faint shimmer hours before the moon turns fully red and that those early connections are also the strongest.”

“Oh, what do you know,” Clarke directs a stare at Raven, who primarily serves as the Arkaris 9’s pilot. Clarke is the lead scientist and doubles as the crew’s emergency medic. “It’s also all myths,” Clarke continues, “lore in our history books. This is the first time we have a real chance to study the science behind the phenomenon. Think about everything we could learn.” She spins herself 180 degrees in the zero-gravity environment to a different monitor, one that links down to the Arkadia’s science station and she sends a routine data update. “Humanity won’t have a chance for another century.”

“Yes, and we’ll be dead, and you won’t ever know who your soulmate was.”

“You’re also implying that I’ll get a Thread in the first place. To be honest, I’m not expecting one.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope. Call it a hunch.”

/

Midnight

It’s early and Clarke stirs awake to the sound of her alarm for the night shift, though night and day don’t exactly matter in space. She’s tucked tightly in her sleeping alcove and it reminds her of camping trips with her father when he would zip her into her sleeping bag and kiss her good night. They’d stay awake past midnight and study the stars together. Jake was obsessed with space exploration and he was part of the first generation of spacewalkers. Unfortunately, he perished during his third mission on the Arkaris 4. There was an explosion, and the entire crew was lost; a leak in the oxygen line was suspected.

That was nearly 20 years ago, and technology has made leaps and bounds since. When Clarke opens her eyes, she’s greeted by a faint, red glow that fills the alcove. At first, she thinks it’s a light on the emergency alarm panel, but when she looks, nothing on the panel is lit. Strange. That’s when she notices the dim lighting is coming from her left hand. Admittedly, it’s far from a simple red thread as if some piece of yarn. Instead, it’s magical. It sparkles like a ray of sunlight in the dust. Clarke takes a few seconds to study it, twisting and turning her palm as the thread glistens.

The full moon is at least six hours away and already, her thread is profoundly visible. Clarke recalls Raven’s words, “Those connections are the strongest,” and Clarke doesn’t know what to make of it. Not only was she not expecting a Thread, but she is seemingly experiencing one of the strongest ones. Her curiosity is beyond piqued and Clarke walks to the nearest window where Earth is visible. As she steps closer, the Thread – her Thread – cuts through space like a laser and charts a path directly to the ground.

[infoshakil260]

OpenAI person working methodology

ChatGPT has set off a global AI wave, and OpenAI has become the hottest star company.

We can't help but wonder why a little-known company like OpenAI created ChatGPT instead of a big company like Google? What is OpenAI’s unique working methodology?

At present, domestic large-scale model entrepreneurship is in full swing, but we have to admit that there is still a big gap between various products and ChatGPT-4. Why are we always one step behind in technological innovation?

To this end, Shangyinshe interviewed Kenneth Stanley, who previously led an open research group at OpenAI. Previously, he was a professor of computer science at the University of Central Florida.

Through this conversation, we were able to get a glimpse of the underlying logic behind the HE Tuber rise of OpenAI. These ways of thinking are not only about artificial intelligence innovation, but also about how we can have a freer life.

The following text is based on our conversation with Professor Kenneth Stanley and his new book, Why Greatness Can’t Be Planned.

1. Give up the myth of goals

Maybe you should get a promotion, change jobs, lose weight, find a partner, make millions, buy a house.

Behind the above-mentioned social pursuits, there is such an assumption: for any social achievement worth pursuing, it is best to set it as a goal first, and then work unswervingly towards this goal.

This makes people ask: Is there anything in this world that can be accomplished without setting goals?

Across most industries, the answer seems to be “no.”

We have become so accustomed to defining all endeavors by “goals” that we have even forgotten that we can question the value of goals.

Goals provide a sense of security. When we feel confused, mechanically and gradually advancing goals can at least allow us to have a fixed and reliable life.

Because the act of “setting goals” itself implies a possibility assumption: as long as you work hard, you can achieve it. As long as the goal is clear, hard work and dedication will be rewarded.

Sometimes goals do provide us with meaning or direction in our lives. But it also limits our freedom and becomes a cage that restricts our desire to explore.

We often miss a lot by being too obsessed with our goals. Goal theory leads us to focus only on the gains at the end, while ignoring the particularity and unique value of each path of exploration.

Our world is filled with goals set to achieve success, which makes our lives mechanical and suppresses our enthusiasm for life.

But in fact, goals often get in the way of achieving more so-called great things, such as discovery, creativity, invention or innovation, or finding true happiness.

That’s because if everything we do is viewed as a stepping stone toward one goal or another, then the process of exploring any complex problem will be riddled with countless deceptive stepping stones.

Deception is often the key reason why goals fail to lead to great achievements. Setting goals and working towards them will do little to achieve them if they are deceptive.

Therefore, the best way to achieve ambitious goals is to let go of the myth of the goal and thus ignore the goal.

It sounds incredible, but OpenAI does. In the first 15 months of its establishment, the company did not have a clear research goal.

In May 2016, the then chief AI researcher at Google visited OpenAI and was quite confused about how it worked. He asked OpenAI what its goal was, and unexpectedly stumped OpenAI: "Our current goal is... to do something good."

However, a few months later, the researcher resolutely resigned and joined OpenAI. He wanted to do something good together.

2. Find a possible stepping stone to success

The hard thing about giving up your goals is that it means giving up the idea that there is a right path. But if the destination does not exist, then the so-called right path should not exist either.

The truth is, there is no magic formula for changing the world. Great achievements have no so-called success script. They often occur without careful planning.

The stepping stones to success are often unknown. Therefore, when entering a world full of uncertainty, being open and flexible to unknown opportunities is sometimes more important than knowing exactly what you want to do.

Everyone should start looking for possible stepping stones to success without setting any particular endpoint in advance.

You have to find the right stepping stone to gain a foothold, and with enough luck and brains, it's possible to discover the path to your goal.

Among the many directions of AI research, AGI (artificial general intelligence) is a stepping stone that OpenAI has found.

The so-called AGI, which stands for "super intelligence", is close to the omnipotent artificial intelligence in science fiction movies. In contrast, artificial intelligence such as face recognition, translation, and Go playing can only complete a single task.

But based on the scientific research foundation at that time, talking about AGI was as absurd as talking about how to live forever.

Scientists all in AGI, if they win the bet, can compare with Newton in textbooks; if they lose the bet, they will become the representative of civil science in the American version of Zhihu Quaro.

But companies all in AGI will most likely become martyrs. Huge capital expenditures have made all AI research by giants serve industrialization, whether it is IBM who believes in "expert algorithms" or Google and Baidu who believe in "deep learning".

The only one willing to be taken advantage of is OpenAI.

Many times, blindly sticking to your original goals doesn't lead to great achievements. Precisely because the stepping stones to the greatest results are unknown, not trying to find something specific often leads to the most exciting discoveries.

A stepping stone does not necessarily mean leading to the final destination, nor does it itself have anything to do with right or wrong, it only involves the process of exploration and infinite possibilities.

The reality we need to accept is that many things cannot be achieved simply through hard work.

Only when clear goals are ignored and the reins of exploration are completely loosened will it be possible to conquer the farthest unknown frontiers.

3. Go in an interesting and novel direction

In fact, instead of pursuing some ultimate goal, it’s better to pursue something new and novel. Because the reward of the latter will be an endless series of stepping stones, that is, the creation of one novelty will lead to more novelties.

In this way, the future is no longer a specific end point, but an endless, undefined path with unlimited potential.

The importance of novelty is that they often serve as stepping stone detectors, because anything novel is a potential stepping stone to something even more novel.

In other words, novelty is a "simple and crude" shortcut to identify interest, and interesting ideas can often open up new possibilities.

Not only are novel and interesting ideas far from trivial, they often lead to new ways of thinking, which in turn trigger greater innovations and discoveries.

The more important point is that by continually making new things possible, novelty and fun can have an aggregating effect over time.

But chasing novelty often means aimless uncertainty. How do we know where to go?

This is actually the key. The greatest innovation processes succeed precisely because they are not trying to go anywhere in particular.

By this logic, we need to give up the false sense of security that comes with goals and instead embrace the unknown, wild possibilities.

Of course, there is still reason to worry that this search for novelty feels unsettling, perhaps even a little resigned.

but it is not the truth. The concept of novelty does not require us to rely on a deceptive compass, only that we compare our current position with the past.

Instead of worrying that we don’t know where we are going, we can compare where we are now to where we have been.

Unlike the future, there is no ambiguity or deception in the past. This comparison does not allow us to judge how far we are toward our goals, but it does allow us to judge the extent to which we are free from the shackles of the past.

This comparison changes the question from "what are we approaching" to "what are we running away from".

And the interesting thing about escaping the past is that it can open up new possibilities.

Although human intuition and hunches often lead us in directions without any goal, we can still eventually discover something different or interesting.

It is therefore no coincidence that the concept of interestingness naturally arises when discussing novelty. When an idea is truly novel, it is enough to make us curious.

[chorusnihili]

Plot Ideas

This post will grow, but for now I’m just making it to give myself a kick in the rear. 

If you want to plot one of these, just let me know!

OR--feel free to just leave the spiel in my inbox and I’ll just jump straight to writing a starter for you!

Original Form

For muses that can explore space-time, encountering him before his accident.  Or if you want to go further back, before Chara and Asriel die.

Or if you want to go really far back, while he’s still on the surface.

Through some experiment/glitch in space, he ends up in a different timeline.  

Muses that visit other timelines also have the ability to visit timelines where things...... progressed differently.  For better or for worse.  

Muses that are old enough can interact with him while he was on the surface.  He’d be a teenager or child.

Muses that are old enough could interact with him before Chara and Asriel died.  You’d get to see the one time in his life he was genuinely happy.

Canonically speaking, no one ever knew that Gaster killed Asgore.  But, I’m more than happy ( >:) ) to explore a potential timeline of someone finding out or him telling someone.  

I’m also happy to explore timelines where the “accident” was different, or where the accident didn’t happen.  

Unbound Form

For human muses, accepting his “offer” to absorb his soul.  Usually this results in the muse getting most of his powers, as well as a vaguely naggy dad-Gaster voice in the back of their head.

If you’re into horror plots, Gaster can fit the role sometimes.  It varies strongly by muse so we’d have to discuss what it is he wants from your muse.

Your muse somehow getting lost in the Void and encountering him.

I’m open to other muses helping him become Refused Form.  It depends on the muse, but Alphys, or other science-heavy or magic muses, or maybe Frisk / Chara / Flowey / Asriel can do something.

Deltarune muses can encounter him as the God of their universe, if that’s something you’re into.  

Or if you want to explore some other ‘constructed reality’ plot.  

Refused Form

Exploring / experiencing his Determination / Void issues.

Your muse following the ‘conspiracy theory’ of Gaster and eventually following the rumors to his lab...and actually encountering him.

He needs friends.  Be his friend.

He can visit your muse’s timeline.  He does that a lot.  

Your muse ends up in an alternate timeline and Gaster goes to retrieve them...but doesn’t have the power to pull them back so they need to figure out how to do so.

This can also involve Original Gaster.  I’m willing to write them both at once.  

Gaster is experimenting with Determination even though it’s illegal to do so, feel free to confront him.

Gaster intends to try to fix the Amalgamates as well as revert Flowey back to Asriel.  Will he succeed ... ?  Remains to be seen.  

He’s level 9, despite not fighting in the war.  Maybe someone should confront him about that.

Gaster accidentally launches both himself and your muse into an alternate timeline, likely in response to a threat.  Where are they?  Will they figure out how to get home?

Gaster is dusted after he jumps in front of an attack meant for your muse.  Of course, he’ll come back after a few days...but does your muse know that?  Just what kind of monstrosity is Gaster?

Humans have captured Gaster for study and your muse has found and freed him.  But why hasn’t he freed himself?

He accidentally teleports himself through your muse’s table / roof / whatever.  One hell of a way (but a fun one) to start an interaction.  

Pokémon Verse

Scientific / curious muses studying Gaster / the Gamumu line.  

Plots where Gaster is reverting between pokemon and human form and needs help figuring out what’s going on.  

The Gamumu showing up somewhere they shouldn’t, like the thieves they are.  

Mermaid Verse

He’s a friendly sea monster, it’s OK.

AU where he’s existed in the Underground since before the monsters arrived and the activity is drawing him to the shallower waters of Waterfall.  

Little Mer G has escaped evil biologists that are trying to study him and encounters your muse.  The scientists are not far behind, though.

Your muse finds Little Mer G in their bathtub.  Or bed.  Or car.  Or anywhere he logically shouldn’t be but somehow is.  

Scifi Verse

He’s also capable of accidentally skipping across timelines.

He crash lands on your muse’s planet.

The more important question here is... what does YOUR MUSE want from him?

Other Verses

A Fell!Gaster, Swap!Gaster, Human!Gaster and AmalGaster all have tentative backstories and are available for plotting.

Lord Gaster AU -- Timeline where he has killed all humans on the surface, but only really gave the monsters something else to fear.

King Gaster AU -- Timeline (usually a Fell verse) where Gaster has murdered Asgore and took the throne.

Professor Gaster AU -- Timeline post-pacifist where Gaster (regrettably) finds himself teaching humans Science because god their education system is fucking awful. 

Other Plots / Misc

These were originally intended to be Dungeon Master style Plots where I don’t necessarily tell you everything that’s going on, but I’m more than happy to actually plot them out with you, as well!

Another Skeleton in Town:  Gaster claims he has always lived here, in this quaint little house in this strange corridor in Waterfall.  The problem is, he’s not lying.  So why is he here, how did he get here and why doesn’t he remember anything?

Indepth Reversion:  Your muse wakes up one day to realize that the world is nothing like they remember.  And yet, no one seems to realize anything is wrong.  What could have possibly happened, and what does a soft-spoken Professor named Gaster have to do with it?

Null Terminator:  It started simple--with sections of the Underground simply...disappearing.  With nothing but an empty blackness to take its place.  Then strange wolf-like creatures, incoherent and staticy began to emerge, the darkness grew, and the entire timeline is in danger.  Can your muse and Gaster fix it, or are they doomed to be the only survivors?

Civil War:  Life on the surface is far from peaceful, but things have gotten even worse after a series of attacks on monsters.  Analysis show traces of magic at the scene, implying that the culprits were other monsters.  But why are monsters attacking other monsters...or is something much more sinister at play?

Cooperation:  Under growing pressures by humanity to release the technologies he’s invented, Gaster is growing more and more aggressive towards the surface world.  Maybe your muse can talk him down...or provoke him into starting another war.

Ascension:  Growing more dissatisfied with Asgore’s submission to humanity, Toriel’s reclaiming of the throne, and monster-human relations, Gaster begins a secession from the monster kingdom, using space-warping abilities to make a surface, monster-only sanctuary for any monster that doesn’t wish to be in touch with humanity.  Will Gaster’s erratic behaviors doom the possibility of peace?  Can your muse get through to him?

Egregious Hatred:  On the surface, several high-profile anti-monster activists have suddenly gone missing.  Given the odd nature of the crimes, Gaster is the prime suspect.  But did he do it?

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: I noticed you did post to acknowledge the death of Uderzo, the co-creator of the Asterix comics. I have to ask Tintin or Asterix? Which one do you prefer?

It’s like asking Stones or Beatles? I love both but for different reasons. I would hate to choose between the two.

Both Tintin and Asterix were the two halves of a comic dyad of my childhood. Whether it was India, China, Hong Kong, Japan, or the Middle East the one thing that threads my childhood experience of living in these countries was finding a quiet place in the home to get lost reading Asterix and Tintin.

Even when I was eventually carted off to boarding school back in England I took as many of my Tintin and Asterix comics books with me as I could. They became like underground black market currency to exchange with other girls for other things like food or chocolates sent by parents and other illicit things like alcohol. Having them and reading them was like having familiar friends close by to make you feel less lonely in new surroundings and survive the bear pit of other girls living together.

If you asked my parents - especially my father - he would say Tintin hands down. He has - and continues to have in his library at home - a huge collection of Tintin comic books in as many different language translations as possible. He’s still collecting translations of each of the Tintin books in the most obscure languages he can find. I have both all the Tintin comic books - but only in English and French translations, and the odd Norwegian one - as well as all the Asterix comic books (only in English and French).

Speaking for myself I would be torn to decide between the two. Each have their virtues and I appreciate them for different reasons.

Tintin was truly about adventure that spoke deeply to me. Tintin was always a good detective story that soon turned to a travel adventure. It has it all: technology, politics, science and history. Of course the art is more simpler, but it is also cleaner and translates the wondrous far-off locations beautifully and with a sense of awe that you don’t see in the Asterix books. Indeed Hergé was into film-noir and thriller movies, and the panels are almost like storyboards for The Maltese Falcon or African Queen.

The plot lines of Tintin are intriguing rather than overly clever but the gallery of characters are much deeper, more flawed and morally ambiguous. Take Captain Haddock I loved his pullover, his strangely large feet, his endless swearing and his inability to pass a bottle without emptying it. He combined bravery and helplessness in a manner I found irresistible.

I’ve read that there is a deeply Freudian reading to the Tintin books. I think there is a good case for it. The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure are both about Captain Haddock's family. Haddock's ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock, is the illegitimate son of the French Sun King – and this mirrors what happened in Hergé's family, who liked to believe that his father was the illegitimate son of the Belgian king. This theme played out in so many of the books. In The Castafiore Emerald, the opera singer sings the jewel song from Faust, which is about a lowly woman banged up by a nobleman – and she sings it right in front of Sir Francis Haddock, with the captain blocking his ears. It's like the Finnegans Wake of the cartoon. Nothing happens - but everything happens.

Another great part is that the storylines continue on for several albums, allowing them to be more complex, instead of the more simplistic Asterix plot lines which are always wrapped up nicely at the end of each book.

Overall I felt a great affinity with Tintin - his youthful innocence, wanting to solve problems, always resourceful, optimistic, and brave. Above all Tintin gave me wanderlust. Was there a place he and Milou (Snowy) didn’t go to? When they had covered the four corners of the world Tintin and Milou went to the moon for heaven’s sake!

What I loved about Asterix was the style, specifically Uderzo’s visual style. I liked Hergé’s clean style, the ligne claire of his pen, but Asterix was drawn as caricature: the big noses, the huge bellies, often being prodded by sausage-like fingers. This was more appealing to little children because they were more fun to marvel at.

In particular I liked was the way Uderzo’s style progressed with each comic book. The panels of Asterix the Gaul felt rudimentary compared to the later works and by the time Asterix and Cleopatra, the sixth book to be published, came out, you finally felt that this was what they ought to look like. It was an important lesson for a child to learn: that you could get better at what you did over time. Each book seemed to have its own palette and perhaps Uderzo’s best work is in Asterix in Spain.

I also feel Asterix doesn’t get enough credit for being more complex. Once you peel back the initial layers, Asterix has some great literal depth going on - puns and word play, the English translation names are all extremely clever, there are many hidden details in the superb art to explore that you will quite often miss when you initially read it and in a lot of the truly classic albums they are satirising a real life country/group/person/political system, usually in an incredibly clever and humorous way.

What I found especially appealing was that it was also a brilliant microcosm of many classical studies subjects - ancient Egypt, the Romans and Greek art - and is a good first step for young children wanting to explore that stuff before studying it at school.

What I discovered recently was that Uderzo was colour blind which explains why he much preferred the clear line to any hint of shade, and it was that that enabled his drawings to redefine antiquity so distinctively in his own terms. For decades after the death of René Goscinny in 1977, Uderzo provided a living link to the golden age of the greatest series of comic books ever written: Paul McCartney to Goscinny’s John Lennon. Uderzo, as the Asterix illustrator, was better able to continue the series after Goscinny’s death than Goscinny would have been had Uderzo had died first, and yet the later books were, so almost every fan agrees, not a patch on the originals: very much Wings to the Beatles. What elevated the cartoons, brilliant though they were, to the level of genius was the quality of the scripts that inspired them. Again and again, in illustration after illustration, the visual humour depends for its full force on the accompaniment provided by Goscinny’s jokes.

Here below is a great example:

There’s a lot of genius in this. Uderzo copied Theodore Géricault’s iconic ‘Raft of the Medusa’ 1818 painting in ‘Asterix The Legionary’. The painting is generally regarded as an icon of Romanticism. It depicts an event whose human and political aspects greatly interested Géricault: the wreck of a French frigate, Medusa, off the coast of Senegal in 1816, with over 150 soldiers on board. But Anthea Bell’s translation of Goscinny’s text (including the pictorial and verbal pun ‘we’ve been framed, by Jericho’) is really extraordinary and captures the spirit of the Asterix cartoons perfectly.

This captures perfectly my sense of humour as it acknowledges the seriousness of life but finds humour in them through a sly cleverness and always with a open hearted joy. There is no question that if humour was the measuring yard stick then Asterix and not Tintin would win hands down.

It’s also a mistake to think that the world of Asterix was insular in comparison to the amazing countries Tintin had adventures. Asterix’s world is very much Europe.

Every nationality that Asterix encounters is gently satirised. No other post-war artistic duo offered Europeans a more universally popular portrait of themselves, perhaps, than did Goscinny and Uderzo. The stereotypes with which he made such affectionate play in his cartoons – the haughty Spaniard, the chocolate-loving Belgian, the stiff-upper-lipped Briton – seemed to be just what a continent left prostrate by war and nationalism were secretly craving. Many shrewd commentators believe that during the golden age when Goscinny was still alive to pen the scripts, that it was a fantasy on French resistance during occupation by Nazi Germany. Uderzo lived through the occupation and so there is truth in that. Perhaps this is why the Germans are the exceptions as they are treated unsympathetically in Asterix and the Goths, and why quite a few of the books turn on questions of loyalty and treachery.

Even the British are satirised with an affection that borders on love: the worst of the digs are about our appalling cuisine (everything is boiled, and served with mint sauce, and the beer is warm), but everything points to the Gauls’ and the Britons’ closeness. They have the same social structure, even down to having one village still holding out against the Romans; the crucial and extremely generous difference being that the Britons do not have a magic potion to help them fight. Instead they have tea, introduced to them by Getafix, via Asterix, which gives them so much of a psychological boost that it may as well have been the magic potion.

I re-read ‘Asterix in Britain’ (Astérix chez les Bretons) in the light of the 2016 Brexit referendum result and felt despaired that such a playful and respectful portrayal of this country was not reciprocated. Don’t get me wrong I voted for Brexit but I remain a staunch Europhile. It made me violently irritated to see many historically illiterate pro-Brexit oiks who mistakenly believed the EU and Europe were the same thing. They are not. One was originally a sincere band aid to heal and bring together two of the greatest warring powers in continental Europe that grotesquely grew into an unaccountable bureaucratic manager’s utopian wet dream, and the other is a cradle of Western achievement in culture, sciences and the arts that we are all heirs to.

What I loved about Asterix was that it cut across generations. As a young girl I often retreated into my imaginary world of Asterix where our family home had an imaginary timber fence and a dry moat to keep the world (or the Romans) out. I think this was partly because my parents were so busy as many friends and outsiders made demands on their time and they couldn’t say no or they were throwing lavish parties for their guests. Family time was sacred to us all but I felt especially miffed if our time got eaten away. Then, as I grew up, different levels of reading opened up to me apart from the humour in the names, the plays on words, and the illustrations. There is something about the notion of one tiny little village, where everybody knows each other, trying to hold off the dark forces of the rest of the world. Being the underdog, up against everyone, but with a sense of humour and having fun, really resonated with my child's eye view of the world.

The thing about both Asterix and Tintin books is that they are at heart adventure comics with many layers of detail and themes built into them. For children, Asterix books are the clear winner, as they have much better art and are more fantastical. Most of the bad characters in the books are not truly evil either and no-one ever dies, which appeals hugely to children. For older readers, Tintin has danger, deeper characters with deep political themes, bad guys with truly evil motives, and even deaths. It’s more rooted in the real world, so a young reader can visualise themselves as Tintin, travelling to these real life places and being a hero.

As I get older and re-read Asterix and Tintin from time to time I discover new things. 

From Asterix, there is something about the notion of one tiny little village, where everybody knows each other, trying to hold off the dark forces of the rest of the world. Being the underdog, up against everyone, but with a sense of humour and having fun, really resonated with my child's eye view of the world. In my adult world it now makes me appreciate the value of family, friends, and community and even national identity. Even as globalisation and the rise of homogenous consumerism threatens to envelope the unique diversity of our cultures, like Asterix, we can defend to the death the cultural values that define us but not through isolation or by diminishing the respect due to other cultures and their cultural achievements.

From Tintin I got wanderlust. This fierce even urgent need to travel and explore the world was in part due to reading the adventures of Tintin. It was by living in such diverse cultures overseas and trying to get under the skin of those cultures by learning their languages and respecting their customs that I realised how much I valued my own heritage and traditions without diminishing anyone else.

So I’m sorry but I can’t choose one over the other, I need both Asterix and Tintin as a dyad to remind me that the importance of home and heritage is best done through travel and adventure elsewhere.

Thanks for your question.

[kayr0ss]

Paradigm Shift

[Diakko, is this fluff?, crushes, realizing feelings, yes it's fluff I guess, the Library(TM)]  | AO3

Diana was ready for the difference that magic was about to make in the world. But can books prepare her for a change that was more... personal in nature?

--

A paradigm shift, in its simplest definition, is ‘an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.’

—or so the dictionary had said.

Diana had no need to consult with the dictionary if she were to be honest, but it paid to be thorough. This phenomenon was of particular interest to her: these shifts were almost always of historical and scientific importance—discoveries which shook the world and how it worked. She had read about a good number of them by now: the movement from Ptolemaic to Copernican cosmology, the acceptance of Darwin’s Natural Selection, the shift from Freudian psychodynamics to Skinner’s behaviorism, and finally to the modern-day acceptance of cognition as the central driving force to human behavior. It was all overwhelming and mind-boggling, how we take for granted the things that we know in this day and age!

Her entire being was—figuratively—coiled up in anticipation. The re-integration of magic into technology and modern society was just another shift waiting to happen.

Diana rolled her shoulders, fingers tracing the edges of another textbook on natural sciences. It was getting late in the evening—Hannah and Barbara were already asleep—but the excitement that bubbled within her at the prospect of magic’s revival was enough to keep her going until first light.

She sighed with wonder and amazement.

All of it was possible because of Akko.

---

“But the thing about these shifts isn’t the discovery in itself—” Diana declared, struggling to keep her voice even. Despite her excitement, she had proper decorum to uphold, and lunchtime in the dining hall was no exception. “—but rather the community’s response to it. What would have been the point of discovering gravity, if nobody believed in Newton?”

By now Hannah and Barbara had tuned out, snickering about something Amanda did during first period. Much to her surprise, her most attentive listener was Akko.

“Mmphf—” the brunette hummed through a mouthful of mashed potatoes (which Lotte nagged her for). “Go on?”

“It only matters if they believe you.” The blonde said pointedly. “If we’re to push in a new age for magic—one which co-exists with technology and science harmoniously—then reviving it is only the first step. Next on the agenda is to be properly informative, relaying the correct message so that the world listens and—what is it?” Diana stopped abruptly at the sight of a silly, lopsided grin coming right at her.

“There’s something I like about seeing you worked up like that. Excited. Passionate!” Akko giggled. Diana immediately felt self-conscious, schooling her expression back to neutral, but not before Akko protested. “It’s nice! Don’t get pouty on me over this!’

“I’m simply excited over recent developments. It’s always been my…” Diana pursed her lips, reluctant to admit it out loud, “…dream.”

“I know.” Akko reassured, reaching across the table to settle a hand above Diana’s before squeezing it. The pressure of fingers wrapping around her knuckles was seemingly mirrored in her chest which felt fuller. The blonde could sense a small tingle of heat at the tips of her ears.

“So it’s all about believing then?” Akko said casually.

The sensation Diana felt was… different. Most especially when Akko leaned forward, smile unwavering while she said:

“Well! You know I always believe in you.”

---

As Diana waited outside the Red Team’s dormitory, she chuckled to herself. What was formerly disdain for Akko was quickly shifted to a sense of anticipation. Suddenly, all Diana wanted was to see more of her—to hear more of her thoughts, to see how else she could prove everyone who wanted to put her down wrong.

She didn’t even notice it until after the fact, but she welcomed it nonetheless.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Akko called out while the door opened. “Tried to get changed as quick as I could.”

“Not a problem.” Diana said softly. A soft smile took charge of her lips while she regarded her studying partner.

They began to walk at a leisurely pace. “So I’m guessing you’ll be reading more about big science movements while I catch up on my Linguistics homework?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Looking forward to it!” Akko grinned. It made Diana blink—then chuckle.

Akko was looking forward to an afternoon in the library?

That was new.

---

Akko—who could not for the life of her keep still—was swinging her feet under one of the library’s long tables.

And then she stubbed her pinky toe against the leg of her chair.

“By the nine!” she hissed rather loudly.

Diana looked up towards her, and oh no, that was her cue to nag her to be careful. Something about maintaining order in the library, and that she told her not to move around so much and—

“Are you alright?”

Blue eyes gazed up towards her own, and at the same time a pale hand reached above the books scattered in between them and inched closer to her closed-up fist. Diana brushed gently along her knuckles, urging her to for her attention and seemingly unaware of her own movements while her perfect eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“I—”

Diana tilted her head. Akko felt her mouth dry up.

“Yeah. Totally.”

---

She was supposed to be studying.

Did reading the same passage three times over still count as studying? How was she supposed to help usher in the age of magical acceptance through managing change if she couldn’t keep her head on in the library? It was late in the afternoon, just a little bit more and early evening would roll in with a chill. Despite this, her palms grew sweaty, and she fidgeted with her collar, unable to chase away the prickling heat that rose consistently up to her cheeks.

Diana didn’t dare move an inch, though.

Not since she had reached out to brush against Akko’s knuckles earlier. At some point or another, Akko eased up. When the brunette decided to thread their fingers together, Diana’s ability to think decided to just… die, she supposed. And it didn’t make sense—why would it do that?

She really needed the ability to think right now, too.

Diana was reading up on the challenges of accepting all things new and foreign; something that she herself had come to experience in recent months. The status quo was familiar—a person would know what to expect and how to react accordingly if nothing changes. How surprising would resistance to magic be, once all the novelty and curiosity of it wore off? This led her to the work of Rotter and Mischel, which argues that it all boils down to the interaction of expectancies, psychological situations, and reinforcement. Through this lens one could argue that one’s motivation is to fulfill a specific need, and the resultant behavior is simply a product of the expected results and the strength of the need to be fulfilled.

“The likelihood that non-magic users accept witchcraft, therefore, would be dependent on if they perceive a positive outcome from doing so,” Diana began to mutter, finally regaining momentum, “how strongly their preference for this outcome is, and the strength of their expectation that this behavior would lead to positive outcomes for themselves.”

“That’s a lot of words—” Akko said around a yawn “—for ‘people will only do things if they see what’s in it for them’.”

This made Diana laugh a little. “Essentially.”

“Mou!” Akko whined. “Give people more credit, Diana!”

Normally she wasn’t so optimistic, but she’s seen this wonderful girl across her pull miracles out of thin air, so: “Maybe I will.”

“Not gonna lie,” Akko began to giggle. “I thought you were going to argue with me on that a bit more. Is Diana Cavendish growing soft?”

She knew the brunette was joking, but that statement urged her to pause and think about it a little. Something about Akko invited… growth; movement from stagnation towards exploring new things. Perhaps this newfound hope and optimism was an after-effect of hanging around Akko that she never noticed before.

Their intertwined hands fell back into view, and Diana felt her short-lived concentration bid her farewell.

She brushed her thumb along the back of Akko’s hands—gently— sinking into thoughts about everything that was different now. Was she growing soft nowadays? Most especially around Akko.

She swallowed.

She never recalled blushing this much before, nor did she recall her heart racing in anticipation at the thought of the brunette.

That was odd.

These reactions weren’t exactly the kind that one felt around a very good friend. And Diana, so far, was adamant that her feelings towards Akko were deep and…

Friendly.

“But it’s okay if that’s changing.” Akko said lightly, and Diana’s head snapped up so sharply, thinking for a moment that she had just read her mind. “I meant, if you’re going soft about your expectations of humanity and… stuff?”

“Ah.”

Yes. Ah.

By Jennifer—she shouldn’t have entertained the thought of ‘more than just friends.’ Suddenly the warm library lanterns were casting a glow on Akko’s skin that made her look beautiful in a way the blonde never considered before.

But still, she was sure that her feelings towards Akko were nothing of the sort.

Although the electricity she felt when Akko returned her actions, brushing against the back of her thumb as they continued to hold hands, begged to differ.

“Looks like you’re going through a—a—what did you call it again?” Akko narrowed her eyes, looking up at the ceiling while she searched for the right words. “The big important change?” Akko reached over for the dictionary she pulled out for Linguistics.

Diana felt her mouth dry.

“A paradigm shift.”

“Yeah!” Akko grinned. Her eyes lit up; and her cheeks were dusted with a light shade of pink.

It was the first time Diana thought of the word ‘breathtaking’ while looking at another person. But—But—Akko was a friend and—

“So according to this dictionary,” Akko said matter-of-factly, “it’s an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”

Diana’s mouth hung open. She knew that already.

But all she could say was:

“Oh.”

--

AN: And idea that came over while I made an omelette - this is a desperate attempt at checking if I still know how to write things that aren't crack. *sobbing noises* I hope you all enjoy!

(Also - thanks for lovely comments on the past two one shots which I haven't replied to. I'm horrible at getting the chance to respond but I appreciate each and every one very deeply uwuwuwuwu).

Thank you to Pyro for checking this for errors. You are a wonderful spud, friend

[scroll-of-thought]

Hi! I know this is kind of a discourse-y topic so you don’t have to respond, but could you talk a bit more about reality shifting? I’ve seen a lot of different perspectives on this, but I’d like to hear more about it, if possible. Why do people think it’s real? Why do people think it’s fake? Do you think that it could be feasible in any form, like on a smaller scale or with technological assistance? Do you feel different about reality shifting in sleep VS moving your everyday life into another reality 24/7? Sorry about all the questions, I’m just really curious about this ^.^

I don’t mind giving it a shot, and I’m sorry it took a while to get back on this. I’ve had some bad insomnia and this isn’t the kind of thing I want to answer on 3 hours of sleep. This is going to be along one, so for the sake of everyone’s dashes, I’m going to put a keep reading here.

First we’ll take a moment to define “reality shifting”, which is getting more and more difficult to do. When I was made aware of reality shifting it was mostly as a topic of discussion on Tiktok, but there seems to be a few less popular versions elsewhere that I don’t know as much about, so we’ll be sticking to the popular Tiktok version. From my understanding, reality shifting is a spell or ritual that involves writing rules for a world you want to visit, and then while you’re alseep your soul/spirit/consciousness/(or in some versions)actual physical body is transported to an alternate reality of your own choosing. Often it’s stated repeatedly that these are not dreams in any way, but an actual shift in your metaphysical being (or physical being in some cases) to a preexisting reality that you’ve chosen. It seems important to state that you are not creating this reality, but it’s a parallel dimension of your choosing, which has it’s own history of existing long before you did. The other people are real, the laws of physics are appropriate to that reality, the actions have consequences, it is 100% as real as our reality.

So let’s go through these questions one at a time, and I’ll give some of my thoughts.

Why do people think it’s real?

Honestly, I think it’s a combination of ignorance of a lot of existing topics, escapism, and hope that there’s are better or more interesting places out there.

One of the main supporting pseudosciences is the idea that the universe in infinite in the way that there’s overlapping multiverses where everything possible happens, which just isn’t what science has told us, and Tiktok witches say it’s fairly easy to move into any of those realities. People want that to be the case, just like shows and movies where the characters explore different realities.

Even if there were overlapping multiverses, which is Hollywood’s misunderstanding of real science, I can’t imagine it would be easy to move your soul to another physical reality, that ll just happen to have a spare empty vessel waiting for you’re one time use that night. It’s hard for most people to move their consciousness outside their own body in this reality, such as remote viewing or astral projection, so casually moving to another reality seems like more than a step above that in difficulty, if possible.

Another point of ignorance is just not knowing about these other similar things, and then evolving the definition of reality shifting to specifically not be those other things once the similarities are pointed out. The current definition specifically makes a point to imply it’s not astral projection by saying you’re picking another reality that is physical and not the astral plane, and it makes sure to imply that it’s not a dream, and thus not lucid dreaming.

The last reason they think it’s real is because tiktok has a notoriously bad reputation of just following the crowd and believing what popular users say, regardless of anything really. Popular witch says it’s a thing, they believe it without question. and those who do question get buried in the comments by those who believe.

Why do people think it’s fake?

I believe it’s because it’s way too similar to other things that exist in magic and spends too much effort specifically not being those things. I think reality shifting is a combination of self hypnosis and either lucid dreaming or astral travel (depending on the person and technique used). Which is fine, that’s a great way to achieve lucid dreams or astral travel, both of which are useful tools for mental and spiritual growth, exploration, and fulfillment. But so little of it makes sense in real terms, as moving yourself to a butterfly effect universe in your sleep.

It’s the want to be a special super power which I think annoys a lot of people, especially people who already lucid dream using the same techniques.

And if it is astral travel, people don’t think it is, and they aren’t taking the precautions you should take when doing astral travel. It’s kinda dangerous from an magic point of view. And if it is just escapism via lucid dreaming, refusing to believe it’s a dream is dangerous to people’s mental health.

Do you think that it could be feasible in any form, like on a smaller scale or with technological assistance?

As it is, no. The main part I have trouble seeing possible would be the kind of reality that reality shifting aims to take you to. The concept of overlapping alternate realities is a thought experiment that is vaguely rooted in science, but everything we know about the possibility of multiverses suggests it’s just not like it is in fiction. I don’t see there being any possible way to scale it down either. It’s either a different reality, or it isn’t. You can’t scale down universe, or find an easier universe, and the amount of time doing it doesn’t seem to be a problem. I don’t see a scaled down version to pursue.

If there are alternative realities, current science says they would exist outside of this universe, which distance wise is pretty far in the 3rd dimension. Maybe someday in the incredibly distant future, where humanity becomes a Type V or Type Omega civilization on the Kardashev scale, will we be able to do that with technology, but I don’t know if that would ever be anything more than scifi too. A Type Omega civilization is theoretically meant to control their local multiverse, but even thinking about the goals of humans that far in the future seems like a wild guess.

Do you feel different about reality shifting in sleep VS moving your everyday life into another reality 24/7?

I think I do? I don’t think either are possible, but I’ve always said, if a portal opened up and could transport me to a fantasy world, I would totally jump in. At least there the decade of martial arts and swordsmanship training might be useful. But back on topic. I feel like the reality shifting in your sleep, and only in your sleep, leads back to that problem of other similar methods and desperately wanting to not “just be lucid dreaming”. Now if people were literally vanishing to live in another reality, and we could watch someone phase out of reality with our own eyes, and maybe even come back and tell us where they were, then we’d have something. But sleeping and telling me you spent the night in a physical real reality that is definitely different from lucid dreaming or astral travel, I’m just not buying it.

That all being said, philosophically I can’t say that this reality isn’t my own dream. I’ve had enough near death experiences that never made sense, so this could all be my own last moment of existence before dying, or maybe it’s an afterlife, or alternate reality. One of the greatest philosophical thoughts is about how one can know their own reality is real, and it can only really be solved with a shrug and a “I think therefore I am”.

I hope that answered your questions and you have a better idea of my personal feeling on the matter. I’m definitely not an expert on reality shifting, so I could be wrong about a lot of this, especially if we talk about people who are doing something different from the main tiktok craze. I do have very frequent lucid dreams, and I used to do a lot of astral travel, and from everything I see on tiktok, it’s just one of those two and not some fantasy magic.

Any other questions or followups, feel free to let me know. If you want some other views on it that are similar to mine, search @kens-craft‘s blog. I blame him for me ever knowing what this is. Him as his dares for me to brave witchtok.