#is there a difference between a human being creating based on existing art and a fancy predictive engine spitting out rearrangements?

[stealthnoodle]

I see there's a new post on AO3 on AI and data scraping, the contents of which I would describe as a real mixed bag, and the sheer number of comments on it is activating my self-preservation instincts too much for me to subject myself to reading through them. Instead I'm thinking about how much daylight there is between does or doesn't constitute a TOS violation and what does or doesn't violate community norms, and how AO3 finally rolled out that blocking and muting feature recently, and how I think it would be good, actually, if most people's immediate reaction to seeing a work that announces itself as being the product of generative AI was to mute the user who posted it.

That's my reaction, anyway!

#ao3 #christ i'm annoyed by so many people lately #i feel the same way about people posting “fic” they generated from a chat-gpt prompt as i would if they posted their google search results #is crafting a good prompt or query a skill? yeah #is it creative work? no #is there a difference between a human being creating based on existing art and a fancy predictive engine spitting out rearrangements? #absolutely #and that's not even getting into the problems with the ml datasets behind the fancy predictive engines #and the way this tech is already being used to decimate creative industries because capitalism privileges the shitty and cheap #or the way companies already generate shitty machine translations and try to pay translators next to nothing to “improve” them #which is typically much more work than starting from scratch #or just run with the shitty machine translation as is because they don't give a fuck if it's useless and confusing to users #anyway i'm real fucking grumpy #please stop trying to automate art and start automating the shit that gets in the way of humans having the time and resources to make art

[letsatomicbanana]

Ink!Sans Cultural Character Coding

art by @/sakuramochi64 on twitter

Disclaimer!

This post is meant to present and analyse obvious and obscure East Asian (Jpn-Chi) ethnic and cultural influences on Ink!Sans character. If any of the material in this essay is incorrect and/or considered morally offensive, please contact me!

Ink!Sans by @comyet

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/Despite the fact that Ink is a non-human monster skeleton character, he is often portrayed with human-like traits and characteristics that range between a bunch of topics. One of them that's portrayed as very predominat to his character is his etchnic cultural background/inspiration. Again, this post is meant to analyse and to discuss such inspirations and how it affects his character./

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INSPIRATIONS

According to Ink's creator, Comyet, the concept of Ink!Sans was conceived by a Japanese and Chinese ink calligraphy brush. These are known as Fude brushes (筆) and Xuan brushes (宣笔 Xuān bǐ) respectively. This ultimately inspired his ink abilities and powers, just like his concept of being an 'artist' (In simple words, it inspired Ink as a whole).

'The history of ink brushes and the ink material is a long and complicated journey to cover, but it's important to know that these were invented in ancient China around 300 B.C (traditional Chinese: 毛筆; simplified Chinese: 毛笔; pinyin: máo bǐ) and are used in a vast variety of East and Southeast Asian countries, like Korea; Vietnam and Japan.

example of the brush Ink!Sans was inspired by.

At glance, ink (the material) is an enduring medium that still surrounds society till this day and it's used in multiple cultures across the world.

Writing with ink calligraphy brushes are common in the Europe and the Middle East as well, but the material was crafted of iron salt and oak galls. When written, ink is often a dark color but fades to brown tones of rust'. Such phenomenon was detectable in the Middle Eastern Bible manuscripts and even ancient European literature as an example.

Ink!Sans was based of the ink material created in East Asia, most commonly made with carbon-base black substance, which preserverd the dark coloration even after hundred of years.

↑ Example of an ancient Japanese painting, such arts are called 'Sumi-e' (Japanese, 墨絵) or ' Shuimohua' (traditional Chinese,水墨畫).

Unlike iron gall ink, carbon based inks are still very common to this day.

'Throughout the long history of East Asia, writing with ink was a very important ability to have. The Materials were made with precision, long traditions of training in calligraphic skills were developed, and writing and literacy were often wrapped up in questions of social status and class.

Although the development of major Chinese calligraphic scripts was completed by the fourth century, the art of calligraphy continued to evolve over the millennia. Master calligraphers with years of training and dedicated practice were recognized for their personal styles, and later generations of artists often adapted brushstrokes and designs to their own style. This stylistic evolution of scripts continues to enliven Chinese calligraphy to the present day.

Calligraphy was an important mark of personal learning and aesthetic sensibility in Japan. Portable, lacquered wood boxes were designed to hold an inkstone and water dropper in the base, with trays to hold writing brushes and solid ink sticks. Inkstone boxes (硯箱,suzuribako 'ink stone box' ) could be easily carried to a pleasant location, even outdoors in fine weather, to write correspondence, diary entries, or poetry.'

Fun fact: Ink's font 'Note This' is inspired by such ancient writing.

Example of Ink's canon speaking font and Japanese calligraphy (書道, calligraphy)

'However, when it comes to the subject of painting with the material, different schools of painting existed in China, the scholar-painters of Song-dynasty China generally preferred ink-based paintings over the more colorful, pigment-filled paintings produced historically and at the painting academy. Chinese painting manuals and commentaries from the Song (Sung) and Yuan dynasties (rarely mention pigments, possibly because it was assumed a painter’s skill shouldn’t depend on the use of colors.

Japanese artists are known for using media appropriate for the subject matter. Images depicting traditional Japanese narrative tales were typically rendered in opaque colors with outlines created in ink and later obscured by color overlay. Ink monochrome was closely associated with Chinese styles, particularly those transported to Japan via Zen Buddhism. Ink-based forms created with modulated strokes and layered washes suggested introspection and spiritual exploration.'

Ancient Japanese paintings that uses dull colors and ink outlines.

Exhaustive examples of ancient Ink paintings. Dragons and Clouds 雲龍図屏風 （左隻）and Seitei kachō gafu 省亭花鳥画譜

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DESIGN

Also clarified in an ask on her main blog, Comyet describes that traditional Japanese clothing inspired Ink's 2020 outift redesing, such inspirations are very obvious in first and second analysis.

Ink!sans reference sheets for the 2020 design, which can be found in Ink's official F.A.Q

Starting off, the pants.

Ink's pants were inspired by Hakama pants (袴), a traditional Japanese garment designed as a skirt-like pants often worn over any type of kimono. His pants seems to be inspired by umanori (馬乗り)Hakamas, whose had a division in the middle and often used in horse-riding activities.

Example of a Hakama.

The Hakama is a wide pleated pants (seven pleats, five in front and two behind), with a rigid backrest (腰 板,koshi ita) placed at the level of the lumbar region. It is tightened with four straps, on the left and on the right, as well in front as behind.

Historically, the origins of the Hakama dates back to the Sui and Tan dynasty were this garment was worn by the Chinese imperial court. Later, the Hakama exported itself to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185 to 1332) and became a traditional garment for the upper classes of Japanese society as well as for samurai warriors who wore it over a kimono (Hakama-shita).

During the history of Japan, the Hakama took on different styles and was mainly made for men, although in the beginning it was a unisex garment. During the Asuka and Nara era (6th to 8th century), the Hakama came in two versions. The first one was open on the front and was tied on each side of the waist with two straps. The second one was open on the left side and closed on one side only.

During the Edo period, the Hakama was worn by the nobles as a complement to the outfits of the time such as the noshi and the kariginu (狩衣; a sleeveless jacket with very pronounced shoulders). Very functional, these pants were also adopted by samurai warriors who usually wore them as Kamishimo (上下/裃). It is a combination of kimono, Hakama and kataginu. When the warrior visited the shōgun, he wore a Hakama called naga-bakama which greatly restricted his movements.

Edit:Currently, hakamas are both worn by men and women.

However, under the scarft, Ink also seems to use a jacket that features a collar that has striking similarities to a Mandarin collar (or Mao collar)

Ink!sans reference sheets for the 2020 design, which can be found in Ink's official F.A.Q

Mandarin collars originated in ancient China and were worn  by Qing-era bureaucrats.

Picture of a Chinese man in a traditional Mandarin collar (early 1900's)

These are short, stand-up collars and sometimes fasten in the center with a small hook. Such collars are still used today for both fashionable and practical reasons. One example of modern usaged of the clothing is seen in the U.S Amry combat uniform, that features a stand-up collar of Chinese origin.

Picture of the U.S Army combat clothing

Regarding of color palette, Ink!Sans redesign uses soft but dull colors and a sinple silhouette and fabric for the outift, such design choises are similar to male kimono's dressing codes which uses dull colors (like dark blue, grey, green and occasionaly brown). Male kimonos are always more simple in design compared to female kimonos.

Photo that shows the difference of kimonos used by men and women

Although not specified, Ink seems to wear brown thigh-high socks, also known as 'tights' under the outfit. Japan has a long-standing cultural tradition of wearing such piece of clothing, this trend is particularly popular among young people and is often associated with the "gyaru" subculture, which emphasizes fashion, beauty, and individuality. Additionally, thigh-high socks are often worn with school uniforms, and are considered a symbol of youth and innocence. Additionally, it is also considered fashionable and trendy in Japan, and you can see many young people wearing them.

In regards of physical appearance, Ink also seems to follow ancient Japanese and Chinese beauty standarts, specially one's targeted towards women.

In ancient japan, specially towards the Nara (奈良時代, Nara jidai), Heian (平安時代, Heian jidai) and Edo period (江戸時代, Edo jidai) the beauty standarts for Japanese women were of those with slim eyebrowns, flat oval face shape and narrowed eyes.

Such attributes can be observed on Ink!Sans apperance.

Visual representation of old Japanese beauty standarts

/Keep in mind that some of such standarts presented are now out of fashion due to the westernization of asian countries. Specially regarding eye shape/

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MUSICAL THEMES

Ink!Sans has a long history of being associated with East Asian music, specially those of Japanese origin.

Themes that comyet associated with him includes, 'Code Wu- Asia River Album 江水/Asia River' ( post can be found here), 'Dullahan under the willows' and 'Futatsuiwa from Sado (二ツ岩で佐渡) both from the japanese game 'Touhou'. (post can also be found here.

He's also associated with East Asian musical instruments, something quite noticeable in Ink!Sans theme for the the web-series 'Underverse'. Such theme is called 'Brushwork'.

The theme starts with an instrument similar to a Shamisen (Japanese-三味線) and a Guzhen (Chinese-古筝) and also uses a traditional flute.

Photo of a Guzhen and a Shamisen, respectively

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TRIVIA

On Underverse's opening for season 2, Ink!Sans can be seem between a field of Sakura trees or Cherry Blossoms (桜).

Cherry blossom trees are an icon of Japan. Some people even call the cherry blossom Japan’s informal national flower. The Japanese school year starts in April, during cherry blossom season. The flowers symbolize good luck, love, and springtime. Since they bloom for such a short time, cherry blossom trees also represent human mortality. They remind us how short and precious life is.

In the same series, Ink is also drawn in a Sumi-e inspired style for the 'Soulless Heart Instrumental' video. Such artwork features Japanese writing in black ink.

Ink's canon instrument is the flute. Although invented in ancient germany, the flute is highly associated with East Asian cultures and it's music, chinese and japanese culture are the main ones . Other than that, Comyet already made a connection to Ink's asian influence and the instrument itself.

According to research made by the University Microfilms International (UMI) affirms that the moderny performance and melody of the instruments has clear East Asian roots, mainly from Chinese and Japanese style of music.

'The flute is a particularly appropriate instrument for such a study because of its versatility of pitch and timbre, the latter being one of the most important elements in Eastern music; it is capable of 'pitch-bending' and infinite changes in tone quality which are impossible to achieve on instruments of set pitch.

The flute music selected for stud/ shows varying degrees of Eastern influence. Depending on the nature of the composition, the Eastern elements may be extremely subtle and difficult for the untrained to decipher; in other instances the composer makes clear those sounds or concepts with Eastern roots, either through accompanying explanation or within the context of the music.'

Sources

1.National Museum of asian art (materials & techniques. Ink section)

2. Asian Brushpaper (an-overview-of-chinese-ink-history)

3. Wikipedia (wiki Hakama-pants)

4. Aikido Journal (Hakama-101)

5. Wikipedia (Mandarin-collar)

6. Kirrin finch (What-is-a-mandarin-collar)

7. University Microfilms International (UMI) (east-asian-presence-in-modern-flute-music)

#ink sans #inktale #undertaleau #utmv au #ink!sans #utmv #inksans #undertale #east asian #au sans #sans au #cultural inspiration

[astercontrol]

Ever think about how amazing it is that we got a character like the Bit in TRON 1982?

I mean, yeah, having some cute little robot or animal side characters was, and still is, very typical of movies in that genre.

But, look at the Bit.

It's based on a computer science concept, of course: the simplest unit of data in a computer, a single 1 or 0 indicating yes or no. And it's anthropomorphized just enough to get actual computer nerds confused about what exactly it is supposed to be. Clearly you'd need lots more than one bit, to create a programmed entity that behaved the way a Bit does!

Is it the mystical energy of Programmer Spirits that animates it beyond what should be possible-- as it does for the Programs themselves, who also aren't nearly complex enough to be alive on their own? Or is a Bit something else, like an external subroutine of a program, which is called a Bit simply because of the way it communicates?

Who knows? Who cares? It's a Bit! It's adorable!

And yet… this same level of anthropomorphizing is very unusual for Disney, and for the whole genre, in a whole different way.

Though it's much more animate than one could reasonably imagine for an actual bit… the Bit is much less anthropomorphic than any creature playing any comparable role in any comparable movie I can think of.

It has no eyes, no mouth, no words except a synthesized Yes and No. It expresses itself only by shifting appearance between three faceless geometric shapes.

And yes, we love it! Yes, we adore the heck out of that sassy little thing! Yes, we will absolutely look at this object that resembles no person or animal in existence, and we will find enough cuteness to scream over!

We are the weird nerdy audience that you sucked in with the promise of a movie about computer programs being alive, and YES we are invested enough to take this ALL the way!

But I haven't seen any other movie do this, ever since.

And even the original Tron movie wasn't GOING to do it, at first.

Now, every other time I've looked at the early development of ideas in a movie, I've seen a pattern of "Less Relatable being reworked into More Relatable." Any creature design that looks "too weird," "too unfamiliar," "too alien," will evolve over the course of edits, until it satisfies the developers' expectations for being something audiences can relate to.

In other words… looking at the early concept art and the final product, I am certain any other movie I can think of would've adapted the Bit in the exact opposite direction.

Same with the MCP.

Whether it's a villain or an adorable little sidekick, the fans who became captivated by the classic Tron movie are an audience eager and ready to see life and personality in something utterly alien, something that resembles no actual life in the world we know.

And yet, I'm sure this wasn't even the goal of any of the character designers.

When you look at the early design of the Programs, you see them follow a more typical pattern, starting out more robotic, less humanoid, less "Relatable," and progressing toward recognizable humanity.

That movie, I'm pretty sure, was an exception to the rule not because of any philosophy about what would resonate with audiences... but simply because of the constraints of the medium.

The Bit and the MCP became more simple, more geometric, because that was easier to computer-animate.

Programs became more humanoid because that was easier for human actors to play.

A big, huge chunk of what made this movie relatable in a gloriously weird way, to gloriously weird audiences who may have had serious trouble relating to lots of other media, is just a serendipitous side-effect of the wild experiment that it was.

...I wish movies would take risks like that more often.

Really.

#tron #tronblr #tron 1982 #concept art #tron bit #creature design #mcp #master control program #analyzing

[madfantasy]

To fan art and fiction enjoyers:

Please excuse my rage slipping if it happened over having to address this literal mediocrity of a subject in comparison to endless things that actually matters in real life. Because this would be at the scrapping bottom of it, but since the occasion presented itself, here we are:

Do you know there are some, let's say, manners, being in fandoms, and/or in using social media in general? NOOO? 8U

Well, Lets start somewhere!

Like it or not, YOU NEED TO ACTUALLY READ STUFF PEOPLE WRITE. Before you follow, before you comment, before you interact, because if you come across something you don't like, or you started to assume things— that's a you problem and not the fault of the poster.

If you DO NOT enjoy a character, a pair of ship, or a certain head cannon, filter the tag it's used for, Google has free tutorials on how. Most social media have these settings and most decent posters tag their posts correctly. If you keep seeing that pair, you can block the people who create it. You are free to do so ofc but WHY WOULD U come on main and air that out? Personally I find it so bizarre and it could show the type of person you are to other people — a toxic company over fictional substance — and I'd say that is not a flex, more like showing your dirty nappy in public. Those characters you love are not real and so not effected by your high ground stance, but actual humans that share you that love notice and get that impression, and it's a weird one. You SHOULD, of course, set your boundaries, and usually where that is be in your profile, on your bio or a pinned post.

Loving bizarre, villainous, creepy concepts DOES NOT EQUAL morality, nor loving good sunshine and flowers does. It's what a person does in real life what counts, not what they consume in entertainment. In fact, it is not a sign of a good person those who be shaming humans who like different fictional concepts. Or when someone keeps using ai generators knowing full well it's based on constant data theft of all sort of human creators across generations and can not exist without the continuance of this theft. Or those supporting creators that they know did irl crimes. Or those who are Policing what's can and cannot go into fiction as if the fickleness of preference have never let alot of things survive its judgement. And I can go on with the miniature examples. You are forgiven if you did not know before, some people learn through experience, but not anymore when you continue this behaviour. And maybe if you can't differentiate between reality and fiction, and what's more important than what, maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't be consuming fiction.

DO NOT POST WHAT YOU DID NOT CREATE. Do you like it when people keep posting your selfies that you only ment to share for funsies and what not? Isn't worse if you did not post that selfie in the first place or never wanted it to be used like that? It's the SAME FOR ART. This is the artists work just as much as your face is yours. Social media at the baseline is about who ever the poster is, their posts are theirs. So you posting an artist's drawing, with no permission, no credit to them, no nothing, is not allowed and people can report that. Don't be an ignorant thick fig and play the victim when schooled like this precious dear\s .Reposters disconnect so many content from their creators and this is how alot of beautiful things in life die, by simply not knowing they are loved, shoved into the over consumption machine..

And lastly, You don't have anything nice to say to OP? Don't say anything! It's not your misguided duty to educate people on how embarrassingly self centered you are, it's okay to be a basic #&★— I promise. It okay to feel out of place in a niche that doesn't concern you. It's okay to realise other people have different perspectives of the fiction work you enjoy. You can sit down.

And I'd like to add, Mani is a safe space for au and ships even if I don't like em, cuz they are only FICTION and will remain FICTION no matter how much I loved them or hated them.

Good day, dears🍀

#text #im probably blabing but i felt its needed #Severus Snape #fiction

[sunny-days-and-warm-mournings]

I think SWK is monkey pretty (obviously) and literally Uncanny Valley pretty like— he looks like a monkey but he's not, he just looks and acts and plays like a monkey, but he ISN'T. He walks a shaky line between Yaoguai and celestials too. and I've always seen him w human features sometimes.

I know the book says explicitly that he does look like that. A primate and that he's also short as fuck. But I think him sitting between monkey/ape/gibbon/macaque (or a mix of all four), Yaoguai, Celestial body, and human seems right with me.

For example, the Blackmyth WuKong's design:

IT SITS JUST RIGHT. He's more human-like in his features but??? It's also very clear that he's a simian. The Monkey King Hero Is Back is like this too.

Very monkey. It's so clear and if you say that he's a monkey then I'd believe you, though I'd also doubt it. He just doesn't feel like one, or his monkey features also just doesn't sit too close to that territory. I feel like he's literally a walking Uncanny Valley amongst the other monkeys from Flower Fruit Mountain.

Some people say he could be a golden snub-nosed monkey, but SWK being based on rhesus macaques is much more convincing. He's drawn in those features in arts more, too. I know he's a stone monkey born from absorbing essence from Heaven and Earth (as well as from "nothingness" thus what Subodhi named him after) but— he doesn't belong on any existing specific genus of primates. Some wikis even only classify his "species" as "Stone Monkey, Based on rhesus macaques". Literally just "based", as in he only looks like one. A macaque-looking primate.

Also I'm not sure but isn't he also classified as a demon or Yaoguai as some sort? I don't remember well. Then, but then, I realized that in Chinese Mythology the world was created from Nothingness, too, until the giant Pan Gu cut the single line to make Yin and Yang.

"Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monotheistic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation narrative: Chinese classics record numerous and contradictory origin myths. Traditionally, the world was created on Chinese New Year and the animals, people, and many deities were created during its 15 days.

In contrast to the above Chinese cosmogonic myths about the world and humans originating spontaneously without a creator (e.g., from "refined vital energy" in the Huainanzi), two later origin myths for humans involve divinities. The female Nüwa fashioned people from loess and mud (in early myths) or from procreating with her brother/husband Fuxi (in later versions). Myths about the male Pangu say that people derived from mites on his corpse. "

The Palaces of the Nine Constellations and the Eight Trigrams from the egg also corresponds to seasonal nodes (Winter Solstice, Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, and Beginning of Winter.) — which can mean that not only SWK was birthed from Heaven and Earth (as well as the Sun and Moon), he was also made with more yang essences than he is with yin. The Eight Trigrams may have also contributed with his immortality. You can see about the 24 solar stems of the calendar too if you're curious.

The book is chock full of body horror, too, but it happens more during the journey itself than in the beginning. SWK's immortality and healing makes it possible for him to do these things, but I have my own theory that he's not made of flesh (or anything that makes a living thing, well, living in terms of biological stuff) and that he was born from a magic stone and and is a stone monkey— his flesh/body is more like a very thick solidification of yin and yang essence, much like how the world was created in Chinese Mythology. Then perhaps balanced w the essences of the two celestial bodies, the Sun and Moon. This could contribute to how he's so hard to injure and why the Samadhi fire didn't do much damage on him, and not just because he hid closer to where the wind seal inside the crucible is.

OOF I got sidetracked a little bit but this has been sitting in my head since morning. It's just that when I look of drawings of SWK I recognize he's a monkey, but it feels like he's just something else posing as one. Like using a suit so well it blends just enough to look right. I could do more research on this but I don't have the time rn so...

But anyway— I think it's pretty cool that SWK is only based on rhesus monkeys, but not classified as one considering his origin. It's very cool and somewhat creepy and maybe even creepier for the other monkeys and animals in Flower Fruit Mountain. He's natural, but something under all that fur and skin just doesn't feel right.

Also here's a fic I've been developing as of late, if anyone's interested in reading :v

#jttw #xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw monkey king #jttw sun wukong #sun wukong #monkey king #jttw ramblings

[road-kill-eater]

what do you think of people making their own tonitrui characters? I love your work, the faces are super nice to look at, teeth and all

i dont mind at all! tonitrui are very close to my heart as theyre by far my oldest original species/headworld, but ive yet to actually do anything with them and dont really have much motivation to do so. the tonitrui i primarily draw are ocs from another story entirely which is fundamentally a human story, but i vastly prefer drawing the weird goats over humans.

i suppose this is also as good a time as any to "officially" describe tonitrui.

there are some rules that come with them since they are designed to inhabit a specific setting and play a certain role within their world. but at the same time i dont really care much, and have always enjoyed seeing other peoples takes on the species in the past, even if they break some rules

theyre a primarily carnivorous species which is on average 2 feet taller than the average human, ranging between 6-8 feet in height. this great size, along with their diet has forced the southern portion of their population to rely heavily upon fishing and animal agriculture to support a substantial population/military, and to eschew many of the superfluous aspects of their historical culture. as a result tonitrui are generally very utilitarian, what few festivals and art they have is generally related to bloodsports and ritual combat. they are a race strongly influenced by the pressures surrounding them, this primarily being other equally sapient but different races which they compete with for land and resources. unlike other races they have no allies, and either conquer or destroy their foes, however their colonial and expansionist tendencies can't keep up with a dwindling population, subseptibility to disease, civil war, corruption, and general hubris.

as for religion, monarchist tonitrui have a historical theistic framework that they have mostly abandoned, for good reason. many generations prior (to the general timeline) their corresponding creator god (each race was created by an individual god, the many civilizations acting as a living chess game, this is not known to the mortals below, they dont know they exist to better the social reputation of another entity entirely) walked among them as a god king. this was of course seen as blatant foul play by the fellow players so they locked it in that mortal form, and being confronted by mortality drove it mad. the specifics of whether or not the god king killed itself, or was murdered by his own subjects is widely disputed, but the impact of that betrayal has turned much of the kingdom off theism entirely. luck and chance are the spirits that tonitrui pray to now, even if ever since, their civilization has begun to crumble from within and without. their every enterprise fails, their wars of conquest fold back in on their own territory, plague strikes them endlessly.

the northern population is technically part of the southern kingdom, however their way of life (more nomadic, hunter-gatherer based) has typically set them apart. there is still free trade and travel between them, and they still pay taxes and obey military conscription, however there is increasing resistance to these, and governmental authority weakens as the northern population becomes more preoccupied with their own struggles.

in terms of morphology, tonitrui have two sets of flat incisors much like a horse, prominent canines which can occassionally stick out between their lips, and canine-like carnassials and molars. their faces are rather stiff for the most part and they primarily emote through their eyes, the corners of their mouths, their ears, and the tilt and posture of their big heads. they can just barely lift their top lip, and the muscles that control snarling and snout wrinkling in mammals are quite reduced or nonexistent in tonitrui, they compensate for this by opening their jaws very wide as an aggressive signal, and sometimes slamming their lower jaw shut to clack their teeth, but the latter is super rude, its basically a death threat.

their horns are primarily for display purposes, with a huge amount of variety that distinguishes individuals and family lines. generally their horns are relatively small when compared to those of existing ungulates, and particularly large horns are seen as ungainly and may be trimmed down in order to keep appearances and prevent them from being used against them in combat. young tonitrui naturally have the desire to ram their nubby horns against things, much to their parents exasperation, and everything breakable has to be well hidden in the household. though this is considered a childish and unrefined form of combat by the mainstream population, some more isolated villages still hold contests of strength where one must push their opponent past a line with only their horns.

their feet have no distinct nails and the toes are progressively keratinized until they are quite hard at the very tip, useful for gripping a variety of surfaces. in appearance they sort of resemble a blend of claws and hooves, clooves if you will.

tonitrui are generally covered in a short, peach fuzz fur that thickens around their head, neck and down the length of their spines, and this is generally accompanied by a dorsal stripe of darker fur and lighter patterning on their chest and bellies. their patterning is usually very basic, darkened extremities tend to be more common in northern populations, and piebaldism pops up a lot in the south. their colors range from white to gray to black, to tan to gold to brown. northern tonitrui generally have shorter, broader snouts, smaller ears, and a mane that covers the entire circumference of their neck rather than just the top ridge. however the two populations have mixed to the point that these traits can be found across their entire range.

tonitrui always get their tails docked as infants, and if it isnt done by their families for some reason, individuals will often have the procedure done later in life to prevent the associated social rejection. tails are considered an unnecessary extravagance and liability, especially given how long and thin they are by nature. in a duel or battle they are easily broken, or used to pull an enemy off balance. back during the formation of their kingdom and the conquering of atomized clans into one entity, soldiers would often cut the tails off the locals and whip them with them as punishment for crimes real and imagined, so docking became a practice of integration, and preemptively avoided such humiliation. and whatever practice is compulsory in the military quickly becomes unofficially expected in the rest of the population.

in terms of gender norms, tonitrui arent beholden to anything resembling the human concept. they arent even mammals, and while they have the two typical sexes, they have far less sexual dimorphism than humans, and both sexes have the capacity to feed their young via specialized glands in their throats. females are on average smaller and slighter than males, but this remains the primary difference, and as a result social norms and gender roles are far reduced in tonitrui culture. personal wealth does tend to accumulate with the matriarch of a family because they are more likely not to die in battle. historically females have never been conscripted in the military, although there was no rule against them signing up until relatively recently, due to the powers that be realizing that males are far less crucial to the longevity of a society, especially one with a dwindling population.

#tonitrui

[destinationtoast]

"Entertainment" and modern AI-fandom interactions

There's a 1985* sci-fi short story I once read by M.A. Foster called “Entertainment” that predicts what will happen in an increasingly AI-generated art world.  I can't find any excerpts or summaries of it online, but what I recall is:

In the future, humans can prompt machines to create any art -- e.g., "What would a collaboration between early-era Peter Gabriel and late-era Beethoven look like, with a music video directed by Werner Herzog?"  (That's a made up example, but someone originally gave me the story because Peter Gabriel and early Genesis are actually referred to in the text, and I was at the height of my fandom. XD )  An AI then comes up with a bunch of different examples, and the human who gave the prompt chooses the one(s) they like best.  They then release the creation to the broader world, and people make micropayments to stream it.  Everyone competes for attention, hoping to go viral or at least make a decent living.

(There's a dystopian aspect, where if you don't make enough money and your balance drops below zero, you disappear back into the human factory to get remade.  Also, people don't have sex in person -- they pay each other for the rights to their likeness, and they have sex with simulated versions of one another.  All of which is rather interesting, but not as directly relevant to the point I'm making here.)

M.A. Foster did an impressive job foreseeing a bunch of aspects of modern AI and online culture (especially keeping in mind that there was no Web or social media or digital streaming or online micropayments at the time this was written).   And it’s becoming easy to imagine that we may reach a point where many of the story’s predictions about art come true, as well.  

Currently, you can give increasingly complex prompts and get AIs to respond with something that makes sense and seems like a valid reply. Newer AIs often create text and images that are both exciting and terrifying due to what feels like a sudden potential to blend in with or replace human output.  Fandom, along with everyone else, is unnerved.  After all, will we still need fan creators in a world where we can prompt AIs to do this?

(source)

Or this?

(source)

Or when AI can even take the prompt “Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr kissing next to a conflagration” and output this?

(source)

Okay, there’s definitely still some funkiness going on there with some body parts; cherik fanartists can still obviously do better, for the moment.  And more generally, AI output is still frequently goofy, full of embellishments and fabrications, literally tasteless, and/or flat-out wrong – but we can see so many promises of how good it will get.  And we can imagine how AI output will increasingly be incorporated into transformative fandom and shipping culture.  

But all of the above examples illustrate another thing that M.A. Foster got right: If you want AI to produce something really interesting and compelling, it's important to have a human come up with a good prompt and then select the best output. 

This isn’t new; for years, we have been living in an increasingly curatorial world.  For instance, with stock photos of nearly everything, and digitized versions available of much of the world's art and photography, and endless hours of new YouTube & TikTok videos uploaded to the web every passing minute, it's much easier these days to create new images or videos or other visual works without being an artist.  But building a compelling visual work based on others' images -- a mood board, edit, collage, fanvid, etc. -- still benefits enormously from being driven by a human with a particular sense of style and particular goals in mind.  And the more that any human wants to see something that is different from the most common or most popular images that already exist, the more likely they are either going to have to create it themselves – or at least push the AI really hard in that direction via increasingly specific prompts and feedback.  (None of these roles are unique to online culture, either – art commissioners have historically prompted things, and art collectors and museums have curated them -- but these days we all have access to a much wider world of online works, and we all curate our own tumblrs and pinterest boards and so forth, even if we don't explicitly create curatorial works for fandom.)

The thing I found most unrealistic about "Entertainment" was that people weren’t tempted to try their own hand at creating art; it was a purely remix + curation culture.  In reality, even if AIs get really excellent at creation, so good that their fic and art are as good as your favorite fan creators’ work, I don't think they're ever going to suppress our own creative urges.  We live in a world where there are already 313 Dean/Castiel high school AU hurt/comfort fics – and yet people were still inspired to write/update two more this week.  People are not going to stop creating new fanworks just because the AIs are increasingly able to join in and create more.  And, for some time yet, humans are still going to lead the way in creating new canons with compelling stories and characters, which machines will then learn from and remix.  (That is another thing that human artists have also always done -- drawing inspiration from and remixing one another's art -- and something that fandom in particular is pretty great at.)

TL;DR human contributions to fandom will still be very important for fandom for the foreseeable future.  Even if the internet -- and now AI -- have helped us shift from spending more time as solo creators to also having increasingly active roles as prompters and curators.  

---

This post was partly inspired by @fansplaining 's latest discussion of AI & recent fandom panic, "Artificial Fandom Intelligence", as well as @cfiesler 's post, "Elon Musk did not create an AI trained on your fanfiction." They also addressed other issues that fans are worried about, like the idea of AIs and their creators getting credit and/or monetary reward for new fanworks trained on existing human-generated fanworks. If you've read other good meta about any aspect of fandom & AI, I'd love pointers -- please feel free to share in the notes!

*At least, it was collected in a 1985 anthology called Owl Time; I’m not sure when/where it was originally published.

#ai #gpt3 #dall e #chatgpt #m.a. foster #ai and fandom #all the thinkiness #op #50 #100

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

I love all the world building you’ve shared so far and the details about the religions !!!!!!!!! Will your version of the nether have the same type of world building ? In jessons story the nether really just contained a castle and then the rebellion’s safe hold. Though here are you going to take it an actual kingdom with surrounding villages or forts or even temples for worship of the judge ? You said before that the shadow knights only made up a part of the judgements kingdom, so is there paths to travel in the nether ? Are you going to go into detail about how all of the judgements groups plus SK work together in both worlds ? Also are you going to talk about the premature shadow knights or any ruins of the first base that was created after the judgement was sealed in the nether ?

Fukcing love getting Judge questions lmao yayyyyyy. also tyyyyy

(was going to answer it yesterday but was busy, sorry)

The Nether/The Abyss will be getting a bunch of world building too, because i'm a completionist and I will not create (or adopt) a world and not fully develop it lmoa.

The Abyss, at its very heart, has the fortress. It's almost part of the abyss, instead of being a structure built within it, and it is obviously where Judgement rests, and keeps his sacrifices and personal prisoners. It's bare of most furniture, since he has no need for physical comforts when he is not a physical individual, but he has his throne and his dining table, where he hosts feasts bc every god needs to show its followers some sign of love occasionally. his throne is like surrounded and adorned with candles and bones, and generally just offerings from his followers who would (and are trying to) end the world just to please him.

SKs (or just 'Knights' in my rewrite) at first began camping up around the fortress in tents and small hiding holes, when they were first created, however over time, they began to create more complex structures to house themselves and exist within. Humans also contributed, when they began being invited into the abyss to worship, so a fully-fledged society and culture began to develop, with art and entertainment, and music all individual to the city. The city around the fortress is actually liveable for the average person, if the average person were able to stomach violence and such enough to not run into the dark corners of the abyss in fear and disgust.

Temples do exist around the city, though they do serve different purposes. For example, temples on the outskirts of the city, closer to the wraith fields (i'll... get to that... at some point. Also, wraith = shadow souls), are used for human occupants to sacrifice themselves to host wraiths, however those closer to the centre of the city are unable to do this, and so they will be used for other means of worship, which i won't go into right here bc it's religion talk. i'll save it for another post (potentially).

Large communities of Destroyer worshippers that live in their own villages and such do have access to the nether, though it can be rather... inconsistent. Doorways don't stay open forever, especially when made by weak magic users, so they will only have access every couple of weeks for a few hours at a time. However, this is enough for them. Messengers are sent back and forth, as are resources, materials, prisoners etc. These particular communities often have at least 1 knight within them, usually between 2-4, and the ones with more knights are considered more highly by other worshippers (hence why Cotk is one of the most well-known judge-worshipping communitiy, since there are 10 knights) and other knights will try and fill the space if one that inhabits an overwold village dies. The city is great but many knights do enjoy the freedom of the overworld, and ruling over their own small community.

They function very similarly to normal villages, except they don't have a lord. The hierarchy has humans that converted to the religion at the bottom, then the humans who were born into the religion, then the human priests and priestesses, then the Knights, then human prophets, and then Judge himself. The hierarchy within the Knights also exists, with 'heretic' (irene-worshipping) prem knights at the very bottom, and Judge's generals (usually mutated or magic-using knights who were born into the religion) at the very top. However, Knight hierarchy can be easily cheated, depending on how violent or cruel a knight is getting them landed higher on the pyramid than they are meant to be.

The human inhabitants of the over-world villages often act like normal people, except they have a more... peculiar relationship with death, and willingly send their dead to the abyss hoping they would be turned into knights (though that is often not the fate they meet). They also have a similar, though undeniably particular, culture to the city, with their own personal flairs and quirks.

The City within the Abyss functions similarly to that, of course, except the humans within the abyss are often thought of (and think of themselves) more highly than over-world humans, and are put on a similar level to low-level knights instead of on an entirely different tier. They are able to score a variety of jobs, however most humans try to get jobs in the temples, in the fortress, or trying to service the high-ranking knights however they can, as those are the more... high-value jobs they are able to achieve. They cannot get much higher, and if they show any potential to, they will be turned into knights to 'keep the balance'.

Prem knights are treated kinda like babies, and are always being spoken about as if they'll always end up killing their most loved individual. For the first few years, this is how it's spoken about, and then slowly, as the other knights begin to realise that they don't seem to be maturing any time soon, begin to accuse them of heresy and not being fully committed. Knights and humans alike will then try and pressure them into maturing, and if they don't bow to the pressure, will sacrifice them to Judge to display what a true knight should act like.

Prem knights that don't want to mature will then often run off outside of the city to try and find somewhere safe to live, but will often be eaten by wraiths before they even manage to past the Field. Those that do manage to cross will likely be eaten by something else that resides where the light of the cities fires cannot reach.

#aphmau #aphverse #rewrite #aphblr #minecraft diaries #mcd #ranthredo #lycoris radiata/ranthredo #abyss lore

[schizofujoshi]

The more fascinating aspect of AI to me is how it's unpacking the relationship between effort (or perhaps perceived effort is a better way to put it) and resultant artwork in a similar way to how the debate surfaces around abstract art, but from a much more concrete basis.

Surely, we can't measure the personal (specifcally, non-monetary) value of art by the effort that took to compose it as a piece, we know by now this is a tired argument that ignores major artistic developments and pieces especially from the last century (Marcel Duchamp and Barnett Newman being well-known examples), but the angle of those discussions is usually through its abstraction, i.e. a lack of aesthetics that would otherwise be expected for the average gallery viewer. Now, when speaking on AI art, we arrive at these discussions not speaking on any lack of aesthetics (though there is extensible criticism of those differing aesthetics, but that's unrelated to my point) but on the lack of perceived effort required to make that picture.

And my thoughts here are, it's not really helpful to call this "not art". Art is, at least to me, a piece of expression, what it expresses and whether that means something to the observer is the variable of 'quality', but to call something 'not art' is to dismiss its cultural effect and existence entirely. We can't make a useful argument here on the grounds of 'lack of effort', nor can we really make one on a basis of derivation (otherwise, we would owe it to ourselves to throw out collages and sample-based musical works as well). Arguments about 'humanity' are non-material, not just for the idea of a 'soul' going into it, but because it excludes a lot of art created/generated by tools, and thereby excludes a lot of art made by those without means or ability.

My conclusion here of a better criticism to make is by piece, by generator, with the acknowledgement of that it IS art, that it IS a piece that expresses something and has a ripple effect across culture, but it oftentimes by the individual piece is shallow! Boring! Uninteresting in what it is often used for. Big titted anime waifu smoking a bong is not interesting as an artistic premise by itself, and what a lot of non-machine art has as an advantage over it is that the artist can make it more interesting than its premise, utilising a high degree of customisation and control around its presentation in a way that AI tools and related are unable to do to the same effect. And this, by way, opens the door for AI-generated artpieces that are more generally interesting in themselves.

There's no need to take a big paintbrush to AI as a whole when we have already seen such interesting things arise from it, good or bad in your own judgements, just this discussion ALONE makes it extremely difficult to say it is 'not art'. We don't need to call things we dislike ideologically not art! We can acknowledge what it is without that acknowledgement needing to be a compliment in any sort of way.

[constellaj]

i saw that post of you wanting pople to ask you about your regular show rewrite and i saw the bits of it you posted and i wanna know more

okayyyee sry this is a late response

like most things I invented this lore alongside @crystalfloe and she's brilliant and amazing and the guy who got me into regular show

first things first you need to understand this is. for some fucking reason. a lore heavy regular show au/rewrite. it's so cringe man. please remember this is regular show

that aside the general premise is that The Park is haunted/cursed. The Park is a magical landmark that wants to preserve itself + nature and needs guardians/workers to take care of it. so it "selects" people (normally those who live on park property).

Mordecai and Rigby do not know this. they are 2 normal human dudes who suck at life and desperately need a job so they go to The Park, which they know always has Help Wanted signs (because nobody wants to work at The Cursed Park).

They meet Benson, who Is A Gumball Machine, and they're like... yooo wtf. they don't know why he's like this. but in this world it's not unheard of for weird mutants or objectheads to exist, so they decide not to ask questions because dude that's totally insensitive.

Benson hands them an employee contract and stresses that they Need to Read the Fine Print if they want to work here. Mordecai and Rigby do not read the fine print. They freak the fuck out when The Park starts Cursing them by turning them into animals.

Turns out The Park is a big fan of character development, and mutates the people it Selects to encourage it; if mordecai and rigby stop being dicks, their mutations reverse. This is how you get blue haired anime boy with wings out of a greasy emo art dropout. The general Plot of their lives know is dealing with this forced character development, hiding their mutations because they're 20 and easily embarrassed, and learning to work with them instead of fight against them.

Mutations generally follow a theme based on the Most Character Development Needed. Benson is uptight, doesn't know how to relax, and is awful with children, so he's Cursed™ into being a literal candy dispenser. Mordecai has shit self-esteem, so he's a flashy preening bird. There is nothing wrong with Rigby Rigby doesn't shower /has general living issues so he's a literal rodent but one that's actually known for its hygiene.

If you become aware of The Curse, The Park gets pissy and makes it so you can't reverse your mutations. This is what happened to Skips; his anger issues when he was younger translated into being a gorilla, and then he found out how it worked /tried to game the system, and now he's stuck like that. It can still get worse, but it can't get better

Muscleman + hi five are a unique case. 'Mitch' was a park employee who was an insane daredevil with no regard for his own safety, who ramped a car into a flaming pit and died in the wreckage (maybe this was The Curse, who knows). MM and HF are the aftermath; MM is the zombie corpse reanimated, and HF is Mitch's ghost/soul. Neither of them remember their past or even know that they're technically the same guy, and there's like a whole character arc around that and realizing that you're a different person now

Techmo is also a unique case (thumbs up for techmo enjoyers). instead of being a human who was cursed, he was actually created directly by the park to be a nature guardian. he got a little silly obsessive evil with it until he realized what The Park was doing to him, so he left and got into technology in an effort to distance himself from the nature of The Park as much as possible. There's parallels now between him and Mordecai; Mordecai has main character syndrome, and so The Park is trying to basically make him a second Techmo.

Pops is. Uhhh I don't think we worked Pops out fully. He's an alien still and not actually tied to The Park the same way the others are, which gives him a little more freedom. Plus he doesn't need character development he's already the perfect man

generally, The Park isn't actually an inherently *good* entity. It has goals and a specific mindset it wants its Guardians to have, and part of the nuance of working at The Park is balancing helpful character development (such as Benson learning to relax) with The Park's fucked up selfish agenda (like replacing Mordecai's mind to have the ideal Guardian. don't worry about it).

and that's the regular lore

#regular show #ask #au

[scopnotes]

aight deep lore time:

what is their basic life span?

where do they originate from?

adding onto the last one, have humans always known about them or are they a newly arrived species?

is their body composition different from humans and how so?

any particular diet or energy requirements for them to live? Oxygen? water? anything like that?

it seems they can shape shift, is it only to certain forms or can they become a wider array of shapes and sizes? mass shifting abilities?

any more back story on the parents of the three train kids?

do they possess any other powers? such as pyromancy or telekinesis, ect.

are there other autonomous/sentient species besides humans that they interact with?

I'll start with the last question and then I'll come back to the beginning.

The term 'Chtonian' was given by the humans in order to categorize the 'non-humans'. Its origin is from the belief that they come from the center of the Earth (which is false).

Those people are basically divided in 5 populations living with each other:

- The Machinas (Train/Transport People)

- The Comets (Sentient blob of water)

- The Converters (Rare arthropod like creatures)

- The Shadow People (Photosensitive beings)

- The Fungis (Sentient fungus, little is known about them)

All of them appeared differently and most believe it's 5 different gods that created them.

Their life span depend of the population, the comets are probably the oldest I think.

Train People probably live around ~500 years, something like that.

This species appeared when the god Machina appeared and divided its body in multiple parts (that believed to be train carts). In a good bunch of years appeared 4 species of Machinas that labelled themselves according to the direction where they were going to establish their territory (North, South, East and West). The train siblings family is a mix of the South and the East.

Humans know about Chtonians for a while now (a good bunch of centuries) but it’s still difficult for the both to live together.

Difficult to tell for the body composition, I’m still unsure about the biology. Chtonians like Converters, Machinas and Shadow People probably breathe oxygen and can eat like humans.

The whole Chtonian society is based on the ones that have the biggest quantity of energy called ‘Essence’.

Basically, the Essence is the vital energy of any living beings. It’s used as a currency between Chtonians. They basically share their energy between each other.

Unfortunately, humans seem to have only one fixed quantity of essence that they can’t share or recreate, causing them to be outcasted from Chtonian services.

Food and drinks exist but it’s mostly for little snacks that only ‘rich’ Chtonians dare buy for pleasure. The food is converted into extra essence for the consumer. The Machinas are considered being one of the ‘richest’ group of Cthonians and founded the country with their transports.

Turning into a train is a default capacity for the Machinas, the form is unique and depends of the person. I believe they can transform into only one specific form (for example, Waggon is a high-speed train and wouldn’t be able to shift into a tramway). Their look probably can evolve slightly while growing up.

ABOUT THE PARENTS: The dad (Ori) is from the East family and the mom (Austra) is from the South one. They can create railways together and both technically helped founding the siblings company. I don’t think they have any element related power unlike their children.

Aside that they are big buttholes towards their three children because they couldn’t meet their expectations in the job. Caarbon is the one suffering the most while Waggon was about to become the perfect daughter but her constant fights with her twin Arrson just makes her look immature. The parents have high hopes for their fourth kid though.

WOOOOOO THAT’S A LONG POST! Thank you for your interest in my art!

#train people #oc #original character #worldbuilding #lore #scopnotart #long post #ask #masterserris

[bananonbinary]

the main argument I've heard made wrt the IP thing and AI art is that the AI can only ever combine works from other artists. it has no creative input other than combining works that already exist; which, personally, i would be fine with if it was just being trained on work in the public domain and work from people who consented to be included, but these bots are scraping art from literally everywhere on the web with *very* few opportunities to opt out. even a human artist that's heavily inspired by other creators adds something of their own to the mix, it's kind of impossible *not* to unless you're literally tracing someone else's design, but AI is using art taken from other creators And Nothing Else, which when combined with the fact you can ask it to produce art "in the style of X" gets a lot of artists very mad

that feels like a very esoteric complaint though. how does one measure "creative input," and why does the actual method it uses to create not count? if you can't actually point to a bit of AI art like "thats my OC it clearly lifted that from this painting i did" then it's clearly done SOMETHING transformative. what has it actually stolen? the knowledge that your work exists, somewhere?

as far as i understand it, the main practical reason for "intellectual property" to exist as a legal concept, is to prevent someone from harming someone else's livelihood or reputation by claiming the work as their own. parody and free use are allowed only so far as they are sufficiently different from the source work. but these AIs...don't claim credit for the source works. they don't reproduce the source works anywhere at all. and what they create IS pretty transformative, even if it's in a soulless robot kinda way. it can't really be considered to be "taking away" from sales etc of the original works that exist, because it doesn't actually look like any one of them at all. I think even if I, a human, DID create "here's a collage of tiny pieces of shit i found on deviantart" it would still be considered fair use, but the connection between anything in the data sets and the actual art the AIs produce is much, much more tenuous than that.

I think any way that it could hurt an artist that you could define would also just cover competing artists in general. Even if an AI created a picture of, say, a tree In The Style Of Artist (let's call them Phil), it still wouldn't ACTUALLY be the same as the tree Phil would draw, it would just kinda look similar. and anyone who wanted a tree by Phil would know that this wasn't one, and wasn't worth their time. Phil could draw their own tree, and still sell it, and the AI would only really compete with that among Phil fans if it actually tried to claim that its version WAS by Phil.

This is sort of my main hesitation for the IP argument. we here in fandom spaces exist in a grey area of intellectual property, where EVERYTHING is "in the style of" or "based on" existing properties. if we try to legislate those very conceptual qualities, instead of actual concrete "look this was literally my image it made i published it two years ago," then our spaces will cease to exist.

again, that's not to say there's zero valid complaints about AI art. i definitely see the problem with corporations trying to replace human labor with them because the humans wanted better working conditions. (this is a larger problem imo where any progress in the workplace is stagnated because it will inevitably be used as an excuse to fire people instead of give them less work). and a friend explained to me why it's fairly offensive at the very least to try and bring AI art into what was clearly a space to celebrate the process of making art (eg, contests, writers groups and websites, etc). i just don't think this specific argument is a good path to go down.

#this is a bit disjointed #tldr: im an extremely practical minded person #and i just dont see the practical things we're arguing about here #and im very very concerned it will do more harm than good to transformative artists #copyright laws never benefit artists they only benefit corporations anyway

[fatimajpeg]

Saw a video about ai art and while i agree with majority of the points made i heavily disagree with the final point about how ai art is going to force the art world to separate real ‘art’ and illustration because um, those two things are already separate things. As in nobody confuses Fine Art with (commercial) Illustration, these are already very defined categories. If we categorise ‘Retinal Art’ (as Duchamp defined it) as illustration too then we lose a huge part of what art is i.e. pretty pictures that , yes, exist to be pretty pictures. Landscapes, still life, portraits etc these are all things that can be easily defined as ‘frivolous’ and ‘vacuous’. Art started out as representations of the natural world that we saw around us. I think the video author is misunderstanding art severely if he insists that ‘real art’ be only stuff with ‘deeper meanings’; whatever that means.

Art consists of the following: the art object/artwork, the art space, the art audience, and finally, the artist. All of these together create the Art Experience. It’s through the Art Experience that you create a space for interpretation and ultimately derive ‘deeper meaning’. You don’t get deeper meaning by simply reading the artist’s statement, nor by just being at a gallery. It’s a combination of different things that with proper engagement with the artwork, creates what you would call Art. This is why social media sorta fails art because the fast paced nature of it dampens the engagement. People scroll by looking at a million posts, and don’t have the proper time or space to fully engage with a work.

This is where Ai art also fails. You can give a bot a prompt and get quick results, but you ultimately lose the connection between artwork and artist. The experience is forever incomplete. I do think however that Ai can be used to create Art. For example, my classmate Aleena Akbar Khan made a sculptural playground based on text prompts she gave to an Ai. She used Ai to explore fragmentation and what the human world translated to machine learning would look like. Why is this art? because she collected and melded materials to match the ai results, arranged them and recontextualized them to create something new. She transformed the Ai results to create an Art experience. This imo is the way Ai should be used, not to create cheap copies and steal artist’s work.

Now back to the video, retinal art or “pretty pictures” when experienced as Art, will ultimately derive meaning. There’s a reason why even today there is huge debate about what artworks (art object) should be considered art. DuChamp questioned it back in 1917 when he placed that urinal and the debate hasn’t ended since. In my opinion, if the urinal can be considered art, then so can all pretty pictures. Categories like high art, low art will always exist. They will also evolve over time. Low art or culture in one era can become the most prestigious, high art in the next.

I don’t think impermanent things should be cause for disrespecting art that has a deeply human appeal, especially if it’s not ‘deep’ enough for some.

#rant sorry i didn’t know where else to post this #feel free ro disagree btw #ofc say no to ai artbots etc you cannot give the capitalists even an inch #ai is not thr artist tool as of yet under capitalism it’s poison #ai art discussion

[snoopysfriendwoodstock]

"Once I stopped viewing Midnights as an attempt to be deeply personal and raw with herself, and instead as an attempt to have a conversation and reckon with the monster of a fanbase she created, the album began to make more sense to me."

You genius. And WHO created that monstrous fan base, the brand, the persona, the GIANT in the Anti-Hero MV. Taylor herself. Is there any fate more tragic than being responsible for your own devastation and being aware of that but also being unable to undo it...so you're just left with these 292929 different fictional ideas that exist in both your head and the imaginations of millions of strangers. You don't know who you are, you are in a constant cycle of re-invention so part of you can be sold and digested and viewed for entertainment. Your humanity erased every album cycle, basically. All the lore, the easter eggs, the careful manufacturing of a corporate Girl Next Door...the fans that feel entitled to her life. There is no separation between the art and the artist in her case. Look what it's done to her. But she accepts it. She gave her blood for it. Damn :(

you get it you get it!!!

[ebachan]

Sonic Prime - Frame by Frame

Hi,

I've seen and now taken tons of frames from the newest Trailer. Some are just funny, but you'll notice "odd stuff" in some. So, let's dive right into them. Also, this will be a very long post ;-)

I don't mind the 4th wall breaking, but I wonder how often, or if it will be there. The opening looks like it could be trailer-exclusive.

It's just for a frame, but we can see Sonic and Shadow being knocked back. This means both are evenly matched regarding the raw power of their spin-dash/homing attack. Which is no surprise XD

It seems not all Badniks have a Flickie.

We can conclude, Dr. Eggman also cracked the Paradox Prism. Or the sparks were caused by the forceful removal. I wonder if we will learn why that stone exists, who created it, and why it was in Green Hills. There is definitely a lot of worldbuilding that can be explored.

It's hard to see, but I wonder if those letters are based on any existing language or inspired by games. It would be cool to find out those aren't random "words". Also, notice the red dot which is the ShatterPortal (Let's call it that ;-)).

I really love how we get to see "Mobians". And it seems we may get a decent amount of variants. Also, it begs the question if we will see more humans outside of Eggman. It would be the first time since Archie we would get humans and Mobians living together and not separately.

I can't help but think Sonic can't run as fast as he should. Could it be possible that he can run fast thanks to his shoes as suggested in old Genesis manuals? It would be probably too similar to Shadow, but given his shoes are all sparkly, it's possible. That could also explain why he needs new shoes and gloves per universe.

I really like how each mecha is different. Also, I think we have seen only 3 out of 5 in this trailer. Unless those two Eggmen have something different.

Basically except for the fully blue-haired one, everyone is based on the old concept art. I really wonder what individual quirks they have :-D Also one of them seems to have a visible tattoo that is quite big. You don't see that often :-D

I can't help but think Tails have both of his tails. Right behind him, you can see something like two tips. But it may be just one tail with a split end. Tails also may have those mechanical legs because he can't fly even with two tails, or to increase his combat potential. I can also see him being more cynical or sarcastic, showing he is less optimistic.

Terminator Amy, nothing else can be said XD I wonder if we will get a flashback of how she ended up like this. Also, it may be possible she is completely mute, giving her more Metal Sonic vibes.

Primal Flickies used to be huge :-D Also, Amy is a bit of a less cavehog in this case. I really love the use of leaves for clothing. Froggy is there too :-D And Tails is examining something in the background. This fox will always be the brainiac :-D

I just find it interesting, that Rouge's sword looks so different from the other two.

Only the best of the best pirates have hot-air ballons on their ship :-D Notice Amy in the background by the helm. Also, I love Knuckle's clothes here, and his dreadlocks got a small but cool makeover.

Did Sonic steal Knuckle's hat? XD Also, Big is there too. Now to find Froggy. (It would be way past cool if Froggy turned out to be a giant sea monster Big befriended XD)

These robots are exactly the same as in the Dystopia world! And they are in Pirate world now! That may mean a few things.

One of the Dystopia Eggmen is after Sonic, chasing him through the multiverse.

For some reason, the Eggman of each universe uses the same robots. Maybe because of the Paradox Prism.

There is another Eggman, that provides his robots to "lesser" Eggmen to control the Shatterverse.

Any other ideas?

Could there be a piece of Paradox Prism, that acts as a gateway to the ShatterVoid? I wonder if anybody else can use it to hop between dimensions?

There seem to be Knuckles under the ship. It can be a flashback or an outcome of the battle with the robots.

It seems Sonic is deep in thought and realizing what mess he had made. It's refreshing to see him being so serious. I wonder if this moment is in the first episode where he decides to stand against The Council and fix everything. Not that he wouldn't want before, but this isn't your everyday banter with Dr. Eggman he knows. He needs to mature to be the hero he thought he is.

Do you see the portal? Could it be possible for Sonic to leave Dystopia World (by accident or by choice) and get back later to fight The Council? Because the next few seconds are from one scene.

First thing, lovely shot. And... Rouge has some sort of knife on her soles! And a different style of heels! And it seems her main partner is Knuckles since we can see them almost always together in this trailer. It may not mean much, but it would be a nice teasing for Knuckles x Rouge shippers :-D

It's also interesting to see that, despite the chase, citizens seem indifferent. Shows how their will is broken, and they just try to survive.

Also, I have to wonder why Sonic looks so "concerned" or "worried". He should be able to run just fine with his new shoes. I wouldn't be surprised if those robots are tougher to beat. But it may be just a frame from his usual smile.

Have you noticed those weapons are literally taped together? Such a neat detail that tells a lot about their resources. It's also interesting how all of them are surprised by Sonic's speed. Could this be possibly the first time he had shown it to them? Or it was Sonic returning to aid them after leaving?

Of course, leave the best for the end! It seems Shadow's involvement will be bigger. And unlike Sonic, he may be stuck in between dimensions. This may be because he used his Chaos powers to protect himself, making his situation worse or better.

Worse - He is stuck in between.

Better - He may be in a similar position as Sonic, allowing him to search for a way to fix the mess.

But also, he seems to be more friendly toward Sonic than in most of his incarnations. He sounds urgent, not angry or aggressive. Maybe he will be able to point Sonic in the right direction where to find shards of Paradox Prism or something that can prevent from the multiverse collapsing.

Well, I told you it'll be long :-D Hope you enjoyed my babbling. If you have any ideas, leave a comment or reblog. I like to read them.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic prime #shadow the hedgehog #amy rose #rogue the bat #miles tails prower #knuckles the echidna #sonic netflix #netflix sonic #netflix #sonic theory #very long post #dr. eggman #shatterverse #tv series #i can't wait

[new-revenant]

Hello! That demon AU looks fun! May I please ask for more details? Like, for example what counts as a demon in this universe? Is there like - an implication that demons exist alongside angels and all that religious jazz, or are they basically the Fae?

And Phantom - is he his own thing that was just super weakened and merged with Danny for survival, or is it like canon and Danny is essentially a new demon? Maybe that's why everyone attacks him and his city, they think this lil baby man is all set on building his presence and essentially went ' hold up tiny, let the big boys have cults, you go and do whatever, come back in like a hundred years ' while Danny is just doing his thing and trying to protect everyone.

I'm sorry if I'm rambling, this AU just made my lil funky brain gears turn, I'm very happy right now •^•

The art is also very nice, i love it!

Why thank you! I’m going to answer these questions from top to bottom, starting with what counts as a demon. It’s under the cut because this is a bit long.

I guess they are a bit similar to the Fae, like, there are religious elements and a lot of ways demons and angels work is based on religion, but God isn’t really confirmed to exist and isn’t confirmed to have created everything and all that. But you know how Butch retconned to make it that ghosts were just monsters from another dimension or something? Yeah that’s canon here, but with demons.

Now angels also exist, and angels who don’t do what they are essentially “programmed” to do are cast out as demons. What angels are programmed to do can range from very specific to very broad, such as “protect this certain human from harm,” to “warn these certain humans when something bad happens,” to “watch over humanity as a whole.” The broader the order, usually, the higher up an angel is on their little hierarchy. Arch angels are usually the ones on the tippy top, and are the only ones with names. They watch over all angels and keep demons at bay.

At first, demons aren’t all “I will contract a human for their soul” and all that, they tend to focus in on what they wanted to do/experience that made them go outside of their programming. It’s like the obsession hc, but this obsession is usually warped or even forgotten as time goes on. Eventually, they seek out humans to try to live/do something through them.

Phantom, for example, is a demon who forgot what he originally fell for. He chose his name to be “Mira Phantasm, the Demon of Mimicry.” Titles are part of demon names and are very important, which is why all demons shout their name and title, or just their title.

So, right after asking Phantom why he looked like him(he’s the demon of mimicry, he can look like whoever he wants to-with a few minor changes, he’s not perfect at that) Danny called him Danny Phantom, because Phantom sounds like Fenton and his name was also Mira Phantasm, it all worked out. Phantom actually really liked that joke, so it was the first “bonding moment” between the two.

Why Phantom sorta merged with Danny is for a few reasons. Firstly, Phantom and Danny kinda get along. Kinda, but it is better than most human-demon relationships(platonic). Secondly, Danny reminded Phantom what he fell for-to live life as a human being does. He wanted to be with them so badly, to be free like them, that he was cast out and became an enemy of the angels. Thirdly, it was more like Danny made a deal with Phantom rather than the other way around.

Phantom struck up a deal at the exact moment Danny turned on the portal. Phantom offered him the ability to survive it and live again, as long as Phantom got his soul. Danny would’ve obviously denied that, if not for him wanting to live. Danny asked him what caused him to fall. After that, Danny made a deal of “If I get to live, I get your powers and you’ll help me stop other demons from hurting others. In exchange, you’ll be able to live as a human alongside me.” Phantom agreed.

You see, making a deal with a demon is different from a demon making a deal with you-it essentially is based on who gains more from the relationship. Most demons want to gain more than a human would, but with Phantom remembering how much he so desperately wanted to be a human, he was willing to give up everything for that. It was a very rash decision, but that’s just how most deals with demons work.

Now, since Phantom looks and acts a lot differently to Danny, most demons assume that he is just a new demon, that might have to do with the new disappearance of Phantom. Danny also acts a lot differently than most demons as well, he specifically stops other demons from harming or harassing others. But he also just does human things sometimes, which is Phantom taking control and living out through him. So most demons-and some demon hunters(wink wink nudge nudge)-think he is a baby demon who fell because he wanted to help humans a bit too much. And maybe killed Phantom and absorbed his powers somehow, since he can still mimic other demon’s powers, just much weaker than Phantom can.

Hope that answers all your current questions! You can ask me more if you want. Thank you for the ask :)

#danny phantom #danny phantom au #danny fenton #dp au #magical demon au #asked #kitty-av #revenant rambles