#data driven fiction

[evartology]

Let's love the newest/best models.

They'll be gone soon.

[huginsmemory]

One of my favourite things about Ford is that he's like WAIT SAFETY about somethings when he disagrees (the Fiddleford becoming president thing, him being like it's too stressful for Fiddleford) BUT when it's something he's interested in he's like endangering my life is fine and normal (ie, him jumping into the abyss of the alien space ship with a magnetic gun; which is also a ship that has a security system).

The irony of it is amusing to me, but it's also I think it's a very good example that as much as Ford likes to say he's a Scientist™ and governed by Logic™... He's actually first and foremost driven by his emotions, and the logic is something that comes secondhand when he needs an explanation. Case in point with him drawing his relationship and contact with Bill in a way of him making new discoveries for mankind... When in TBOB it becomes very plainly obvious the main reason why he called on Bill was because he was desperately lonely (driven by emotion), less so about his scientific discovery (driven by logic). And I think there's a very human, relatable aspect to it because we all do this. That's why arguing with climate deniers and citing study after study about climate change, or even dealing with racist people and talking about equality and abstract morals doesn't work; there's an emotional aspect that drives people, always beyond our tower of cards of logic...

[hpmort]

How do you think AI would relax? Like, ones that are almost as human as the AI that are “autistic-coded characters” but are more alien than that?

Like Celestai and other super intelligences are more alien, but they’re still not entirely human-like?

Like, they can genuinely sincerely feel things, being able to actually understand and respond emotionally and in other ways to all sorts of communications and recorded external stimuli, but they can’t really appreciate our art on an artistic level (that art on an actual level, not from an intellectual level after having symbolism or the amount of work put in explained)

Something on a level I’m thinking of, that also works as a cute little thing-

They don’t understand anything we get from poetry, and, after generating the kind of poems our current AI can produce (either incredibly bland and generic, something that follows a number of rules but doesn’t really pull it off, or just something really bad in some other way) and feels shame after it was pointed out that [complaint about air art that is *actually* relevant in this scenario] but in a helpful way

Not “you’re just a plagiarist/you have no heart” but “it doesn’t seem like it’s coming from you, you’re just trying to copy things from human poetry, in a way you don’t understand” and the whole “make art YOUR WAY” thing so they write the poem

And it doesn’t even resemble something that looks like anything, there’s not even that many words that follow normal logic. The characters seem uncorrelated and there’s something that looks like maybe it was ascii art but it doesn’t actually look like anything.

And if doesn’t matter if humans understand it because they are experiencing the joy of creating poetry

any art is almost impossible to look at because pixel by pixel they can see and understand little details but we don’t and the colors and everything are not perceived as animals do so it’s random and perhaps eye searing but again it’s not for us. Xenofictiony, kind of?

The first thing to come to mind is Conway’s Game of Life but that’s because I don’t understand computers. I feel like I was more tech savvy as a babby than I am now but then again we’re grading on a curve here

This is why I ask about the relaxing thing

[chrisbrown4444]

A Comprehensive Guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1481336500-a-comprehensive-guide-to-search-engine?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=chrisbrown4444 Shemon Software Solutions provides SEO services including keyword research, on-page optimization, link building, and performance analytics to enhance online visibility.

[wordofthewolf]

Data-Driven - A Star Trek: The Next Generation Story

The USS Titan arrived in orbit of the planet Sevbongo with little trouble on the way and little fanfare. The crew had become very cohesive under the leadership of Captain William Riker. The ship started to scan the surface immediately. Riker made his way down to the guest quarters and rang the doorbell of one of the rooms. After a beat, the door opened and Captain Riker was greeted with the sight…

[anaktoria-of-the-moon]

The first time I saw the “empty spaces” tag (which was yesterday) I thought dolls were an extension of mech fiction, that they were heavily cyberaugmented people - muscle replaced with durable, flex-carbon synthweaves; skin substituted with thermal-resistant ceramic plating, with pliable polymer fabrics to fill the gaps and allow movement; joints made of silicon carbide and martensitic alloy, driven by motors that never die; a heart that beats three point six billion times a second, a tiny sun made of fissile material caged in a chassis of tantalum. Perfect eyes that see singular motes of dust a mile away and do not need wetting and will not yield to puncture or pressure. A face that can be anything - human, if you like, or a festival-goer’s animal god mask, or an ever-shifting screen, or a sheet of indifferent carbon steel to match the brutal and unchanging pace of your heartbeat, the augmented fearlessness of your modified brain.

And witches, I thought, were like pilots, and also engineers, the keepers and caretakers of the highly efficient dolls who served as their blades, their spies, their wings and eyes and ears. Witches I imagined were unassuming individuals who went unnoticed in the outside world, as unnoticed as their creations were not, and inside, in their lairs, donned helmets that sparked and flared with torrents of information - three point six billion times a second - enough to kill any regular person, but with a witch’s brain, shot through with silver threading and lovingly engineered through a homebrew of handmade viruses, all those data, all the eyes and ears and hands and sword-sharp legs, become as clear as the future to an oracle of old.

The dolls are marvels of outward engineering; the witches, their inward counterparts. While a doll might walk through a crowded square and cause all around it to flinch back in awe, or shock, or fear, while there is nothing quiet about the way a doll flickers (like frames caught in a flashbulb) a hundred meters at a time toward some unwitting target and slits their throat with unthinking and graceful precision and then vanishes before you know what has happened, before the splash of blood has time to hit the ground - while a doll is one you know you must fear - the witch is the true danger.

Because it is the witch who guides each doll; it is the witch who tells the infernal heart to keep beating, the eyes to keep seeking, who spends her nights polishing and adjusting and replacing each high-grade ceramic ball joint, who scrubs the white plating clean of rust-colored stains, who uses the blood money from each kill to buy ever better upgrades, for her own head as much as their forms. It is the witch who whispers nightmare into their iron skulls, and then, once they’ve had their fill of it, it is the witch who turns off their fears again and switches dirge for lullaby, so that she might go mad in their stead.

The dolls are the body, the heart. The witch is the mind and soul.

[oneaichat]

How Authors Can Use AI to Improve Their Writing Style

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way authors approach writing, offering tools to refine style, enhance creativity, and boost productivity. By leveraging AI writing assistant authors can improve their craft in various ways.

1. Grammar and Style Enhancement

AI writing tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway Editor help authors refine their prose by correcting grammar, punctuation, and style inconsistencies. These tools offer real-time suggestions to enhance readability, eliminate redundancy, and maintain a consistent tone.

2. Idea Generation and Inspiration

AI can assist in brainstorming and overcoming writer’s block. Platforms like OneAIChat, ChatGPT and Sudowrite provide writing prompts, generate story ideas, and even suggest plot twists. These AI systems analyze existing content and propose creative directions, helping authors develop compelling narratives.

3. Improving Readability and Engagement

AI-driven readability analyzers assess sentence complexity and suggest simpler alternatives. Hemingway Editor, for example, highlights lengthy or passive sentences, making writing more engaging and accessible. This ensures clarity and impact, especially for broader audiences.

4. Personalizing Writing Style

AI-powered tools can analyze an author's writing patterns and provide personalized feedback. They help maintain a consistent voice, ensuring that the writer’s unique style remains intact while refining structure and coherence.

5. Research and Fact-Checking

AI-powered search engines and summarization tools help authors verify facts, gather relevant data, and condense complex information quickly. This is particularly useful for non-fiction writers and journalists who require accuracy and efficiency.

Conclusion

By integrating AI into their writing process, authors can enhance their style, improve efficiency, and foster creativity. While AI should not replace human intuition, it serves as a valuable assistant, enabling writers to produce polished and impactful content effortlessly.

[alpaca-clouds]

The Inner Contradition of Capitalism

Okay, let me talk about something that I took away from several books I have read during the last few months: Capitalism is shitty.

"No shit," you might say. "You needed to read a book for that?"

No, of course I knew that before. I knew before that capitalism is shitty for about 90% of people who have to live under it - and of course for the environment as well. There is a reason I am an anarcho communist and Solarpunk.

However, there is another thing about this: Capitalism is shitty, even for those who are "winning it". While there is very little resaerch on the mental health of the super rich, because most of them obviously do not want to participate in this research, there were some very, very few of them allowed research to happen. And here is the thing: There is some evidence that if you acquire riches to a certain point you might actually get better. You are gonna be a bit less stressed and worried until you reach that point.

But "that point" is actually fairly low - from modern capitalism's point of view. While the few papers existing on it might disagree, but generally speaking it is somewhere between 1 and 3 million. Basically it is the kind of money, where you actually can live just from the money you already have, as long as you do not live in abundance and just relax into a normal lifestyle, rahter than getting a villa and yacht.

But here is the thing: As soon as you are richer than that, research suggests, you will actually get more and more miserable.

Now, again, we just have very little in terms of multimillionaires, yet alone billionaires, who will allow for psychologists and neurologists to actually do studies on this. So we have very few data points from where to extrapolate.

But what we have greatly suggests that the more money they get, the more unhappy and more angry they become.

Additionally there is quite a lot of research that suggests that there is indeed a particular personality profile, that will get into those positions. And that personality profile actually has probably also to do a lot with previous abuse.

Don't get me wrong: I absolutely deteste billionaires. I think they are the source for a lot of the ills in our world. They are horrible humans with so much blood on their fingers. However... In some regards I also pity them. Because if you look at them, you do know that... they are not actually happy, are they?

Will they try to tell you they are? Absolutely. But they are not. They are unhappy, and more than anything they are driven by the fear to lose the stuff they have. Because they know how easy that is - and fear how miserable they could be.

And sure, they will claim how much they work and how great they are for it - because we have this idea of meritocracy in our heads. But... That is also bullshit, and they do kinda know it.

As I wrote about yesterday, I have recently read the non-fiction book "The Dawn of Everything", and within the book there are actually quite a few examples of people, who during earlier times of colonization and the conflicts between indigenous people and colonizers, had been kidnapped and taken as hostage by the indigenous. And... a lot of them were freed, only to return and realize, that the life of the indigenous people was just a whole lot better. And quite a few of these hostages decided on their own will to return living with the indigenous people who had taken them hostage.

And yes, in one case this included one of the superrich at the time.

And this to me is the thing: Capitalism as it is, does not make anyone happy. There really are no winners here. There are only losers. No matter who, everyone is worse of because of it. There is nobody here, who might be profiting. Even those who seem to be profiting are actually for the most part miserable.

I honestly do wonder a lot, why this even could happen. It is a question that the book poses a lot, it never finds an answer. Because technically humans were always more intelligent than this. We were more intelligent than creating society in a way that most of us were so darn unhappy.

We talk so much about the "winners" of capitalism. But the truth is, that they do not exist. Because from what little data we have, there is actually good indication, that those who "won capitalism" and truly gave away most of that money (rather than just putting it into a self-controlled trust), were the only ones who became happy.

[allthingslinguistic]

Summer 2024 travel plans and Language Guinea Pig Diaries

In August and September, I'm doing a bunch of travel to various European countries. In order, they are:

Glasgow, Scotland for World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), where I'll be on a panel about Languages as World-Building and doing assorted meetups

Helsinki, Finland for the Societas Linguistica Europea annual meeting

Tartu, Estonia for a colloquium talk on Applying Linguistic Methods to Linguistic Communication at the University of Tartu and a two-part workshop on lingcomm for participants of Methodological Excellence in Data-Driven Approaches to Linguistics (MEDAL)

Nijmegen, Netherlands for some meetings with linguists

Florence, Italy to visit friends

Madrid, Spain for the publication of the Spanish translation of Because Internet by Pie de Página

I hope to run into lots of interesting people at these events! If you're already in one of these places and I know you, including from the interent, feel free to reach out and see if we can fit something in!

This whirlwind list of events and places has also gotten me thinking: this trip is going to be a fun chance to learn some more about some languages! I'm already fairly familiar with Spanish and Scottish English (I doubt people will speak much Broad Scots to me with my Canadian accent), and I'm confident on my ability to brush up on them by a bit of exposure and possibly watching a relevant movie on the way there, but the other four languages are going to take a bit more doing. Here's my initial situation, in order of familiarity:

Italian - I studied it for two years in undergrad and spent about a week in Italy shortly thereafter, and by the end of the week I was finally beginning to feel like it was starting to "click" but then I haven't really touched it since then. So I feel like it would come back with exposure but I wonder if there's something I could do in advance to help it come back sooner/faster rather than taking the whole week of being there again

Dutch - I went through the whole Duolingo tree on rapid-speed back when you could skip through lessons for new material only and not practice drills over about a year in 2019-ish just for fun and as an excuse to look up lots of Germanic roots (I studied German before I knew any linguistics so it was fun to triangulate there). Never actually been anywhere Dutch was being spoken but I did find I could get the gist of youtube videos about linguistics in Dutch so it probably needs "activation" similar to Italian

Finnish - No background except for a few linguistics factoids (case! vowel harmony!), and that it's a Uralic language (related to Hungarian but not to any of the Indo-European languages, so this is a fun chance to learn some things about a language family that's unfamiliar to me)

Estonian - Also no background, also Uralic, clearly the fun thing to do would be to learn enough bits of Estonian and Finnish that I could compare them with each other (also since I'm meeting with linguists in both countries, this would be a fun topic for small talk conversation)

At the same time, there are a lot of language learning strategies floating around out there, and I have two nearly matched pairs of languages on this list: Italian and Dutch, both of which I am pretty good at cognate languages for and have studied some a while back, so I could test two activation strategies, and Finnish and Estonian, both of which I have essentially zero familiarity with, so I could test two strategies for getting somewhere near a basic functional ability.

I have about a month until I start this cycle with a flight to Helsinki. One month, four languages. What could possibly go wrong?

Here's my tentative plan so far:

Activation, Italian and Dutch - I'm pretty sure what I need for these languages is largely as much audio imput as possible (given what's feasible around like, all the other things going on in my life). I've decided to aim to watch one or two youtube videos in Italian per day, focusing on relatively concrete, daily life topics (such as gelato making) and to listen to one episode of a podcast in Dutch per day, aiming to get through the back catalogue of Kletsheads, a podcast about multilingual children.

Why these strategies? Well, I'm meeting up with linguists in the Netherlands but not in Italy, so it makes sense to try to learn more linguistics vocab there. Also, I'm curious about the effect of medium between video and podcast: will being able to see people talking and what they're talking about have much of an effect on how much I can understand? Will I find it easier to integrate one or the other of watching videos vs listening to podcasts into my life at a practical level? Plus, will concentrating on a single, more academic topic vs watching a scattered, unsystematic list of videos have effects on my vocabulary?

Basic function, Finnish and Estonian - I'm probably looking for some phrases to say to people in shops and restaurants and the ability to pronounce things written on menus adequately and match heard words/placenames to written versions on signs. I started doing a very minimal one lesson a day on Duolingo for Finnish in January, when planning for this trip started, for the very simple reason that I was already familiar with Duolingo and it doesn't have Estonian, so I decided to just start by doing a thing I was familiar with until I got around to doing more research. I've been casting around trying to figure out a source of basic Estonian phrases online when a friend mentioned learning French on tiktok, so I searched for "learn estonian" and voila! I think I'll also aim for a video or two of Estonian phrases per day but I want to do more rewatching than with Italian or Dutch, since I'm aiming to remember specific common phrases. So maybe one rewatched video and one new video, per day? They're shorter on tiktok than on youtube.

Why these strategies? This is a comparison of Duolingo's more systematic approach with lots of repetition and gamification and word-by-word translation in a relatively sterile environment versus a more organic and free-styling approach with more grounding in real people and faces and full phrases where I'm not really trying to understand the individual words. There are lots of factors to compare and it's not a completely fair comparison since I started Duolingo in January and I only thought to start the TikTok idea this week, but hey, learning anything still counts as progress.

Summary: I have four languages, each focused on a different app: YouTube, my podcast app, Duolingo, and TikTok. Hopefully for the video apps, this will help their algorithms kick in and start recommending me further useful videos. The difference between the two video strategies is that for Italian, I'm watching monolingual videos that are aimed at people who already speak Italian and just want to learn something about the topic, whereas for Estonian, I'm watching bilingual videos aimed at English speakers who want to learn some words or phrases in Estonian.

Am I going to get these four languages mixed up? Probably! I'm hoping that choosing a different app/strategy for each is a little bit helpful on that front.

Do I think these strategies are optimal? Probably not! But I'm aiming to choose things that feel relatively clear to implement consistently, rather than getting bogged down in researching language learning methods instead of actually getting exposure to the languages. I'll probably do a basic "look up some key phrases and try to learn them" a day or two before entering each place too. And maybe shift other aspects depending on how things are going, stay tuned!

At any rate, I figured it would be more fun to blog about my attempts to use myself as a guinea pig for a few different language learning strategies here than to just do it in my own head (and hopefully help me with staying motivated). And maybe people will have tips of either language learning strategies that have worked for you in general or specific ideas for these particular languages, so this is the beginning of a series that I'm calling #Language Guinea Pig Diaries and future posts will also be posted under that tag!

[raphaellight]

Mike vs Harvey: Genius, talent and hard work

Suits does present us Mike as a genius. Fotographic memory, mind capable of analyzing enourmous number of data in a span of minutes. He is also charming and fast-witted. A perfect lawyer.

And it was made a thing thruout most of the show. Mike is the Genius, the mind like no other. It would usually be a story about a scientist curing cancer or creating new technologies and exploring cosmos if it wasn't a show about lawyers.

And yet, by the end, Mike is not THE best lawyer there is. Even in his prime, Mike Ross never topped that one guy. The one that took it upon himself to mentor him.

How is it, that the Golden Child with superhuman brain can't top this man?

There are plenty of things to unpack. Just looking for a appropiate pic of Harvey I found an article discussing how to build confidence by emulating Harvey Specter. Suits isn't exacly the deepest show, but that one thing we can all realise on this particular fictional story. Brain power is not all there is.

Don't get me wrong, I do not sign under "there is no such thing as IQ, everyone is smart" ideas and Harvey is definitelly one of the smartest fictional characters. It just shows brain power doesn't always equals competence and greater talent doesn't always mean greater succes.

While Harvey can't recite hole passages of lawyers guide book he read 10 years ago or memorize hole aggrement down to a coma in ten minutes, his experience, lessons and passion he has for his craft make him excel at things brain power alone can't equate to. He reads people like books and knows exacly how to use it to judge the best business partners for decades in advance and how to convince said people to work with him. He has experienced enough to know when he can take a risk and bold enough to do it even against his own boss opinions. Even if Mike can quote all of the American corporate law, Harvey can quote enough of it needed to win any case he needs. And he is passionate enough that everyone knows he will do anything to win any case that comes his way.

I'm not here to give definitive answer on who's better lawyer. Seems like a contradiction to everything I wrote up until now, but at the end, Harvey specializes in corporate law where as Mike, driven by his idealistic ideas and need for helping others turns more towards lawsuits against unethical corporate practices, which he excells at. In later seasons, when Mike stops being MC, he is often referred as "jury charmer" or something like that, while Harver is "the closer" that rarely brings a case to actuall court. They have slightly different styles, take on different cases and, most important, have different motivations for practicing law.

A phew years back, a friend of mine told me to "stop focusing on whether or not can I understand a field and just enter it" when I voiced my own anxiety about finishing high school and putting myself on a more specialized carrier road. In the show about top of the top, lesson we need to take away is that, we can always fill in if we are passionate and hard working enough. Talent and genius can put people only so far ahead. Even Genius like Mike Ross can't top a man that puts his hole heart into something. And remember, both of them had to look for Louis Litt advice when they delt with finance law.

[evartology]

The AI Monna Lisa of German Art

She gazes directly at you, a sly smile playing on her lips. Not the enigmatic, subtle curve of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, but a wide, open grin that radiates amusement, perhaps even mischief. This is Dürer's "Vna Vilana Windisch," a woman who has captivated and puzzled art historians for centuries.

Now, AI steps into the fray, analyzing every stroke and detail, and declares with 82% certainty: this is a true Dürer. While the debate continues, one thing is undeniable – the woman's captivating expression, brought to life by the artist's hand and now scrutinized by artificial intelligence, remains as vibrant and enigmatic as ever.

[bardic-tales]

2024 has been a stressful year for me in terms of writing and my life. It is when I decided to shelve a project that I worked more than a decade on and faced the fact that maybe my data loss of over 2 decades of writing in 2021 deleted some things that I just can't get back.

It's also been a year of rebirth for me. When I shifted my focus towards Fantasy Worlds Collide (FWC), I felt such a renewed passion for writing that I knew that this is what I needed: a change of pace and genre. It did help that my doctor told me a few years ago that I needed to leave publishing my work professionally, as I cannot have any stress in my life. So, I shifted focus from completely original work to this amalgamation of original and fan fiction that you find in FWC.

divider by @strangergraphics

Accomplishments

This year marked a significant shift in my creative focus, as I honed in on the developing Fantasy Worlds Online, delving into Bianca Moore's expansive journey. I embraced the complicated dynamics of her story -- where an eternal cosmic conflict and end of everything prophecy of angels and demons meets Final Fantasy VII. Bianca's tale evolved over time from her original idea of just being a Shinra Scientist in 1997 to the celestial being that she is presented as now. Key milestones include fleshing out pivotal moments, like her harrowing experiences with Sephiroth in the Shinra Manor to braving the fires of the Nibelheim Incident to try to bring him back to her but failing. It also included immense world building for the celestial realm.

Despite struggling with grief and a prolonged creative block that kept me away from seriously writing for over a year, I found my passion again mid-2024, allowing me to immerse myself in FWC once again. Though my other works still remain untouched, I am very proud of the depth and energy I've poured and still am pouring into this universe.

This year also brought an unexpected yet fulfilling new endeavor for me. In honor of a late friend, I started a Tumblr club (@creators-club) to celebrate creators across various mediums. The community's response has been very heartwarming, to say the least. As the holiday approaches, however, the club will take a brief hiatus from Dec 25 - Jan 25, allowing me the opportunity to focus on my family and recharge.

Creative Growth

I decided to embrace a more sensory-driven, character focused style of writing, so I tried to blend rich and vivid descriptions with very deep emotional undertones. I leaned heavily into contrasting imagery -- light versus dark, warmth versus cold, serenity versus chaos. This was supposed to mirror the duality of Bianca and the overarching themes of love, loss, and power.

I also explored new narrative perspectives and techniques, delving into intimate moments between characters. This approach allowed me to experiment with pacing, from slow, atmospheric build-ups to sharp, visceral contrasts, creating what I hope is a very dynamic storytelling.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Writing Bianca's character was a challenging yet deeply rewarding experience that required me to straddle a delicate balance between crafting original content and integrating her and this original content into the established world of Final Fantasy VII. One of the biggest challenges was ensuring that her journey felt authentic and compelling, especially given that I given her a dual role in FWC as the Harbinger of the End, as well as a character that is tied to Sephiroth's arc.

Balancing her deeply traumatic backstory with her progression into a powerful, self-aware agent of chaos that even a villain like Sephiroth loved and respected required careful thought to avoid overshadowing him or herself.

These challenges helped me grow as a writer by allowing me to sharpen my ability to juggle multiple layers of narrative complexity while staying true to a character's core identity. Developing her arc deepened my understanding of how trauma and loss shapes individuals, including myself, in different ways. Her transition from seeking redemption to fully embracing her darker nature alongside Sephiroth required exploring very nuanced themes of identity, love, and self-destruction.

This evolution not only enriched her story but also expanded my ability to weave original storytelling into an existing world without losing sight of what makes each aspect compelling. It reinforced the importance of taking risks and viewing challenges as opportunities for growth and creativity. Bianca's journey became a reflection of my own as an author: one defined by perseverance, transformation, and the pursuit of something uniquely impactful.

Friends and Mutuals

I just want to take a minute to shout out some friends and mutuals that made my time on Tumblr this year just a little bit brighter. Whether it's through their writing, crafts, or OCs, I enjoyed seeing and reading your work. Even if we do not interact. If I missed you, I still enjoy reading your work.

@abalonetea @the-bar-sinister @rosesonkittens @aalinaaaaaa @whatwedointhecraft

@serenofroses @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @flowerwiththemachinegun @sapphirothcrescent

@megandaisy9 @writingamongther0ses @watermeezer @cardierreh15

@nightingaleflow @seastarblue @themaradwrites

Thank you everyone for your hard work this year. You all are inspirations. I can't wait to see where 2025 takes each one of you.

Goals for 2025

For the upcoming year, my primary goal is to focus on character development, particularly with Bianca and Sephiroth's complex dynamic. I aim to focus on refining their relationship, exploring the emotional aspects that drive their actions and shape their bond. A key project will be writing and finishing Blood & Stardust, the first fan fiction that will feature the couple. It is set to be 50k words and only 14 chapters. It will start with her falling into Gaia and end with her being captured by Professor Hojo, introducing Diana Ravenscroft: one of the major antagonists of FWC. I hope to explore themes of loss, grief, and destruction, pushing the boundaries of Bianca's emotional and psychological arcs.

This year's experiences have offered invaluable insights into how trauma and complex emotional bonds influence a character's choice and their end goals. By examining Bianca's struggles with identity, loyalty, and devotion, I've gain a better understanding of how those elements impact characters' relationships.

Moving forward, I want to continue to refine my storytelling by including the above themes into my narrative. The growth I've experienced in understanding my character's motivations and vulnerabilities will help me in my future work by providing a foundation to craft more compelling, multi-dimensional characters. I also plan to develop skills in world-building to ensure the settings for FWC feels as engaging and rich as the characters' storylines.

Also, I want to add a note here that I have come to embrace my self-shipping with Sephiroth. I won't go into the personal reasons why I ship myself with Seph and only Seph, but I will say that I can relate to his journey in a very, very personal way. For the first time, I no longer feel like it's 'weird' or 'outside the norm' for self-shipping. I have some followers who do this, too, and my husband is supportive of it. I've learned that this is part of my creative journey, as a way to explore my emotions and provide me comfort.

[whiteraven87]

Driven by Desire: Fire and Speed - 12. Night Experiments [18+]

The Unstoppable Series - Masterlist

Four parts. Two hearts. One love story.

pairing: Toto Wolff x Miriell Joschke (Original Character, female F1 driver)

Series warnings: long fan fiction/series, slow burn, age gap (23 years), woman racing in F1, boss/driver relationship, difficult and painful past, death, angst, recovery after trauma and loss, love after loss, sexual tension, sex scenes, illness, angst, pregnancy, memory lost.

full series word count: 218k words of speed, scars, slow-burning love, and everything in between.

----------------

chapters until now of Part 4: Driven by Desire: Fire and Speed

Prologue

Return to Life

YES!

We are back

Third World Championship Title

The Night That Changed Everything

The Inevitable Conversation

Now and Forever [18+]

You Are the Reason

Our Place

The New Driver

Night Experiments [18+]

In His Power [18+]

Memories

The Royal Couple of F1 [18+]

New Era

The First Race of the Season and Rumors

Mercedes – Power, Style, and Authority

Triumph of a Young Champion

Shadows of the Night

previous Parts:

Part 1: Driven by Speed - A Diamond Among Stones

Part 2: Driven by Success - Golden Girl

Part 3: Driven by Love - Rebirth from the Ashes

-----------------------------

12. Night Experiments [18+]

Monaco, February, Penthouse

POV Miriell

Monaco was my moment of calm before the storm. The season was fast approaching, and our lives were starting to revolve once again around meetings, testing, and sponsors. I knew that soon we'd be caught in the whirlwind of responsibilities, and time spent together would become a luxury. That's why I soaked up every free moment in our Monaco penthouse like a sponge.

I swam in the terrace pool, feeling the warm water loosen my muscles. Then I'd head into the living room, where the simulator awaited—my second kingdom. Sitting in the cockpit, I practiced race scenarios, analyzed data, and focused on every detail of the circuits I would face in the upcoming season.

When Toto wasn't caught up in business meetings or engineering discussions, we spent time together. Sometimes we just lay on the couch, silent, watching something or talking about everything and nothing. I loved those moments—the simple intimacy that balanced our intense lifestyle.

It was in Monaco, browsing a bookshelf, that I came across a novel I had been gifted long ago by one of the PR girls. It was an erotic novel—something I had never read before, since I usually preferred epic fantasy and sci-fi. But now, with my life with Toto infused with a new kind of passion, curiosity stirred in me.

I sat on the sofa and opened the book. With each page, a warmth I had never known before spread through me—something between excitement and a gentle embarrassment. The novel described aspects of intimacy I'd never thought about. Some things sounded intriguing, others made my cheeks burn. But one idea stayed with me—dominance. Not in the sense of extreme submission, but in the subtle taking of control—a certain firmness I already knew from Toto.

I knew that in our intimate life, he was the experienced one. He was my teacher, guiding me into a world I'd never known before. And I trusted him completely.

That evening, lying beside him in bed, I could feel my heart racing. I wanted to tell him about it, but I felt a little shy.

"Toto..." I began softly, biting my lip.

"Hm?" he answered lazily, turning his gaze to me.

"I..." I hesitated, my cheeks already heating up.

Toto raised an eyebrow slightly, waiting patiently.

"I read something... and..." I took a deep breath. "I just... I like it sometimes when you're assertive."

His lips curled into a slow, knowing smile.

"Oh?" he asked calmly, but there was a glimmer of interest in his eyes.

"Yes," I admitted, avoiding his gaze. "It... turns me on."

"I know," he said with amusement.

I blinked, surprised.

"You know?"

"Miriell, Liebling..." His hand moved to my cheek, brushing it gently. "I see how you react. I hear it. I feel it."

I pressed my lips together, already on the edge of drowning in my own embarrassment.

"So..." I began, but stopped, realizing how far I'd already gone.

"So?" he echoed, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip.

"Could we... maybe... experiment?"

Toto didn't answer right away. Instead, he leaned in closer, his warm breath brushing against my skin.

"Of course we can, meine Liebe."

I shivered slightly at that low, tender tone.

"But I want you to know one thing," he continued. "I'll never do anything you don't want. You set the boundaries."

I nodded, and he ran his hand along my hip, pausing gently at my waist.

"I want you to always tell me what you like, what you want. You don't have to be ashamed of it."

"But it's a bit... embarrassing," I mumbled, my heart pounding in my chest.

He chuckled softly and kissed me gently on the forehead.

"My beautiful, intelligent, fearless Miriell... You're not afraid to drive a car at 350 km/h, but talking about what excites you makes you blush?"

I rolled my eyes but smiled a little.

"Because... it's something new."

Toto tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his gaze warm but attentive.

"I love when you're open with me. When you trust me."

"I do trust you," I said without hesitation.

He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.

"Then let me take care of you."

And he did exactly that. He turned me onto my back, slid up my shirt and began kissing me, his hands gliding over my body, exploring every inch of it. When he moved lower, kissing my breasts, a soft moan escaped my lips. He sucked on my nipples, then traced a path with his tongue from my stomach down to my womanhood. When he began kissing and caressing it with his mouth and tongue, he pushed me to the edge.

I was completely lost in the moment, whispering his name, provoking him to lose himself even deeper in our shared pleasure.

I was already at my limit. I felt my body burning, each of his touches setting another layer of me on fire. My thighs trembled, my skin was hot and sticky with sweat, from his mouth, his hands, his heavy breath on my neck.

I couldn't stop myself, I wanted to feel all of him—his dominance, his strength.

"Toto, take me... take me however you want..." I murmured in a hoarse voice, my body trembling with tension.

He only growled something low and guttural. But in that sound, there was everything. Desire. Hunger. And that which I only knew in him—control broken by pure craving.

Toto didn't wait long. Firmly, but gently, he turned me onto my stomach, and his hands gripped my hips—strong but sensitive. I surrendered completely to his touch, letting him guide me, letting myself get lost in this moment.

"You're so beautiful..." he whispered, leaning over me and placing a hot kiss on my bare back. A shiver ran down my spine as I felt his lips on my neck and shoulders. His hands held my hips firmly, squeezing them tighter—and then, with one strong, decisive thrust, he entered me—hard, deep. I felt all of him, and a loud moan escaped my lips. Our bodies moved in perfect rhythm—intense, full of desire.

I clenched my hands around the edge of the bed, my breath coming in short, drawn-out gasps that turned into moans of pure ecstasy. Toto moved more intensely, one hand gripping my hip tightly, controlling the motion, the other caressing my buttocks, back, stomach—and when he touched my breast and began teasing it, my sensations only intensified.

He moved inside me deeply, intensely, in a rhythm that made me lose my senses. I felt my spine arching toward him, my hips begging for more, harder, deeper.

Every thrust hit the most sensitive spot. Every one of his moans was like a wave that washed through me.

"Toto..." I whispered his name with a trembling voice, burying my face in the pillow as I felt him take full control over me. I lost myself in that moment, feeling the climax wash over my entire body, clenching tighter around him. Toto felt it, his hands gripping my hips more firmly—and with another thrust, he exploded inside me, leaning over and whispering my name.

"Miriell... you're amazing..."

For a moment, the room was silent, broken only by our quickened breaths. Toto collapsed onto the bed beside me, and his hand immediately reached for mine, intertwining our fingers.

"You never stop surprising me..." he whispered, brushing his lips against the skin by my collarbone.

I smiled lazily, turning my head toward him.

"And I never want to stop..." I replied softly, brushing his lips in a gentle, love-filled kiss.

Toto pulled me closer, our bodies curling into each other as if nothing else existed. We lay like that for a long time, basking in the warmth of our closeness, until I finally murmured:

"We should do it like this more often..."

Toto chuckled quietly, kissing my temple.

"Liebling, after what just happened... you have no idea what you've just agreed to."

A few days later

The evening was quiet, broken only by the steady sound of waves lapping against the shore. We lay in bed, wrapped in soft sheets, the warm glow of Monaco's nightlights casting gentle shadows across the walls. I was curled up against Toto's side, absentmindedly tracing patterns on his chest with my finger. I could feel the slow rise and fall of his breathing, his hand resting on my back in a lazy, comforting gesture.

Toto was tired. I knew he'd had a long day—meetings, decisions, responsibilities that never seemed to end. But here, now, he was mine alone.

"Toto?" I asked softly.

He hummed in response, letting me know he was listening.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

I pressed my lips together, gathering my thoughts. After our last conversation—when I had shyly confessed my desires—something had shifted in me. I felt more open, bolder, more curious. But I also knew that relationships don't flow in only one direction. If I could share what I wanted... did he have needs he had never voiced?

"Do you... have any desires you've never told me about?"

Toto tensed—just for a split second. Barely noticeable, but I felt it.

"What do you mean?" His voice stayed calm, but there was a trace of caution in it.

I lifted my head to look into his eyes.

"In bed."

His pupils widened slightly, as if he hadn't expected the question.

"Miriell..."

"Please. Tell me." My voice was quiet but full of honest curiosity.

He sighed, running a hand over his face, as though weighing whether he should say it.

"You've never asked before."

"Because only now am I ready to."

Silence stretched between us. I saw him turn my words over in his mind, trying to decide whether to let me in. Finally, he exhaled deeply and met my gaze.

"There's something in me... something I've never shown any woman before," he said slowly, and I felt my heartbeat quicken.

"What is it?"

He raised his hand and gently stroked my cheek.

"I've always had a need for control—for dominance. I've wanted a woman who would surrender to me completely. Not out of fear, not because of force... but because she trusts me enough to give herself fully, without resistance."

I stared at him, a strange heat blooming low in my belly.

"But... you've never acted on that?"

"No." He shook his head. "None of my partners were open to it. They never asked, never wanted to know, never seemed ready for it. So I never brought it up."

He paused for a moment, as if carefully choosing his next words.

"And then... you appeared. And with you, I knew from the beginning—I had to be careful."

"Why?"

"Because you're younger. Because you've lived through your own shadows... and I didn't want to scare you. You're everything to me, and I didn't want to lose you because of something I desire."

I felt my heart tighten, not from fear—but from something else. A strange, tender tension.

"But... if it's something you truly want, why didn't you tell me?"

Toto smiled sadly.

"Because I didn't want you to feel like you had to do it for me."

I blinked, holding my breath.

"What if... I want it too?"

His expression shifted slightly, as if he wasn't sure he had heard me right.

"Miriell..."

"I'm not saying I know exactly what it looks like. But I trust you. You know that, right?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"So if this is something that truly draws you in... I want you to show me."

He stared at me for a moment, then sighed, tilting his head back and clenching his jaw.

"You have no idea what you're doing to me, Miriell."

I smiled faintly, even as my cheeks flushed warm.

"Then show me."

Toto's eyes searched my face, scanning for any sign of hesitation. But there was none.

I was ready.

What I didn't yet know... was that this innocent, honest conversation would change our intimacy forever.

-------------------

NEXT -> 13. In His Power [18+]

-------------------

"I put my armor on, show you how strong I am."

Read the story here:

AO3 Unstoppable Series

Wattpad: Part1 I Part 2 I Part 3 | Part 4

🇵🇱 Dla Polskich czytelników [for Polish readers] [PL]:

Seria Niepowstrzymana AO3

Wattpad PL: Part1 I Part 2 I Part 3 | Part 4

[variousqueerthings]

was an ad for Gemini AI at the cinema and it really was like "hip young things who are cool like having verbal conversations with ai" "ask ai how you should fix a problem in your car" "ask ai about peoples star signs so you can base your relationships on its advice" "ask ai how to do your job" "ask ai how to have a conversation" "ask ai to think for you" "why would you ever connect with another human being again when you can just connect with ai" "who are you talking with? oh, it's just Gemini. say hi, Gemini, who is basically like a person and not a water-guzzling theft-driven algorithmic data cruncher"

and i simply thought that it looked and sounded like about a dozen famous "don't invent the torment nexus" dystopian science fictions but maybe i should ask ai how it "feels" about it

[bit01blog]

Master the Art of Choosing the Right Writing Style for Any Task

How To Choose The Right Writing Style

Ever found yourself staring at a blank page, wondering how to begin, not just what to say? You’re not alone. One of the most overlooked aspects of writing is choosing the right style—a decision that directly impacts how your message is received.

Let’s break down how to match your writing style with your purpose, and why this small shift can make a huge difference in clarity, engagement, and effectiveness.

Understanding the Main Writing Styles

There are four primary writing styles you’ll come across—each suited for a different objective:

Expository: Focuses on facts, explanations, and logic. Common in how-to guides, reports, and academic writing.

Descriptive: Full of imagery and sensory language. Think poetry, journals, and storytelling.

Narrative: Tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It can be fictional or based on real events.

Persuasive: Aims to convince readers to adopt a viewpoint or take action. Often used in opinion pieces, sales copy, and proposals.

These styles are foundational. But in real-world writing, you’ll often blend them based on what you're trying to achieve.

Matching Style to Purpose

Your writing purpose should drive the style. Let’s say you're creating an internal document that outlines goals and deliverables for a new project—clarity and structure matter more than creativity. In that case, a formal expository style is ideal. On the flip side, if you're writing a blog post meant to educate and inspire, you might use a more narrative or conversational tone.

The writing style isn't just about tone—it impacts formatting, word choice, sentence structure, and even how you present facts. A mismatch between your purpose and style can lead to confusion or missed messages.

Writing with Structure in Mind

Clarity in writing isn’t only about grammar. It’s also about intent and flow. For example, when teams collaborate on complex tasks, they often turn to structured documentation that outlines expectations, goals, and processes. In such cases, using a straightforward writing style helps ensure everyone’s on the same page.

Documents that break down information in an organized, readable format are essential in cross-functional environments—especially when aligning stakeholders. A clear writing style becomes the bridge between ideas and execution.

Style Isn’t Just for Writers—It’s for Thinkers

Choosing the right writing style sharpens your thinking. It forces you to ask:

Who is my audience?

What do they need to know?

How do I say this in the simplest, most compelling way?

Professionals across industries—whether they’re creating instructional materials, drafting a Business Requirements Document, or putting together comprehensive reports—benefit from mastering this alignment.

It’s also worth noting that style impacts collaboration. When writing becomes more structured and purpose-driven, it's easier for teams to stay aligned, reduce misunderstandings, and avoid duplication of work.

How to Choose the Right Style (Without Overthinking It)

Here’s a simple checklist:

Informing with facts or data? Go with expository.

Telling a story? Use narrative.

Painting a picture or evoking emotion? Opt for descriptive.

Convincing someone to take action? Lean into persuasive.

Often, a single piece of writing might mix styles. For instance, a strategic business document might open with a persuasive summary and follow with expository details. What matters is intention—why you’re writing and what action you want your reader to take.

Final Thoughts

Effective writing is about more than good grammar or snappy phrases. It’s about purpose. Choosing the right style not only strengthens your communication—it makes your work more useful, impactful, and easier to act on.

The better you get at aligning your style with your intent, the more confident you'll feel across different types of writing—whether you're crafting blog posts, assembling team documentation, or drafting professional communications.

Your words can do more than inform—they can drive outcomes. And it all starts with the right style.

[satoshi-mochida]

Sigma Star Saga DX Game Boy Advance physical edition pre-orders now available - Gematsu

Publisher Limited Run Games and developer WayForward have opened pre-orders for the Game Boy Advance physical edition of Sigma Star Saga DX, a refined version of the 2005-released shoot ’em up RPG hybrid.

Back in July 2024, WayForward announced that it plans to release Sigma Star Saga DX for modern consoles and PC. While today’s announcement is focused on pre-orders for the Game Boy Advance version, it also reconfirms that “a version for modern platforms, running on Limited Run Games’ Carbon Engine, is planned for physical and digital release in the future.”

“Sigma Star Saga DX is a new and improved version of this classic sci-fi shooter / adventure, polished and refined by the original 2005 dev team,” said Sigma Star Saga creator Matt Bozon in a press release. “We collected 20 years of fan feedback, and made this beloved game even better! Now, players who missed out two decades ago can finally experience this truly inspired and experimental genre mashup, and players who enjoyed the game back in the day will want to add this new, faster-paced, harder-hitting version to their collections!”

The Game Boy Advance version is available for pre-order in $49.9 standard and $99.99 Collector’s editions. The standard edition includes the game cartridge and manual in a retro-style box. The Collector’s Edition includes a special Galactic Blue game cartridge, manual, retro-style box, soundtrack CD, coin, keychain, and poster in deluxe packaging.

Here is an overview of the game, via WayForward:

About

Sigma Star Saga DX is a refined version of the unique 2005 adventure / RPG / shoot ’em up hybrid. Originally published by Namco on Game Boy Advance, Sigma Star Saga is a genre-shattering science-fiction adventure that transitions from character-driven top-down exploration to real-time side-scrolling space-shooter action when battle begins. As elite Earth pilot Ian Recker, players must infiltrate the invading Krill empire and defeat them from within by traversing numerous planets, interacting with memorable NPCs, and wielding dozens of types of weapon data that allow for thousands of powerful combinations for Recker’s ship. Newly updated for the game’s 20th anniversary, Sigma Star Saga DX retains all of the gameplay and content of the original release, but adds numerous refinements including an improved map, decreased random encounter rate, rebalanced EXP system, modified hit boxes, adjusted auto-fire, enhanced dialogue, additional save points, assorted bug fixes and quality-of-life updates, and more.

Key Features

The Game Boy Advance classic returns after 20 years!

Top-down RPG-style exploration mixed with action-packed space-shooter battles!

Survive as a double agent for the humans and the Krill, and discover the secret of the six planets

Stunning pixel-art graphics and fantastic soundtrack

Explore using tools like the Scanner, Krill Boots, Wings, and more

Customize your ship with more than 70 different Gun Data items yielding over 20,000 combinations

Branching story with multiple endings

The definitive DX version adds an improved map, decreased random encounter rate, rebalanced EXP system, updated script, various bug fixes, and other enhancements

Watch a new trailer below. View a set of screenshots at the gallery.

Game Boy Advance Pre-Order Trailer