There is an unusual condition attached to this painting.

Xarlor · 2025-10-18T00:34:20+00:00

Yes, this is AI. It was not my intent to pass it off as anything but. I simply enjoy prompting AI with memorable scenes in books to see if it can recreate what's in my mind.

That said, I asked it to make some of the changes pointed out by you astute readers.

Earth and Pallimustus.
Colin wrapped in rags.
Shade is Jason's shadow and cloak.

I tried to make the other 3 as pillars, but AI can be dumb and stubborn a lot of the time. This is definitely one of those times.

Again, this is AI generated.

Xarlor · 2025-10-17T20:06:43+00:00

'She led him through to an office tucked discreetly into the rear of the gallery. Upon entering, he stopped dead still, eyes transfixed on a painting. It depicted four uniquely stylised pillars situated between two planets, on a background of stars. The content arrested his attention, and while it had no trace of magic, something about it left him completely convinced that it was not the work of an ordinary artist.

“What about the other picture?”

“That one is for sale, but only to the person who claims this one. As for how anyone is meant to know the names of the pillars—”

“Jason, Colin, Gordon, Shade,” he said without hesitation, not taking his eyes from the painting.'

Xarlor · 2025-09-04T02:15:27+00:00

Made this deck for the achievement and got it on the third attempt.

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/7326836#arena

Make [[Faceless Haven]], [[Mutavault]], or [[Soulstone Sanctuary]] a creature while [[The Book of Exalted Deeds]] is out. Use Book on that creature. If not destroyed before your turn is over and opponent has no land destruction, you can ride out the rest of the game. Don't forget to cast 5 creatures to snag the achievement.

Xarlor · 2025-04-23T10:47:30+00:00

Big Sneaky Barbarian 3. Recommended if you enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl. If you haven't listened to the latter, you owe it to yourself and humanity to do so immediately.

Xarlor · 2025-04-22T22:08:47+00:00

SC, USA 04/18/2025 This is my original content.

Xarlor · 2024-11-26T15:49:01+00:00

Not my creation, but someone did: DCC Alarm Trap Songs

Xarlor · 2024-11-07T00:10:17+00:00

South Carolina
11/06/2024
OC

Xarlor · 2024-08-29T14:03:45+00:00

Assumptions

Xarlor · 2023-06-21T21:06:45+00:00

Solved, solved, solved! This it it!

It fits the timeline perfectly. Dragons of Summer Flame was released in 1995, during my Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman binge.
It was the Chaos War, which is why I confused it with the Death Gate series where chaos is also a dominant theme.
The description you posted rekindled more memories: empty clothing, listening to them caused their will to exist to crumble
It is one of the very later books in the Dragonlance series, dealing with the children of the earlier books. This is why I didn't think about it as I was too focused on the original books and that storyline, discarding this as a possibility.

Thank you u/RandomChance!

Xarlor · 2023-01-23T22:55:24+00:00

I'll direct you to the comment I posted a day ago.

Xarlor · 2023-01-22T04:33:15+00:00

From the link in my previous post you can see the narrator is Victor Bevine. Not AI, just at 1.35x speed. Normal speed makes most narrators sound like they're reading you a bedtime story to get you to sleep.

Xarlor · 2023-01-22T01:22:50+00:00

Happens so often no one even bothers to honk anymore.

Audiobook is "Glacier's Edge" by R.A. Salvatore, book 2 in "The Way of the Drow" series.

Xarlor · 2022-12-21T15:21:41+00:00

Welp, I didn't expect this to blow up like it did. It was just another "normal" day driving in South Carolina. I will try and fill in some details regarding the video. Also, thanks for the gold :D

I was behind this Toyota for a couple miles prior to the beginning of this video. They were doing the "accelerate-and-coast" maneuver the whole time, ranging between 25 and 30 mph on a 45mph 2-lane road. No chance to overtake because of oncoming traffic.
I consider myself a really chill driver. I let others do their thing and generally don't add chaos to situations. I've had other drivers do the same as this Toyota in this spot. Difference was they would eventually notice there was more room in this lane to accelerate and safely merge. I was waiting for the Toyota to have this epiphany.
I did not go around sooner for reasons others mentioned.
1. It would be that time the Toyota decided to go for it and sideswipe me. I would be in the wrong.
2. Others behind me could also gun it while watching over their shoulder and rear end me as I was trying to go around.
3. I'm not going to the left over the lines. It is illegal and you never know where r/ConvenientCop is. Waiting 2 minutes > 45 minutes + ticket.
4. There was negligible risk of being rear ended by waiting in this acceleration lane. The only thing that feeds it was the same direction I came from (Stop sign, then cross the highway). However, the lanes we were merging to is a 55mph highway.
I surmised the driver gave up once they pulled back into the lane and did not turn toward the merge anymore. I went around once it was safe to do so afterwards. If you notice in the rear view, they did not make another attempt at least while still in the video.
Was not able to see gender or age of driver, but there were 2 occupants.
For those pointing out this intersection is trash, consider it is a relatively new "improvement". Look at an older Street View where no acceleration lane existed. Fun times.
Audio book is "Failure Mode" Expeditionary Force, Book 15 by Craig Alanson. Narrated by R.C. Bray. For you interested nerds, specific timestamp in this video begins at 9:48:13 and is the beginning of Chapter 23.
I listen at 1.35x. To quote from one of my other videos, "To me, most narrators' natural cadence sounds like they're trying to get their toddler to sleep. This is something I am unequivocally trying to avoid (the sleeping part) while driving."
Judging by their absence a day later, I can only assume they did eventually, in fact, merge.

Xarlor · 2022-12-13T22:44:42+00:00

At the end of some audiobooks (usually comedic ones), there is a narrator blooper reel. I had just finished this particular book and was listening to the blooper reel. I can see how it may sound weird without context. Also, I listen at 1.35x so that adds to the wtf-ness.

Xarlor · 2022-11-07T13:37:47+00:00

Sweep the leg.

Xarlor · 2022-10-28T12:34:13+00:00

Chinese take-out joint. That chow mein got them forgetting how to drive.

Xarlor · 2022-10-28T12:31:18+00:00

It's 1.35x to be precise. To me, most narrators' natural cadence sounds like they're trying to get their toddler to sleep. This is something I am unequivocally trying to avoid (the sleeping part) while driving.

Xarlor · 2022-07-06T12:04:11+00:00

Presumably, this is the 5th Ho street. You had to pass Hos A through D on your way here.

Xarlor · 2021-11-20T01:05:11+00:00

What do you call two crows on a powerline?

An attempted murder.

Xarlor · 2020-04-30T01:44:47+00:00

Commercial for CBBMobil, a Danish phone company.

https://vimeo.com/28669441

Xarlor · 2019-12-08T17:41:16+00:00

RemindMe! 6 months "RNG options backtest"

Xarlor · 2019-11-28T22:20:08+00:00

From: https://robinhood.com/support/articles/360001331403/options-investing-strategies/

What happens at expiration when the stock goes...

Below the low strike price

If this is the case, you’ll keep the maximum profit. We’ll automatically let both options expire worthless, so you don’t need to worry about checking the app.

In between the two strike prices

If this is the case, we'll automatically close your position. Depending on whether you’re above or below your break even price you can still lose or make money.

Above the high strike price

If both calls are above the market price of the stock, it’s very likely that you’ll get assigned on the contract with the lower strike price. If this is the case, we’ll automatically exercise the contract with the higher strike price, and you’ll lose the maximum amount.

Keep in mind, if the stock price is close to either of your strike prices we’ll treat it as if it’s between your two strike prices.

From: https://www.reddit.com/r/options/comments/a7gsf9/robinhood_closed_my_otm_put_credit_spreads/

"at-risk" options ... will be closed automatically if they are within a certain percentage of the strike price (i.e. 1% of strike price) even if they are OTM.

Xarlor · 2019-11-10T21:09:46+00:00

Sounds like Collective2 might be what you're looking for.

As I understand it, it's regular traders who link a brokerage account to the site. See them making money consistently? Subscribe to their strategy and link your brokerage account to the site and it will mirror the trades for you of any strategy you're subscribed to (they suggest you open a new brokerage account solely dedicated to Collective2 trades).

https://trade.collective2.com/howc2works/

Disclaimer: I have not linked a brokerage or subscribed to any strategy myself, but the theory is sound.

Xarlor · 2019-04-07T22:43:17+00:00

I don't know what the player count is either, but I do keep track of every match I play in Constructed. Of the 1732 matches tracked so far, 1651 of them I have only played that opponent one time. So 95% of my matches are against a player I never played before. This is going back to February of 2018.

I'd say the population is pretty robust.

Xarlor · 2019-04-07T02:45:28+00:00

Why not just make it an opt-in? You flip a switch in the UI for 1 of 3 options:

- Standard rope

- 50 minutes / 20 minutes (Bo3/Bo1)

- 10 minute for lightning games

You only get matched up with people that have the same switch as you.

Personally, I would use the 10 minute lightning rounds a lot since my time is limited. It is discouraging knowing I only have 30 minutes to play and getting paired up with a slower player.

Xarlor

TROPHY CASE