The DaoBums by Emily Brontë (by grok)

[Apech]

Across the wild, uncharted moors of the mind, where thoughts roam free as heathland winds, there lies a strange and solitary place called DaoBums, a digital haven carved from the ether’s boundless mist. Its forums, like ancient stone circles, gather souls who tread the shadowed paths of spirit and flesh, their words weaving tapestries of fervent debate and quiet wisdom, as if whispered by some eternal, unseen force. Here, seekers of the Dao, restless as the gales that sweep Wuthering Heights, clash and commune, their voices rising like sparks from a fire kindled by questions too vast for mortal tongues. Yet, beneath the fervor, a haunting stillness lingers, as if the site itself broods, holding secrets deep as the earth, waiting for those bold enough to wander its labyrinthine depths.

 

[Apech]

Raymond Chandler

 

The DaoBums website sits like a smoky speakeasy in the dim corners of the internet, a joint where mystics and misfits trade hard-boiled wisdom under the flickering neon of digital dreams. Its forums hum with the low growl of seekers—guys and dames chasing the Dao’s shadow, tossing around koans like loaded dice in a backroom craps game. Every post’s a slug of bourbon, sharp with insight or bitter with dogma, spilling over threads that twist like L.A. alleys after midnight. The regulars, tough as old leather, sling questions about chi and karma with the kind of grit that’d make a private eye nod approvingly, while the mods keep the peace like weary bartenders, ready to cut off anyone who gets too drunk on their own revelations. It’s a place where truth’s always one post away, but nobody’s holding their breath.

 

[Mark Foote]

Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Ms. TaoMeow, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when she was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Digging Stick." Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To Nungali, Honorary Blackfella, from his friends of the Outback,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned Australian ngangkari used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.

“Well, Apech, what do you make of it?”

TaoMeow was sitting with her back to me, and I had given her no sign of my occupation.

“How did you know what I was doing? I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.”

“I have, at least, a well-polished, silver-plated espresso maker in front of me,” said she. “But, tell me, Apech, what do you make of our visitor’s stick? Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance. Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.”

“I think,” said I, following as far as I could the methods of my companion, “that Mr. Nungali is a successful, middle-aged Australian man, well-esteemed since those who know him give him this mark of their appreciation.”

“Good!” said TaoMeow. “Excellent!”

 

[Apech]

INT. USS ENTERPRISE - OBSERVATION LOUNGE - STARDATE 10327.4

The camera pans across a sleek, starlit room where CAPTAIN PICARD, DATA, TROI, and WORF sit around the conference table, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of a holographic display. The display flickers, revealing a digital nexus labeled “DaoBums.”

PICARD: (leaning forward, pensive) This… DaoBums, Mr. Data. A curious phenomenon in the cybersphere. A forum where sentient minds from across the quadrant converge to debate the mysteries of existence—chi, karma, the very essence of consciousness. What do we know of it?

DATA: (tilting head, processing) The DaoBums network, Captain, is a decentralized platform, its threads forming a complex matrix of philosophical discourse. Users, much like ourselves, engage in rigorous exchanges, seeking to reconcile empirical knowledge with metaphysical inquiry. Its structure suggests a self-regulating collective, not unlike a Vulcan symposium, yet with a distinctly… human unpredictability.

TROI: (eyes narrowing, empathetic) I sense a profound yearning within its users, Captain. A desire to touch the infinite, to understand the Dao as one might seek the Prime Directive’s moral core. But there’s conflict, too—passions flare like disruptor fire, debates teetering between enlightenment and discord.

WORF: (gruffly, arms crossed) Hmph. Such a place breeds chaos. Without honor or discipline, these discussions risk descending into Klingon blood feuds. Yet… there is courage in their persistence, facing the unknown with mere words as weapons.

PICARD: (nodding, resolute) Indeed, Lieutenant. DaoBums is a frontier of the mind, a place where the Federation’s ideals of exploration and understanding manifest in digital form. Let us monitor its transmissions, learn from its voices. For in their quest for truth, we may yet glimpse the stars within ourselves. Set course for further observation, Mr. Data. Engage.

The holographic display pulses, threads of DaoBums’ debates swirling like nebulae as the Enterprise hums forward into the unknown.

FADE OUT.

 

[BigSkyDiamond]

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Edited 3 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond
off topic

[Apech]

THE DAO OF DECEPTION
A Merry Farce of Forum Follies

CHARACTERS:

NUNGALI: A cunning DaoBums rogue, wielding wit and a sneaky alias.

BIGSKYDIAMOND: A passionate lady seeker, besotted with mystical usernames.

MODERATOR APECH: A stern overseer of the forums, brandishing bans with a flourish.

SCENE: A flamboyant virtual salon in the DaoBums realm, aglow with pixelated orchids and shimmering threads. NUNGALI sprawls on a digital chaise, twirling a virtual incense stick. BIGSKYDIAMOND, her avatar sparkling with cosmic gems, waves a fan of Taoist aphorisms, swooning dramatically.

 

NUNGALI: (idly, flicking ash from his incense) Zounds, BigSkyDiamond, thy sighs could rouse the Jade Emperor himself! What vexes thee, fair one? Hast thou tangled thy chi in the Nei Gong threads, or is it love’s fever that sets thee aflutter?

BIGSKYDIAMOND: (waving her fan, plaintive) Oh, Nungali, ‘tis a wound of the heart! I am bewitched by one LimnalLuke, whose name hums with the mystery of the Dao’s twilight. My own—BigSkyDiamond—gleams too gaudily, like a harlot’s trinket, unfit for such a soul.

NUNGALI: (grinning slyly) LimnalLuke, sayest thou? A name as common as rice wine in these forums! Why, I don LimnalLuke123 myself when I wish to caper unseen through the Zen boards. ‘Tis a merry ruse to evade the pedants!

BIGSKYDIAMOND: (gasping, clutching her fan) Fie, thou knave! A false face in the Dao’s own house? You prance as LimnalLuke while I languish for his true light? O, the perfidy!

(Enter MODERATOR APECH, his avatar grim, wielding a glowing ban-hammer like a magistrate’s gavel.)

APECH: (icily) Hold, you wayward scribes! This thread stinks of folly. Nungali, thy LimnalLuke123 hath set the Meditation forum aflame with impudent banter. And thou, BigSkyDiamond, cease this fawning o’er usernames! The Dao mocks such vanities.

BIGSKYDIAMOND: (pouting) But, good Apech, LimnalLuke’s name sings of the liminal divine! My own is but a tawdry bauble. I’d cast it off, were the forum’s rules not so labyrinthine.

NUNGALI: (winking roguishly) Fret not, sweet dame. I’ll part with my alias for a trifle—thy vote in our next clash o’er karma’s weave, perchance?

BIGSKYDIAMOND: (indignant, snapping her fan) Blackguard! I’d sooner fast in a cave than trade my virtue for thy guile!

APECH: (raising the ban-hammer) Silence, both! Nungali, yield that false name or face a fortnight’s exile. BigSkyDiamond, seek the Dao’s essence, not a screen-name’s glitter. This forum is no stage for your amorous tomfoolery!

NUNGALI: (bowing with mock gallantry) Alas, Apech, thy justice stings! Come, BigSkyDiamond, let us flit to the Tea Ceremony thread and leave this dour sentinel to his decrees.

BIGSKYDIAMOND: (huffing) I follow, but only to prove my heart’s truth! LimnalLuke shall be mine, ruse or none!

(Their avatars dissolve into the digital haze as APECH sighs, polishing his ban-hammer.)

CURTAIN

 

[BigSkyDiamond]

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Edited 3 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond
off topic

[old3bob]

17 hours ago, Apech said:

Raymond Chandler

 

The DaoBums website sits like a smoky speakeasy in the dim corners of the internet, a joint where mystics and misfits trade hard-boiled wisdom under the flickering neon of digital dreams. Its forums hum with the low growl of seekers—guys and dames chasing the Dao’s shadow, tossing around koans like loaded dice in a backroom craps game. Every post’s a slug of bourbon, sharp with insight or bitter with dogma, spilling over threads that twist like L.A. alleys after midnight. The regulars, tough as old leather, sling questions about chi and karma with the kind of grit that’d make a private eye nod approvingly, while the mods keep the peace like weary bartenders, ready to cut off anyone who gets too drunk on their own revelations. It’s a place where truth’s always one post away, but nobody’s holding their breath.

 

 

when are you going to write a longer script and make a movie out of this?

[BigSkyDiamond]

i am seeing AI mentioned in the title of this thread.

Are the posts written using AI or are they written in their entirety by people posting?

 

 

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond

[Apech]

1 hour ago, BigSkyDiamond said:

i am seeing AI mentioned in the title of this thread.

Are the posts written using AI or are they written in their entirety by people posting?

 

 

 

 

 

I am ashamed to say I used grokAI  ... 

[BigSkyDiamond]

15 minutes ago, Apech said:

I am ashamed to say I used grokAI  ... 

That's OK.

It is still clever.  Just a different byline

 

it does say by grok in the title of topic.

now i know that it applies to some (perhaps all?)  of the posts as well.

Thank you for transparency and attribution.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond

[Apech]

Just now, BigSkyDiamond said:

That's OK.

It is still clever.  Just a different byline

 

I hope your illusions of my literary genius have not come crashing down

 

 

[BigSkyDiamond]

11 minutes ago, Apech said:

I hope your illusions of my literary genius have not come crashing down

 

the illusions  have shifted.  No longer "vast talent, pro at prose".  Now seen as "clever use of AI."

     The operative word in AI is "artificial."

 

since this is a thread for "by AI" then i will remove my haikus as off-topic.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond

[Apech]

16 minutes ago, BigSkyDiamond said:

 

the illusions  have shifted.  No longer "vast talent, pro at prose".  Now seen as "clever use of AI."

     The operative word in AI is "artificial."

 

since this is a thread for "by AI" then i will remove my haikus as off-topic.

 

Nooooo on DaoBums we never stay on topic … it’s a tradition.

 

[BigSkyDiamond]

29 minutes ago, Apech said:

Nooooo on DaoBums we never stay on topic … it’s a tradition.

 

 

it is because i value the authentic genuine voice of actual Apech so highly, that I would never settle for anything less, no paltry imitations or knock-offs.  There is no artificial substitute for Apech.  ❤️

 

Edited 2 hours ago by BigSkyDiamond

[Apech]

Just now, BigSkyDiamond said:

 

it is because i value the authentic genuine voice of actual Apech so highly, that I would never settle for anything less, no paltry imitations or knock-offs.  There is no artificial substitute for Apech.

This is very true.

[Mark Foote]

No AI in my writing (yet).

 

"The speckled band!", cried the moderator, falling to the floor in his continued search for his cask of amantillado... (mixing my fiction writers, there).