#also helped that it was art history and i do genuinely think art history is interesting
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local teenager who used to get praised for having a high processing speed studies for test; is shocked to get a good grade
#personal#i am that kid who opens the book once the day before the test reads through it and gets a decent grade.#...when i open the book#also helped that it was art history and i do genuinely think art history is interesting#we work with a 1 - 10 grading scale here right#my art grades before this. all between a 3 & a 4.5#i studied. for a redo. 8.2.#now if i can manage to FINISH THE HOMEWORK I SHOULDVE FINISHED 2 MONTHS AGO#i might actually finish high school :3#this doesnt go for economics im still horrendous at math but im allowed 2 subjects to kinda suck at so#its gonna be economics & either french or geography. btw#my english grade will keep the complete average from dropping too low (thank you 12 year old fanfic writer me)#& i just have to score well enough on art & history with the exams. and french or geography.#history is just slightly above sufficient and art is still slightly below...#hmmmmmmm
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YOU
I LIKE YOU @faislittlewhiteraven
These questions are a little hard to answer with doodles but I tried my best-
Nil generally has a pretty heroic and brave personality overall. She's loud and brash and ready to jump into things super quickly.
She's not the best with words, but she is very reliable overall
More art and writing under cut, it's just a long post man-
In terms of helping about during travels, she likes doing a lot of heavy labor jobs- She's the type to fix broken fences, gather supplies for folks, carry stuff around, tend to crops or lend a help wrangling animals. Nil wouldn't be great at things like sorting and organizing tho- Just tell her what you need and where to put it and she will!
I mentioned she's not really the best with words (she is very emotionally intelligent just sometimes struggles to communicate stuff), HOWEVER, With folks that have been frozen she connects with a lot.
How it's scary that you've been frozen for so long when your entire belief is to change and evolve, how (if Mal Du Pays is anything to go by) they had to fight their own demons in there, how everything can change so easily without you even noticing- It's terrifying to think about.
Actually- a while ago I made battle sprites with Nil- I wasn't happy with them so I never shared them BUT
Specifically I wanted to contrast her frozen sprite with everyone else's- Cause if she were to SOMEHOW be frozen again, knowing what it feels like, what could happen while she's out- It would TERRIFY her instantly. Not just a mild shock or surprise, it would stick with her for a while-
Speaking of battles tho-
Nil is super brash and lively as a whole. She puts up a brave face for a LOT of things, including fighting. She jumps in without really thinking, and as long as it goes their way, she'd have a smile on her face doing it.
However, while brave, it does come from both a place of coping and naivety. She's not used to genuine fighting, in fight or flight situations she actually tends to flee. (Which is why honestly, if she had to fight the King I don't think she could do it-)
If a battle were to start going south, she'd actually start to panic more then anyone else- Physical wounds and seeing the people she loves hurt would lower her accuracy and general capabilities, despite the brave face she puts on.
And due to her lack of experience, especially in bigger groups-
Nil tends to... miscalculate sometimes
She had to learn the hard way not to just jump at any opportunity she sees.
The party can see where Bonnie got it from (also after the battle Nille proceeded to heal Sif, profusely apologizing, I forgot to doodle that whoops-) (Also gameplay wise, imagine every second turn she does an action of her own without your command)
Also just the Sif image by itself cause I liked it :]
As for chores and stuff-
She does foraging and stuff!
Honestly I don't think the other 5 would have done so before they traveled together.
Mira would have most DEFINITELY learned about it but didn't feel confident in her abilities.
Bonnie will grab stuff they think is edible from what they remember Nille telling them and they'd grab a stick to cook.
Odile would not be interested and would prefer buying the ingredients rather then wild scavenging.
Isa doesn't read to me as a biology student, I see him more of a math history type of guy, so either he doesn't know, or him and Mira did it occasionally together, but only as a last resort type of deal (maybe when it was just the two of them and they had to manage alone)
And Sif in my mind is an accident prone goober who'd forget which ones are edible and which ones aren't so I wouldn't trust him personally.
SO! LONG STORY SHORT! I don't think any of them are really experienced with foraging. And as a means to make money management easier- I imagine Nil (nature being a passion of sorts to her) took up the mantle! Probably taught the rest how to do it too!
That's it when it comes to stuff specific to her- Other then that she's kind of ready to help out with anything! She can help set up tends, do odd jobs for money, help cook if for WHATEVER reason Bonnie wanted her to or wanted to do something else in that time, bring water, wood, fish, help with weapons- She's not the best at those things, but if anyone needs a hand to be lent- she is there!
I'll be entirely honest, I don't think I understand your last question-
But I do wanna say that Nil and Isa become like. Best buds real quick. He is the first one she instantly trusts, since she rivals with Mira, is prickly with Odile and Sif is someone she wants to help rather then ask for help. So if she needs someone to turn to, or needs a partner in crime- Nil would turn to Isa
And now I just imagined Mira and Nil bonding over how to grow plants. Cause Mira tried REALLY REALLY HARD and couldn't do it, so Nille would actually love to give some tips- Imagine Mira genuinely walking up to her with a little alive plant with a proud glint in her eyes and have Nil fully support her-
Honestly I could keep going for forever, I have so many thoughts on her and her dynamic with everyone-
Bro I even have nicknames, you don't even know-
BUT I'M GONNA CUT IT HERE, HAVE FUN, I'VE BROUGHT SOME FOOD FOR NOW-
#isat#isat spoilers#in stars and time spoilers#only cause of mal du pays tho honestly#in stars and time#isat nille#isat sif#isat mira#isat petronille#in stars and time nille#in stars and time petronille#lord give me strenght (its 5am I am not awake-)
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Apologies for my recent radio silence. I've had a lot on my mind lately.
This post isn't Earthspark-related at all, but please read it.
I need to take a second on this blog to acknowledge some things going on in the world. I should not have stayed silent on this blog before, but I'm trying to fix that now.
Genocide in Palestine + how you can help Palestinians
You can buy e-sims for people in Gaza here. Anything helps.
Click here daily to help generate funds for Palestine. It's free and takes less than a minute.
Here's a list of where you can donate to help Palestine.
(If there's anything I should add to this section, please let me know.)
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The KOSA bill, what it's going to do if passed, and how you can help prevent it from taking effect
KOSA will essentially erase anonymity from the internet by requiring people to upload their government ID or other form of identification to any social media site, as well as restricting resources and information on LGBT rights, history, racism, and more. This bill will censor the entire internet and destroy privacy while violating First Amendment rights and potentially putting minors in danger.
This also could very well mean the end of Tumblr, and I'm not exaggerating here.
Tomorrow KOSA could be passed in Senate, and from there it will need to pass in the House of Representatives before being signed into law by the president. It's not doomsday yet, but it is a dangerous situation-- and here's what you can do.
StopKOSA.org provides you with a template email to send to your representatives. You can leave it how it is or edit it to say what you want, and then send it from their website.
The website also allows you to call your representatives and gives you a template of what to say.
BadInternetBills.org, run by the same people, takes action against KOSA as well as other bills like EARN IT. At the time of posting this, over 356,000 people have signed this petition.
Additionally there are several petitions on change.org to help stop KOSA. Here are a few of them.
STOP KOSA
STOP THE KOSA
Stop Kosa
Save Humanity, Oppose KOSA
STOP THE KOSA ACT
(Again, please let me know if there's anything I should add.)
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One last thing-- The evolution of AI images and video.
I don't really have anything good to say. AI is evolving fast and changing the world as we know it. We are adapting, but nobody knows how this really is going to end up.
A few quick points:
AI images are not art. That's all. AI "artists" who genuinely claim to have made something of their own just by typing a prompt into a generator will be blocked. (Which has been in my rules for a while, but I still think it needs to be said.)
I recommend Glaze for artists who don't want their art being scraped and used for data training. Especially with the recent rumors of an upcoming deal between Tumblr and Midjourney. There's also a similar program called Nightshade (haha, earthspark reference? anyone?🦉) that I haven't tested myself but have heard good things about.
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That's all, I suppose. Reblogs are good, if you don't mind.
Spread the word about KOSA. Contact your representatives. Sign the petitions.
Support Palestine if possible. Donate if you can. If you are unable to donate, make sure to do your daily clicks.
Stay safe and take care of yourselves. ❤️
#>> mod: firefly#this will be one of the only non-earthspark things i'll ever post#look i'm going to be completely honest here; i'm stressed out of my fucking mind. this is not okay#the state of the world is terrifying and i hate it#but we can still do things to help#it's important to not give up hope because there is hope and we can fight for it#but not if we give up before we can try#alright yeah that's my attempt at a pep talk. from the earthspark blog mod.#thank you for reading this anyways. <3#oh and anon asks will be off for a short while because i'm scared of. idk. everything right now. sorry about that#tags:#palestine#from the river to the sea#free palestine#stop kosa#anti ai#ai art theft#from the river to the sea palestine will be free#kosa#kosa bill#bad internet bills#internet censorship#hgffgdfgdfh
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Some Thoughts Regarding James Somerton
I know I'm rather late to the conversation and some of these points may have already been talked about in some form elsewhere on the site, but if you don't mind, I have some thoughts of my own regarding the subject of hbomberguy's latest video and I would like to take time to voice. This blog is normally dedicated to music and music writing, not posts about disgraced Youtubers, so I apologize for the detour in regularly scheduled programming.
First, I think it's important to make the distinction that Somerton isn't just a case of "problematic Youtube guy got owned... twice" but rather a genuine case of academic dishonesty, which is several grades above youtuber drama. This isn't something like Tati Westbrook getting angry at James Charles for sucking dick and cock at a birthday dinner. This isn't Ethan Klein and Trisha Paytas or whomever having beef. It's not Charlie Critikal talking about some stupid drama of the day or someone just using Youtube videos to say a bunch of gross and problematic stuff. No. This is a fucking grifter who not only lied, cheated, and stole his way to the top, but also did it by using a vulnerable community that has long had their voices snuffed out and their history completely rewritten or wiped from existence altogether. What history he didn't plagiarize, he twisted and outright lied about. He just made shit up to suit his own gross agenda.
A lot of things about James Somerton left me absolutely livid, and I admit that I didn't even know who he was until hbomberguy's video. I think what makes me the most mad is that I went to undergrad and grad school with a number of jackoffs that were just like him. People that didn't give a shit about the art of writing and research and just treated academia and the pursuit of knowledge and how to critically engage with art and media into a stupid game that only chumps take seriously. Somerton pisses me off because I AM a writer. When I write the Ranting and Raving series of posts on here, that stuff doesn't just fly out of my ass. I have to sit with a song, study it, research it, and make sure I know what I'm talking about so I don't look like a clown. I also have to make sure that I link and credit where I'm getting information from. It's not just important for my own satisfaction, but it's important for anyone who stumbles upon a post on this blog and takes time out of their day to read it and/or reblog it.
I think that's the part that makes me the most mad. That he and Nick Hergott have so little respect for the work that goes into researching and writing about a topic that other people are really passionate about. Spending time with something, studying it, and figuring out an interesting and unique perspective on it is a great feeling. Sharing what you find or how you see something with others and having them either like or reblog your work is an even greater feeling. That's my writing that somebody enjoyed and thought was worth sharing with others. Fuck fuck fuck Somerton for thinking you can take a million little shortcuts to get to that result.
While I'm on the topic, I don't think Hergott gets a pass for Somerton's actions. I've seen some people make the argument that he isn't complicit and there's a chance that he genuinely had no clue that Somerton was doing this... but I don't buy it. There's no way he didn't know and wasn't in on it in some capacity. Even if he wasn't, as Todd in the Shadows pointed out in his video on this situation, Nick is, whether you like it or not, an accomplice to Somerton's lies and he is complicit in the blame, due to his name being included in the "Written By" credit of a lot of those videos with Somerton. The way I see it, I find it hard to believe that he couldn't have known. I imagine part of Hergott's signing on with Somerton was that in the event that shit hits the fan, Hergott would be used as a fall guy to help deflect accusations of plagiarism.
To return to Somerton, in a way, he's almost worse than AI/Chat-GPT because, really, an AI has no morals. It can only do what someone punches in and tells it to do. Somerton is a guy who does have genuinely insidious ambitions and knows fully what he's doing. That shit about "only the boring gays who didn't mess around in the eighties survived the aids crisis" is the wildest and grossest accusation I've seen about gay people in some time. The wild takes about the Nazis (especially all the wrong things he said about fitness relating to Nazis) should also raise a lot of red flags. I'll say this though, I don't blame anybody in the slightest for not fully realizing Somerton was saying shit like that or doing all of what he was doing until hbomberguy and Todd presented it a certain way and made it all very clear. It's easy to not notice it when Somerton buries it by ripping stuff off from other, better writers. So, if you were someone who was a big fan and was genuinely shocked by the things Todd had to fact-check and debunk and worried that you're a bad person for having not caught any of them, trust me, you're not. Nobody should blame you for not catching it. <3
While I'm ranting about this, I want to say that Somerton's patreon grift was really gross to see exposed as well (through Dan Olson's really great thread, which can be read here). I understand the allure of wanting to buy expensive gear and thinking that's somehow needed in order to make Good Content™️, but there's a stark difference between someone saying "I think I need to shell out a little money in order to get something of higher quality" and "I need to have the appearance of looking like my stuff is being made with high quality stuff." As someone who has been experimenting with trying to turn his writing into video, I did some audio tests this weekend and realized that maybe (just maybe) the old Turtle Beach microphone my brother left behind when he moved out isn't going to cut it. If I want to record something I can be happy with, I'm gonna have to bite it and look at getting something decent, but somewhat affordable from a Best Buy or something. You don't need the best tech in order to make something great, but you can't use copper tools forever if you have the means to be able to enjoy using iron ones, you know?
Somerton's grift reminded me of guys like Onision and Spoony. Grifters who looked to Patreon and other creator donation sites for an easy pay day and would bitch and cry and complain that it's your fault when they don't get it. Somerton making poor financial choices ON TOP of it being money that he scammed from a community of people that were looking to invest in a voice that they genuinely thought was speaking for them in a meaningful way, only makes the grift more disgusting and foul. Even if he's just "some Youtuber," Somerton still had a responsibility to his audience to present queer topics in an ACCURATE manner. He didn't and we all have the right to be angry with him about it. This isn't just silly youtuber controversy, this is academic dishonesty in it's purest form and if it gets you expelled from any college program, it should get you expelled from being able to show your face on Youtube as well, which is how Somerton's story will end.
I've been on the internet for many years. I've seen some of the worst, most problematic creators of all time find a way to bounce back from all kinds of controversy and find some kind of success again. I don't think that will happen for Somerton. Not one bit. What he's done is something you can never come back from, no matter how much you try to reform. If two different youtubers can make two completely different videos about why you suck, I don't think there's any recovery. What happened this weekend is a now classic episode of World's Most One Sided Fist Fights Caught on Film.
This post has gone on for a while, so let me wrap it up. I mean this without hyperbole and without exaggeration: James Somerton is a disgrace to both media criticism and the art of video creation. I genuinely hope he remains propped up as a cautionary tale of what can happen when you fully decide you have absolutely no respect for the Humanities and decide that lying, cheating, and stealing your way to the top, all while scamming and being incredibly shitty towards a community that has long suffered and is STILL suffering greatly to this day, is better than any kind of academic honesty. I understand that Somerton is just "some youtube fraud" to some people, but the problem lies more in what Somerton's actions and motivations represent. I really think hbomberguy's video on plagiarism is going to do a lot of good. It's going to help a lot of people avoid doing it as well as help people become more aware of what it really looks like and all the damage it can do.
Thank you for your time.
P.S. It doesn't really need to be said at this point, but make sure you support the queer voices and writers that did the work Somerton thought was good enough to just copy and paste into a video. They're the ones that suffered the most through all of this and my heart goes out to them, from one writer to another. <3
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Random details on Amaryllis as my Tav and my BG3 playthrough with her:
🌸 she's romancing Astarion, and has no idea. She just thinks he's neat. He thinks she's an insane, weird, bleeding heart, yet somehow that's getting to him. (It was the embroidered art of him). I imagine he falls for her first, and he has no idea what to do about it bc none of his experience works for her. That said, she's going to eventually return his feelings and be a lot more awkward/shy when she does
🌸 she and Gale are nerd buddies who talk for hours and hours about nerdy magical shit, or history stuff, or gods and goddesses, whatever can be found in a book. Probably end up discussing how to send a bear flying at mach speed with stackings of haste and other magical items
🌸 Amy likes Shadowheart and wants to braid Shadowheart's favorite flowers into her hair and have a like a spa day together
🌸 Karlach and Lae'zel both, ah, very bluntly propositioned her and spooked Amy senseless (this is what happens when you have a demi-sexual n demi-romantic OC who gets aggressively flirted with)
🌸 Amy has decided to run, hide, and avoid them for a while bc of this. I imagine when Karlach specifically propositioned Amy at her bedroll, Amy was so startled she immediately started rolling away and right over the campfire, completely ignoring the fact that she was now on fire. (She just misty stepped away from Lae'zel)
🌸 (i imagine Amy ran to Astarion after this, wide eyed and frazzled and going "HELP" lol and after, they hung out in the woods doing embroidery to relax, while Astarion mused on how it's probably a good thing she didn't realize he tried propositioning her too, or else she might have been scared away. Also him musing on how she enjoys spending time with him enough that she'd rather just embroider stuff with him than have casual sex with people)
🌸 Despite that, she does genuinely like Lae'zel and Karlach a lot, and enjoys sparring with both, and making cute plushies with Karlach
🌸 Amy thinks Wyll is kinda silly and goofy, but earnest. She thinks his horns are funny and wants to make decorations for them
🌸 Halsin deeply reminds her of one of her dads (who, coincidentally, was also an 8ft tall, beefy, middle aged nature loving elf)
Speaking of-
One way I'm viewing the playthrough is that Amaryllis from her main campaign got bonked on the head into a coma and got isekai'd, with amnesia, into the game story
A lot of the characters are hilariously very similar to characters she knew in her OG campaign
I think those initial similarities are what drew Amy to everyone, and they're why she was so immediately comfortable around people that she should have probably been more wary of (Astarion), but as time passes that all fades as she gets to know everyone more personally
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I wanna make some hazbin x scott pilgrim au inspired art where Adam is Ramona and Lucifur is Scott
The scenario is this:
After adam dies and comes back as a sinner, after all that angst, all that trial and error, Lucifur makes moves on Adam and finally, FINALLY, gets him to say yes to a relationship.
Man thought it was over.
Lucifur: Adam, I'm so glad you're finally mine ☺️
Adam: Um.. about that...
Lucifur: what?
Adam: you need to fight my seven exes....
Lucifur: what????
And then Lucifur has to fight Adam's exes as said before and it goes from easy to hard and I giggle in my seat.
My roster is this- easiest to hardest, why im choosing them:
7- Mammon (greedyguitar/firstchristmas)- I think this ship is hilarious and I feel like it :3 it would make Luci be like: WHAT??? HOW??? They met on an extermination day, found eachother funny and had a good fling for a while. They're still good friends actually and when Adam go revived as sinner, he would contact Mammon from time to time without Lucifur knowing
6- ??? -dunno so help me decide :3
5- Eve (edit:edenapple)- this is obvious an a duh the original pookies bro bffr 🙄
4- Azrael (deadlyguitar or deathmetal idk) saw this one. Snatched it. It's mine now I'm gonna love them forever as well. They met when Adam was retrieved from the earth on his death bed. Adam found him kinda hot.
3- Raphael (idk haven't made one yet/maybe greenthumb? Bcz Adam was a farmer and Raphael's color is green)- Idk I just feel like it. Raphael is the angel of healing if I'm not wrong. Healing both physically and spiritually, so Adam went to him for therapy and they kissed cuz I said so.
2- Gabriel (i can't choose between guitaramp or guitarspeaker) - Along with Micheal, he was another oc ship I had in my draft sketches. Couldn't tell you why. Fun dynamic tho for me bcz my Gabriel is a loud mouth gossip. They met in Adam's last years of life and in heaven, Gabriel being Micheal's second in command, met Adam often during his training. They're silly
1- Micheal- it's me... come on... this is my whole account... but i had this boy in my sketches before I revived this account. But yeah, he was Adams friend in Eden, guide and mentor in heaven, and is mad protective of Adam even after the falling out. Also Luci and him need to brawl is for their own good. Love the brother angst ❤️
Lucifur is shocked at how many guys Adam has actually dated/been with, and Adam is just openly bisexual. He just doesn't tell anyone, tho or really show it lol
I need to show you guys my interpretations of the archangels like,,,, soon omg... but for now you're gonna have to guess until I make that art hhhh
Idk who to put in for 6 tho...
And before I anyone says Lute or Lilith, I wanna keep the ratio of the 6 guys 1 girl like how it is and I just don't think either fit, atleast for me.
Lilith... nah... I feel like she's a mix of Kim, Envy and Knives in the sense (scotts exes) of this au and for Lute- I just don't ship Guitarspear. Don't get me wrong, it's a great ship but I saw they're dynamic as more of silly dad and his feral child. I like that dynamic way more for them so yea.
But if you have any ideas for who 6 should be either send it to me in asks, comments, dms or any other way cuz I genuinely have no idea who the last person would be :')
I feel like they should be somone with a long history with Adam so no one from the hotel :/ which is why this is so hard to choose 😭😭😭😭😭😭
I was tempted to do st peter (holynotes) for a giant laugh but I don't think so??? Maybe??? BRUH IDK USBEBEHSBSJEKWWK
Please send help I beg 🙏🙏🙏🙏
#adamsapple#hazbin hotel#guitarhero#micheal hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel michael#lucifer morningstar#adam hazbin hotel#lucifer x adam#scott pilgrim au#guys please send me ideas im actually begging you
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Hi! I really love your art! The lines are so bold but the colours so natural that it feels distinct but grounded?? I'm obsessed with the shapes in your work
I was wondering if you had any advice for drawing bodies? Whenever I try it either my proportions are off or an arm ends up looking like a calf or something.
First of all, thank you <3 That's so nice and I think "lines bold, colours natural" is some truly aspirational words to say about my art, I'll strive to be what you say I am <3
I do not, unfortunately, have any great tips on drawing bodies - it's a very wide topic and fundamentally just really bloody hard. I fail horribly 9 times out of 10. How to approach it I think varies a lot with like...HOW you are struggling, and who you are as a person.
For proportions and anatomy there are definitely books to look at, and some rules of thumb that can help you - anything from "the shoulders are about 2.5-3 heads wide" through "feet are the same length as the forearm", "elbows are in line with the navel and the navel is two sternums down" etc etc. For me, realising just how big the ribcage actually is and learning how to use that as a unit of measure was a big event (the torso is about two ribcages long). Look at references, Draw over low opacity references and try to look for patterns that help YOU. Like...
"Hm, do the shoulders line up with something useful?"
Having a good ref model to double check things helps too. The pen is pointing to about the bottom of the ribcage.
But there's also stuff like maybe you're getting too hung up on construction and then it might help more to try to draw from references by ONLY blocking in a silhouette first. This helps me sometimes still:
Or you could be like me, struggle with all of the above and then some - like how to make poses look natural and/or dynamic?
Weight distribution is a whole other topic.. gah, it never ends, but it's fun to learn.
Lastly, this took me way too long to realise and I think it should be said: Do not fret too much about STUDYING.
The unfair thing is that the better you are at something, the better you will be at actually learning from doing studies and exercises or reading books. We accept this with many other disciplines and sports but rarely art. Mileage is king, and mileage is best gained from having fun and enjoying what you do. If you find studies suffering and frustrating you're probably better off just drawing what you enjoy and fuck it if it isn't "pushing your boundaries" or whatever.
Eventually you'll get to the point where studies start to give more than they take, and then you're home free.
I'm not gonna recommend a billion resources you likely won't enjoy but here are some things I genuinely found helpful lately:
* a physical anatomy model, they're pricy and not necessary but being able to just look at it every now and then, turn it over etc helps.
* The "Morpho" series of books, they do not teach anatomy, but they are very useful quick reference books and much more easily digested than most anatomy material. Just try to find a real anatomy book to read once your appetite is up as well.
The zig-zag/Lightning bolt method for arms and legs, fuckin' thing revolutionised how I sketch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCkmB030GpQ
Gottfried Bammes "The Complete guide to Anatomy for Artists and Illustrators"
This thing is insane, it's from the 50's and like 600 pages long. You could absolutely kill someone with it, but a lot of the pages are more philosophical or art history you can skip and despite its age and fear factor this dude writes in a witty, clever and just wonderful way that I've seen nowhere else. Fantastic photos. By far, FAR the best anatomy book I've ever seen. It's not a book I'd recommend for someone starting out, I would not have been able to digest it like four years ago, but once you get to a certain point it's amazing.
That's a lot, uhhh, feel free to ask me for more specific tips this was a bit of a rant. Hope some of it was useful!
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Happilyfeatherafter's ficrec Fridays
Back for my second week of fics I've read and loved recently, as well as a couple of throw backs. If you missed last week's you can find it here for more!
12 January 2024
Altitude by enochianprayer (@chapeldean, art by @hornystiel here and @naughtystiel here) is a wintery delight, in which Dean is a seasonal worker in a mountain lodge and Castiel is a hiker who's passing through. Enchanted by their brief encounter with each other, Dean can't get Cas out of his head, and Cas' questioning leads him to find something holy in the revelations he stumbles upon at the lodge. Sweet and romantic, wild and wandering, cosy and brave.
boy leave your boots by the bed by an_ardent_rain (@alulangel) is a post-canon fix it, a smutty cowboy kink (shh yes this WILL be a recurring theme on my rec lists), wish fulfilment fic for the spn bang bang with one of my favourite tropes of Dean and Cas going on little dates without really realising they're going on little dates, whilst pining. Plus absolutely wonderful banter:
Cas squints and ignores that. “Technically, you could say that this heaven is still ‘in beta’ now,” he says, and he uses the air quotes and it’s so adorable Dean bites the swell of a bottom lip to hold in a fond smile. Cas is, as always, a giant dork. “But we are soliciting feedback.”
“Yeah, you got a heavenly suggestion box? Hotline for complaints? Five stars, would die and spend eternity here again?”
“There are… more than five stars, Dean.”
Sweet Science by emmbrancsxx0, (@valleydean) is now complete, a 12 days of smutmas challenge continuation to the incredible destiel 1930s boxing au Heavyweight. Cas and Dean are on a romantic winter retreat to get out of the spotlight against the backdrop of the burgeoning economic depression in New York, both seeing the boxing world become harder to maintain a living. With Cas secretly planning to retire, and not yet letting on to Dean, can they navigate their future whilst still maintaining their hard fought for trust? I love these guys so much and am so glad to be back in their world.
The Root of this Love by kathscradle is for all the bearded!Misha fans. May he have survived the acrylic paint incident. The very short and sweet and sexy premise: Cas is hairy, now that he’s human. Dean can’t get a grip on himself. (But he sure can get a grip on Cas!) Smutty body hair celebration and body worship.
Just Being and Just Having by Englandwouldfall is the post-canon fic series I drop everything to read every time there's a new update. It delves so incredibly beautifully into Dean and Cas' history of miscommunication and gives them the chance to truly talk things out, finding themselves falling more deeply in love as they do so and understand their own mistakes but also what makes them work so well together when they're no longer under Chuck's thumb. Each chapter feels like therapy and a brain and heart massage! Two chapters left to go of Just Having, dive in now so you can lose your mind with me when it's complete.
Solitudes by ilovehowyouletmefall (@angelinthefire, art by @hawkland) is set in season 12 after Cas is nearly killed by Ramiel. Dean is close to acknowledging his feelings, whilst Cas is weighed down by the responsibility to find Kelly, but he agrees to help out on one more hunt before he leaves. Trapped, they encounter a monster which makes both of their nightmares come true...or so they think. Witnessing each other's despair, this is a haunting and genuinely creepy story that will make your heart ache.
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I find it interesting that the most controversial/widespread posts have been those relating to physical appearance/visual medium. Lbh's hair and body type and sqq's eyes. I wonder what's the underlying cause for this. Maybe because people get attached to designs they feel more protective of them? Just a thought.
Oh, I would say this is absolutely the case. Visual design choices are, after all, often symbolic reflections of parts of individuals' own selves in some way, or of other things that are important to them. Artists will also spend a lot of time and thought on creating their designs-- and in some ways, visual media and written media are also quite different. You don't need the visual contrast so much in a book, but you do need it more when it's pictures, because characters with good contrasts are pleasant to look at together.
I actually think the donghua designs create a sort of contrast too-- both by SQQ's lighter eyes to LBH's, but as well as with the broader silhouettes, where SQQ has flowing robes and hair and LBH's silhouette is tighter. Also in general, the black robes of adult LBH vs the teal & white. Western stylization just focuses more on body type+hair texture silhouette diversity, while eastern stylization is more about the clothing and hair-styling silhouette, in a broad generalization, so it's only natural that when people create their designs, especially for a media that is only written, like SVSSS before the donghua or official cover art came out, that they will draw influence from the background of their own culture in creating these designs, in addition to their own experiences.
It's difficult too in my position, because while I genuinely want to take a neutral look at trends and history and patterns and cultural influence as a scientific sort of examination, there are so many instances of attacks on character designs, which make both the artists and designers and the people who like those designs feel bad and just isn't productive, even if criticisms are genuine. Things should be talked over civily, without bashing, because a space where people are belittled and attacked is not a space where people can learn.
Anyway, everyone has reasons for their designs. Sometimes these may be rooted in stereotyping or westernization, but other times, they're based on personal reasons and don't actually have those roots. It's not my or anyone's place to declare, definitively, that someone is stereotyping (of course, there are some instances when things are very very obvious and that's a different story), I only try to explain what things i can so that people are then able to examine things for themselves. I do think it's everyone's own responsibility to look at their own biases and think about where their portrayal choices are sourced from, especially when engaging with a culture that isn't one's own. But I don't want people to get into a justification loop, because that's not going to help anyone-- just to honestly take a look at the why of things. Sometimes there's subconscious biases, sometimes it isn't about that. I don't know peoples' own experiences, so I'm not going to say what it is or isn't.
In the end, accountability is something that is definitely needed in sensitive areas like westernization or stereotyping. However, accountability is not dogpiling on someone. Instead, it's personally being open to consideration, to change, and to growth-- and we'll never have that in a hostile environment. People need to focus more on holding themselves accountable, and less on holding others accountable-- we all have unconscious biases. It's part of existing in any culture or environment, and it's a life-long process of examining them and growing in experience and knowledge. And I hope to contribute that knowledge wherever I can, and use what platform I have to foster that sort of gentler environment, where it's not about making people who genuinely didn't know things feel bad, but where it's okay to be wrong, and to learn and grow.
It's up to an individual to examine themselves when they hear new information. That doesn't mean everyone needs to change their designs to conform with Chinese beauty standards-- which have plenty of issues of their own, and shouldn't be taken as more "morally correct!" It's just so that as many people as possible can have as much information as possible, so they can make the best and most informed judgments and decisions they can about their own viewpoints and thought processes.
But yes, even saying all this, I can perfectly acknowledge that fan-designs of beloved characters hold a bit of their creator's heart. While creators can be imperfect, the experiences and emotions and care that these designs stem from is still genuine, and should be treated with gentleness and understanding.
No matter if someone's viewpoint is erroneous or just different from yours, it's important to remember that every person on the internet is a real, human person. Fandom culture can be so notoriously toxic-- and it's high time that people remember each other's humanity, and treat one another with compassion and understanding. That's the only way to create a better fandom space-- and ultimately, a better world.
#answered#psa#this got very very long#i was actually going to make a whole post of my own on this#there are a lot of important things to consider#but most importantly we are all people#all enjoying something together#all existing on this planet and in the end we want to be happy and live and be treated fairly#and when getting caught up in fandom wank or anything else really#this can get forgotten#there's a place for anger and a place for calling things out#but if a gentler option can be just as effective there's no reason not to use that#better to take the time and understand than to lash out incorrectly#long post
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While I feel that hws France is hard to portray I do wonder what headcanons you have for him. Care to tell a few that come to mind?
a lot of my headcanons of francis/françois are from the british imperial + sea/east asian perspective, so with that in mind, these are some thoughts i've had:
a. françois' strengths are that he can be very charming and good at putting people at ease. he is somebody, if you ran into him somewhere, just comes off as a really interesting person. he can talk for ages about his passion for philosophy, art, literature, science and cooking without it getting boring to the listener.
b. he can be a really good lover too and is that sort of person who considers it a point of pride to make his partners enjoy his company. the sort of person who will make dinner and probably also a good breakfast for you. but one of his flaws is that he can also be pretty self-centred at times, and sometimes he uses his charisma to get out of things or simply dodge issues in his personal relationships.
c. françois, much like arthur, is in the Bad Parent club vis a vis matthew in the 17—18th centuries. where they differ however, is i feel that arthur was controlling but more...present, whereas françois was more...dismissive. matthew would get letters from arthur instructing him to do this and that, which for matthew at least acknowledged him, whereas françois might just not even write to him much at all, especially after matthew came under arthur's control.
d. françois really clicked with alfred during the revolutionary war. it helped that alfred was punching arthur in the dick, but i think that françois for all his flaws, genuinely possesses a somewhat more idealistic streak (than say, arthur imo) so that gelled well with alfred spouting all kinds of enlightenment thoughts (especially since he was also reading french writers like Montesquieu).
e. françois and lien (vietnam) have a complicated (to say the least) relationship due to the history of french imperialism over vietnam; i see francis being much younger than her (she and yao are peers in age!), so lien fitted him very much into her prior experience as an older female nation being forced to deal with 'boys playing at being empires'. lien probably shot him in the face at least once during the first indochina war, that tried to re-establish colonial rule over vietnam in the 1950s. however, i do think they can talk more cordially in more recent decades, with normalisation of ties. cooking is perhaps one topic that is a common interest—vietnamese banh mi is a kind of sandwich originating from french baguettes that incorporates local ingredients, and it's a really tasty and popular streetfood. there's also a big french-vietnamese population in paris today.
f. kiku was absolutely not impressed by monet's la japonaise, nor 'madame chrysanthème', the wildly racist and orientalist mess that Madame Butterfly was based on. it was exoticising, not flattering to him—he was however, more amenable to those of françois' artists that incorporated japanese artistic techniques in more genuine ways, or with françois' own view of aesthetics and his knowledge and interest in engineering.
g. yao, much like kiku later, was someone françois was very interested in culturally—as seen from the boom in chinoiserie when trade with china began back in the 17th century. i think french is probably one of the first european languages yao learns (besides portuguese). it's a fairly functional trading relationship—until of course, french imperialist interests began expanding in yao's sphere of influence and the opium wars.
h. i'm a fruk fan so naturally i think his love-hate relationship with arthur is one of his most significant r/ships—arthur has been a neighbour, friend, enemy, lover and everything in between. but! scotfra is another very, very long-term relationship important to him (auld alliance!). also on an EU level well, there's him and ludwig too.
i. naturally, he's also fairly fashionable, and i feel like he'll always eye himself critically even if he's going out casually, compared to way i can see arthur being fairly chill about strolling out in that questionable, ill-fitting acid green christmas sweater alfred sent him as a joke once. i also think françois probably smokes a fair bit, compared to how arthur's gotten a kick in the arse to cut back after WWII. and nowadays, he'll often just be relaxing with a cigarette on the balcony of his apartment with a book, or enjoying a day out in one of his museums.
#hws france#hetalia#hws england#hws canada#hws vietnam#hws china#hws japan#hws scotland#hetalia headcanons
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i'd log in but i fully forgot my username and password since i left for college lol, but the first semester of college ended and i'm finally back home for my break. i'm doing a degree in history in a liberal arts university which has been my absolute dream since i was a child; everyone else in my class was an engineer/doctor aspirant and i was the labelled Humanities Child. so college was supposed to be The Dream for me and, in many ways, i have. HOWEVER, the issue is that i am now surrounded by The Humanities Child(ren) of every school, and now i have no personality? i also feel hopelessly out of place because im surrounded by people who seem to know sooo much more than me (i know this sounds like a very much grass is greener on the other side situation but i assure you i am hopelessly out of my depth here). i'm genuinely having a little bit of a crisis bc i used to be the child that Knew Things and Read, but now, so is everybody im surrounded by. i originally meant to send this ask to ask you for recs/resources on knowing more, but i'm not fully sure as to what exactly i need to know more of, so do you have any tips on how to inculcate a habit of learning more generally (subscribe to newspapers? listen to podcasts? but like, when, where, which ones, how do i find the right ones?). i desperately need to be the smart kid again, i don't know who i am without it lol
hello. i think you should be patient with yourself. college is disorienting because you go from being with people who didn't really choose to be in school and study what school makes them study to people who definitely chose the sciences or humanities or whatever. it's only logical that you feel out of depth, i know i did too. but trust me, however much it feels like people know more already, it's also that college is a leveller: you will be taught things, you will be taught how to think and much of what's coming in terms of academia is a fresh start for everyone.
i don't think the way out is to know everything and to always be up to date on everything under the sun. i also can't recommend what you should be reading or listening to, other than just standard news, which will then lead you to more finer material that's about the things you care about. the easiest way really is to be on the lookout for sources: your professors will tell you, ask your classmates if something they mention sounds interesting, find what you like in the library and so on.
also lastly, i don't think you're supposed to know who you are when you're in college. college exists for you to figure that out. don't worry about not knowing what your thing is (i'm 24 and i don't know what my thing is), but start small with things that are adjacent to either what you're studying or what you've conventionally liked. then you build on that and the next and so on.
hope this helps :)
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Random strawhat headcannons because I can:
Luffy: He seems so dumb until you ask him about beetles. He's a bug enthusiast. Thinks Buggy doesn't deserve the name bc actual bugs are WAY cooler. Tone deaf.
Zoro: Genuinely likes to hear about history and culture, he just gets the geography mixed up. I bet he has shoulder pains but just doesn't say anything. Has an appreciation for art, just doesn't feel like putting time towards developing the skill. Also Tone deaf.
Nami: Likes drawing quite a bit, and in her free time she doodles the landscapes she sees. Farsighted but her eyesight isn't too bad.
Usopp: IDGAF what Oda says he's a lefty in my book. Favorite medium is watercolor, but enjoys charcoal drawing too. Wants to get a tattoo to be cool but is too afraid it'll hurt too bad.
Sanji: tone deaf. Cannot hold a tune to save his life.
Chopper: doesn't even bother telling Zoro off about his bad habits anymore. He knows he'll never listen. Wants to learn how to draw (it'll help him with his medical journals), and spends time with Usopp and Nami to learn.
Robin: She enjoys some shenaniganery too. She very easily sneaks up on everyone else to spook them. On top of general history, she also admires architecture. She and Franky nerd out about it.
Franky: how his ginormous hands play an average sized guitar is beyond me, but I bet he has regular jam sessions with Brook.
Brook: You hand this man ANY instrument and he already has previously mastered it, or will in a matter of minutes. The skeleton jokes are a coping mechanism. Enjoys when anyone else joins in on his musical endeavors.
Jinbe: (I'm about to start the Marine Ford arc, I'm in impel down right now, at the part where everyone is trying to escape to go save Ace, so fair warning if he's mischaracterized, I'm going off what I've seen in clips and little in-show material) Gives the best hugs out of anyone else. Amazing at comforting others without sugarcoating much.
BONUS ROUND
Bon Clay: Typically not the violent type until push comes to shove, or until there's a new pair of pointe shoes that need to be broken in. I mean this guy is so violent with the pointe shoes. I know they need to be broken in and fitted right but damn what did the shoe do to you?
Buggy: He starts rehearsing different circus acts when he's stressed out. Like "Captain!" "What?" "What are you doing?" "I'M WALKING A TIGHTROPE THAT'S AS UNSTABLE AS ME RIGHT NOW!"
#one piece#buggy the clown#one piece nami#cat burglar nami#nami#luffy#monkey d. luffy#roronoa zoro#vinsmoke sanji#usopp#chopper#tony tony chopper#nico robin#franky#franky one piece#soul king brook#brook#one piece jinbe#jinbe#jinbei#first son of the sea jinbe#bon clay
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I saw your post about how hard things have been lately and I was wondering if having people boost not just war/survival related things, but also positivity would help? Ukraine has such a rich and beautiful culture; I'd love to know if there are good tags for finding information and examples to boost to show people that and if you think that would be genuinely helpful?
Sorry if this is worded oddly. I hope you and your family stay safe and that this ends in victory for your people soon. <3
thank you for the kind words and support!!
as for your question: it's not odd at all, but i have kind of mixed feelings on the matter, so this is gonna be long i'm sorry....
first i'll say this: celebrating and promoting ukrainian culture is always, unambiguously, a good idea, because historically it's been largely underrepresented and understudied (and appropriated and/or miscredited by. Some Country. anyway). i like to think it's also helpful to our plight, however marginally, because people are more likely to sympathise with someone familiar and relatable, and engaging with ukrainian culture/boosting ukraine's presence anywhere can help bridge that gap.
as for online sources to share, i can definitely recommend ukr_arthistory (ukrainian art) and old_ukr_books (vintage book illustrations) on twitter, and also vintage-ukraine here on tumblr. if you'd like to help promote ukrainian artists on here as well as on twitter, #украрт, #укркрафт are the tags you wanna check out. living artists could always use some engagement/commissions
this list is quite short, to my shame, but again, fellow ukrainians are very welcome to add their own suggestions! (guys, please do)
i have my own reservations, though. see, there isn't a single aspect of ukrainian culture, art, life that hasn't been affected or retroactively reframed by the current war or by the long gruesome history of russia's colonialism in ukraine. the war is a part of us, it's a part of me, and any attempt by a non-ukrainian to draw a neat line between the two feels. unearned and violating? somehow? (again, these are just my feelings; e.g. i never trigger tag my war posts because nobody gets to have the fun parts of me and filter out the war part of me. other ukrainians may have different feelings)
and especially now, when the political and battlefield situation is at its bleakest yet and ukraine has been making less and less headlines, hearing non-ukrainians praise the resilience of the ukrainian people or repeat the comforting "kyiv in three days" platitude makes me feel bitter more than anything, because like. we shouldn't have to be this resilient! we're resilient because our allies are failing us and our only other choice is death! sure they didn't take kyiv in three days, but if they take it in three years instead i'll be just as dead in the end! you feel me?
this, of course, isn't to imply you did/were about to do any of that; i'm just trying to explain why i can't just answer "yes, by all means" to your (respectful and valid) question.
i guess the bottom line is: sure, do share and celebrate the beautiful, joyful, fascinating things about ukraine, as long as you also share and engage with the serious stuff. unfortunately, the bad news are the priority right now. i sincerely hope we live to see the day they won't be.
#rereading this i realise that the whole paragraph about resilience had nothing to do with your question and i could've omitted it altogether#uhh. consider that one a rant tangent i'm sorry#mari asks
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Hello Falcon, first off LOVE you're AU and designs, their so unique. I was just curious and I don't think anyone's ever asked this but.. What did everyone do before the Apocalypse? Aside from Scar which you already answered. :)
Hi hi! So happy to hear you're enjoying! I think here and there I've mentioned bits and pieces of some character's pre-apocalypse lives, but never all at once. Here's a comprehensive list of everybody's prior occupations, with some supplementary info for the characters that I've thought about the most.
Etho worked on an industrial farm. He was mainly tasked with planting and harvesting vegetables, and other miscellaneous labor tasks. When he wasn't working, he spent much of his time with Cleo and Bdubs. He's notorious for leaving his flip phone on the kitchen counter in his apartment when he goes out for the day, so it can be a bit difficult to get a hold of him. In general, he's pretty content with his life, and enjoys the routine his job offers.
Joel sort of just goes through the motions. He works a number of minimum wage jobs during his adult years, and doesn't really do much else. It isn't until the apocalypse, when he starts to meet new people and he realizes being lonely sucked. If you ask him, though, he's never felt lonely in his entire life-that would just be silly.
Grian spends his late childhood learning how to cook in a local restaurant. The owner and staff look after him best they can, but despite their hospitality, he resolves one day to grab as much cash as possible and head to a seaside town to start his early adult life. There he finds a small funeral home, and lands an apprenticeship only because they could really use the help and the owner themselves isn’t particularly concerned if they have to cut corners. It isn’t long before his inexperience starts to cause problems, and he takes off yet again when it comes to light the name he had been going by was stolen from an obituary a few cities over. He continues as he was, from place to place and name to name. It’s become somewhat routine for him to cheat every person he comes into contact with, in some way shape or form.
Scar, as we discussed in this post, has an extensive criminal history. Him and Grian somewhat deserve each other in that regard.
Cleo does a lot of crafting in their free time. I don't think I ever decided what she does for work, but on the side she does jewelry making, pottery, crotchet and a bit of sewing. She often sells some of what she makes, or gifts it to friends.
Bdubs does a trades program and is just starting out doing construction work. He takes up drawing as a hobby, mainly life drawing. His two best friends are his whole entire world, baby! He somewhat struggles with his independence, and usually wants to spend his time with Etho and Cleo.
Martyn is a hypnotherapist who specializes in past and future life progressions/regressions. He also claims to be a surgeon, but it's unclear what kind or when exactly he got a PhD.
Bigb was a racecar driver. Later in his career, he switched from cars to offroad motorcycle racing. He fell in love with modifying bikes and became a really knowledgeable mechanic.
Tango was a paramedic. Not much time for anything, but when he can he usually would meet up with some of his buddies to play board games.
Ren worked at the saw mill where Etho's friends are set up. At the time, he was living in a cabin in the woods not far from his work. He was somewhat of a hermit, and he has all sorts of woodsy knowledge and equipment at the ready.
Impulse has a bachelors of engineering and worked as an electrician for a few years. Loved his job, loved having to take out all his piercings most days a lot less. He's always been very close with his brother, Skizz, and they meet up often.
Skizz worked a 9-5 office job, and genuinely could not be any happier about it. He's the type of person to make extra time to exercise, or wake up early just to have some quiet time.
Pearl was an art student on exchange from Australia. She has a passion for installation pieces and painting. Some of her work is a bit strange.
Mumbo was a programmer. What did he program? I don't know. I'm sorry Mumbo fans. If it's any consolation he is so disoriented and so scared and so stressed.
Jimmy lived on a small farm with his family. It was all he knew growing up, and it was all he really knew going into adulthood.
Lizzie had a part time job at an aquarium in her town. She gave tours and sometimes did workshops with the kids where she did aquatic themed arts and crafts.
Scott.... I have a hard time imagining what he was up to before everything happened. Who can say for sure what he did in his spare time? (<- the guy who is writing the AU and can't think of an answer)
Hopefully this is helpful! Sorry some of it is more sparse than other parts. Take care, thank you for reading ^_^
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re the ai art thing: there are absolutely some shitty things going on with ai art at the moment, but i feel like this whole thing would benefit from more clarity on the bad actors involved so that arguments could be meaningfully directed at them instead of the nebulous concept of "ai art". i suspect elon musk's name is being used as a buzzword here - while he was one of many founders of openai, he resigned from the company before things like gpt and dall-e even came into existence, so i find posts that talk as though he's still actively involved to be suspect. second, it's entirely possible for an ai art generator to create something thats no more derivative of existing work than a human using it as inspiration. i agree it's still not 100% ethically pure, but at that point it sort of becomes a philosophical debate, not a practical one. a lot of ai art bots DO use significant parts of work, though, and the medical photo story would be horrifying even if ai art wasn't involved - these are specific bad actors, specific people who put private photos into the public domain, specific people who don't do the due diligence in making sure their model doesn't violate the copyright and forgery boundaries we already have in place, specific users who choose to generate derivative art for unethical purposes, and aiming this very justified anger at them is likely to bring about a lot more positive change.
No, Elon Musk's name is being used because he has a very long and very loud history of thinking he shouldn't need to credit artists or writers and that he should be able to use anything in any way he wants and people should be grateful that he did. That context is very important when talking about the intention behind the Tech Bro Collage Machine.
Second, no. It is not possible for an AI to create anything that isn't 100% derivative. There are a few reasons for this:
"AI," that is, actual artificial intelligence, does not exist. This is not nitpicking terminology, this is extremely important and crucial. What we are talking about isn't a brain. It doesn't think. It doesn't create. It cannot create. We may wish to think that it can create - humans love to wonder and we love to anthropomorphize everything, but no. Calling it "AI" is a branding decision, and propaganda. It isn't fact. AI doesn't create anything, first of all, because AI doesn't exist.
Tech-Bros Discover Collages™️ is a program. An algorithm. It does not create any more than a paint mixer creates purple paint when the Home Depot worker puts red and blue paint into a can and loads it into the paint mixer. All it can do it take what it is given and smash it together over and over and over again. And that is - in a very simplistic but also very real way - all that TBDCs do.
I'm very sorry, but androids do not yet dream of electric sheep, computers don't think, and comparing the pixel output of a machine that's just as likely to barf put a man with three fingers growing out of his cheek as it is a "masterpiece" that, if you unfocus your eyes and ignore the watermark artifacts and look past the weird smeary edges and all of the other tells, almost looks kinda like it's not AI art to the output of an actual working artist is absolutely facile. I genuinely cannot believe that people are actually making this argument. Like, I really can't. No, the computer isn't thinking and it can't actually create anything. You're playing with an extremely complicated kaleidoscope loaded with millions of dollars worth of stolen art, intended to help billionaires further defraud everyone else by replacing artists with digital garbage. That's it. That's all. It is nothing more. It cannot be anything more.
I really do wonder what people think is going to happen, here. Do y'all really think this is going to do anything but make it impossible for small artists to make money?
People are already selling "prompts lists" on Etsy as if that is original art, which it is not. People who have gotten really good at playing with the kaleidoscope have gone on long huffy rants about how they shouldn't have to reveal their prompts because they put work into coming up with that specific prompts list... all written without a shred of self-awareness or realization of irony.
I genuinely don't want the answer, here, because as a working artist, I am really exhausted of people trying to defend the destruction of the livelihood I've poured myself into, and the destruction of my friends' livelihoods, too, but I want you to ask yourself (quietly, in your head, and if you want to post about it, do it on your blog, don't put it here) what you think the end result of all of this is going to be.
Do you think this is going to result in some grand new wave of art democratization? It will not. Do you think computers can really create? They cannot. Or do you think instead this is going to lead to a lot of artists no longer being able to find sufficient work as the Fiverr/Uber/Amazonification of everything combined with AI art means that a lot of the meat-and-potatoes commissions and art jobs dry up, because why would you pay someone $100 to draw you a really original picture of your OC with their hours of labor and years of experience when you can get Midjourney to make you one in minutes ✨️for free✨️?
While y'all are busy talking about how computers are doing something not at all different from the human mind (lol), you're hammering the livelihood of a lot of people into the ground, duped by the same people currently burning Twitter to the ground, lighting piles of money on fire as crypto, and minting NFTs. This is just the next thing in a long line of tech bro scams.
Stop falling for it. You're fucking shit up and I'm tired.
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Obey Me Flufftober Day 12
Prompt: Art
Pairing: Solomon x reader (gender neutral)
Word count: 849
A/n: Shout out to my bestie who is literally obsessed with this old man. I'm only tolerating this man for her. This does get a bit angsty, but I promise it ends with fluff.
Sometimes you forget just how old Solomon is. Yes, you know that he is immortal, but sometimes you just forget what that really entails. Pretty much anytime you bring up a topic from history, he can give you intimate details that only someone who lived through that era would know.
And, apparently, the same applies to physical objects from history, as you discovered when you took him to an art museum. He could genuinely recall seeing these paintings happen in person, and give detailed histories on each of them that most historians wouldn't even know. It was impressive, but it also freaked you out a bit. Just how long as Solomon been alive? How long has he been wandering the Earth by himself, absorbing all of this knowledge?
You kept your quickly darkening thoughts to yourself, not wanting to ruin this trip with your worries. Deep down you did feel for Solomon. You knew he must have been lonely for all of the years he's been alive. But you also knew that he was okay with that, plus he wasn't alone anymore. He had you.
But how long would that last?
The thought shook you, and you had to physically pause to process it. Solomon noticed your sudden absence from his side, and he moved back to where you were standing. Sensing your oncoming distress, he is quick to usher you to a private corner away from prying eyes and ears. Once he is sure you're in a safe area, he sits you down and focusing on helping you breathe.
Finally, after a minute, your mind clears and you stop panicking. You didn't even realize you were panicking until you stopped, and now you just feel sluggish and a little dizzy. Solomon is next to you, giving you just enough distance while also not straying too far away. You look to him in confusing, silently asking him what had happened. He explained that you had frozen up on him, and so he moved the two of you to a more secluded space until you calmed down.
Then, he asks you the same question. What happened to make you panic like that? Was it something he did or said? You reassure him that that wasn't the case. You simply just got lost in your thoughts, and they went a little too far for your liking. Solomon didn't ask you directly, but it's clear he wanted to know more, so you decided to tell him.
You explain that, as he spoke of the various histories of the art around you, you began to think about just how long he's been alive. You thought about how lonely he must have felt for all those centuries, but tried to calm yourself by thinking about how you were with him now. That didn't last long because your brain then provided you with a thought you never wanted to have. You thought of your own mortality, and how you wouldn't have much time with him. Even if it was a lifetime for you, it was barely a drop in the bucket of his life, and that upset you more than you thought it would.
Throughout your explanation, Solomon remained quiet, listening intently until you finished. When you did, he continued on in silence, clearly wanting to take the time to process your words and choose the right thing to say. After what felt like an eternity, Solomon finally figured out what to do. Instead of speaking, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around you in a tight embrace. It was unexpected but not unwelcome, and you were quick to return the hug.
You sat there for what felt like hours, but could not have been more than a minute. He releases you but holds onto your shoulders, keeping both you and him steady. His gaze pierces into yours, and it's then that he finally speaks. He tells you that you have every right to worry over him, and that he appreciates your concerns. However, you should not swell on such topics, as they will only bring you sadness. He wants you to be happy when you think about him. After all, he only thinks positive things when he thinks of you.
It's a touching moment, as you rarely hear him speak like this. Both of you are on the verge of tears, but you try your best to hold it in. After all, you soon remember exactly where you are, and suddenly this whole situation is much more comedic than it was a few moments ago. Of course this kind of thing would happen to you while on a museum date.
Now that you've officially calmed down and got your anxieties out, Solomon stands and offers you his hand. You accept gratefully, and when you're on your feet, you don't let go. Instead, you use your grip to pull him along, intent to see the rest of the museum with him. He smiles at you as you do so, and you both think to yourselves that, in that moment, you're the luckiest people alive.
#obey me solomon#shall we date obey me#obey me#flufftober#flufftober 2023#obey me fluff#obey me scenarios#obey me headcanons#solomon headcanons#solomon x reader#gender neutral reader#obey me mc#gender neutral mc
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