#so far i've just been scrying ones i have ideas for

[aroaceleovaldez]

collection of riordanverse flight rising scrys i've done so far cause i keep scrying fandragons i'll probably never make

(in order: Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Jason, Nico, Hazel, Leo, Reyna, Alex)

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on ChatGPT and AI?

I saw something in a tweet (or perhaps on cohost) about the growing sentiment that things like ChatGPT have already attained sentience and people think they are speaking to a consciousness because it accurately simulates human speech. Just last night, a friend of mine was pasting ChatGPT logs where people were having it generate... reviews? pitches? For fake movies that did not exist.

They weren't good, but they were amusing, and seemed to be written intelligently. Not well, mind you. As far as comedy material goes, they were fairly bland, C-grade stuff. But they read as if a boring, average human had written them.

I tried to generate one of my own, and ChatGPT protested, because it considered a fake movie to be "misinformation" and it told me it did not want to be used to generate or spread lies. It was an expression of intent.

And I think back to the Google employee that was fired last year after becoming convinced that Google's internal chat bot, used to interface with their "algorithm", had achieved sentience because he was able to ask it philosophical questions. He said it demonstrated self-awareness, because the answers it provided were written as if a human person was expressing wants and desires.

And here's the deal: I've written chat bots myself. I like to boast about the fact I've written a chat bot that employs markov chains years before I knew what a markov chain was. I stumbled upon the concept completely organically, on my own terms. It makes me feel pretty smart!

The point is, I've built these things before, because the underlying concept just makes sense. Now, ChatGPT is dramatically more complex than the one I built, but the core idea is still the same. It's just their sentence assembly algorithm is a lot better than mine was.

And we as a species will put googly eyes on our roombas and give it pet names and take care of it like it is part of the family. We will see personality in places where there is just cold, unfeeling pattern recognition. Nothing can be random, everything is being controlled by the forces of the universe, and this must be some manifestation and exhibition of "the soul." Right?

That puts us in the realm of like, scrying, or bone-reading, or divination.

For a chat bot.

That's hubris. These machines are not capable of making human decisions. They are something you insert numbers in to, it calculates those numbers, and tells you the result. It's easy to be metaphorical about a description like that, but there is nothing creationary happening here.

When a person creates a piece of artwork, it is because they have the overwhelming desire to express an emotion that is dominating their thoughts. That art -- whether it's a painting, a novel, a song, or whatever -- is a lightning rod to channel their feelings. That is why particularly powerful art makes us feel things when we experience it, because it is human emotion in its rawest form.

When a robot creates a piece of artwork, it is because it has been asked to. Because it has been fed a "prompt." The robot has no overwhelming desires. It only exists because a human asked it to exist.

And what the robot generates isn't a collection of influences from things it picked out for itself because it formed an emotional connection with the source material. It's generated from information it was spoon-fed by someone else. The only reason it is able to generate beauty is because somebody else made an emotional connection and told the robot to copy its homework.

It isn't arrested by anxiety it cannot control, or understands what lovesickness is. It does not feel fear or curiosity. It only thinks when it is told to think, and it can only tell you things other people have already thought.

This is why things like Midjourney sample so many millions of images -- because that allows it to more easily hide just how much of it is simply recycled from existing content, and that obscurity theft sells the lie of creativity where there is none.

Then I think about people who joined the new Bing Search Beta, where instead of searching webpages, you talk to one of these chat bots. And the growing number of people who claim they're making the bot have a "mental breakdown." And how, in order for that to be true, somebody needed to write specific code for this to happen.

But then why would somebody do such a thing? What goal is being attained by making you believe the bot can feel things it clearly cannot? What agenda is this a part of?

Stay human out there, folks.

[thalwhore]

Joining in the trend bc I've been thinking abt this scene since yesterday. Gave my gal some Scottish ways of talkin and hopefully kept Tally pretty in-character. As always the lad belongs to @dynamite124 !

No Preassure

.

Eira sighs as she takes a seat on one of the chairs overlooking the Inn, undoing the clasps of her chestplate while Saadia serves their drinks. "Thank ye love, yer a dear. Have a good night yeah?" Saadia smiles, taking the extra coin Eira had offered, "I'll certainly try, see you in the morning." She responds, bowing her head to the rather tall Altmer coming to join the party before heading out the room and down the stairs.

The Redhead takes a swig of her ale, "Shor's bones, I needed that drink after the day we've had, huh Tally?"

Taliesin furrows his brows, turning to face her, "And when were you planning on telling me that you're dragonborn?"

Eira groans and brings a hand to her face, "I was hoping it wasn'y true. I really, really was."

"You mean to tell me that you've known this entire time?!" Taliesin asks in shock. "How could you have known in the first place? There hasn't been a dragonborn for eras now!" He exclaims, stopping to recompose himself before taking a drink of the ale, making a face at the taste. "If this is your idea of a joke, it's not a very funny one." He adds.

"I'm no pullin' yer leg, believe me, I wish I were." Eira says, elbows resting on her knees as she holds her head in her hands. "Its a long story, I'm no' gonna blame ya if ye leave without hearin' me out." She adds, staring out at the Bannered Mare patrons below them.

Taliesin sighs, confusion painting his face, before he shucks off his overcoat, hanging it on the back of the chair and placing the gloves on the table between them. "You've given me no reason not to believe your words so far- so I'll stay. Besides, it'd be a waste to not take advantage of the room you've so generously bought for us." He says with a smile, posture mostly relaxed but his hands restless.

"Thank you. I really do mean that Taliesin." Eira says, flashing a smile before leaning back in her seat. "When I was a wee lass, a psycic came to me family's farm, or more like- was attacked by wolves just outside it." She starts, letting out a small laugh at the memory. "Me father had chased them off with a torch and his piddly wee steak knife, then offered the man to stay with us for the night before headin off the next morn'."

She seemed to relax more as she told her story, almost deflating in the chair as she seemed more comfortable. "He'd offered to tell our fortunes, me da' wouldn'y hear a word of it but, I begged and begged and he let up." Eira's face screws up as she recalls the details. "He did a ritual with some chicken bones we'd had leftover from supper that evenin' had me do a whole thing with shakin' them about in a bowl. Told me there was greatness in me' future." She says.

Taliesin laughs, not unkindly, smiling as he speaks "And I suppose that's why you're so confident now then?" He asks, raising a brow in her direction.

"Oi you cheeky shite, yer' hardly one to talk. What with yer whole 'superiorly bred mer' crap." She reponds jovially. Taliesin rolls his eyes and nods "Alright, alright. Continue, then."

"Thank you." Eira says. "Anyway, the man seemed a lot more worried when he read more o' the weird chicken scrying. Said he'd saw death and destruction. Fire and war. Said he saw great wings of black and toppled towers." She recounts, mood darkening. "He'd said I'd be the one to bring it about and also the one to end it."

Taliesin leans forward in his seat, brows furrowing as he listens intently to the story.

"Needless to say, me da' kicked him out and said it was a load of shite." Eira says with a laugh, before turning more serious. "That's why, when we killed that dragon, and I absorbed its soul. I lost me shit. That crazy old fuck had been right, and now I've gotta go from a farmhand, to the savior of Tamriel as a whole!" She yells. "It's- it's not what I wanted. Not in a million years." She adds, shaking her head before downing half the ale. "I just wanted some fun. A couple o' decades adventurin', then I'd settle down back with me folks, maybe find a nice lass to warm the bed. But now there's- all of this."

Taliesin sighs, reaching a hand over the table to take hers into his own. "I know, it's a lot to be pushed onto you. But if there's anyone who can do it, I believe it'll be you." He says, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

"Ye barely even know me Tally. But...thank you." She says with a smile. "And hey, it's no pressure right?"

"No pressure at all."

[trixcuomo]

Whats the most challenging part of writing in a 'modern wow' setting? Where do you draw inspiration from?

That is an excellent question! Long answer to this, so I do apologize...

I've been writing fanfiction for years, but writing for Trixany was a challenge because I wanted to parody (of course lol) modern influencer culture, which can have its toxic side. I actually strongly dislike some aspects of it. I write Trixany as a hungering character, desperate to fill a void by seeking all this attention and fame. That's her biggest flaw; wanting the fame so badly is her blindspot. The void inside her? That is the wound caused by the attack on Quel'thalas.

So! As for the biggest challenge in translating influencer culture into a Warcraft universe? I guess... suspending belief. You can use "comm" or "scrying orb" instead of the word "cellphone" or "television/screen." A lot of us roleplayers say something is of Goblin or Gnomish make if it seems sort of modern, as is already the pattern in Warcraft. That's how we fill in the blanks. That's easy. But how do you get people to go along with there being a celebrity gossip show, based in Dalaran? How do you convince readers that there are rival Warcraft girl bands that vibe like the Pussycat Dolls versus Destiny's Child? Without it seeming so ludicrous, you get thrown out of immersion and can't enjoy it?

I fall in love with these ideas, and then I NEED them, and they have to happen. So I have to streeetch and reach into the furthest extremes of the Warcraft storytelling spectrum. Maybe the wild-ass Goblin aesthetic is on the far end, and something most familiar to fantasy, with Human/Elf/Dwarf interactions, something Tolkien, is on the nearer end. Somewhere on the Goblin end, we have Kaja-Cola and that maybe feels like a modern company that would have a Fanta-esque girl band to promote its soda. Haris Pilton is barely, scarcely lore-abiding. But as an Elf, she probably falls in the middle? And I can draw a line safely from Warcraft Goblins to Haris (if she even really exists), to Trixany.

I find these Warcraft touchpoints and build them out. Haris Corp has become this huge, scary company with Goblin modernity and Elf sophistication beyond what Trixany can even imagine. So anything Trixany does as an influencer now seems normal by comparison, I hope. More believeable.

Usually, whatever makes me laugh really hard or that I become occasionally obsessed with in pop culture is my inspiration. I usually don't tell myself, 'No, that can't happen' when it comes to stories. IRL I may get nervous about trying something new, but when it comes to writing, which I love so badly, that's my moon shot. I will take the moon shot every time and imagine a way to make a cool idea with real potential happen, no matter what. Writing is one of our few spaces where we can set ourselves free and really be ourselves, so of course you have to try!

The Cody Rhodes post happened because I was following that, and I'm a WWE fan. I've been falling down a PubLIZity rabbit hole, so that might inspire something soon, too? If I can see it, I'm gonna try to reach it because that's exciting and you might make someone belly laugh, smile, brighten their day! Writing is so fun for me.

Oh, and I'll say my favorite modern-day Warcraft writing I've done on here was inspired by Lady Gaga's Marry the Night music video. If you read the Dalaran City Clinic post and play the YouTube video in there simultaneously, almost the entire post actually hits right in synch with the narration as a parody. I love Lady Gaga so much, and that music video is incredible. I really wanted to honor that and combine it with my Warcraft fangirl side.

Also, I just love Kael'thas showing up in that post as the nurse. It works so good; it cracks me up. That post just captures Trixany really well and how I translate modern-day pop culture into Warcraft writing. Guess the First Aid trainer in Legion Dalaran was the touch point on that one, lol!!

I usually have asks turned off, but I'm pleased you reached out. I seriously enjoy your writing too Nix, so that was cool of you! Nice ask.

[overseer2020]

Type, Two

18 -- January 2024

Now, the Skill mechanic was envisioned as a core pillar of the whole project, which is why I spent so much time going back and forth and in every concievable direction on how exactly to make the idea work. (Even now, I'm considering the tweak I came up with in yesterday's post.) So, it has been very important to me to get it right.

To that end, I sort of wrote myeslf into a corner with this first batch of skill cards because I accidentally took a concept I now think I should have held onto for Part 2 and built it into Part 1. That concept is that each skill spell has two modes. The idea here being that superheroes often have abilities they can use in more than one way. Heroes (and Villains) have a choice in how they use their powers and my players should, too.

The problem is that by debuting the keyword exclusively on cards with two modes sets up an expectation I do not intend. But I've gone too far in design to go back. If I could do a "Developer's Cut" version of this project, I would start off with single-effect Skills, roll into dual-effect Skills for Part 2, Triple up on Part 3 and do whatever for 4. As it stands, most Skill spells in Part 1 are very small, very simple abilities like "Draw two cards" or "Scry 2", so I hope to create Skills for Part 2 that are more complex. Heck, if I can do it right, I might be able to swap out my Part 1 Skills with whatever I come up with fpr Part 2.

Balancing the mana costs for spells that can be cast multiple times dovetails well with the idea that magic is still in its inefficient infancy, so spells will be a little overcosted. In case that last sentence didn't make sense, I mean that Skills are often overcosted because you can cast them more than once. If you haven't noticed, the purest expressions of a spell effect will always be the cheapest version. Tack on secondary abilities or keywords, and that same basic spell effect will cost a bit more.

Mind you, each slightly different iteration of the Skill mechanic (there were literal DOZENS of them) presented a different set of challenges with regards to costing and usefulness across the phalanx of cards I had already designed. I do ascribe to the idea that one can "just print it and let the players figure it out' to some degree, but it's always a good idea to establish the borders/barriers/limitations of a given mechanic so you don't over- or under-shoot the cost.

For example, the combat tricks with Skill have to be cheap enough to be useful, but not too efficient as to push the envelope. Now that the boundaries are defined, I can tailor the abilities limitations, mana costs, skill creature type and/or color mix of the spell to fit within them.

But that's all basic design stuff. My point here is that I had to do that A LOT since I hadn't locked in the mechanic's functionality early enough. Or rather, I THOUGHT I had it locked in until I changed my mind.

[bidoldaccount]

A Little Kept Secret (part 5)

Chris Halliwell x reader

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

"I said I didn't want ketchup, Aaron!" Y/n rolled her eyes, holding up her burger, still in the wrapper and the aforementioned ketchup peeking out over the bun.

"It's not on my ticket," the chef shrugged, not looking up from what he was doing.

"Well then Tina forgot to write it down, whoever it was, someone ruined my breakfast," Y/n snipped, tossing her burger back down in her basket and picking up a fry.

"Why are you even eating a burger for breakfast?" Tina asked, flicking a piece of purple hair over a soft caramel shoulder. Y/n rolled her eyes, popping her fry into her mouth.

"Why are you questioning my breakfast choices?" she retorted.

"Because it's 6 am and you're eating a burger and fries," Tina said.

"Hey, stranger things have happened," Y/n shrugged, "and I am not eating a burger because mine has been ruined," she gestured down to the ketchup infested burger with a grimace. Before Tina could respond the ground shook, glasses and plates clinking together, chairs squeaking against the floor and the lights above the tables swinging. Y/n's coke was rippling inside of the red glass that was vibrating on her table. The shake only lasted a few seconds, but it made everyone's heads turn.

"What the hell was that?" Tina asked as Y/n's eyes trailed over to the door, a red glow beside the building catching her attention.

"An earthquake," Y/n smiled small, "remember those stranger things?" she winked as she stood up. "Thanks for the breakfast," she threw a few bills on the table and saluted the two restaurant workers before starting for the door. She pushed through, the chilly air hitting her skin hard and making her shiver as she rounded the building. There was a man standing with his hands out at his sides, fireballs ignited in his palms and aimed at a woman holding a pendent hanging down around her neck

"A girl can't eat in peace?" Y/n asked, throwing her arms up. The man's head wiped around to her, his eyes narrowed fiercely. The man smirked, bringing one hand up and throwing the fireball in Y/n's direction. With a flick of her hand, the fireball smashed into the restaurant wall and dissipated. The man threw another one, this one getting burned out in midair with a short blast of wind. He didn't get a chance to throw another before he was being thrown back, his body connected hard with the dumpster. Y/n stood before him and threw an energy ball at him, watching him scream and flail before his body perished into nothing but a small scorch mark. She turned back to the woman, who flinched back and clutched her necklace harder.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she assured, "are you okay?" Before the woman could answer someone was orbing into the alley. Y/n hummed, crossing her arms as Piper, Chris, and Paige stepped forward hurriedly. They looked around for a second then stopped, flicking their eyes between the woman and Y/n.

"Fancy running into you again," Y/n smiled, gesturing to the woman with a sweep of her hands.

"Nancy, are you okay?" Piper went running up to the woman, clutching her shoulders and checking her over for injuries.

"Yeah, I'm alright thanks to her," the woman, Nancy, pointed to Y/n, who had no other choice but to sarcastically curtsy.

"And what were you doing here?" Chris asked, crossing her arms over his chest, valiantly hiding his smirk

"Well I was trying to eat breakfast, but I had to come and save Nancy," Y/n gestured to the woman. Chris narrowed his eyes in an unimpressed manner.

"It's a good thing you were here otherwise I would have been dead and Nicoli would have gotten the pendant," Nancy said, patting the ruby red pendant around her neck.

"Well we need to get you back to the manor before he sends another goon after you," Paige said, gesturing for Nancy.

"Can I tag along? I'm kinda bored," Y/n frowned.

"No," Chris said at the same time that Piper said, "Yes."

"No? Why no? She's helped so far and we're kind of stuck right now," Piper said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, a fresh perspective can't hurt," Paige added.

"Yeah, come on big guy, I'm a fresh pair of eyes and given the last time you gave them information, you were a little bit off. So who knows?" Chris stared at her as she walked closer. "Come on, get to orbing." Piper, Paige, and Nancy all gathered around them, snickering softly and holding each other in some way. Y/n placed her hand on Chris' elbow, giving him a cheeky smile before they started teleporting.

The surroundings of the alley transformed into an attic, pretty neatly organized around a few pieces of furniture.

"Hey Y/n," she looked over and smiled as Leo waved at her from a small table with a map and a scrying crystal placed on it.

"Hi Leo," She smiled warmly, giving him a wave in return. She felt Chris' arm move, realizing that she hadn't let him go yet and dropping her hand.

"So what are we after?" Y/n clapped her hands together and walked over to where piper was hovering over the book of shadows.

"Nicoli," she pointed to a picture of a dark haired man, his chin covered in stubble and his eyes drawn dramatically evil. Y/n hummed, nodding her head.

"Upper level demon, been around for a couple hundred years, I'm guessing he's after the pendant?" She asked. Nancy nodded, showing Y/n the ruby red pendant.

"It's been in my family for generations, it holds the powers of my entire family lineage," she said.

"Who is your family?" Y/n asked, "if I may ask," she added politely.

"I belong to the Wickers, my name is Nancy wicker," she said.

"Mm, the Wickers," Y/n nodded. "I'm assuming that's the pendant that Octavia Wicker created to trap the demon Kinara?" She asked.

"Yes," Nancy's forehead creased, "how did you know that?" She asked.

"I've met a lot of wise people," Y/n shrugged. "Octavia forced the pendant from a rare jewel found in the underworld. Connecting it to a plate of enchanted silver and combined with her magic it was almost inevitable that it would become one of the most powerful pendants ever created. Kinara never stood a chance, she was trapped the moment Octavia thought of it. If a powerful enough demon were to get a hold of the pendant he could unleash every demon who has ever been trapped inside of it, and he could reverse the magic to trap witches instead," Y/n explained.

"See? This is why we brought her," Paige smiled, smacking Chris' arm. He rolled his eyes, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well how are we supposed to vanquish Nicoli then? There's no vanquishing potion in the book," he said.

"You don't have to vanquish him, you just have to get close enough to trap him inside of the pendant," Y/n said.

"That's our other problem," piper said. "He's been thinking of this for years, and in those years he's gotten another witch to create something of a shield for the pendant, even if we got close enough it wouldn't work," she explained.

"Damn," Y/n cursed.

"Any other bright ideas?" Chris asked, smirking down at her. She rolled her eyes, ignoring him for the time being as she thought.

"Actually yes. There's this amulet, I've heard of it but I've never seen it myself. It has the same power as glamouring, as long as the real item is beside it, with a spell it can take the shape of the item. If Nancy wears the fake amulet we'll have him distracted enough to take his shield pendant then trap him," Y/n suggested. Everyone looks at each other curiously, leaving the room hung in suspense for a moment.

"I mean, that could work in theory," Piper nodded.

"But you said you've never seen the pendant," Chris said. "This is a goose chase, we should focus on creating a vanquishing potion," he crossed his arms.

"I have a general idea about where it could be, if I leave now I could have it within the next thirty minutes," Y/n retorted.

"This might be the best route, there's no promise that a vanquishing potion would work anyways," Paige said.

"Why don't Paige and Piper work on the potion while Y/n goes to get it and if she can't then at least we have the potion as a backup," Leo suggested, raising his hands.

"Fine," Chris relented, "Thirty minutes," he said, his eyes narrowed down at the girl. She sent him a teasing wink and a mock salute before starting out of the attic. She closed the door, then shimmered out of the manor.

Tag list— @irdkwhatimdoinghere