To Dream Of Reality ~Lantern Rite Ft. Ningguang~

To Dream of Reality ~Lantern Rite ft. Ningguang~

"lantern rite, and festivities"

MASTERLIST ~~

You are not one to lucid dream.

Usually, your dreams are like those of a butterfly's-

Flying through the air, helpless to the winds that surround.

And yet, tonight, the world of your dreams is perfectly intact.

Lantern Rite in Liyue.

The golden lights, so warm in your eyes, floated around you, each lantern a wish sent off from someone, from someone's heart, from one of your beloved children of Teyvat.

The warmth from the lanterns, the sound of festival cheer, the smell of food…

It felt strangely like home.

A plate of freshly cooked skewers laid upon your lap as you sat on the harbor docks, your feet swinging gently off the pier.

This… was nice.

If only this was reality.

~~

Lantern Rite's main festivities had ended, the Concert bright and exciting. The remaining week was left to bask in the festival itself, in the musicals and operas, the food and lights and colors.

If the main stage was for tourists, the remaining festival was for the locals. Liyueans, with the streets cleared, were finally able to enjoy Lantern Rite as it was meant to be celebrated- to welcome the Moon in the New Year.

Most Lantern Rites after the Main Festivities were quiet, as was this one.

Until they appeared, in ethereal glory, asking for nothing but a snack.

The Creator had appeared many times before within Mond, and reportedly thrice within Liyue, consulting with the samurai from Inazuma, the strange man from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and the Vigilant Yaksha.

Only once had the Creator appeared for non-vision wielders, and only a brief meeting.

As the Tianquan of the Qixing, Ningguang wanted to welcome the Creator, but as they appeared in their mortal form, would it be rude to call attention to them?

Rumors had it that the Creator was gentle and calm, appearing mortal yet undeniably divine.

As she saw them swinging their legs off the docs, humming along to the songs of the harbor, she understood. Just how mortal that form was, just how mortal they appeared.

Rumors had it that the Creator had not fully descended, that their form was partially transparent, and that their form was like that of glass. Ningguang had faith in those rumors, but perhaps the truth has merely changed. Their hand firmly grasped the skewers, their face opaque as they turned around, eyes widening as the stood to bow.

"Hi, Ningguang!" Perhaps the rumors weren't true after all. Perhaps the words of the Creator were not that formal, not that... forced. Perhaps this was what Mond wished to keep secret, the informal, gentle speech of the True Divine.

"You know my name?"

"Of course! Lantern Rite is so pretty this year... I'm glad I get to experience it for real this time. As real as I can be, here."

As real as I can be, huh?

Ningguang looked at the Divine, wondering what thoughts ran through their mind.

"I wish I could stay." they said, eyes soft as their hand reached out towards the sky. "I wish I could keep d̴̡̝͉͇̰̬͍̭̊̃͂͑̃̂̚͜͜͝r̶̛͉͈̂̔́̒͐̈́̋̊̒́̀̕͝è̸̢̙̝̼͖̹͔͎̄́̂̋̐͑̆́͌̊̐̆̈́̽ä̵̢̳͖̖̺͙̦̹̙̙̣̼́͊͛m̷̛̳͇̹̰̰͍̗̮͇͇͈̣͕͗̄̓͂̆̋͛̀͘ͅi̶̟̟̭̩̗̝̼̬̭̜̯̳̝̎̾͜ͅǹ̶͓̳͔͉̰̊̋̿̆͌͐̉̉́̂́̄̕g̸̢͎̱̖̻̝͉̖̟̅̉̓̂̒ of this place. Living here n' all."

It's strange, Ningguang thought. How mortal their divine sounds. How utterly human a God appears.

Until their body became transparent.

and they uttered another few words.

"How I wish to grant the wishes of Teyvat. How I wish to assist this world, how I wish to return home at last."

Their body shimmers, becoming the same color as the Xiao Lanterns, light reflecting off the ocean waters as they vanish. Ningguang raced back to the Jade Chamber, summoning pen and paper to draft a letter. The Creator wished to return home to Teyvat, and Teyvat would welcome them with open arms.

To prevent those heart wrenching words from being spoken again, she'd guarentee it.

~~

You rarely lucid dream, and on the lucky nights where you do get to control your sleep-thoughts, the control slips away just as fast. You remember your dream, for once. The taste of Mora Meat and Grilled Ticker Fish remain fresh in your memories as you looked out the windows, at the harsh white-light of cities and electricity.

Nothing like the golden lanterns of wishes that Y̶͕͑́̎̚ǫ̸̛̛͔͖̪̱̥̦̭͕̎̾͊̿̄͠u̴̟̦͈̺̤̫̣̲̼̅̋̈́͆̀̋̇̕͝r̵̨̗͎͕̄̃̀͑͒̋̓̀͑̊̒̌̅͜͠ ̷̢͇̩̰͓̳͈̖̲̝̞̝̦̇̑́̈̈́̅̓̔̎̍͂́̏͝b̵̢̢̜̪̼̩̭̺͔͕̤͇̥͊́͘e̸͓̙͚̩͈̲̤̎̒͒̿̈́̓͆̇͑̃̂̈́́̕͝l̵̳̫̟͋̏̏̓̏̈́͛͂́̕͠ǒ̵͉͖̹̼͚̗v̸̦͎̳̮̩̻̅̐̉͋̄́͒͘ȇ̶̱͖̆̿̊̐̌̍̀̀́̾͛̈́͒ď̶̡͖̹̺͓͇̬͎͇̒̽̒͗̈́̿̽ ̷̥̫͙̱̣̏̈́̔͘c̶̢̛̦̦̼͍̥̬̻͇̣̰̗̗̟̑̄͗̓̒͗̎̾̎̂̾h̸̨̯̝̲̏͘͜͠ì̵̘̳̞͚̃̏͛́̕l̶͔̳͉̺̠͔̣̥̳͋̃̄̅̂̊d̶̯͚̹̣̲̗̬̗̟͚̞̼̿̑͛͊͝͝͝r̶͍̳̄e̸̪̞͔̘̔̽̽̀͒̚ṉ̷̗̺̱̊͐̾̓̓̈́̽̎̓̃̀͘ ̷̫̹͚͓͂̽̕ọ̶̯͎͎̑̎̎̍̈̈́̈́̐͐̋̅͌̕͠f̶̨̡̡̧̛̛̞̹̰̻̩̺̟̱̣̬͊̈ͅ ̵̨̣͒̃̑̈͊͛̄̃̋͜͝͝T̸̢̪̟̰̠̞̙̘̬͍͆̾̂̿̾͗͑̋̑̓͝͝͝é̵̡̖̰̝̳͍̲̤̰͖̫̎̋̈́̉̓͑͜ẏ̶̨̨̺̱̣̺͎̖̙̘͈̭̐̉͊̈͆̆͊͑͘͠ͅv̴̬̮̘͂͌̀́͋́͝a̶̪͚͚̟̻̼͉͌̐̆̃ţ̵̢̧͉̳̘̖̤̓̈́͒̽̔̑͌̆̀̍́̃͂̉ had scent up to the skies.

...huh?

:l

i think what’s on a person’s nightstand is very telling so reblog this and put in the tags the things you have on your nightstand

Sometimes I wonder if the answer to all my mental health issues is a cat

WE LIVE IN A HELL WORLD

Engadget

SAG-AFTRA strikes deal for AI voice acting licensing in video games at CES 2024

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing thousands of performers, has struck a deal with an AI voice acting platform aimed at making it easier for

Snippets from the article by Karissa Bell:

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing thousands of performers, has struck a deal with an AI voice acting platform aimed at making it easier for actors to license their voice for use in video games. ...

the agreements cover the creation of so-called “digital voice replicas” and how they can be used by game studios and other companies. The deal has provisions for minimum rates, safe storage and transparency requirements, as well as “limitations on the amount of time that a performance replica can be employed without further payment and consent.”

Notably, the agreement does not cover whether actors’ replicas can be used to train large language models (LLMs), though Replica Studios CEO Shreyas Nivas said the company was interested in pursuing such an arrangement. “We have been talking to so many of the large AAA studios about this use case,” Nivas said. He added that LLMs are “out-of-scope of this agreement” but “they will hopefully [be] things that we will continue to work on and partner on.”

...Even so, some well-known voice actors were immediately skeptical of the news, as the BBC reports. In a press release, SAG-AFTRA said the agreement had been approved by "affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community." But on X, voice actors said they had not been given advance notice. "How has this agreement passed without notice or vote," wrote Veronica Taylor, who voiced Ash in Pokémon. "Encouraging/allowing AI replacement is a slippery slope downward." Roger Clark, who voiced Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, also suggested he was not notified about the deal. "If I can pay for permission to have an AI rendering of an ‘A-list’ voice actor’s performance for a fraction of their rate I have next to no incentive to employ 90% of the lesser known ‘working’ actors that make up the majority of the industry," Clark wrote.

SAG-AFTRA’s deal with Replica only covers a sliver of the game industry. Separately, the union is also negotiating with several of the major game studios after authorizing a strike last fall. “I certainly hope that the video game companies will take this as an inspiration to help us move forward in that negotiation,” Crabtree said.

And here are some various reactions I've found about things people in/adjacent to this can do

And in OTHER AI games news, Valve is updating it's TOS to allow AI generated content on steam so long as devs promise they have the rights to use it, which you can read more about on Aftermath in this article by Luke Plunkett

aftermath.site

Steam's New AI Rules Will Open The Floodgates To A River Of Shit - Aftermath

'Our goal continues to be shipping as many games as possible'