Not Oversimplified Elvaria Lore- Part 3, Modern History, Coming At Some Point

its official: tumblr is selling our data to Midjourney

404 Media

Tumblr and Wordpress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools

Internal documents obtained by 404 Media show that Tumblr staff compiled users' data as part of a deal with Midjourney and OpenAI.

we'd been hearing rumors about this for a bit but now its open and out there. some details from this article

it goes without saying, but if @staff goes through with this its going to be an utter shitshow and im all but certain the website will not survive it.

Whenever I think about advancement of the elves compared to real life human technological advancement, I feel like it's an unfair comparison. Like wifi? Kind of useless when you can just say someone's name and out pops a circle that projects their image like a video call. Same issue with phones too. Cars? They have magic. They'll have hovercars before us even if their technological(not magical) advancement level is behind us.

Arthur C. Clarke may have said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” in the context of sci-fi, but I feel like high fantasy should take advantage of thinking more on how naturally occurring magic would impact technological advancement. Maybe technological advancement is not worth it when there's widely useable spells at everyone's fingertips, maybe technological advancement only happens to make lives more convenient and slowly but surely magic usage dies out in favour of tech, maybe people invent things for fun but never use them for practical purposes, maybe magic drives advancement so that it's completely incomparable to human tech.

Too much thinking for me and thinking too much on technology kills the high fantasy for me, but maybe it doesn't to others. Maybe high science fantasy is or will become a thing in the future and future writers are more willing to delve into magical advancement vs nonmagical advancement.

this will be relevant soon :)

This is a note to myself Elementals- foreign beings from the elemental planes Primordials- beings that sprung from Elvaria when elemental energies started bleeding into the world Elementals aren't like fully sentient beings from the view of a regular person, they're more than that but sort of in a lower dimension way(?), like if people think in 3D(concept of length width and depth so having a tangible idea of space and being limited to what can be seen from a point on a 3d object like a globe), elementals think more like 2d where they're missing the idea of "limits" and inherently will not understand strictly 3d concepts unless they fuse with something 3d(so like half elves on Elvaria just think normally but with a different perspective of existence compared to before they became half elves) Abstract ideas to us are not abstract to elementals, that's how they think normally and vice versa with regular beings

They're not simple and have different needs than Lower Realm beings so they don't need ideas like distinct cultures or individuality, but rather the desire to spread influence Bringing elemental energies to Elvaria to them was extending a gift to the elves and embracing the world's "potential" as it now had the energy(asurei) to "reach" and break through limits, while the elves at the time saw it as making their problems worse and the elemental energy as bleeding into the world instead of a gift for them to prosper The elves in the modern day think of elementals as cryptic and foreign beings but elemental energies are now widely used and there is definitely more appreciation towards it

Primordials are not that smart and were never meant to be, they're basically when things in the world have the spark of "potential" and elemental energies will seep into them to create a core in something, which will spring out a primordial from similar structures(ie volcanoes created the fire giants but the main core was in Embylviska) Since they lack the kind of spark elementals have, they're very simple and think like animals even if their thoughts are "3d" Half-elementals are right in between, since by technicality they're from the world but were created from outside means that didn't come from the elementals. Their intelligence also varies since it's determined by whoever created them

So what is the "potential"? Honestly I have no idea yet, but for now the idea is ability to adapt or if it's at a certain threshold that makes it distinct from others of the same kind The ability to adapt doesn't necessarily have to have been there from the start, it can be triggered from a specific event that gives everything in the world "potential" and that "potential" will attract elementals to it naturally Not every world in the Lower Realm will have "potential", so not every world has an elemental presence. There still may be elements, but they're just regular elements like in the real world Half elves aren't necessarily elves with more "potential" than others, but rather what's most convenient for an elemental seeking to assimilate because of its core losing energy

Okay so it was a long time coming but I'm probably putting this account into the grave I dug for it two years ago. Still will be liking posts but everything else will be relegated to a different blog.

I will still post Elvaria stuff from time to time, but it will be on my general stuff account (@ilisteria).

Why won't tumblr just let me change my primary blog

Do you ever read a fic so interesting you want behind the scenes lore, ten pinterest moodboards and one of those fancy .gif edits but none of that exists bc it's a fanfic?

Proper post scheduled to 12:30 PM EST, see you guys :)

Will post this weekend

Will it be the completed Boriasonde post? Probably not, I'm at a deadlock at what to write for it and I have two versions.

The other High Realms posts already explain a lot of what happened to Boriasonde and the Tilemgians, so I've been stuck deciding between how the Tilemgians experienced the Tearing of Boriasonde vs what happened to them afterwards.

When the post comes out it'll be shorter than the other three for sure.

Part 1, The High Realms(Tilemgie- Boriasonde) Drafts

The proper Boriasonde(Tilemgie) post is here: https://at.tumblr.com/elvaria-project/universal-lore-part-1-the-high-realmstilemgie/yo1donzt3f70

If I were to assign one word to each of the stories of the High Realms, Altersae's would be fear, Spaelcul's would be frustration, Voiskana's would be vengeance, and Tilemgie's would be hope.

I wanted to convey that the Tilemgians are the ones that will be able to let go and forge a future for themselves, and thus the story ends on a hopeful note, but I'm not sure if I managed that correctly, so here's the versions that didn't make the cut. I'm not going to bother adding the writing taglist to this post since it's very trivial.

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Version 1(Incomplete)

Note: This one got chopped because it would've been too long and also too dramatic. I also felt that the first part was very irrelevant so I just scrapped the whole thing.

Howling sandstorms tore across the dunes of Desaebla, leaving behind swirling grains of sand that remained afloat in the skies.

The skies would remain a burnt yellow in hue as the storms persisted for many days, but not all of the desert was battered by these storms, for far away from the Asurei-shielded Dalirnan cities was a canyon surrounded by strange magic.

To the eyes of outsiders, there was no canyon, and they felt no pull to travel across or near it. To them, it was simply another dune among the many that covered Desaebla. To those more observant, they saw the air ripple ever so slightly when sand grains passed through it, but they assumed it was only a hallucination from the scorching heat and felt a compulsion to leave it be.

But the canyon was no strange phenomena akin to the air-lands that dotted the skies or the perpetually ablaze lands of Emorscal, it was unnatural, carved by the hands and power of many that came from a realm afar.

The strange beings known as Tilemgians were once a grand race that held power over the concept of Time, for their creator Tilisnet was the embodiment of Time and the one that granted each Cycle a beginning and end and the ability to progress.

Without Time, there would have been no start of life or creation to be born upon the Space of Seclir, and there would not have been a definitive beginning of this existence for Avaas to cultivate.

This Cycle, though, was always bound to meet a short end from the circumstances Avaas had seeded. Tilisnet knew of the beginning and end of each existence, but it was not his duty to speak of these, only to ensure that Time would still flow to its natural end. His people would also know of this, and they understood that it was not their place to change fate, as no one could, and that they were not preservers of individual worlds or civilizations, as that was the duty of Avaas and his people. They had foreseen the end of their realm of Boriasonde and the disappearance of Tilisnet, but they were never able to prepare for it or warn the other High Realms of it, as this existence had an ordained fate from the start of this Cycle, and this fate dictated that their race would fall from grace.

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Version 2(Complete-ish)

Note: his was supposed to be a comic but then I realized that I cannot draw in a comic format for my life. I'll stick to single shots thank you very much. The character in yellow is not the same character as the one in the proper Tilemgie post. This would've been titled Clockwork Bird. Also please disregard any issues with the text colouring, I cannot fix it at all. Tumblr is just making it worse each time I try.

"I still hear the whispers carried by time, you know. Not ones that carry orders from Tilisnet, of course, but whispers from people."

"That's not very encouraging considering our current circumstances. Are you certain that you're not hallucinating?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not hallucinating. "But it turns out there's still things to learn. "There's a word mortals have that we don't- miracles. When good things happen without reason or explanation."

"We're long past believing in that sort of thing. Our realm is gone and our powers are diminishing. Many of us are scattered across all points of existence and some of us are unfortunate enough to become sick from the memories we hold."

"But we're still alive, aren't we? Though we don't have much power compared to our past selves, we still have power and we can still survive on these mortal planets. These are miracles, if not to you then at least to me."

"At this point I don't consider our survival as a miracle, more like a tribulation. At any moment we could disappear, and at any moment time could cease to exist and this existence's past, future, and present could collide and end this Cycle."

"But that hasn't happened yet. Time still flows, even if the sands do not flow entirely in the right direction. But living on the mortal plane for the past few hundred thousand years has taught me to focus more on the little things rather than the grim bigger picture. "We're no longer bound solely to our duty- we can afford to care more about ourselves as individuals, if not be a little selfish."

"Selfishness brings irrationality. You are becoming irrational, sister. This is not good for us, and we cannot forget our duties that we were created for, as without us there is no time."

"I never said to forget our duties entirely, just that we have more "freedom"- another idea I learned from eavesdropping on mortals. "Boriasonde being destroyed and TIlisnet disappearing at first seemed like tragedy when I looked into our future eons ago. But to be honest, I've forgotten a lot of what came after. I've chosen to let go of many memories in order to live like this."

"But I have chosen to remember."

"And you've become sick as a result. "Fate is a strange thing, and I know there's no one that embodies it since it's the natural progression of entropy, but I don't see this fate as our end. "I think of it as our signal to change. It's going to hurt, but maybe change will redefine our place in this existence."

"And you think the memory overload is a "miracle"? The permanent death of many billions of us, the impending doom of our kind, and the loss of Tilisnet? "This was not a good change, and you saw how change led to our current predicament- in fact the whole of existence's predicament! The Abyss was never meant to exist, Avaas' desire for change doomed us all. The change you suggest, there is no guarantee that it will not end us."

"Tell me, when I release this clockwork bird, does it matter if it remembers me after I die?"

"Our situation is not comparable to a clockwork bird."

"Just humour me."

"...No, but birds are not bound by-"

"-When I set it free and let it pass through the barrier, this being of clockwork will become a real bird that breathes and bleeds. It has no duty other than to survive, and whether or not it does shouldn't be determined by me. When I am left in the past, the bird will have a choice to remember or forget and to stay or go. "If it stays, it will die without knowing the world outside and never realize what it could've been. If it goes, it will learn of the many wonders of life outside this canyon and be able to live a life of it's own choice. "Our fall from grace was a tragedy, yes, but we are the clockwork bird with the choices in front of us."

"...If we change, who will be left to maintain time when we become a new race?"

"As long as we still exist, Time will endure. We will never bleed red like the elves on this planet, but we'll always be connected to the Sands of Time, and so will the race that comes after us. "The bird is still a clockwork being in its heart, and the essence of clockwork will be carried by its children if it chooses to have any. "We should fly freely in order for Time to live on, we can't be afraid of mortality forever. Even if flying defies parts of our duties, we will still carry on the essence of them. "No one has to be sick anymore from the memories. Actually, we don't even need all of our memories for our duties- we just need to know how to fix and maintain Time, not all the details of said Time."

"And what if the day comes where our memories will prove crucial to whether or not this existence will outlast the Abyss?"

"Write them down and give them to the Altersaeans and Spaelculans. We can warn them now without the duty stopping us. "This is the miracle all of us have been looking for since our creation. Even if some of us never wanted to fly, we've all wanted to be able to warn others in the hope that maybe, just maybe we could change fate. We don't all have to die. This existence doesn't have to end this way."

"...Then for once I will believe in your irrationality and "miracles"...but are you certain that the sickness will end if we forget the future and past?"

"I'm not going to say certain, because I gave up foresight for my life. "But just take the chance so we can live for the first time since our creation- and that clockwork bird will be our guide."

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Okay so one last notes section. I chose to not(and also kinda forgot to) mention the whole "there's pretty much no one managing time right now except like a very small population of Tilemgians" thing. Time may or may not get messy when I work on the present and future of Elvaria itself.

Also felt the need to slightly elaborate on line "We now can evolve as the drakes on the elven planet and the crystalline structures on the pseudo-planet have done." in the proper post, mainly the crystalline part because the drake stuff is in the Dust Era post.

So I'm probably never going to talk about the pseudo-planet since that draws away from the focus on Elvaria(which the realms posts are already doing so I need to do less of that), but basically Elvaria's solar system has six planets, and of those six two of them have life, being Elvaria itself and the pseudo-planet. They'll pretty much never interact so it's very irrelevant, but the life on that planet is crystalline time-crystals and the planet itself is in a phase state because of it's composition also being mostly time crystals. Tilemgians on there are doing pretty good in comparison to the ones on Elvaria since the pseudo-planet is closer to sands of time than any other.

i think the near-extinction of people making fun, deep and/or unique interactive text-based browser games, projects and stories is catastrophic to the internet. i'm talking pre-itch.io era, nothing against it.

there are a lot of fun ones listed here and here but for the most part, they were made years ago and are now a dying breed. i get why. there's no money in it. factoring in the cost of web hosting and servers, it probably costs money. it's just sad that it's a dying art form.

anyway, here's some of my favorite browser-based interactive projects and games, if you're into that kind of thing. 90% of them are on the lists that i linked above.

A Better World - create an alternate history timeline

Alter Ego - abandonware birth-to-death life simulator game

Seedship - text-based game about colonizing a new planet

Sandboxels or ThisIsSand - free-falling sand physics games

Little Alchemy 2 - combine various elements to make new ones

Infinite Craft - kind of the same as Little Alchemy

ZenGM - simulate sports

Tamajoji - browser-based tamagotchi

IFDB - interactive fiction database (text adventure games)

Written Realms - more text adventure games with a user interface

The Cafe & Diner - mystery game

The New Campaign Trail - US presidential campaign game

Money Simulator - simulate financial decisions

Genesis - text-based adventure/fantasy game

Level 13 - text-based science fiction adventure game

Miniconomy - player driven economy game

Checkbox Olympics - games involving clicking checkboxes

BrantSteele.net - game show and Hunger Games simulators

Murder Games - fight to the death simulator by Orteil

Cookie Clicker - different but felt weird not including it. by Orteil.

if you're ever thinking about making a niche project that only a select number of individuals will be nerdy enough to enjoy, keep in mind i've been playing some of these games off and on for 20~ years (Alter Ego, for example). quite literally a lifetime of replayability.

Types of intelligence for your OCs

What kind of intelligence does your character posses? Based on theory of multiple intelligences, these are some ideas what kind of smarts your characters might posses that aren’t the typical academic or street smarts. 

1. Visual-spatial (space smart)

These people are good at visualizing things, seeing in 3D, being able to imagine how things look even out of sight from the information they have about it. They are good with directions, maps, charts and pictures. Eye for drawing, patterns and puzzles. 

Especially useful for: architects, engineers, artists, pilots

2. Linguistic-verbal (word smart)

The ability to use words well, when writing and speaking. Typical strenghts are telling stories, memorizing information, love for reading, skill with words, debating and persuasive skills, adept at explaining complicated subjects. Also tend to be great at languages. 

Especially useful for: writers, journalists, lawyers, teachers, public speakers

3. Logical (reasoning smart)

Not necessarily but possibly mathematical, these people are great at reasoning, pattern recognition and logical analysis. Enjoyment for abstract thinking and ideas, excellent problem-solving skills and logical argumentation are other common traits. Pattersn, categories, relationships. 

Especially useful for: mathematicians, accountants, scientists, and detectives.

4. Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)

Great hand-eye cordination, physical movement, often skilled at sports, dancing and creating things with their hands. Learn and remember rather by doing than listening or reading. Sense of timing and mind-body union excellent. 

Especially useful for: dancers, sculptors, actors, athletes, surgeons, crafts people, soldiers, police officers

5. Musical (sound smart)

Sensitive listeners. Thinking in patterns, recognizing rhythms, notes and melodies, good at remembering tunes, these people often enjoy singing or playing instruments. Often show great understanding of musical structure and know quickly when they hear someone going off-key. 

Especially useful for: musical teachers, composers, musicians, 

6. Interpersonal (people smart)

These people are very good at understanding and interacting with others. From verbal to non-verbal communication, they are proficient at assessing motivations, moods and desires of others and seeing things from multiple perspectives. Great communicators, create positive relationships with others easily and solve group dynamics and group conflicts well. Also enjoy discussions, debates and teamwork. 

Especially useful for: psychologists, counselors, salespeople, politicians, philosophers, teachers, managers, team leaders

7. Intrapersonal (self smart)

The opposite of interpersonal smarts is the intrapersonal intelligence, where people are very in tune with themselves and their feelings. They are honest with themselves, enjoy self-reflection, analysing theories and ideals, love daydreaming, and show great self-awareness and assessment of their own strenghts and weaknesses. 

Especially useful for: writers, philosophers, theorits, scientists

Bonus types: 

8. Creative (ideas smart) 

People that show exceptional curiousity, get inspired by little things around them and connect ideas and concepts in an unsual way. It’s a more feeling-based, spontaneous type of intelligence that gets less recognition, but brings immense benefits in all fields. 

Especially useful for: artists, marketers, scientists, concept artists, 

10. Abstract (concept smart)

Drawn to abstract ideas, these people enjoy deep discussions, don’t like to settle on one truth and ask questions that have no easy or no answer at all. Connecting, conceptualizing, analysing, listening and putting things together, they are great at seeing things from a distance, seeing the whole and not just the pieces. 

Especially useful for: scientists, philosophers, researchers, theorists, designers, analysts

Writing advice masterlist