yknow what ive change my mind a little bit of media illiteracy is allowed when it comes to funny AI

also listen I care very much for our hunters but this is cracking me up

looking up reference images for him i saw yassified mods for him wearing/ like lip fillers and beauty marks so i tried to restore karmic balance by drawing him as the weird little ratfuck he truly is

guys welcome back to star trek deep throat nine here for the main characters we have nonbinary lesbian goop, trans woman who is a worm, captain who did war crimes, terrorist with a soft spot for halter tops, dr tennis twink, unstable exiled lizard spy with severe daddy issues, guy who we put through hell for fun, the captains little bitchass shit son and guy who gets mad pussy by owning an arcade

inspired by the post by @ratfuck

so do you actually support ai "art" or is that part of the evil bit :| because um. yikes.

Let me preface this by saying: I think the cutting edge of AI as we know it sucks shit. ChatGPT spews worthless, insipid garbage as a rule, and frequently provides enticingly fluent and thoroughly wrong outputs whenever any objective fact comes into play. Image generators produce over-rendered, uncanny slop that often falls to pieces under the lightest scrutiny. There is little that could convince me to use any AI tool currently on the market, and I am notably more hostile to AI than many people I know in real life in this respect.

That being said, these problems are not inherent to AI. In two years, or a decade, perhaps they will be our equals in producing writing and images. I know a philosopher who is of the belief that one day, AI will simply be better than us - smarter, funnier, more likeable in conversation - I am far from convinced of this myself, but let us hope, if such a case arises, they don't get better at ratfucking and warmongering too.

Many of the inherent problems posed by AI are philosophical in nature. Would a sufficiently advanced AI be appreciably different to a conscious entity? Can their outputs be described as art? These are questions whose mere axioms could themselves be argued over in PhD theses ad infinitum. I am not particularly interested in these, for to be so on top of the myriad demands of my work would either drive me mad or kill me outright. Fortunately, their fractally debatable nature means that no watertight argument could be given to them by you, either, so we may declare ourselves in happy, clueless agreement on these topics so long as you are willing to confront their unconfrontability.

Thus, I would prefer to turn to the current material issues encountered in the creation and use of AI. These, too, are not inherent to their use, but I will provide a more careful treatment of them than a simple supposition that they will evaporate in coming years.

I would consider the principal material issues surrounding AI to lie in the replacement of human labourers and wanton generation of garbage content it facilitates, and the ethics of training it on datasets collected without contributors' consent. In the first case, it is prudent to recall the understanding of Luddites held by Marx - he says, in Ch. 15 of Das Kapital: "It took both time and experience before workers learnt to distinguish between machinery and its employment by capital, and therefore to transfer their attacks from the material instruments of production to the form of society which utilises those instruments." The Industrial Revolution's novel forms of production and subsequent societal consequences has mirrored the majority of advances in production since. As then, the commercial application of the new technology must be understood to be a product of capital. To resist the technology itself on these grounds is to melt an iceberg's tip, treating the vestigial symptom of a vast syndrome. The replacement of labourers is with certainty a pressing issue that warrants action, but such action must be considered and strategic, rather than a reflexive reaction to something new. As is clear in hindsight for the technology of two centuries ago, mere impedance of technological progression is not for the better.

The second case is one I find deeply alarming - the degradation of written content's reliability threatens all knowledge, extending to my field. Already, several scientific papers have drawn outrage in being seen to pass peer review despite blatant inclusion of AI outputs. I would be tempted to, as a joke to myself more than others, begin this response with "Certainly. Here is how you could respond to this question:" so as to mirror these charlatans, would it not without a doubt enrage a great many who don't know better than to fall for such a trick. This issue, however, is one I believe to be ephemeral - so pressing is it, that a response must be formulated by those who value understanding. And so are responses being formulated - major online information sources, such as Wikipedia and its sister projects, have written or are writing rules on their use. The journals will, in time, scramble to save their reputations and dignities, and do so thoroughly - academics have professional standings to lose, so keeping them from using LLMs is as simple as threatening those. Perhaps nothing will be done for your average Google search result - though this is far from certain - but it has always been the conventional wisdom that more than one site ought to be consulted in a search for information.

The third is one I am torn on. My first instinct is to condemn the training of AI on material gathered without consent. However, this becomes more and more problematic with scrutiny. Arguments against this focusing on plagiarism or direct theft are pretty much bunk - statistical models don't really work like that. Personal control of one's data, meanwhile, is a commendable right, but is difficult to ensure without merely extending the argument made by the proponents of copyright, which is widely understood to be a disastrous construct that for the most part harms small artists. In this respect, then, it falls into the larger camp of problems primarily caused by the capital wielding the technology.

Let me finish this by posing a hypothetical. Suppose AI does, as my philosopher friend believes, become smarter and more creative than us in a few years or decades; suppose in addition it may be said through whatever means to be entirely unobjectionable, ethically or otherwise. Under these circumstances, would I then go to a robot to commission art of my fursona? The answer from me is a resounding no. My reasoning is simple - it wouldn't feel right. So long as the robot remains capable of effortlessly and passionlessly producing pictures, it would feel like cheating. Rationally explaining this deserves no effort - my reasoning would be motivated by the conclusion, rather than vice versa. It is simply my personal taste not to get art I don't feel is real. It is vitally important, however, that I not mistake this feeling as evidence of any true inferiority - to suppose that effortlessness or pasionlessness invalidate art is to stray back into the field of messy philosophical questions. I am allowed, as are you, to possess personal tastes separate from the quality of things.

Summary: I don't like AI. However, most of the problems with AI which aren't "it's bad" (likely to be fixed over time) or abstract philosophical questions (too debatable to be used to make a judgement) are material issues caused by capitalism, just as communists have been saying about every similarly disruptive new technology for over a century. Other issues can likely be fixed over time, as with quality. From a non-rational standpoint, I dislike the idea of using AI even separated from current issues, but I recognise, and encourage you to recognise, that this is not evidence of an actual inherent inferiority of AI in the abstract. You are allowed to have preferences that aren't hastily rationalised over.

Yoo hello there! I know that this isn’t the best time to ask this but I am reaching out to you with a heavy heart and a plea for assistance for my cat Pirate who is in dire need of dental care. Please see my pinned post on this blog and if its okay, please do share it or boost it as it would really mean the world to me. Please do send me a message to reply or answer the ask privately as I just want to avoid other people to think im a spambot or what, praying you’d consider. Please stay safe and be well!

So! This is a scam message!

If you take a look at the photos the OP uses, they're pretty convincing and don't ping on a reverse image search, but! They are AI generated. You can tell either by feeding them to an AI detector if you have one you trust, or by examining the spots where the cat's "teeth" grow out from its "tongue" instead of its gums.

Anyway, I will be reporting this account as a scam.

And as for the ratfuck bastard who made this account: eat shit and die. Real people living in real poverty use this website's history of charitable giving to keep their real selves and real pets alive.

You are a sick little parasite.

Why do liberals act like biden has to run in 2024 and every criticism will affect his election chance like its okay you can vote for a different democrat in the primaries not every president needs 2 terms

I'd say there's a couple factors here:

the democratic party will absolutely ratfuck anyone who even thinks to primary biden. because that would suggest there is a Serious Problem with a democratic administration, and the only people who are actually willing to engage with that idea - as opposed to the thought terminating cliche of "he's not the best but he's the lesser evil! don't ask me to contemplate how That Still Makes Him Evil pwease" - are commies and republicans

biden won in the first place in part because he was, allegedly, More Electable than most of the rest of the field, and changing horses midstream is scary. you're going to split the party. you're going to make the republicans win. a better world is a foolish dream and to imagine it will destroy us all

they just don't think very hard about this sort of thing.

also in all fairness I don't think another Democratic president would handle this much better than Biden would. at best they would be, you know, a little more subtle about aiding and abetting genocide

Yes please drop your Jay White match recs I would owe you my life!!! Those gif sets of White and Okada have been rotting my brain for the last two days now I need to know what their deal is 😭

HIIII!!! Sorry it took me a day-ish to get to this but I’m so excited to drop some match recs! 

So the gifs driving us all up the wall are mainly from the conclusion of Wrestle Kingdom 17 (link: https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTkzMjA1ODM0OA==.html?playMode=pugv&frommaciku=1 ), the main event! In many ways, this is the denouement for Jay White, the last step towards a devastating spiral that would see him exiled from NJPW just two big matches from this moment. It was also the first match I saw that really made me obsessed with them, so of course, I recommend it passionately as a first go even if it is at the end :) 

Post match comments are also basically required viewing, featuring Jay at his most pathetic and gut-wrenching (https://youtu.be/UxIM0FkYoSY?t=693 )

I think the overarching thing to understand about Jay and Okada’s whole deal is that it’s a very simple wrestling story at its core. Okada is the golden boy, the ace, the native heir to New Japan’s wrestling legacy. Jay is the gaijin, the heel outsider, good but willing to do whatever it takes to put himself at the top. But they both bring really really good layers to their roles that brings something new to every time they clash in the ring. And they’re both just, of course, really fucking good in ring, as top guys have wont to be. 

Jay is compelling because he is in many ways equal parts caring and conniving in his role as Bullet Club leader. He takes the time to have fun and gas up his teammates, even get goofy with them in a way that hardline Bullet Club leaders shy away from– but every so often this insecurity rears up that drives him to pre-emptively stab back. This is also present in his in-ring work– he starts as a cocky upstart heel who can truly out-wrestle opponents and cheats in a kind of cheeky “because I can” way. But into the 2021 ish you start to see him using the cheating as more of a crutch because of his insecurities, and it’s eating away at him. By the time this WK17 match has happened, he’s IWGP champ, yes, but he’s also pre-emptively backstabbed two core members of his Bullet Club and his kind of a deranged wreck. 

Okada’s whole deal really starts with Hiroshi Tanahashi – and I haven’t deep-dived their series, but there’s a pair of great summary videos if you want the supplemental reading here: https://archive.org/details/showbuckle-pack/The+Battle+for+Ace+of+NJPW+Okada+vs+Tanahashi+Part+1.mp4 .  What I love about Okada is that even though he’s mainly in kayfabe a cocky little shit grown into the role of New Japan’s ace, off-duty he’s a really silly weird dude (no, really – Shinsuke Nakamura in his autobiography referred to him as “the weirdest guy he’s ever met”. Let that sink in, I’m sure Shinsuke has met so many weird dudes). Anyways, in the few moments where Okada is off-duty as ace, he’s done some real compelling and memorable character work. 

Which brings me to the actual next set of match recs – the Balloon Okada / Jay White’s initial rise to prominence in NJPW. This was a fantastic co-incidence of storytelling that really cemented being obsessed with their rivalry to me. Jay had just come back from excursion as “Switchblade”, and was coming in hot; with a title challenge to Tanahashi right from the get-go, teasing joining Bullet Club only to ratfuck Kenny Omega (then Bullet Club leader), and nab the IWGP US belt. And he joined up with Okada’s faction, CHAOS. 

Okada was just coming off of the IWGP-belt reign of his life, a record-breaking reign after he finally unseated Tanahashi to ascend as the ace. But when he lost the belt to Kenny Omega, it triggered a super weird mid-life crisis in him, the “balloon Okada” era. He dyed his hair an ugly red. He changed his gear to long bois (which everyone hated! Covering up those thighs is a crime!!!), he yells SCOOBY DOOBY DOO as he’s jumping off the ropes. He was weird. Because he didn’t know who he was without that belt. Here’s my favourite summary article about that: https://www.how2wrestling.com/articles/okada-and-the-portrayal-of-a-crisis 

So with that, I recommend for you three other matches! 

Destruction in Kobe 2018, Tanahashi vs. Okada but Jay is there I pinky promise. Also heck Tana and Okada are just Really Fucking Good so enjoy :)  (https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1kW411z7Sv/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ) 

Wrestle Kingdom 13, Okada vs. Jay White (https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1j4411F7g9/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ) 

G1 Supercard, Okada vs. Jay White(https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15b411u7Q8/?spm_id_from=333.337.search-card.all.click ).

If you’ve ever heard Jay bray about “selling out Madison Square Garden” that’s this match! It’s also super fucking funny that he credits that all to himself considering Okada is like. The Guy in Japan lol <3 love him 

There are some other matches narratively in between – if you’re really in for it you can check out Jay getting the IWGP belt off Tana. But for the OkadaJay highlights, these would be a great place to start. Something about a rivalry that shakes you out of your worst moment (Okada) and gets that fighting spirit going in you again…

Anyways, if you’ve read all this, thank you, and enjoy! Would love to hear how you liked the matches, and let me know if you find any other recs, it’s very possible I haven’t seen em yet – big back-catalogue :”) 

hello, here for your opinion on odysseus! have you read madeline miller’s “circe”? if so, what did you think of odysseus?

Ooooohhhhhhhh you're nudging at a pandoras box asking me my opinions of Madeline Miller 🙃

To answer while holding the full ranting instinct back on a leash (partially bc I legit don't have much time for much typing rn AND I know lots of people like MM and idk I generally don't enjoy making people feel like they shouldn't like a thing, but I also love being salty and this is my constant internal struggle):

With a lot of her characterizations I feel like M.M. either goes too hard making them sympathetic (Circe and Patrocles being the top contenders who come to mind) or she swings too hard the other way. Odysseus is like....fine? He's not outright terrible? But he does fall into her "they are either sympathetic (cougboringcough) beauties with maayybe a couple Tragic Flaws (that are barely flaws, goD why couldn't she just let Circe have full agency and purposely curse Scylla why can't maybe Penelope be as much of a scheming suspicious fucker as her husband GOD these "feminist retelling" authors are too cowardly to touch Medea-nonono the rant is leashed I'm staying on target!) or they are horrible awful people." But she's made so many comments that make me baffled about her academic background in classics (why would you say all the gods are sociopaths Madeline??? that is an actual ancient cultures religion you're trashing??? do you not get how gods are used narratively in stories is not the same as they're worshipped esp in a religion without strict canon??? You know how we all understand that Paradise Lost isnt Christian canon what the F-Not ranting not ranting I'm good!!) lmao. She seems to fall into the common take I see where modern Anglo morality is projected on the characters divorced of the time/culture/narrative they are set in, and then go "omg how did people think this was a hero?"

Anyway I just don't see how people can look at Odysseus being a scheming ratfuck compulsive liar (who is also a great warrior in violent times bc it...was a warrior society who told his story) and go "um he's terrible why would anyone like him as he is originally????" while MCU Loki was so popular they kept bringing him back from the dead to continue being A Scheming Little Bastard.

(EDIT: uh tldr is I read Circe. The entire experience was me going "oooo it's about to get good" and then realizing that Circe is just boring the whole time. Came out the other end with more feelings about how M.M. writes women than Odysseus, but her Odysseus is part of a trend of doing a lot of black and white morality shenanigans)

Appreciate all the Barry & Fry love but I want that little rat freak Billy. Billheads WYA!!! 🗣️📢

ratfuckers your leader beckons you

My 10ish Favorite Books I read This Year (In No Particular Order) (But Then I Did Put Them In Order)

10. Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

A really fun haunted house story about a woman who returns home decades after her father was caught torturing and killing young women. Whatever you think is happening is probably not. Absolutely adored the ending.

9. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

The highly anticipated follow up to the Priory of the Orange Tree did not disapoint! It's a doorstopper of a fantasy book that is about a) queer women b) dragons c) pretty compelling fantasy alchemical laws. This book, in my opinion, rectifies the imbalanced POV chapters that Priory struggled with and does an excellent job of weaving together its point of view characters.

8. "I Hate This Place Vol. 1" written by Kyle Starks, illustrated by Artyom Topilin and Lee Loughridge

A HYSTERICAL little horror comic about what if you inherited a farm that had absolutely everything wrong with it. I have vol. 2 locked and loaded once I get back from vacation

7. You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

A gorgeous, lush, romance book about how the heart wants what it wants, no matter how ill-advised it may be. I cannot over-emphasize the pervasive, sheer beauty of this book. The prose is sensual and exquisite, the world is stunning, and it has all the messy drama you could possibly want from a book like this.

6. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A Silvia Moreno-Garcia book that was made FOR me. It's got obscure, cult horror films, it's got complicated alchemy, it's got dark magic via movie, it's got two terrible bisexuals at the center of it all who cannot be normal about each other EVER. Perfect book. No notes.

5. Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej

Songsiridej absolutely ratfucked me to the docks and back with this little book. It's the story of a beautiful young woman falling in love with a hot older choreographer and getting into BDSM along the way. In many ways, tailor-made for my interests. It genuinely affected me in a really serious way and I eagerly await whatever Songsiridej writes next.

4. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

This might be my favorite Hendrix novel yet. After the sudden death of their parents, siblings Mark and Louise fight over their parent's house and the content therein- namely, hundred and hundreds of puppets. It's about as normal as you think. It has that trademark Hendrix grodyness and a good amount of grief, love, and hope in its pages.

3. The Sluts by Dennis Cooper

I read this book back in February and I haven't stopped thinking about it for one single second. It's the story of an online fetish chatroom for gay men in the early 2000s and it quickly devolves into a story of identity theft, sex, murder, and just the nastiest things done to an asshole you can imagine. It's dark, it's shockingly funny, it's everything you could want from a book called the sluts

2. The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty.

This is technically three books (four if you count the post-trilogy collection of short stories) but god I couldn't possibly choose just one of them to put on the list. This fantasy trilogy, inspired by islamic folklore, follows Nahri, a pickpocket living in French-occupied Cairo as she discovers a mystical world of djinn, magic, and danger. I can't sing this series' praises enough. The characters are so rich and compelling, the world is luscious and beautiful, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you hooked until the very last page.

1. Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Nightbitch owns so bad. I don't even really want to describe what it's about except that it's dogs. It's motherhood. It's art. It's nightbitch, bitch.

Ripred raises Gregor-

gregor: uh what’s for dinner ripred: well we have raw fish and… ripred: ripred: hey don’t kids like the whole sushi thing? gregor: i miss mrs. cormaci

                                  ——————

ripred: and for a bed i’d like to introduce you to this lovely thing called a nest!! gregor: …better than a box i guess

                                  ——————

gregor: can i fight yet ripred: you’re a child gregor: ares is a slightly larger child ripred: …fair point, no extreme violence and minimum 4 puns per battle

                                  ——————

ripred: when a mommy rat and daddy rat love each other very much— gregor: i am not doing this with you ratfuck i know what sex is ripred: wait no pup i have a powerpoint presentation. it’s color coded and everything! gregor: i wish i’d just stayed poor

                                  ——————

ripred: okay that’s enough, you know what, get on top of the fridge gregor, hissing as he climbs onto the fridge: this house is a fucking nightmare

                                  ——————

Ripred teaching gregor to fight and rager stuff 😭

                                  ——————

ripred: listen my support group says- gregor: you joined a support group for single moms ratfuck, that doesn’t count ripred: it does too, they all think i’m very brave for doing this alone gregor: for fucks sake-

                                  ——————

ripred, coming home late from something and seeing the lights on: uhh hello? gregor, sitting on a stool: and just where have you been all night young man? ripred: IM LIKE FIVE TIMES YOUR AGE

                                  ——————

Gregor, looking dow at the merry little band of rats, pointing: so who do we like, and who do i hate on principle ripred: Ripred: *choked up* im so proud

                                  ——————

ripred, who pulled an all-nighter working on peace: good morning! gregor, who was reading some romance and didn’t notice the sun came up: right…morning ripred: gregor: ripred: you didn’t sleep did you gregor: well clearly neither did you ripred: fair enough, overland coffee run?

                                  ——————

gregor: so this guy in Regalia was shovin’ me around and- ripred: i’ll kill him gregor: …no.  ripred: but- gregor: his bond is in charge of the aerial teams and i can’t afford to fall out of Shalais good graces. for ares.

                                  ——————

ripred: look it’s not my fault i’m so charismatic gregor: i’m not asking for a lot here ripred: you’re asking me to suppress my nature gregor: i’m asking you to stop flirting with all my teachers at parent teacher conferences ripred: c’mon it’s not that big of a deal gregor: …miss shields gave me her phone number to pass along the other day. so did mr. burnes, it’s getting outta hand red ripred: oh i see, this is serious ripred: she’s really cute, maybe i should- gregor: STOP IT

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

Easiest? Åttiofem, no question. I woke up screaming, went ratfuck insane for nine straight days, bing bang boom, job done. I might actually black out if I try to do that again though.

Hardest? I’d like to say EHK, but I have very little memory of writing most of that, so I’m gonna give that prize to dollhouse. I had to take several months off in the middle because it was giving me so much trouble (writing Tommy doesn’t come naturally to me.)

Runner up for easy fics: anything with Zedaph POV. that man is a breeze to write.

Runner up for hard fic: Pilot Au wasn’t difficult but I’m very likely on a watchlist now because of it so I’m counting it. I never was able to track down that maintenance manual…

waystar gojoco employees who would get tom fired

gerri- elephants never forget. she'd hold her cards close and only play them when appropriate and she's played the long game with logan so i doubt she'd do it soon, but it's scorched earth once she decides to

frank & karl- their golden parachute is incoming and they're on their way out, they'd make ruining tom's life their little going away side project in which late nights spent strategizing and sharing whiskey and memories turn into long, lurid, passionate discussions that dragged late into the night and became the start of something new

cyd- she would utilize every opportunity to shit on tom when they cross paths but i think it becomes fun enough to humiliate him that she wouldn't contribute to the group effort to get him sacked since it's as fun as a morning puzzle for her.

jonah- never forgave the human furniture incident especially after tom's indictment was televized and the nation glossed over human footstool in favor of tomlette and greggs. Would push tom out of a window to get the job done

ratfucker sam- tom loves to sort personal issues using his work email and greg has probably squirreled away stickynotes with blackmail reminders behind a filing cabinet somewhere. if tom said it on waystar property he will find it and notarize the proof and maybe plant evidence too. a dormant nuke button for whoever needs tom gone

greg- forgot he wrote a list of things to get back at tom for, on sticky notes shoved it behind a filing cabinet, after he read online that journaling helps release pent up anger, and this was on his first day in the shitty mailroom office

matsson- fire tom in the middle of fucking his mouth. forget about it the next day

Weekly Writing and Reading Update

Hi hello I have so much to do this week and I have to go grocery shopping and aaaaaaaaa but also it is delightful? And I am meeting a realtor on Wednesday and might actually seriously buy a house someday??

(I have so many spreadsheets.)

Writing

oh god, like...nothing this week. I think it's a little rough because I'm essentially at the same place in two stories in different AUs so I just have to figure out how to not feel quite so samey. (But also -- gosh, I love fanfiction. For both Crowley and Aziraphale, I am magnifying this or that part of their personalities so the characters feel related, but different, and that is a lot of fun.) But also sometimes there are fallow periods in writing, and I think this is one of them. It'll come back! And I do have some saved-up chapters to post, so I can always do that.

I also have to reply to a load of comments aaaaaa

Reading

Nothing new, I am still in LBJ-land, Robert Caro is such a good writer and loathes Johnson so much. Also I think he might have invented ratfucking in 1948? And also if I were a Texas housewife living in the middle of nowhere and some guy landed a helicopter in my yard and scared the chickens and then came out to shake my hand I...do not know that would really work.

(tbf I think he winds up buying the election, so I don't think it worked on anyone then, either, lol)