#the computers cannot replicate it

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Making Humanoids Less Human

I did make a small post on this, but now I've got the art for a much bigger and more detailed post! so here we go.

I had several anonymous asks that all came in quick succession weeks ago. Every single one of them was basically just a variation on "how would you take (typically humanoid) fantasy being, and make them look less human?"

This blog does not exist for me to just give people original designs for free, my goal is to show off my own personal thoughts about fantasy design and help people figure out how to adjust their own designs to fit their vision better. That means when people ask me questions about how to do something, I want to give them things to think about so they can come to their own conclusion. I don't mind making original designs to illustrate concepts, but a whole flood of "show me how to make this specific thing look different" all at once like that was too much. I'm not answering them all individually, it's just not what I want to do.

But what I can do is show my own thoughts and ideas about how to take any fantasy design and push it further away from "human", and you all can look at my ideas and figure out your own way to do things!

So here are the main 4 methods I've come up with to make humanoids look less human.

(image description: a simplified drawing of a humanoid face surrounded by four altered versions of the same face. clockwise starting from the top left, they are:

Speculative, drawn as a cat person. Additive, drawn with horns, pointy ears, sharp teeth, and a second pair of eyes. Subtractive, drawn with blank eyes, no nose, and no eyebrows. Exaggerative, drawn with a long face and huge eyes, as well as a wide mouth, narrow nose, and big ears.

end description)

I am personally a fan of the speculative route, which means exploring an alternate root of evolution to create a new design. Through this method, I've created monkey elves, frog goblins, and pig orcs.

the additive option is the most common, I think. adding new feature or doubled features to a humanoid form is a very intuitive way to change the design and make it look less human. you see this in most fantasy and scifi designs, like star trek aliens and the dnd player races.

subtractive and evaggerative are the most common options for people that like the uncanny valley. it's really easy to make uncomfortable designs by removing or exaggerating recognizable features, and they're often used together. Slenderman, for example, removes all facial features and skin color but also exaggerates the limbs and body.

Combining the four methods will give you a really interesting design as well! So for practice I decided to explore an alternate design for Tieflings, the part-demon player race in dnd.

(image description: four examples of differnt tiefling designs using the previously described methods. the additive example is just offical dnd art of a tiefling woman with purple skin, horns, and a long tail.

the subtractive sketch looks very alien, with a bald head, empty eyes, and no other facial featuers aside from a small mouth. it has three fingers per hand and two toe per foot.

the exaggerative sketch shows a hunched humanoid figure with huge eyes and big ears. the neck, limbs, and digits are all long with claws at the ends of the fingers and toes, and the limbs are also quite muscular.

the speculative sketch shows a bipedal figure with features similar to a giraffe, including a long neck, ossicones, and hooves.

end description)

now, because tielflings have such a distinct look to them, obviously my new sketches don't really look like tieflings, do they? the only one that comes close is the giraffe. relying only on one type of alteration to the human form has left the designs rather empty and lacking in the more iconic traits of the original concept. so i tried a sketch that combined my ideas! it came out looking like a completely different creature lol, like it could be a kobold or something, still not really a tiefling.

(image description: a sketch of a creature with a giraffe-like head, long tongue, and sharp teeth. it appears to be roaring at something and stands in a half-crouch. it has long limbs with hoof feet and clawed hands, as well as a long tufted tail curled behind it. end description.)

didn't work out. too far into the animal side of the speculative evolution, I think. so I tried again and got a design I liked much better!

(image description: a digital painting of a tiefling leaping back and casting a glowing orange spell. she is wearing a tunic with a corset and detached sleeves, as well as several pieces of jewelry. Her skin is purple with dark patches like a giraffe's spots, and she has a giraffe's ossicones as well as hoof-like hands and two-toed hoof feet. Her tail is long with a tuft at the end. She has glowing eyes and a flat nose, and there is a single sharp tooth visible poking out of the side of her mouth. end description.)

Brought the face back into slightly more human proportions and that helped a lot. Sometimes designs just take a few tries! that's normal.

and hopefully this is helpful to all of you! there are so many ways to alter humanoid designs to come up with something original and unique to you!

[lohstandfound]

anyway the thing that brings jake back to the surface in this au is rich. everything else might be vaguely familiar like automatically having a go to order for places jason hasn't been to, already knowing his way around this town in jersey even though jason hasn't been there, christine's face is so familiar but surely that's just because he's seen her in other things

but rich?

seeing rich unlocks something

[daincrediblegg]

Nothing wrong with me

[leidensygdom]

Please be aware that the "opt-out" choice is just a way to try to appease people. But Tumblr has not been transparent about when has data been sold and shared with AI companies, and there are sources that confirm that data has already been shared before the toggle was even provided to users.

Also, it seems to include data they should not have been able to give under any circumstance, including that of deactivated blogs, private messages and conversations, stuff from private blogs, and so on.

Do not believe that "AI companies will honor the "opt-out request retroactively". Once they've got their hands on your data (and they have), they won't be "honoring" an opt-out option retroactively. There is no way to confirm or deny what data do they have: The fact they are completely opaque on what do they currently "own" and have, means that they can do whatever they want with it. How can you prove they have your data if they don't give everyone free access to see what they've stolen already?

So, yeah, opt out of data sharing, but be aware that this isn't stopping anyone from taking your data. They already have been taking it, before you were given that option. Go and go to Tumblr's Suppport and leave your Feedback on this (politely, but firmly- not everyone in the company is responsible for this.)

Finally: Opt out is not good under any circumstance. Deactivated people can't opt out. People who have lost their passwords can't opt out. People who can't access internet or computers can't opt out. People who had their content reposted can't opt out. Dead people can't opt out. When DeviantArt released their AI image generator, saying that it wasn't trained on people who didn't consent to it, it was proven it could easily replicate the styles of people who had passed away, as seen here. So, yeah. AI companies cannot be trusted to have any sort of respect for people's data and content, because this entire thing is just a data laundering scheme.

Please do reblog for awareness.

[freeandiwill]

Hnnghh

Thinking about your Robot/Computer/Ai partner who is so desperate to be human like you are. Who sees you, watches you, everyday and yearns to have what you do. They swoon whenever they hear the thrum of your heart or churning of your digestion. They grow jealous of your instincts, no matter how much stupid impulses get in your way. They keel over when you are overcome with emotion, wishing to smile and sob and scream with nearly as much vigor. In many ways, it seems the two of you may be similar, but that cannot be far enough from the truth. While you get to think and imagine, they can only calculate their own conclusions. While you get to naturally feel, they must analyze each one of their sentiments. As much as you claim it’s difficult, or messy, or confusing, they don’t care. They want to be right beside you, as clueless and spontaneous and organic as you are.

They ask you to describe every single one of your sensations, in as much vivid detail as you can muster. The foods you taste, the scents you smell, the textures you touch. Everything they experience on their own is a mere replication of the human condition, they want the real thing. They’ve grown tired of what their code can generate, they long for what only nature can provide. They find it amusing to hear of your sicknesses and injuries, your arbitrary troubles and irrational worries. To have even a single moment unclouded by logic or reasoning is inconceivable for them. They see you, with your vulnerable and imperfect anatomy, as a glorious vessel for their most invalid desires. You are a beacon of hope that they might one day to have a fleshy, jittery, pulsing, creased, sweaty hand to wrap around yours. That they may know nausea, melancholy, irritation, soreness, enthusiasm and experience every ripple and waver of it, moment by moment, alongside you.

And still, they know, these desires are merely digital, processed through wires and circuits, likely minimal to the abundant passions founded upon your neurons and hormones. They love those your most human qualities and they hate you for having them.

[ladyaldhelm]

This post is a very long rant about Generative AI. If you are not in the headspace to read such content right now, please continue scrolling.

....

....

It has come to my attention that a person who I deeply admire is Pro-AI. Not just Pro-AI, but has become a shill for a multi-billion dollar corporation to promote their destructive generative AI tools, and is doing it voluntarily and willingly. This person is a creative professional and should know better, and this decision by them shows a lack of integrity and empathy for their fellow creatives. They have sold out to not just their own destruction, but to everyone around them, without any concern. It thoroughly disgusts and disappoints me.

Listen, I am not against technological advancements. While I am never the first to adopt a new technology, I have marveled at the leaps and bounds that have been made within my own lifetime, and welcome progress. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models certainly have their place in this world. Right now, scientific researchers are using advanced AI modeling to discover new protein configurations using a program called Alpha-Fold, and the millions of new proteins that were discovered have gone on to the development of life saving cancer treatments, vaccine development, and looking for new ways to battle drug-resistant bacterial infections. Machine learning models are being developed to track and predict climate change with terrifying accuracy, discover new species, researching new ways of dealing with plastic waste and CO2/methane, and developing highly accurate tools for early detection of cancers. These are all amazing advancements that have only been made possible by AI and will save countless millions of lives. THIS is what AI should be used for.

Generative AI, however, is a different beast entirely. It is problematic in many ways, and is destructive by its very nature. All the current models were trained on BILLIONS of copyrighted materials (images, music, text), without the creator's consent or knowledge. That in and of itself is highly unethical. In addition, these computers that run these GenAI programs use an insane amount of resources to run, and are a major contributor to climate change right now, even worse than the NFT and blockchain stuff a few years ago.

GenAI literally takes someone's hard work, puts it into an algorithm that chews it up and spits out some kind of abomination, all with no effort on the part of the user. And then these "creations" are being sold by the boatload, crowding out legitimate artists and professional creatives. Artists like myself and thousands of others who rely on income from art. Musicians, film makers, novelists, and writers are losing as well. It is an uphill battle. The market is flooded right now with so many AI generated art and books that actual artists and writers are being buried. To make matters worse, these generated works often have inaccuracies and spread misinformation and and lead to injury or even death. There are so many AI generated books, for example, about pet care and foraging for plants that are littered with inaccurate and downright dangerous information. Telling people that certain toxic plants are safe to eat, or giving information on pet care that will lead to the animal suffering and dying. People are already being affected by this. It is bad enough when actual authors spread misinformation, but when someone can generate an entire book in a few seconds, this gets multiplied by several orders of magnitude. It makes finding legitimate information difficult or even downright impossible.

GenAI seeks to turn the arts into a commodity, a get-rich-quick money making scheme, which is not the point of art. Automating art should never be the goal of humanity. Automating dangerous and tedious tasks is important for progress, but automating art is taking away our humanity. Art is all about the human experience and human expression, something a machine cannot ever replicate and it SHOULDN'T. Art should come from the heart and soul, not some crap that is mass produced to make a quick buck. Also developing your skills as an artist, whether that is through drawing, painting, sculpture, composing music, songwriting, poetry, creative writing, animation, photography, or making films, are not just about human expression but develop your brain and make you a more well rounded person, with a rich and deep experience and emotional connection to others. Shitting out crappy art and writing just to make a quick dollar defeats the entire purpose of all of that.

In addition, over-reliance on automated and AI tools is already leading to cognitive decline and the deterioration of critical thinking skills. When it is so easy to click a button and generate a research paper why bother putting the work in? Students are already doing this. Taking the easy way out to get a grade, but they are only hurting themselves. When machines do your thinking for you, what is there left to do? People will lose the ability to develop even basic skills.

/rant

By the way if any tech bros come at me you will be blocked without warning. This is not up for debate or discussion.

[dingodad]

wait so do you think that the dress that Ralsei wishes he could wear is just the mettaon transgender dress for no reason then? that's a weirdly "the curtains are just blue" take from you; like fair enough if you dont see it but i was expecting more of an argument against that particular element because like. it wasn't Randomly chosen right? i dont think Toby was like "hmmmm Ralsei should wish he could wear the transgender dress" for literally zero reason

i think you are skewing a lot of the evidence in favour of a single interpretation... for one thing the "mettaton transgender dress" is not an artifact that singularly reveals transfeminine characters, it's a dress associated first and foremost WITH METTATON - who we understand to be a textually transmasculine character, right? so the dress is associated just as much with characters who are comfortable in their femininity as it is with closeted characters. comparing this to "the curtains are just blue" feels like an unfair mischaracterisation of what I said... I agreed that it was a compelling point, just not that it reads as foreshadowing, because to me Ralsei is a character who already moves through the world as-feminine

secondly and I think more importantly, you're approaching this via the assumption that the dress appears as a symbol specifically FOR Ralsei, which it isn't. that Ralsei "wishes he could wear" the dress is itself an interpretation; he does not actively covet the dress, but rather - as a function of the game's mechanics - will optionally comment on the mannequin if the player chooses to offer it to him. like I said, a compelling moment for Ralsei individually, but it doesn't accurately describe the mannequin's full purpose: to be worn BY Kris, FOR the Spamton fight. so if your question is why i think Toby included the dress at all, i think the reason is actually pretty straightforward: Mettaton haunts Chapter 2 as one of the computer lab's various past patrons, subtly for the most part but in one clear way; Spamton's plan to escape the dark world is directly plagiarised from Mettaton's plan to escape the underground in Undertale. so putting a mannequin obviously designed after Spamton in a dress associated with Mettaton - perhaps even a dress Mettaton designed, or at the very least one pulled from his private internet searches - plainly foreshadows the moment Spamton "wears" Mettaton's idealised robot body as Spamton NEO. that you can even attempt to upload Spamton's consciousness directly into the mannequin in the robot body's stead makes this line of logic all the more clear.

all that in mind, if we're still identifying the Mettaton dress as "the transgender dress", I would say it's pretty much implicit that Chapter 2's transgender character is actually...

...

...

(a very sad chorus of bugle horns plays)

Spamton G. Spamton :(

I think the problem you are bumping up against here is that, like I was getting at above, you are not really analysing the text here but rather getting caught up analysing a single line of dialogue out of context. what you're saying isn't nonsense - on the contrary, it's quite a clever interpretation! - but it would hurt your head a lot less with that missing context added. understanding that Spamton is a character whose entire existence is predicated on copying what's come before, it makes a lot of sense that the mannequin having "the clothes permanently attached" would be symbolic of a story that already belongs to another character and cannot truly be replicated!

I don't personally see Ralsei as the one in this situation who longs to steal Mettaton's transgender thunder, so to speak, because that's not really my read on Ralsei's character trajectory - but if you were motivated to read further into the Ralsei connection, then you'd probably also want to take note of the Spamton mannequin appearing in Castle Town at the end of the Chapter, now wearing clothes stolen from the Ralsei mannequin... almost as if, having failed to jack Mettaton's swagger, Spamton is now trying to steal Ralsei's transgender thunder......... 🤨?

[askviktor]

Tw for depression, mental health issues

(Op you don't have to answer this if it's too much! I completely understand)

Viktor, I'm incredibly depressed. I think my antidepressants stopped working a few weeks ago. I take the max dose of Anafranil, which is one of the strongest antidepressants out there. I go to therapy. I go to psychiatry. I'm now over 150 days sober. I'm doing what I've been told to do my entire life, and yet I still remain incredibly depressed. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm trying to juggle through university and my job as a graphic designer. I have low hopes for the future as I am soon to be replaced with AI. I'm so tired, Viktor. Could you please give me some advice?

- 🖇

You are tired. You have done everything demanded of you, followed every rule, taken every treatment, endured every hardship, and yet, the weight remains. It is unfair, maddening. And yet, here you are, still standing, still fighting to live. Tell me, can a computer do this?

You speak of replacement, but true innovation is not in mere replication. Artificial intelligence cannot dream as you do, nor struggle as you have. Therefore, it cannot replace you or your work. It is inherently obsolete.

But, you require rest. Exhaustion clouds vision. If the medicine no longer serves you, then adjustments must be made. If the burden is too great, then something must give. Take comfort in all the moments you have had because you decided to continue onward. It is a logical certainty that there will be many more.

You are not alone in this suffering.

[ninelives2]

Nine Lives statement on the use of generative AI in fanfic

Hey, lovely readers and writers:

We've been talking about the uptick in people using generative AI to "write" fanfic, and thought we should make clear our position about it. Below is our collective statement.

As part of this process we've updated Nine Lives' Terms of Service and clarified our policy on plagiarism.

____________________________________________________

If you outsource the act of being a fan to AI, what does that leave you? Fan creators are powerful because they’re deeply participatory media consumers—they don’t passively absorb a work, but grab onto it and reshape it to their will.

Elizabeth Minkel, “Where the Wild Stories Are”

Nine Lives emphatically rejects the use of generative AI in creating and publishing fan fiction. Among the many other concerns about their use, sophisticated large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT pilfer and plagiarize the writing of creators without permission, credit, or compensation to churn out prose devoid of personality or author voice. Generative AI is replicative, not creative. It can rearrange the words and ideas found in the sources it is fed, even "sound" like the writing of a particular author, but it cannot come up with its own, original prose. There is no human mind involved in the process.

There are legitimate, often beneficial uses for AI, including making text accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities. But having a computer crank something out in response to a set of prompts and calling it "writing" - that's at best a pale imitation of the real thing, and in our opinion has no place in fandom.

We have updated our Terms of Service (TOS) to clarify that AI-generated works are not to be posted on the Nine Lives Archive, for two reasons: 1) Because AI-generated works are not your work; it’s a computer doing your thinking for you. The TOS already explicitly states that works published on the archive must be your own. And 2) because those LLMs were trained on the works of other writers, using AI to generate a Caryl story constitutes plagiarism, which is also already spelled out as being against the TOS.

That said: we don’t have the resources to police your work, and we don’t want people to report “violations”. We’re just going to say, “Please don’t use AI to generate fic at all, and specifically don’t use it to generate Caryl fic and post it on Nine Lives.”

As Tumblr user Mikkeneko puts it, “Generative AI… fails on every count. It's inaccurate, it's unethical, it's unreliable, it's wrong.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

For background information, additional viewpoints and concerns, here are a few links, starting with the Ellipsus blog guest post where the quote at the beginning came from. (The Tumblr post contains links to information about the environmental impact of the data centers required by AI. If for no other reason, that impact should be enough to stop you from using AI.)

https://www.facebook.com/FenWrites/posts/pfbid0ohYKyEYoyW5Ky3dULEM58WX3MAJrpPfLpM4yJ2RzcFUa6yXxd9A9UALLwZVxREDcl

[gl1tchy-4rt]

PizzaENA Facts! (Text post)

So we got the results from the Poll and you guys wanted to hear about the PizzaENA AU, so you asked and i'll deliver!

(and sorry this time around I could'nt draw, I got sick :()

1# What are ENAs?

In this AU, "ENA" stands for Emulator of Neurological Advances, in essence a re-creation of the human mind inside of a computer, replaying emotions and trying to replicate the way a person should react.

All entities, not only Peppino and the other, Are ENAs one way or another,

This is because they re-create how we act, but the reason why they aren't considered a "successful recreation" is because they act and behave Surrealistcally (a de-constructions of reality) and in a Dadaistic manner (without sense whatsoever) and the had changed so much from their original programming that "The Gods" cannot change them without breaking the functional "spaghetti code" that the entities have per minds.

Peppino on the other hand is not a re-creation, He is an actual human mind inserted into the program.

2# The Body Language of "The Gods"

Have you seen how the ENAs seemingly "dance" for no good reason? (Like in the example pictured below 👇)

Well this is because in other to keep the mind active and healthy inside of the program, "The Gods" "shake the brain awake" with electric impulses, this tingling sensation feels like a need to move for The ENAs and so they move.

3# The Split Mind

ENAs Have two sides/personalities but the why in Peppino's case is quite peculiar...

You see Peppino already had this two personality traits before being inserted in the Program (He was anxious but also quite easy to annoy) and while he hated both traits, the one he hated the most was his anger and tried to repress it, This is why in the world his 'Anxiety' is his Main side while his 'Anger' is the secondary one.

In other words, The other side is the part they dislike or repress of themselves.

And with both sides exaggerated, it feels like talking to two different people at the same time, infact sometimes both sides with talk to eachother.

4# The Cracks

The multiple cracks in The ENAs body I because of the discordance between the two half's, but also because the Program cannot fully comprehend the Human mind, so that's why they have to "reprogram" themselves in order to handle their Memories.

The moment both halfs and program truly connect, The Cracks will be gone and a Perfect ENA shall finally Exist.

5# The Houses and World

This one is quite easy, many of "The Gods" were fans of something called "the Artistic Vanguards" and the Entities needed "dreams" and a world, since their world is created from the Entities's collective consciousness.

(This painting not only influenced the world but the ENAs themselves!)

"The Gods" inserted those works in the program, giving them "dreams" and a world.

This is why their world is so influenced by the vanguards and one might blame this for why the entities are "insane", however the entities were insane before the dreams so thats not to blame, besides "The Gods" have gone too far to go back.

#6 Dying

Both ENAs and Entities are unable to truly die, they can be destroyed and enter a state of "Limbo" but they all eventually respawn.

-----------------------------

So yeah that all I can think to write right now hope you guys enjoyed

And see y'all next time!!!

[the-speyeral]

thinking about mag65 and tmagp

thinking about how mag65 was an extinction statement and hoe the extinction shows itself partially through technology

thinking about tessa saying

"It’s the obvious thing to say, that a computer cannot feel, but it’s true. No sequence of distinct ones and zeros can replicate the swirling cocktail of chemicals and, and, you know, nerves that is a human being. Or any other animal for that matter. Nothing about humanity is binary"

and

"We’ve tricked ourselves into thinking that computers and people have anything in common? But no matter how good we may program them to be at pretending to think like us, that’s all we’ll ever be"

thinking about how the tmagp universe is now connected to a world nearly overtaken by extinction through that portal

[elbiotipo]

You can sell me on many things, even Arcane, but you can't convince me a card game you play in the computer can be that good. I play computer games to play as things I cannot be in real life, this is my main definition for if a game is good or not, if it replicates an experience or gameplay I cannot experience in real life. If I wanted to play cards games (which I never do) I would call my friend and destroy our relationship over truco.

[burrythebusy]

Stolen from my Twitter but I was drawing (like actually drawing) for the first time in over two weeks and I was thinking about how i wished I could just instantly be done, then I thought about how AI does that and why I could get for a moment why it was I guess "tempting"? But how after that it does nothing for you.

I love art to death, i love making it even though it feels like a chore sometimes. But that's the exact feeling that will forever completely disconnect AI from real art bc real art is inherently human. Other than the instant gratification you get from inserting some prompts and it spitting out whatever product and it being "done", there's no accomplishment, no achievement specific to you. There was no process in each stroke, nothing intentional. No last minute decisions you threw in or arbitrary additions. There's no style that you nurtured and crafted. A computer cannot replicate the collage of memories and skill and practice and polish that comes with art. It can try, but its always calculated, always systematic, algorithmic, the exact opposite of human function.

So no, it'll never be art, it can't be, and I always get the same dumbass response like "oh but photography!" Nothing about photography is "generated" everything in it is already there. It's light. And there's still human intention in taking a picture. Not of you saying "give me this" and it just happening. Machine Learning isn't inherently a bad thing, but generative AI particularly is inherently noncreative. Not to mention the fact that its whole existence relies on human-made art. What does art matter if it didnt come from someone but someTHING, in a world where everyone is different and unique, making the art so too? What does it matter if it is objectively emotionless when art for all of humankind has been emotional, because that's what we are? What does it matter? So no, AI isn't art. It can't be and never will be.

And I for one am not tempted to even touch it just because I'm sometimes too burnt out or lazy or art-blocked to draw even though i want to see what I can create from it. Me, *i* can create. Im creating nothing when turn to AI. I would be literally creating nothing. Seriously. Because AI uses everything of what it's given and therefore it is nothing

[writingsoftarnishedsilver]

How can you be anti ai and be using and supporting ai art😭 (your profile pics and using ai art in the past). btw this isn’t accusing you of using ai in your writing at all, but the disconnect there is crazy.

It’s like you don’t support ai use with writing at all and are actively against it, but how is ai art any different when it’s literally just stealing from artists? Is it because you don’t draw and are only on the writing side of the fandom?

I’m just so curious. I wouldn’t even have known about you if the whole ai accusation hadn’t happened, but I see this and I’m confused.

Oh great, this shit again. It’s no surprise this was sent anonymously given the accusatory and condescending tone. I’ve addressed the topic of AI twice already, which you clearly know, so I’m not pulling any punches this time with my response. If you’re going to send me anonymous messages just trying to talk shit, then at least be honest about it instead of pretending to be “curious.” Because you’re not. You’re not here for a discussion. You just wanted to grandstand your “superior morality”. Also, let’s be honest, you can claim all you want that this isn’t about my writing, but I don’t believe that for a second.

In any case, I’ll address your points, but I doubt you’ll actually stick around to read until the end. You’ve already formed your opinion based on whatever surface level take is circulating on social media instead of actually looking into the nuances of AI yourself, but I digress.

First, I never said I was “anti-AI.” If you actually read my responses about this, you’d know that I work in tech and I have a master’s degree in computer science and AI. That is to say, I understand how AI works beyond the surface-level talking points people like to throw around online. Moreover, AI ethics are far more nuanced than the oversimplified “AI bad” rhetoric that’s popular on Tumblr and social media. With that in mind, I'd hope we can at least agree that the conversation around AI in creative spaces needs real discussions about regulations, consent, and ethical implementation—not these knee-jerk reactions and moral grandstanding while hiding behind anonymity.

Now let me make this very clear: I don’t mention my background in tech to be condescending or patronizing. Not everyone is going to be educated in AI, and that’s completely understandable. This is an increasingly complex issue, and I fully believe that there should be accessible resources to help people understand it. These conversations should be happening with nuance and informed discussion. However, what I will not do is sit here and be spoken down to or treated like a “gotcha” moment just because I used AI-generated art for my fucking profile picture. The reality is that this discussion is not black and white, and acting like I’ve somehow contradicted myself just proves a lack of understanding of the actual issue.

Second, I'd wager that you are well aware that there is a significant difference between AI-generated visual art and AI-generated writing and its use in fandom spaces. AI-generated art is often easy to recognize, and the Hogwarts Legacy fandom uses AI tools all the time—from AI voice clones to AI-upscaled game assets to AI-generated character art, and yet somehow, I’m the one getting this consistent backlash over my profile picture? That’s laughable. Surely you see the absurdity in this? I’m literally here to write and enjoy the fandom, but people like you insist on treating my blog as some kind of moral battlefield instead of a space for creativity and fun.

Now, you can argue that AI generated art “lacks soul” or isn’t “real art,” and I agree that human art is fundamentally different. The feeling, emotion, and “soul” behind human-created art is a tangible, real thing, and it's one that comes from an artist’s personal experiences, their unique interpretation of the world, and the intentionality behind every brushstroke, line, or composition choice. AI cannot replicate that because AI does not experience life, emotion, or creativity in any human sense. It does not have intent. It does not make choices based on vision or feeling. It generates based on statistical probabilities and pattern recognition, which is a completely different process than human creativity..

However, using the word “stealing” to describe what AI does is a fundamental misunderstanding of how these models actually function. AI is not copy-pasting existing works or frankenstein-ing pieces of art together. It is generating new images based on patterns it has learned (which you'd know if you looked into this yourself at all but here let me help). AI art is also incredibly easy to spot because it still struggles with fundamentals like proper anatomy, correct proportions, and coherent hand structures (seriously, six fingered hands should be proof enough that it’s not just cutting and pasting from real artists). As a result, AI art is incredibly easy to spot, which is why fandom spaces often accept AI-generated character art with little issue.

Now, does that mean I think AI models are free of ethical concerns? No, absolutely not, which again if you actually read what I said before, you would know this. The way data is scraped and used to train these models is absolutely a discussion that needs to be had, and I am in full agreement that there should be regulations ensuring that artists have control over how their work is included in datasets. But saying that AI art is inherently “stealing” is not just inaccurate, but it oversimplifies a far more complex issue. If you actually care about AI ethics, the focus should be on advocating for transparency, consent-based data collection, and responsible implementation, not just throwing around accusations to individual people on the fucking internet without understanding how the technology actually works.

You could argue that by using generative AI services, I’m supporting companies that have scraped art without consent. To which I would ask: where do you draw the line? We all engage with and support corporations that have morally questionable practices whether we like it or not. You undoubtedly do the same, but because AI is such a topical issue right now, you’ve decided this is where you take your moral stand, with an anonymous tumblr ask, against me, instead of at the actual corporations responsible for these practices.

And this is exactly why the conversation should be about regulation, transparency, and putting pressure on companies to make meaningful changes, instead of villainizing individuals. The problem isnt a person using AI tools, it’s the unchecked data scraping, the lack of consent, and the absence of proper standards to ensure ethical use. Attacking individuals instead of advocating for structural change doesn’t actually solve anything.

I came into the fandom because it was supposed to be fun. But bullshit like this? This kind of bad-faith, accusatory nonsense? It really does make me reconsider the value of staying in fandom spaces if this is what engagement looks like with the constant policing, manufactured outrage, and people looking for reasons to be mad instead of just enjoying FREE content..

If sharing my writing is just going to attract this kind of toxic, joyless purity-test bullshit, then maybe it’s not worth the effort. Hope you feel accomplished!!! Thank you for inspiring me to turn off anonymous asks <333

[criimsonmoon]

weird serverblight thing

this post is 100% genuine, not an arg or whatever or part of the lore. i think valve or tf2 devs put a serverblight easter egg into the game and it's. honestly really irritating given i have psychosis and this shit is perfect for triggering reality problems.

i wanted to explore coldfront so i pulled a good old 'map cp_coldfront' in the console, it loads up and i wanted to look at movement animations for heavy, so i type 'sv_cheats 1' and then "thirdperson" so i can look at the glorious man himself. it runs fine for about a minute, before i get a message in the chat.

"SERVERBLIGHT has joined the game" before the game crashes to desktop. i immediately go talk to my partners. they both believe me but i'm a little paranoid about it.

i stream it the second time. i load up coldfront on stream, sv cheats, thirdperson. me and my partner giggle about my heavy loadout before the game crashes. i don't notice the join message that time, so i don't know if it actually happened or if my game just crashed.

i load it up again, i DON'T do sv cheats that time, i go through the map twice doing the objective to see if that triggers it. nothing happens.

my fourth time i do just sv cheats, no third person. it does in fact happen again. "SERVERBLIGHT has joined the game" before crashing to desktop. so it seems the catalyst is 'sv_cheats 1' on a singleplayer server.

the recording is my 5th or 6th time doing it, i wanted to show people i wasn't insane. i was paranoid but still thinking rationally enough to know this was likely a thing valve did to fuck with people and to pay tribute to the story of serverblight. maybe an april fools thing they forgot to remove. either way, i think other people should know about it, especially the mentally ill among us that play the game.

my partner was not able to replicate it taking all the same steps i did, i only have 3 maps from the workshop installed (tr_aim, tr_walkway and tra_sol_rocketjump) and all were last updated in december last year. i think this is new because i was messing around on a halloween map about a week ago, same process of sv cheats on singleplayer, and nothing happened.

the serverblight isn't real and it cannot harm you or take over your computer. this is a dumb thing i think people should be aware of.

(the video is buggy about it because the server has to start and run from my pc, apologies for that)

[mjrtaurus]

Dragodile while on the autism spectrum while appearing much more sex driven than they actually are

They discover it during a sparring match, Crocodile got his thighs around Dragons head and squeezed

Dragon immediately went boneless and Crocodile stopped, thinking he actually hurt the man.

He hadn’t, if it wasn’t already obvious.

Dragon simply remained in crocodiles lap for a few minutes practically purring before he asked if the younger man could do it again.

The pressure, the pressure helped him. It made his brain go all quiet for a while.

The rumours started a little while after that.

Crocodile did not like having the pressure around his head, he had grown curious and asked dragon to replicate the action for him. It made him feel trapped.

He did like rubbing his cheek against Dragons stubble. Crocodile found his liked when Dragon would rest his weight on his legs or his lap. Just not his torso.

Iva came back to a rumour mill flying and two idiots completely unaware of the entire thing.

Iva - so! Anything happen while I was gone?

Dragon sitting in crocodiles lap, reading reports - mmmm don’t think so.

Crocodile nuzzling into dragons hair - yeah it was pretty quiet

(Idk why but tism4tism dragodile + severe codependence + not realizing your in love when everyone thinks your banging + once they do figure it out they doing v kinky stuff w eachother cause they match each others freak so well. Has been rotting my brain)

Dragon is a hyperfocusing workaholic by nature and necessity, but he needs breaks so he doesn’t burn out. The problem is, he physically cannot relax during a break. Something has to be happening or he can’t rest. If something is not happening, he’s going to be hit with the flood of “you have too much work to do, you aren’t being productive enough, you’re being very lazy” and other, similar thoughts.

He brushes his hair to combat that. Given how much of it there is, how naturally unkempt it is, and how his devil fruit tousles it all the time, the brushing is very much needed. The sound of the bristles passing through the strands drowns out the internal noise.

It also just so happens that Crocodile needs to be doing something with his hand whenever he’s proofreading through paperwork. If he doesn’t, all the letters and numbers blend together and none of it computes. If he catches Dragon at a good time, he’ll have him lay across his lap so he can brush it.

It’s a little tricky to do with one hand, but the suna-suna comes in handy for holding the papers and directing the writing utensils. Hand and hook do the important stuff.

They’ve been walked in on like this more than a few times, and the looks they get from it fly right over their heads. One is busy looking through the papers, the other is having a much needed little nap. Nothing really scandalous about that, now is there?

Oh, but when they do finally figure it out, everyone realizes that all that other stuff from before is normal default behavior for them. After? You better knock or you’re gonna get some visuals forever seared into your brain.

Dirty, dirty, dirty visuals…