#Convention (norm)

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[mr-payjay]

there are a Million ways to be a system. don't limit yourself or Restrict your idea of them too harshly. speak to multiple systems if you want better references for depicting them (or just to know how they work) because every system is different and unique

[philosophybits]

[The Sage] has the form of a man but not the feelings of a man. Since he has the form of a man, he bands together with other men. Since he doesn’t have the feelings of a man, right and wrong cannot get at him. Puny and small, he sticks with the rest of men. Massive and great, he perfects his Heaven alone.

Zhuangzi, The Complete Works of Zhuangzi, Watson tr. (Ch 5)

[suliqyre]

Rule making begets rule making. We first make a rule only to later discover an exception. We then modify the existing rule or make another rule to cover the exception. But then we discover an exception to the new rule and the whole process repeats.

What we end up with is a frustrating and unmanageably complex set of rules. We find ourselves with laws that require professional guidance to follow, sports with rules that are impossible to adjudicate, and philosophical distinctions that are incomprehensible to non-specialists.

Read more...

[azuremallone]

What have I been saying about the Democrats?

Well, there it is, folks: They're slavers.

Straight from their party line, accidentally slipped from Rep. Jasmine Crockett, they intend for illegal immigrants to be slave labor. Off the books, unpaid or underpaid, untracked and undocumented, taxable slave labor. They intend for these people to live off the books so they won't appear on unemployment numbers. They intend to let these people get all the benefits of a citizen with none of the protections. They especially want them dependent on the state with the ability to vote for the lies the Democrats push about being "for the little guy."

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, a member of the far-left group of progressive lawmakers known as "the Squad," told congregants at a historically Black church that America needs robust immigration because "we done picking cotton." "So I had to go around the country and educate people about what immigrants do for this country, or the fact that we are a country of immigrants. The fact is ain’t none of y’all trying to go and farm right now," Crockett said, garnering a sheepish laugh from a few members of the audience.  "OK, so I'm lying?" Crockett shot back, noticing the awkward silence. "You're not! You're not! We done picking cotton! We are. You can't pay us enough to find a plantation."

[possamble]

i wonder if you have any thoughts about how marcille always seems to dislike it when falin wears men's clothing ( i bet she wears it out of its comfiness rather than because she prefers masc style tho, although i hope both lolol) and super short hairstyle

I wonder if it's just her interest in cute feminine fashion in general or maybe there's something more

For the clothes, at least, it's like... Marcille is probably more horrified by the clothing being actually made for and marketed to men than anything else. I bet she'd be fine if Falin wore the exact same things but they were in the women's section, or at least, branded unisex. She would be so so silly about arbitrary stuff like that in a modern setting.

The hair I think is a tangled issue of Falin's resemblance to Laios getting a little too obvious for Marcille's mental health, and Marcille's own very intense relationship with how (female) mages should treat their hair. Also, since it's mostly a joke doodle, I kind of took it as a flanderized Bad Taste Marcille being horrified by a woman with short hair because she buys into gender norms. Some people are... weird about what women do with their hair and unfortunately I can fully see how Marcille can be weird like that in a vacuum joke setting.

(there's also something to be said about how this kind of femininity policing could also be used as plausibly deniable homoerotic subtext. like, girl, why do you care that much about how cute another girl looks? hm?)

[thirdity]

The spectacle's instruction and the spectators' ignorance are wrongly seen as antagonistic factors when in fact they give birth to each other. In the same way, the computer's binary language is an irresistible inducement to the continual and unreserved acceptance of what has been programmed according to the wishes of someone else and passes for the timeless source of a superior, impartial and total logic.

Guy Debord, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle

[koukouture]

Okay listennnn-

I love G'raha. I really do. He is such a well written character and I love him to bits- both the silly little guy side of him and the wizened old soul side of him.

But I just- I can't bring myself to ship him with my WoL. On paper it makes sense- bro did all manner of interdimensional and time travel because he believed she was the only one who could save everyone, AND he was willing to sacrifice himself TWICE. He's also with the Scions so it means that he'll always be around her and Elysia won't have to sacrifice her adventures to have a life with him. He's just so understanding and kind too- why wouldn't they be good together?

Because he can't handle her freak.

Okay I'm mostly joking- but genuinely I just don't think they would mesh well. Outside of shared goals and love of adventure- they just don't really have anything in common? I know opposites attract and whatnot but there needs to be some common ground and idk Elysia is just so messy. G'raha isn't some clueless soft UwU baby I know- but I don't really like them together either even if they sound like they fit together.

I can't really put my finger on it, but they just kind of occupy two different worlds? Elysia is highkey a bad person and NOT good at being vulnerable and G'raha is the opposite of that. I've seen WoL's with similar personalities as Elysia make it work but I just... I'd feel bad for G'raha if I put him with her lmao.

Which is sad because the drama of G'raha and Elysia missing each other even though they're right there is so fun!!! But maybe it's because he's too obvious a choice I don't really vibe with him? I think he does start seeing her just as herself and not the WoL after Shadowbringers and ESPECIALLY after Endwalker and I think that's a part of it tbh. G'raha realizes who Elysia really is and realizes that they won't really fit together. Kinda sad but that's just how it feels.

It's not that Elysia is super averse to being with him either? They're just forever out of each other's reach because there ARE better options for them both. (also highkey grappling with the fact that Elysia might be better off with a girl LMAO-)

Anyways, G'raha kissers you may try to convince me because I really do love him it's just none of my OCs would 😭

[nookscorner]

im so enthralled by the prospect of lesbian markjez like you guys don't understand

[philosophybits]

With us pupils remain silent, not only for five years, as the Pythagoreans recommended, but for ten or more — until they have learned to speak like their masters. And then they are granted a freedom which is no longer any good to them. Perhaps they had wings, or might have had them, but they have crawled all their life long in imitation of their masters, so how can they now dream of flight?

Lev Shestov, All Things Are Possible

[suliqyre]

As our categories become finer and more precise, we gain the ability to refer to more and more specific parts of the world. Sometimes we create categories and then later realize our distinctions do not work. For whatever reason, they do not accurately reflect the world, and so we modify our schema, adding new words or redefining old ones in order to fix the problem.

Most of the changes we make are practical ones because language is primarily a practical tool for communicating with others. But sometimes our categories become problematic for reasons that go beyond the practical. Sometimes we discover our categories are harmful or even violent. Such categories actively limit us. In addition to the harm they directly cause, they confine us to ways of seeing the world that are detrimental to our potential growth. They do this because language itself is normative.

Read more...

[princesssarcastia]

house and wilson's relationship in a nutshell

wilson: finally, someone I can be mean to without consequences house: finally, someone I can occasionally be nice to without them making it a Thing™

[serenhob]

One thing people seem to forget is that the idea of 'conventional beauty' is not objective.

The beauty standard has been fluid throughout history and it is based on wealth and being unattainable.

Hundreds of years ago being fat was celebrated and a sign of beauty because that was a luxury of the rich.

Being pale was attractive because it meant you weren't doing physical labour. (+ racism as it was just another way to dehumanise and degrade people of colour).

The beauty standard of being skinny in the 90s was because cheaper food was generally unhealthy and the high quality vegetables, vitamins etc were very expensive and thus for rich people. (Tho specifically heroin chic was a glamorization and encouragement of drug use)

Having plastic surgery to create the 'perfect skinny hourglass' is the beauty standard now because plastic surgery is expensive.

Having to wear make up to be pretty is because it's expensive. Capitalism and rich people go hand in hand so giving you this to 'fix your flaws' is again just about money

Unattainability and showing wealth has always been the motive behind being beautiful as well as encouraging people to feel bad about themselves in order to get them to spend money to be seen as beautiful.

Also why people keep coming up with more and more outlandish things you need to buy to be pretty.

There is a reason people say 'you're not ugly, just poor'. Beauty is just another thing to make rich people feel superior.

<3

[petercushingscheekbones]

listened to a Buddhist sermon and amongst many other things the monk just said that gender is simply a construct of the mind 

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

4?

aaand ship number 4 is... drum roll please... lincoln/normal/scary!!! I WIN THESE BTW. I WIN THESE. was so excited to see you got this one because omg <33!! not a ship i have thought of before this game but like. literally. i am the actual #1 normscary fan as well as a huge gothcleats girlie! made for me!! i win these!!!

[lesbiansforkevinday]

I love non-binary people and the names they choose for themselves I feel like they are truly living life right and making the best of it. Like hell yeah you really are out here fully individualizing your avatar not just the looks but name too and you’re choosing what feels right even if it’s not conventional. We really can learn from that. Why should we go by our given names? Why should we live life to some societal standard? Why would I go by a name like Emily if my name could be anything else? I could be called Jorts or Plushy or Isle!!! Like they are so correct actually