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wateroverstoneSome interesting speculation on the perennial topic of who might have been an inspiration for Biggles
I have survived my latest visit to my mother. It's a belated Mothers' Day visit so I decided I'd take her to Boundary Mill, her very favourite shop which she no longer feels competent to drive to herself. I'm somewhat reluctant to drive Mum anywhere I need directions for (I will never get over her shuffling the carefully arranged directions to Whitby once as she didn't like what she was reading out to me and thought she might find a better direction on another page. We had gone quite some miles before, getting very worried by the lack of correlation between the road signs and what she was telling me to look out for, I discovered what she'd done) but I thought that she'd be able to direct me to a place she had been to so many times. The journey went:
Me, turning right. 'I need you to direct me now, Mum. I don't know the way from here on.'
Several miles later:
'Why are you going through Downham?'
'Because you you haven't directed me otherwise,'
'Oh, I thought you knew your way. I think we can get there this way but the road is awfully narrow.'
This I ignore as Mum's idea of narrow is anything less than four double decker buses wide and I am an experienced navigator of single track roads, which this isn't..
We come to a T junction. 'Which way?'
'I don't know.'
After some consideration, we go left. I am reassured when she claims to recognise a bridge. We suddenly emerge from empty moorland onto a long street. 'Turn right at the top and we're there. They've changed the roundabout.'
'Oh, how?'
'I don't know. I had my eyes shut.'
Investigation reassures me that she was on a bus not driving. Much to my surprise, as I'm willing to believe I might be almost anywhere in East Lancashire, we have reached our destination and I haven't had to turn around once.
I have to sleep in a tiny, adjoining guest room when I visit Mum, as all the cottages are one bedroom, no overnight visitors. I was delighted on Sunday morning, to be awakened by paramedics in my bedroom, demanding to know if I was alright. I don't know which of us was the more confused, but I pointed out that I was sleeping in the spare room of the Estate Office not number 10 and they retreated, apologising. I fell into my clothes to check that Mum was alright next door, in case they'd got the number wrong (she was) and tried to concentrate on how reassuring it was to know that the people responding to the personal alarms were so thorough and not how the rest of the day was going to feel now I was several hours down on sleep thanks to the clocks going forward and my unexpected awakening.
The Reveal of Kismet's Challenge on the Biggles Forum has been put back a week, to this Sunday, 2nd April, as a number of people have had unexpected real life stuff to deal with. Hopefully an extra few days will allow everyone to finish off their entries.
Now I'm back in the Land of the Internet, I've been able to have a play with ChatGPT. It keeps passing judgement on my morals, but I eventually persuaded it to write the following in response to the prompt:Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes them to have amatory hallucinations about each other
As Biggles and Algy continued their journey through the dense jungle, they stumbled upon a strange plant they had never seen before. Out of curiosity, they took a few leaves and ate them, unaware of the dangerous effects it would have on them.
Almost immediately, they began to feel a strange sensation in their heads, and their vision started to blur. They were hallucinating, and everything around them seemed to be twisting and turning into bizarre and surreal shapes.
But this was not the worst of it. The phytochemical they had ingested was causing them to experience intense and overpowering amatory hallucinations about each other.
They saw each other in a new light, and their feelings for one another grew more intense with each passing moment. They began to see each other as the most beautiful and desirable beings in the world, and they were completely entranced by one another.
As they stumbled through the jungle, lost in a delirium of desire, they couldn't resist the temptation any longer. They embraced each other in a passionate kiss, overcome by the intense emotions that had been unleashed by the phytochemical.
For a few brief moments, they were lost in a world of ecstasy and passion, but slowly the effects of the phytochemical began to wear off. They realized that what they had experienced was nothing more than a hallucination, and they were both filled with a sense of confusion and shame.
As they made their way back to safety, they knew that they would never speak of what had happened again. They knew that their friendship was too important to risk, and they were both grateful that they had come to their senses before it was too late.
From that day forward, they would be more cautious in their explorations, knowing that even the slightest mistake could have dangerous consequences. And although they would always remember the hallucination, they would never let it interfere with their work or their friendship again.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-27 01:00 pm (UTC)And I love your ChatGPT excursion, even if it did decide Biggles and Algy had to feel very awkward afterwards! It tells me off for my morals too - and not just for sex, I also got lectures on the evils of alcohol consumption and smoking.
If you give it a section of one of your stories you can make it write the next bit, though it will also do a painfully accurate parody of your writing style which has almost made me swear off adverbs for life. It likes writing action scenes and is as convinced as any fairy-tale author that all stories need to end with a moral.
ETA: you must have softened ChatGPT up somehow, when I tried the same prompt it scolded me for asking for rude things!
no subject
Date: 2023-03-27 05:14 pm (UTC)Biggles and Algy have an adventure with carnivorous centipedes
centipede venom is an aphrodisiac
Lecture on centipede venom not being an aphrodisiac and the importance of research
The perfume from a plant causes them to swap bodies
Lecture on the importance of relying on scientifically-proven information
Plant chemical which affects human physiology
Long lecture on different plant chemicals giving me the phytochemical term
Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes hallucinations
This gave me a story
Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes hallucinations and meet carnivorous giant centipedes
This gave me another story
Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes amatory hallucinations and meet carnivorous giant centipedes
This was a better story
Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes amatory hallucinations
Another small improvement.
As Biggles and Algy made their way through the dense jungle, they stumbled upon a strange plant that they had never seen before. Out of curiosity, they took a few leaves and ate them, unaware of the dangerous effects it would have on them.
Almost immediately, they began to feel a strange sensation in their heads, and their vision started to blur. They were hallucinating, and everything around them seemed to be twisting and turning into bizarre and surreal shapes.
But this was not the worst of it. The phytochemical they had ingested was causing them to experience intense and overpowering amatory hallucinations. They began to see visions of beautiful, seductive creatures that seemed to be beckoning them with their every move.
As they stumbled through the jungle, lost in a delirium of desire, they suddenly came upon a clearing. There, in the center of the clearing, were the most alluring and beautiful beings they had ever seen - they were humanoid in shape but with wings and glowing eyes that seemed to see right through them.
Biggles and Algy were completely entranced, and they knew that they needed to approach these beings, despite the danger. They were convinced that these beings were the loves of their lives, and they would do anything to be with them.
But as they approached, they realized that these beings were not what they seemed. They were carnivorous and dangerous, and they would do anything to ensnare their prey.
Realizing their peril, Biggles and Algy managed to break free from the spell that had been cast upon them. They fled from the clearing, running as fast as they could, as the hallucinations slowly began to wear off.
As they recovered from their ordeal, they realized just how close they had come to death. They knew that they had been lucky to survive, and they were grateful to each other for their quick thinking and courage in the face of temptation. And although they knew that they would continue to face risks and challenges in their work, they were determined to never let their guard down again, knowing that they could overcome any obstacle as long as they had each other.
Biggles and Algy accidentally ingest a phytochemical which causes them to have amatory hallucinations about each other. This gave me the final result.
I've had some fun feeding plot outlines into it. It refuses to believe that Looks Back is anything other than a collection of short stories, though some of its content suggestions are well-worth exploring.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-27 05:56 pm (UTC)Oh, mine thought Looks Back was short stories too, and when I told it the plot, it said it was impossible for that to be a real Biggles book! Though I did soften it up and now it writes me stories of Biggles and EvS being friends without a murmur - or rather, what it does is write 500 words of Biggles and EvS trying to cook a meal together, and then tacks on a line about how they learned something from working with an enemy!
Mine didn’t mind about bodyswap, possibly because I didn’t provide a mechanism it could complain about.
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Date: 2023-03-27 08:28 pm (UTC)"The Case of the Crooked Colonel," in which Biggles must investigate the suspicious behavior of a high-ranking military officer, and "The Case of the Greystone Inscription," in which Biggles uncovers a plot to steal a valuable artifact.
"The Case of the Discontented Soldier," in which Biggles investigates the mysterious disappearance of a soldier from an army base, "The Balloonatics," where Biggles and his team attempt to foil a group of criminals who are planning to use hot air balloons to commit a robbery, and "The Black Peril," where Biggles and his team face a deadly enemy in the form of a mysterious black plane.
There was another version which I haven't kept in which Biggles recounted all of the stories to his nephew Derek.
I shall interpret my second story as Biggles and the Carnivorous Fairies and I think there's a fic in there somewhere.