chrisemrysfics - Tumblr blog

[chrisemrysfics]

I really like the "in the context of the media and characters" because it also explains why sometimes you don't ship a similar dynamic in another fandom, and why sometimes you do. Sometimes, the specific context with specific characters is the reason why you ship it. Sometimes, its something about the dynamic, which can be found in various ships.

This also explains why, sometimes, you only ship A with B, and other times, you multiship and/or have polyship: its the context, the characters, that make you ship or not ship certain things.

And also, sometimes, there's characters you ship stricly platonically, or strictly romantically. And other times, characters you realize you enjoy as much in platonic ships than in romantic ones.

So yeah: I really like the wording and emphasis on how the context of the source material mixed with the characters themselves is important in how we form our ships. We all have our preferences, which is the other side of why we ship things, but the exact context plays a major part too.

aint this the fucken truth

[chrisemrysfics]

SCREAM

I also read 248 and.

They finally speak to each other!

I love their interactions but also Nea please be nicer to Allen, then again maybe that's Nea's version of being nice, or helping, or wanting Allen to know the truth since apparently another headcanon of mine might be confirmed?

Nea throws the bombshell at Allen "it's almost as if you were remade by Apocryphos" and my headcanoned always did center on the idea that Apocryphos played a part in whatever happened to Allen, and nothing is really "confirmed" as it might be a suspicion, or Nea playing mind games, but the reason it was already a hc of mine is due to how it make sense.

We know Apo can modify memories. Unless it is purposefully misleading, it seems our current Allen is Past!Allen, so it means he somehow de-aged as well as forgot everything before is de-aging. So I'm not too surprised that Nea is like "I see those dots, I connect those dots", although him outright saying it to Allen made me yell softly like "oh wow, throw that bombshell okay alright"

[chrisemrysfics]

Nothing to say, just sharing those lovely planels of sleeping/waking Allen~!

I forgot to check for a long while but as lately I've been thinking a bit more about my DGM ideas&fics, I decided to check for new chapters and there's two I haven't read.

And my heart ;; I'm only just into the, what, fifth page? And I'm putting the rest under read more to avoid spoiling anyone who like me hasn't checked in a while.

So listen: we never knew how Mana died and for my fics I worked with the idea that Mana died protecting Allen (pushed him away from a carriage's path) and Allen was in shock for the burying (which wasn't anything fancy since no one knew them and Allen was too in shock). Though I don't think any fic of mine touched that topic much yet so who knows, maybe I'll go with canon. I don't know yet.

But yes! Canon is destroying me because it's just... so peaceful yet so sad. Because sure, nothing happened like what I imagined (also I can't recall if it's a random idea or based on stuff from the novels), but that whole way Allen not only blame himself from Mana loosing his memories, but then had to watch Mana die bit by bit and then one day wake up to see him gone, and Allen thinking "I destroyed him"?

I am Not Okay and also fck Apo he's the one who made Allen do this!! Please someone let Allen know!!! I don't doubt he might still feel like its his hands that did this, but he also didn't mean to do it! And it wasn't random! Apo caused it!!

And also I already HCed CC as angry with Apo for how CC is "stuck" obeying if he's too close (because CC loves Allen and doesn't like being force to go against Allen wishes), now I'm like, CC is very much very angry because CC knows, unlike Allen, that Apo is behind that tragedy.

But ouch, Hoshino keeps delivering on the hurt, hope there's comfort eventually ;;

For context: Allen explains that Mana continued to deteriorate after they left the circus, and one day he just. passed away in his sleep.

(Also ouch, the next page, I had to make this post right away, but editing to add: ouch. Allen is saying, "And I called the Earl, of all things. I destroyed Mana twice". MY HEART

[chrisemrysfics]

My precious boy who can still smile like this ;;;;;;

I forgot to check for a long while but as lately I've been thinking a bit more about my DGM ideas&fics, I decided to check for new chapters and there's two I haven't read.

And my heart ;; I'm only just into the, what, fifth page? And I'm putting the rest under read more to avoid spoiling anyone who like me hasn't checked in a while.

So listen: we never knew how Mana died and for my fics I worked with the idea that Mana died protecting Allen (pushed him away from a carriage's path) and Allen was in shock for the burying (which wasn't anything fancy since no one knew them and Allen was too in shock). Though I don't think any fic of mine touched that topic much yet so who knows, maybe I'll go with canon. I don't know yet.

But yes! Canon is destroying me because it's just... so peaceful yet so sad. Because sure, nothing happened like what I imagined (also I can't recall if it's a random idea or based on stuff from the novels), but that whole way Allen not only blame himself from Mana loosing his memories, but then had to watch Mana die bit by bit and then one day wake up to see him gone, and Allen thinking "I destroyed him"?

I am Not Okay and also fck Apo he's the one who made Allen do this!! Please someone let Allen know!!! I don't doubt he might still feel like its his hands that did this, but he also didn't mean to do it! And it wasn't random! Apo caused it!!

And also I already HCed CC as angry with Apo for how CC is "stuck" obeying if he's too close (because CC loves Allen and doesn't like being force to go against Allen wishes), now I'm like, CC is very much very angry because CC knows, unlike Allen, that Apo is behind that tragedy.

But ouch, Hoshino keeps delivering on the hurt, hope there's comfort eventually ;;

For context: Allen explains that Mana continued to deteriorate after they left the circus, and one day he just. passed away in his sleep.

(Also ouch, the next page, I had to make this post right away, but editing to add: ouch. Allen is saying, "And I called the Earl, of all things. I destroyed Mana twice". MY HEART

[chrisemrysfics]

Allen ;;;;;;

Another little read more to avoid spoilers

He admits that Apocryphos was the most terrifying thing he ever faced, and he follows up by saying "even more than the Noah, Akuma, or Nea".

I already hced that Allen felt fear toward Apo (and anger, for seemingly having killed Cross), but to see it confirmed in canon, my heart breaks for Allen ;;

I forgot to check for a long while but as lately I've been thinking a bit more about my DGM ideas&fics, I decided to check for new chapters and there's two I haven't read.

And my heart ;; I'm only just into the, what, fifth page? And I'm putting the rest under read more to avoid spoiling anyone who like me hasn't checked in a while.

So listen: we never knew how Mana died and for my fics I worked with the idea that Mana died protecting Allen (pushed him away from a carriage's path) and Allen was in shock for the burying (which wasn't anything fancy since no one knew them and Allen was too in shock). Though I don't think any fic of mine touched that topic much yet so who knows, maybe I'll go with canon. I don't know yet.

But yes! Canon is destroying me because it's just... so peaceful yet so sad. Because sure, nothing happened like what I imagined (also I can't recall if it's a random idea or based on stuff from the novels), but that whole way Allen not only blame himself from Mana loosing his memories, but then had to watch Mana die bit by bit and then one day wake up to see him gone, and Allen thinking "I destroyed him"?

I am Not Okay and also fck Apo he's the one who made Allen do this!! Please someone let Allen know!!! I don't doubt he might still feel like its his hands that did this, but he also didn't mean to do it! And it wasn't random! Apo caused it!!

And also I already HCed CC as angry with Apo for how CC is "stuck" obeying if he's too close (because CC loves Allen and doesn't like being force to go against Allen wishes), now I'm like, CC is very much very angry because CC knows, unlike Allen, that Apo is behind that tragedy.

But ouch, Hoshino keeps delivering on the hurt, hope there's comfort eventually ;;

For context: Allen explains that Mana continued to deteriorate after they left the circus, and one day he just. passed away in his sleep.

(Also ouch, the next page, I had to make this post right away, but editing to add: ouch. Allen is saying, "And I called the Earl, of all things. I destroyed Mana twice". MY HEART

[chrisemrysfics]

AUGH

I've continued reading Chapter 247 and its so good ;;;;;; feeding us so well ;;;;;;

I forgot to check for a long while but as lately I've been thinking a bit more about my DGM ideas&fics, I decided to check for new chapters and there's two I haven't read.

And my heart ;; I'm only just into the, what, fifth page? And I'm putting the rest under read more to avoid spoiling anyone who like me hasn't checked in a while.

So listen: we never knew how Mana died and for my fics I worked with the idea that Mana died protecting Allen (pushed him away from a carriage's path) and Allen was in shock for the burying (which wasn't anything fancy since no one knew them and Allen was too in shock). Though I don't think any fic of mine touched that topic much yet so who knows, maybe I'll go with canon. I don't know yet.

But yes! Canon is destroying me because it's just... so peaceful yet so sad. Because sure, nothing happened like what I imagined (also I can't recall if it's a random idea or based on stuff from the novels), but that whole way Allen not only blame himself from Mana loosing his memories, but then had to watch Mana die bit by bit and then one day wake up to see him gone, and Allen thinking "I destroyed him"?

I am Not Okay and also fck Apo he's the one who made Allen do this!! Please someone let Allen know!!! I don't doubt he might still feel like its his hands that did this, but he also didn't mean to do it! And it wasn't random! Apo caused it!!

And also I already HCed CC as angry with Apo for how CC is "stuck" obeying if he's too close (because CC loves Allen and doesn't like being force to go against Allen wishes), now I'm like, CC is very much very angry because CC knows, unlike Allen, that Apo is behind that tragedy.

But ouch, Hoshino keeps delivering on the hurt, hope there's comfort eventually ;;

For context: Allen explains that Mana continued to deteriorate after they left the circus, and one day he just. passed away in his sleep.

(Also ouch, the next page, I had to make this post right away, but editing to add: ouch. Allen is saying, "And I called the Earl, of all things. I destroyed Mana twice". MY HEART

[chrisemrysfics]

I forgot to check for a long while but as lately I've been thinking a bit more about my DGM ideas&fics, I decided to check for new chapters and there's two I haven't read.

And my heart ;; I'm only just into the, what, fifth page? And I'm putting the rest under read more to avoid spoiling anyone who like me hasn't checked in a while.

So listen: we never knew how Mana died and for my fics I worked with the idea that Mana died protecting Allen (pushed him away from a carriage's path) and Allen was in shock for the burying (which wasn't anything fancy since no one knew them and Allen was too in shock). Though I don't think any fic of mine touched that topic much yet so who knows, maybe I'll go with canon. I don't know yet.

But yes! Canon is destroying me because it's just... so peaceful yet so sad. Because sure, nothing happened like what I imagined (also I can't recall if it's a random idea or based on stuff from the novels), but that whole way Allen not only blame himself from Mana loosing his memories, but then had to watch Mana die bit by bit and then one day wake up to see him gone, and Allen thinking "I destroyed him"?

I am Not Okay and also fck Apo he's the one who made Allen do this!! Please someone let Allen know!!! I don't doubt he might still feel like its his hands that did this, but he also didn't mean to do it! And it wasn't random! Apo caused it!!

And also I already HCed CC as angry with Apo for how CC is "stuck" obeying if he's too close (because CC loves Allen and doesn't like being force to go against Allen wishes), now I'm like, CC is very much very angry because CC knows, unlike Allen, that Apo is behind that tragedy.

But ouch, Hoshino keeps delivering on the hurt, hope there's comfort eventually ;;

For context: Allen explains that Mana continued to deteriorate after they left the circus, and one day he just. passed away in his sleep.

(Also ouch, the next page, I had to make this post right away, but editing to add: ouch. Allen is saying, "And I called the Earl, of all things. I destroyed Mana twice". MY HEART

[chrisemrysfics]

I am lazy so this is copy-paste directly from t/witter, I figured I'd share here too this idea that for now is just an idea (MDZS and FFXVI crossover)

Imagine WWX in the Hideaway. How he came to be there? I don't know. Maybe his canon was the distant past and he's an immortal or reincarnated. Maybe he world-hopped accidentally. Either way, he Does Not Approve the whole branded system, he's bound to end up meeting Cid.

Is it before or after Clive joins? Who knows. Now whatever the reason for WWX presence, in my head he does know about his own canon. He's looking for LWJ. And I'm feral for the idea that he's a "Dominant" of a draconic "Eikon" (Chinese Dragon). How to make it work? don't know 😂

Main option is one that ties into another fic of mine as to how WWX becomes a dragon, aka nothing to do with Eikon. But the itch to figure out how to make it work as an actual Eikon... And also what the element is in that case.. Its tempting to try making it work that way XD

All of that because I am feral for this scene my mind conjured, where Titan is about to crush the Hideaway, WWX goes "no you don't" and boom, massive chinese black dragon is curled above his newfound found family. Except I want Cid to live so Titan find the Hideaway earlier?

And then the whole fact WWX is a genius inventor, Wangxian (because LWJ would show up eventually, likely as the "yang eikon" to WWX "yin eikon" if I keep my nickname for these) are expert in cultivation. What if they figure out a way to counter the Blight&crystal curse?

Then there's the casual/fun stuff too, like WWX taking one look at Clive and going "this is my new son" which is hilarious because he would look younger/same age physically. Potential for Cid&WWX friendship. And the very fun fact everyone adore Torgal but WWX is TerrifiedTM.

Don't get me started on WWX flinging himself in LWJ arms when he finally finds him, or LWJ finds WWX, calling him his husband. The Shameless Wangxian begins and everyone else SuffersTM. And since the ship caught my heart: WWX notice the way Cid/Clive look at each other.

WWX: *smirks* LWJ: Wei Ying, behave. Wei Ying Did Not Behave, but hey, there's a nice firestorm happening now, so he's pretty happy with himself. (Note: Jill is best friend, I do love her, but I prefer platonic Jill&Clive).

Not me thinking "this is it" about the ideas and then my brain going "what if WWX is with the group in Oriflamme, which plays a part in Cid lives, as well as them arriving in time for him to go nope on Titan?" so here, that's what happens now in my brain!

Half of my brain is now going "that can explain why Cid, Clive and Jill aren't able to Prime if they KOed but alive", the other half is "ok but this also potentially allow Joshua to be there 👀

[chrisemrysfics]

This is still open!

I did totally forget to reblog the post from times to times, which has a lot to do with having caught Covid and having been resting since then ^^”

But yes, I remembered this existed and decided to keep it open until May 5th, so if you’d like a writing or a reading, make sure to donate before then and DM me for your gift~!

(Donations are, of course, welcome at any point in time, I simply opened the gifts for donations option to help with really rough months!)

Hello!

I suspect March will be a bit of a tight month for us, so I decided to try to do something about it!

Edit: this is now extended into April as the situation is still a bit tight!

As usual with me, what I do in these cases is to offer the options of receiving a gift from me if you donate via Ko-fi or Paypal.

It isn’t commission, as you can choose to just donate and not ask for anything. However, if you donate, I am willing to do something for you~!

This time, I offer two main types of gifts: writing and divination (cards reading).

If you donate up to 5 Euros, I am willing to do (only) one of those, and if you donate up to 10 Euros, I am willing to do both. These will be short/simple.

Between 10 and 20, I am willing to do one that is a little more long/detailed. Above 20, I am willing to do both and have them a little more long/detailed.

You can, however, donate what you want and pick which gift(s) you want that fits your donation (ex: if you donate 20, you can ask that I do both and have them longer/detailed aka “maximum” I do for this amount, or you can ask for just one gift).

Please note that I use divination for guidance, which can range from “What do I need to know right now?” to a specific question. Simple vs detailed is about how much cards I pull (1-3 for simple, 6+ for detailed). You can see it as offering help via a mean that provides the base for what I end up advising!

As for writings, I will favor receiving requests for MDZS fics as well as DGM fics, simply because they’ll be easier for me to write for. However, I am open to any fandom and writing OCs, it might just take a little longer for me. In general, just ask me what your request is, and I’ll discuss with you if there’s anything I’m uncomfortable with, otherwise I’ll go with it!

Any&all gifts requested will be put on a to-do list that I will go through in order of receiving them, so I will be able to tell you where you place at. However, even if it is your turn, please be patient with me!

To ask for your gift(s), DM me on this blog (chrisemrysfics), or my Twitter here, and let me know the nickname/name you donate under so I can quickly check with what I received!

This donations-for-gifts of mine will remain open through March, if for any reason I choose to close it before the end of March, I will make a post about it and wait a few days so you’re not caught off guard if you were considering donating!

Independently from all of that, you can also look at the original content I share online via my site https://chriscassar.carrd.co/ and choose from what you see whether you want to support me monthly or not via Patreon!

And of course, I will appreciate if you share this post as this helps too~!

Thank you for your time and have a lovely day!

[chrisemrysfics]

i was talking to the roomie the other idk Week? about wangxian & just lan wangji in general & his existence as a tragic character & roomie tacked on "im sure the angry horny-grip factored in" & like

yes, but only for baby teenji, yanno?

lwj is Always horny-grip but the anger part of it could've been a factor from like 10 different things ranging from "oh heavens Please Not That One" to "shufu will be Disappointed" to "(having a same-sex partner) goes against my clan's expectations of Me as an heir" to just simply being a teenager that Does Not Know How to Temper his emotions towards a crush

but that anger and self-rejection from lan wangji arguably dissipates completely once he loses wei wuxian. and i don't mean when he loses him for the 13 year stint of Death, but after the cultivation world at-large recovers jiang cheng from the fall of Lotus Pier, once the sunshot campaign begins, once wei wuxian's status of life becomes Unknown. Losing wei wuxian and living for 3some months without Knowing shook lan wangji enough to understand that there was no merit to be gained in flatly ignoring wei wuxian or rising to his taunts. that his struggle is now grappling with How to act on these emotions Once wei wuxian returns & i feel that's so sharply reflected in the stolen kiss. that Believing, even if only subconsciously, that he'd lost wei wuxian Forever triggered Something in him to go against his (presumed) clan's precepts about self-moderation and overindulgence and Probably body autonomy in his own Horribly clumsy ways

just thinking a lot about how post-resurrection wei wuxian's lan wangji has grown enough to Proactively pursue what he wants without the same hesitation that he felt when he was ~18-19 years old. that he's old enough and learned enough to be able to do that without intruding on autonomy & come to terms with the idea that he could be satisfied with just Being by wei wuxian's side as long as wei ying will have him

[chrisemrysfics]

I love this analysis!

If I may add, many trauma victims do take years to process their trauma and notice how their actions affect others. How long can vary on their environment, be it that they’re still facing stress, or on the contrary, have no one to truly make them question their actions.

And I feel JC falls into that second category: no one remains that cares enough to make him face his actions. JC himself doesn’t care about much. This is what I love about the story: there are reasons he is as he is, yet it doesn’t excuse what he’s done. I feel sympathy for him, as well as knowing he had no one who could help him (including help him see that there’s actions he really need to consider changing). But at the same time, having someone to care would change nothing is JC himself had no wish to change. We all know that its no use trying to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped, or doesn’t accept they have hurt others. On the other end, even without anyone at his side, JC could have looked properly at himself, and realize what he’s been doing, and choose to change.

To some degree, he knows there isn’t a sister or a martial brother to stop him, talk sense into him, and he decided that its his free card to do what he wants and not face himself. And it makes me wonder if how he acts once WWX is back relates to continuing to choose to act as he does, or a negative reaction to realizing that WWX isn’t trying to help. JC always showed possessiveness, and it makes me wonder if he feels angry deep down because WWX isn’t returning to him, is avoiding him. That’s only speculation, but it does attach back to how he acted before WWX death and after. JC acts as he wants, with no one to stand up to him that JC cares to listen to. Also: it feels telling that WWX doesn’t, in fact, try to speak to JC or anything of the sort, that WWX avoids him.

The one thing I do appreciate, though, is at the end: JC choose to not divulge a truth that might have affected WWX. There might be many reasons as to why, but it does make me wonder if its a sign that, for the first time in many years, JC made a different choice. I feel WWX would have been deeply affected by knowing why JC got captured, which JC would know. But he chose to not say anything and let WWX go when he left with LWJ.

I might be a little bit of a hopeful person, but I view that moment as the first sign that JC might finally be able to truly heal and change. However, all through the novel up until this point? He’s a very hurtful person who lashes out at everyone else, blaming others, and unwilling to face the consequences of his own actions. He might genuinely care, to some degree, but its mixed with his own feelings of jealousy and possessiveness. Its a delight to explore in fanfiction, as there are many ways there can be canon aus or aus that play with JC best/worst characteristics (and whether or not he face them), but canon JC is the example of someone who lash out at the whole world due to his suffering, never acknowledging others suffered the same way or suffered in other ways, and keeps hurting others to avoid facing himself.

As many says: understanding the reasons don’t excuse the actions. And JC isn’t yet in a space where we can speak of forgive and forget because he hasn’t changed yet. He’s still hurting others, so at most, his victims might only “forgive” in the sense of choosing to just let go of any negative feelings and move on with their life.... which is exactly what WWX did. He chose to just move on, and not continue the cycle of hate (unlike JC himself).

Like I said though, I like to see the ending moments as showing a possible sign that JC made at least one choice for the sake of WWX. It might not mean he’ll change, or he might. There is no knowing who post-canon JC might choose to become. And honestly, if I wanted to do JC justice, I would want to see a post-canon JC who faces his past, decide to change, and find peace that way. Or he doesn’t change, but the narrative acknowledges the hurt he causes, as a tribute of sorts to who he has been all through canon, and showing all it would take for his happiness is to start by noticing what actions hurt himself and others. Either options, to me, do justice to him, either by letting him find a new sense of peace, a new way of life that works for him, or by acknowledging why he hasn’t found peace.

So yeah, I adore WWX because he does recognize his own faults, but doesn’t let others put on him what he didn’t do, and who earns his good ending. I adore JC because he is the prefect example of a trauma victim who lashes out at the world around them, and who gets an open ending because his last action toward WWX might mean he finally is letting go of the past (by letting go of WWX instead of using a secret that would hurt WWX). I adore their dynamic because it was one that showed why they didn’t mix well (different priorities, different reactions to trauma, different personalities), which lets the reader consider what went wrong. So to blame one or the other or “attack” one of them is just sad because the whole point is that they are two people on a different path.

And because we follow WWX, we don’t see how JC grow after the end of the novel. We followed WWX path to his happy ending, but we don’t know when or if JC reach it. Yet, one thing is clear at the end: even if its by not interacting much anymore, WWX and JC found a certain peace with each other. So it feels sad to have stans of one character attack the stans of the other, instead of doing what their faves have done: let each other go on with their own life.

(Plus, pointing out the faults of a character doesn’t mean “hating” on them, in fact many people adore a character specifically for their faults. So I feel like a lot of stans might also view others call out faults, and view it as “hating” when its not. Which is just as sad).

I keep seeing the idea that Jiang Cheng is disliked or hated for his actions because “Jiang Cheng Antis” refuse to acknowledge ugly reactions to trauma, or victims who aren’t perfect, basically citing that he should be forgiven more than we do because not everyone is going to react the same to pain and trauma and just because his reactions aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that he should be held accountable for his actions, any of them, and us calling his actions wrong or abuse is us in fact being terrible.

I want to refute this idea for a few reasons:

First off, while I can’t speak for everyone, I know that I and my friends don’t think that his initial reactions being kinda bad are necessarily damning. Nobody is going to be perfect, sometimes when we are stuck in the worst parts of our lives, we do things that we will later regret in the process of surviving those times. It doesn’t really make it okay and we should understand if the people who are around us in those times don’t want to be around us anymore after that, but it isn’t a death knell that he reacts really poorly after the initial fall of Lotus Pier and the death of his parents and everyone he’s grown up with. I have forgiven characters for doing worse, but proving that it was their worst and turning around after that.

The problem with that part is that he doesn’t turn anything around. He never apologizes for strangling Wei Wuxian, he continues to turn the blame for what happened on people who weren’t involved even after getting to kill Wen Zhuliu and torture Wen Chao to death, holding Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and, for a time, Jin Zixuan as also being responsible even though none of them were, even though he knows this and adjusts his opinion later to drop Jin Zixuan out of the blame, even though he later adds Wen Ning to his list of those to blame despite Wen Ning rescuing him from Lotus Pier and sheltering him. It isn’t a worst moment of his life, brought on by trauma and pain, it’s just the start of his sliding slope downward.

Second off is the idea that this should exonerate him of all of his actions. Look at him! He lost his parents and his clan to war by the Wens! He has suffered so much, becoming a clan leader so young in the fires of war!!!

Except… he’s not the only one, not by a long shot. Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang all have their fathers killed and their homes attacked by the Wens as well. Both Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen also ascend at very young ages, no one was over twenty when they took up their positions, and at the end of the novel, Jin Ling is even younger when he takes on his own clan leader position. Also he isn’t the only one to go into war so young, Wei Wuxian is a whole five days older than he is, and the whole jianghu falls into war against the Wens, no doubt with other fighters who also lost their homes and families in the process.

It isn’t that it isn’t impressive that he manages to pull it together in the face of all that’s happening, it’s that he’s not the only person by any means to suffer this trauma. Wei Wuxian goes through the exact same journey that he does, but when this argument comes up, it’s always just for why Jiang Cheng shouldn’t be blamed, not about how their whole generation lost so much to a war that their parents left to them by refusing to do anything before even when they all saw the signs of what Wen Ruohan was doing.

The third part is that there’s apparently no limit or expiration date on how long people have to forgive him for doing whatever he wants to do. His trauma is a reason for him to treat people however he wants for as long as he wants, and they should just put up with it because he’s suffering and not all pain is beautiful.

But by the time Wei Wuxian comes back to life, it’s been almost twenty years. A whole generation, long enough for Jiang Cheng to watch his nephew grow to almost adulthood. The world as a whole is changed, he himself has transformed Lotus Pier into a whole new place; and it wasn’t because the Wens had destroyed everything, Wei Wuxian no longer recognizes it, meaning that this happened after he died. The general attitude that JC stans have towards Wei Wuxian is that he shouldn’t hold Jiang Cheng leading a siege against him because it’s been long enough, he should get over it by now. But Jiang Cheng apparently should still get to act without hesitation or consideration of others and their own pain because he is suffering, he is an imperfect victim. It doesn’t matter what else anyone else has gone through and it is unreasonable to hold him to task because he lost his family.

The whole point of poor trauma reactions is that they are moments, responses in time to events. It is one thing for Jiang Cheng to react poorly right after his family is killed and his home invaded. But he gets worse over the course of the story. The day of the attack, he strangles Wei Wuxian. That’s one thing. But three years later he turns on Wei Wuxian, declares him an enemy of the world, tells him to let the Wens be slaughtered even though they are no longer at war, later declares war on Wei Wuxian and personally leads a siege to kill him. In the interim, a time of peace in which supposedly all of his enemies are dead, he hunts down people who he claims to be demonic cultivators and people that Wei Wuxian is possessing and tortures them to death, all the while doing very little to help his people as he will only intervene once someone has already died to the problem. When Wei Wuxian returns to life thirteen years after he died, seventeen years after the war, when Jiang Cheng is literally double the age that this began, despite him deliberately trying to avoid Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng seeks him out multiple times specifically to hurt him, first trying to kill him with a whip that can destroy spirits possessing bodies, then tying him up and torturing him with a dog. Later he leads a second siege upon Wei Wuxian, who still has done nothing to him aside from try to avoid him before later attacking him and Lan Wangji by first demanding that they leave, then refusing to let them do so, driving Wei Wuxian to a qi deviation (which can be fatal, that’s how Nie Mingjue died) and attacking Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian with Zidian while Wei Wuxian is unconcious before Wen Ning stops him. Even in the temple, he’s still demanding that Wei Wuxian play by his rules of debts, he’s upset because he knows that he has gone so much farther than anyone has any right to and he has nothing to hold over Wei Wuxian’s head anymore.

Fifteen years of hurting everyone around him isn’t a poor trauma response. That’s deliberate and chosen. That is what he wants to do. It is a clear line of events where in the end, the trauma is an excuse over anything else.

If it had ended at the beginning of this list, Jiang Cheng would be a very different character and Modaozushi would be a very different novel. If it were just a trauma reaction and he didn’t want to hurt anyone in the long run, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

But you cannot exonerate everything with the fact that his parents died when he was seventeen. Especially not when we have so many other people who react in so many other ways to the same pain. It is frankly ridiculous that people think he is the only one to suffer in the story, even though it is clear that no one escapes the novel unscathed and a hell of a lot of people die. Sometimes even at his hands or by his orders.

Jiang Cheng is not unsympathetic. I can understand what hurts he feels, at least to an extent. But an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and he just keeps doing it. And then his stans show up and claim that it’s fine for him to want to kill everyone who he hates (not necessarily everyone who’s even done him wrong, and they certainly like to ignore everything he does to them) because he’s an ugly trauma victim.

He may be that, at the start. But twenty years down the line, when he gets excited at the thought of getting to torture people, that isn’t a trauma reaction anymore.

That’s a choice.

[chrisemrysfics]

As stated in the edit of the original post, I extended this into April!

Hello!

I suspect March will be a bit of a tight month for us, so I decided to try to do something about it!

Edit: this is now extended into April as the situation is still a bit tight!

As usual with me, what I do in these cases is to offer the options of receiving a gift from me if you donate via Ko-fi or Paypal.

It isn’t commission, as you can choose to just donate and not ask for anything. However, if you donate, I am willing to do something for you~!

This time, I offer two main types of gifts: writing and divination (cards reading).

If you donate up to 5 Euros, I am willing to do (only) one of those, and if you donate up to 10 Euros, I am willing to do both. These will be short/simple.

Between 10 and 20, I am willing to do one that is a little more long/detailed. Above 20, I am willing to do both and have them a little more long/detailed.

You can, however, donate what you want and pick which gift(s) you want that fits your donation (ex: if you donate 20, you can ask that I do both and have them longer/detailed aka “maximum” I do for this amount, or you can ask for just one gift).

Please note that I use divination for guidance, which can range from “What do I need to know right now?” to a specific question. Simple vs detailed is about how much cards I pull (1-3 for simple, 6+ for detailed). You can see it as offering help via a mean that provides the base for what I end up advising!

As for writings, I will favor receiving requests for MDZS fics as well as DGM fics, simply because they’ll be easier for me to write for. However, I am open to any fandom and writing OCs, it might just take a little longer for me. In general, just ask me what your request is, and I’ll discuss with you if there’s anything I’m uncomfortable with, otherwise I’ll go with it!

Any&all gifts requested will be put on a to-do list that I will go through in order of receiving them, so I will be able to tell you where you place at. However, even if it is your turn, please be patient with me!

To ask for your gift(s), DM me on this blog (chrisemrysfics), or my Twitter here, and let me know the nickname/name you donate under so I can quickly check with what I received!

This donations-for-gifts of mine will remain open through March, if for any reason I choose to close it before the end of March, I will make a post about it and wait a few days so you’re not caught off guard if you were considering donating!

Independently from all of that, you can also look at the original content I share online via my site https://chriscassar.carrd.co/ and choose from what you see whether you want to support me monthly or not via Patreon!

And of course, I will appreciate if you share this post as this helps too~!

Thank you for your time and have a lovely day!

[chrisemrysfics]

I will close this next week, so if you would like to help me and/or get a gift (writing or card reading), please consider donating to help make April start better!

Hello!

I suspect March will be a bit of a tight month for us, so I decided to try to do something about it!

As usual with me, what I do in these cases is to offer the options of receiving a gift from me if you donate via Ko-fi or Paypal.

It isn’t commission, as you can choose to just donate and not ask for anything. However, if you donate, I am willing to do something for you~!

This time, I offer two main types of gifts: writing and divination (cards reading).

If you donate up to 5 Euros, I am willing to do (only) one of those, and if you donate up to 10 Euros, I am willing to do both. These will be short/simple.

Between 10 and 20, I am willing to do one that is a little more long/detailed. Above 20, I am willing to do both and have them a little more long/detailed.

You can, however, donate what you want and pick which gift(s) you want that fits your donation (ex: if you donate 20, you can ask that I do both and have them longer/detailed aka “maximum” I do for this amount, or you can ask for just one gift).

Please note that I use divination for guidance, which can range from “What do I need to know right now?” to a specific question. Simple vs detailed is about how much cards I pull (1-3 for simple, 6+ for detailed). You can see it as offering help via a mean that provides the base for what I end up advising!

As for writings, I will favor receiving requests for MDZS fics as well as DGM fics, simply because they’ll be easier for me to write for. However, I am open to any fandom and writing OCs, it might just take a little longer for me. In general, just ask me what your request is, and I’ll discuss with you if there’s anything I’m uncomfortable with, otherwise I’ll go with it!

Any&all gifts requested will be put on a to-do list that I will go through in order of receiving them, so I will be able to tell you where you place at. However, even if it is your turn, please be patient with me!

To ask for your gift(s), DM me on this blog (chrisemrysfics), or my Twitter here, and let me know the nickname/name you donate under so I can quickly check with what I received!

This donations-for-gifts of mine will remain open through March, if for any reason I choose to close it before the end of March, I will make a post about it and wait a few days so you’re not caught off guard if you were considering donating!

Independently from all of that, you can also look at the original content I share online via my site https://chriscassar.carrd.co/ and choose from what you see whether you want to support me monthly or not via Patreon!

And of course, I will appreciate if you share this post as this helps too~!

Thank you for your time and have a lovely day!

[chrisemrysfics]

Thank you @astellarium for suggesting this topic as something you wanted to see as thank you gift!

The idea was “what tips do you have from your journey as a writer?” and it was very fun to work on this~

You can read this regardless of which space writing occupies in your life, and I hope everyone who read find something they relate to and/or find helpful ♥

Find all that I share at https://chriscassar.carrd.co/ !

[chrisemrysfics]

Hello!

I suspect March will be a bit of a tight month for us, so I decided to try to do something about it!

As usual with me, what I do in these cases is to offer the options of receiving a gift from me if you donate via Ko-fi or Paypal.

It isn’t commission, as you can choose to just donate and not ask for anything. However, if you donate, I am willing to do something for you~!

This time, I offer two main types of gifts: writing and divination (cards reading).

If you donate up to 5 Euros, I am willing to do (only) one of those, and if you donate up to 10 Euros, I am willing to do both. These will be short/simple.

Between 10 and 20, I am willing to do one that is a little more long/detailed. Above 20, I am willing to do both and have them a little more long/detailed.

You can, however, donate what you want and pick which gift(s) you want that fits your donation (ex: if you donate 20, you can ask that I do both and have them longer/detailed aka “maximum” I do for this amount, or you can ask for just one gift).

Please note that I use divination for guidance, which can range from “What do I need to know right now?” to a specific question. Simple vs detailed is about how much cards I pull (1-3 for simple, 6+ for detailed). You can see it as offering help via a mean that provides the base for what I end up advising!

As for writings, I will favor receiving requests for MDZS fics as well as DGM fics, simply because they’ll be easier for me to write for. However, I am open to any fandom and writing OCs, it might just take a little longer for me. In general, just ask me what your request is, and I’ll discuss with you if there’s anything I’m uncomfortable with, otherwise I’ll go with it!

Any&all gifts requested will be put on a to-do list that I will go through in order of receiving them, so I will be able to tell you where you place at. However, even if it is your turn, please be patient with me!

To ask for your gift(s), DM me on this blog (chrisemrysfics), or my Twitter here, and let me know the nickname/name you donate under so I can quickly check with what I received!

This donations-for-gifts of mine will remain open through March, if for any reason I choose to close it before the end of March, I will make a post about it and wait a few days so you’re not caught off guard if you were considering donating!

Independently from all of that, you can also look at the original content I share online via my site https://chriscassar.carrd.co/ and choose from what you see whether you want to support me monthly or not via Patreon!

And of course, I will appreciate if you share this post as this helps too~!

Thank you for your time and have a lovely day!

[chrisemrysfics]

So i decided to repost the original sketches [plus one i thought was appropriate to put with these, since its got a butt i put it under the cut] and delete the cringe original post- since it didn't get any notes anyway- after cleaning them up/adding a block of color behind them [plus me toying with demon wwx's colors] so i hope you enjoy them!! More about the fic under the cut :D

The extra sketch that has a bumbum which is why the read more line. [plus the extra info and all].

Scroll to the bottom for links!

“Clash of Immortals” / COI is an upcoming project I’m super excited about [I might do it before SOTYL cuz its shorter and I rly like this aesthetic] With Demon WWX and Angel LWJ. I use my own version of hell/heaven for this, allowing for lots of fun details and some creatures unique to my universe, including A-Yuan who is a “Garden of Eden” [not drawn yet].

Information i can share!

WWX - Demon type: A black-blue feathered “Captive” or “Fallen” - a type of demon caused by cutting an angel’s ascension short as they are being lifted into the heavens, caused by demons trying to prevent as many new angels from entering heaven as possible. This means originally he was supposed to become an angel, but his line was cut and he was dragged past hell’s gates, causing him to descend instead of ascend once he passed through the gate.

This leaves a nasty scar on his back from the hook used to pull him up [if ascended the hook will disappear harmlessly] and this is why they are also nicknamed "Hook Demons" as they will sometimes even go around with the hook still in their back, just filed down, because they are going through a vital area and can't be fully removed.

Angel LWJ / Lan Wangji - Nearly a white wing, shares a nearly identical wing color to LXC, His is white with minimal jade undertones; he has MANY piercings to compensate his abilities in order to prevent his body from tearing apart. He does however have a unique trait- two of his flight feathers [one on each side] are completely black [I will test this with his design so don't hold me to this]. After his descent heaven is a bit perplexed- they allow this type of movement but LWJ is a very important for heaven’s force of angels, as one of the most powerful.

Fun Facts ;]

When they see each other for the first time as angel/demon they bristle, [in my universe, angels and demons feel wrong when in each other's presence, even if they're very soft and sweet. It'd probably be a good mirror to how LWJ and WWX don't necessarily get along in the actual series when they first meet too.] but then it’s a cheery reunion- LWJ might be somewhat uncomfortable, but WWX tames the sensation more easily as he is nearly unrestrained in power.

Someone comes within 50 feet of A-Yuan and Wei Wuxian sends the person’s heart to their throat just by looking at them despite this being a bad habit he probably shouldn’t use around the "Garden of Eden."*

*original species invented which will be explained better in story, I don't wanna spoil too much

and then we have BED HABITS

WWX is aggressive as all hell with everyone else [in hell anyway bc he doesn't like everyone's attitude] but becomes tame with LWJ, it's like a switch gets flipped. LWJ is the growling demon in bed while WWX is the purring angel, despite their anatomy quite clearly showing otherwise; and let me tell u I love purring demons and growling angels

NO ONE believes him when LWJ says wwx isnt the aggressive one, thinking the demon is tainting their precious second jade despite wwx not having a choice about his demonhood. LWJ be like: we still husbands regardless of who's the more aggressive one anyway. Yes, I’ve just decided we’re married no ceremony required.

bonus: i found a song i really like for it! this playlist tho will eventually grow more :]

You can find my other projects here!

"Ghost of Mine" / GOM is a large-scale fic project that is currently in progress and can be found on Ao3! It updates once every Sunday as of the moment and is currently on Chapter 13 [Ch 14 is released in about 22 hours from now]. GOM is mainly about Ghost WWX, but covers some of the main canonical story too, unveiling things that aren't written in the novel and delve into some interesting things with empathy, inquiry, and lan yuan who can see ghosts. You can find the art for this fic after every chapter in the end notes!

Ghost of Mine - Art master list as of 3/11/23

Chapter 1-9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11   Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14 Chapter 15 (releasing SUN at midnight central us time) Chapter 1 Remake art  Chapter 1 Remake art (bonus) Chapter 2 Remake art  Excerpt art (1) Chapter 14 WIPS & SHITPOSTS MXY Concept art WIP

“Son of the Yiling Laozu” / SOTYL is an upcoming project I would like to do where instead of dying for 13 years WWX goes missing with the Wens for 13 years! It will be based on the same headcanons of Ghost of Mine, but with canon-divergence, so it ends up quite different. Reddit post, Tumblr post.

“In My Blood, Stardust Blooms” / IMBSB is a short project that not unlike COI is about the afterlife, but centered on angels this time. It delves into the mysteries of a forbidden land and loss, and of course a particular couple of angel’s love for each other. I have only done one bit of art for this project [LWJ looks the same as he does in COI however] even though I have started writing, which you can find on Reddit here and Tumblr here.

Did you get this far? :0 hello! Thank you for reading it all ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

drawn in drawpile and edited on clip studio paint

Here's all the sketches for COI in order! ♥️ They update on my original COI post [you are here] / each new COI post every time i draw or release something new!

OG POST - Demon WWX & Angel LWJ [you are here].

COI - MXY YLLZ WWX Demon WIP COI - Chibi kisses COI - Cuddles COI - Slumber COI - hugs COI - Hellscape Concept art [ficlet included in this post] COI - Er-Gege COI - Marks COI - Reunion [you are here]

See the Reddit post here

See the Explicit™ COI ficlet here [i can't post this on tumblr, so i posted this on Reddit, sorry!

See the first peek at Ch 1 of COI here!

[chrisemrysfics]

Recognizing AI Generated Images, Danmei Edition

Heyo, @unforth here! I run some danmei art blogs (@mdzsartreblogs, @tgcfartreblogs, @svsssartreblogs, @zhenhunartreblogs, @erhaartreblogs, @dmbjartreblogs, @tykartreblogs, and @cnovelartreblogs) which means I see a LOT of danmei art, and I go through the main fandom tags more-or-less every day.

Today, for the first time, I spotted someone posting AI-generated images (I refuse to call them AI "art" - and to be clear, that's correct of me, because at least in the US it literally LEGALLY isn't art) without any label indicating they were AI generated. I am not necessarily against the existence of AI-generated images (though really...considering all the legal issues and the risks of misuse, I'm basically against them); I think they potentially have uses in certain contexts (such as for making references) and I also think that regardless of our opinions, we're stuck with them, but they're also clearly not art and I don't reblog them to the art side blogs.

The images I spotted today had multiple "tells," but they were still accumulating notes, and I thought it might be a good moment to step back and point out some of the more obvious tells because my sense is that a LOT of people are against AI-generated images being treated as art, and that these people wouldn't want to support an AI-generator user who tried to foist off their work as actual artwork, but that people don't actually necessarily know how to IDENTIFY those works and therefore can inadvertently reblog works that they'd never support if they were correctly identified. (Similar to how the person who reposts and says "credit to the artist" is an asshole but they're not the same as someone who reposts without any credit at all and goes out of their way to make it look like they ARE the artist when they're not).

Toward that end, I've downloaded all the images I spotted on this person's account and I'm going to use them to highlight the things that led me to think they were AI art - they posted a total of 5 images to a few major danmei tags the last couple days, and several other images not to specific fandoms (I examined 8 images total). The first couple I was suspicious, but it wasn't til this morning that I spotted one so obvious that it couldn't be anything BUT AI art. I am NOT going to name the person who did this. The purpose of this post is purely educational. I have no interest whatsoever in bullying one rando. Please don't try to identify them; who they are is genuinely irrelevant, what matters is learning how to recognize AI art in general and not spreading it around, just like the goal of education about reposting is to help make sure that people who repost don't get notes on their theft, to help people recognize the signs so that the incentive to be dishonest about this stuff is removed.

But first: Why is treating AI-generated images as art bad?

I'm no expert and this won't be exhaustive, but I do think it's important to first discuss why this matters.

On the surface, it's PERHAPS harmless for someone to post AI-generated images provided that the image is clearly labeled as AI-generated. I say "perhaps" because in the end, as far as I'm aware, there isn't a single AI-generation engine that's built on legally-sourced artwork. Every AI (again, to the best of my knowledge) has been trained using copyrighted images usually without the permission of the artists. Indeed, this is the source of multiple current lawsuits. (and another)

But putting that aside (as if it can be put aside that AI image generators are literally unethically built), it's still problematic to support the images being treated as art. Artists spend thousands of hours learning their craft, honing it, sharing their creations, building their audiences. This is what they sell when they offer commissions, prints, etc. This can never be replicated by a computer, and to treat an AI-generated image as in any way equivalent is honestly rude, inappropriate, disgusting imo. This isn't "harmless"; supporting AI image creation engines is damaging to real people and their actual livelihoods. Like, the images might be beautiful, but they're not art. I'm honestly dreading someone managing to convince fandom that their AI-generated works are actual art, and then cashing in on commissions, prints, etc., because people can't be fussed to learn the difference. We really can't let this happen, guys. Fanartists are one of the most vibrant, important, prominent groups in all our fandoms, and we have to support them and do our part to protect them.

As if those two points aren't enough, there's already growing evidence that AI-generated works are being used to further propagandists. There are false images circulating of violence at protests, deep-fakes of various kinds that are helping the worst elements of society to push their horrid agendas. As long as that's a facet of AI-generated works, they'll always be dangerous.

I could go on, but really this isn't the main point of my post and I don't want to get bogged down. Other people have said more eloquently than I why AI-generated images are bad. Read those. (I tried to find a good one to link but sadly failed; if anyone knows a good post, feel free to send it and I'll add the link to the post).

Basically: I think a legally trained AI-image generator that had built-in clear watermarks could be a fun toy for people who want reference images or just to play with making pseudo-art. But...that's not what we have, and what we do have is built on theft and supports dystopia so, uh. Yeah fuck AI-generated images.

How to recognize AI-Generated Images Made in an Eastern Danmei Art Style

NOTE: I LEARNED ALL THE BASIC ON SPOTTING AI-GENERATED IMAGES FROM THIS POST. I'll own I still kinda had the wool over my eyes until I read that post - I knew AI stuff was out there but I hadn't really looked closely enough to have my eyes open for specific signs. Reading that entire post taught me a lot, and what I learned is the foundation of this post.

This post shouldn't be treated as a universal guide. I'm specifically looking at the tells on the kind of art that people in danmei fandoms often see coming from Weibo and other Chinese, Japanese, and Korean platforms, works made by real artists. For example, the work of Foxking (狐狸大王a), kokirapsd, and Changyang (who is an official artist for MDZS, TGCF, and other danmei works). This work shares a smooth use of color, an aim toward a certain flavor of realism, an ethereal quality to the lighting, and many other features. (Disclaimer: I am not an artist. Putting things in arty terms is really not my forte. Sorry.)

So, that's what these AI-generated images are emulating. And on the surface, they look good! Like...

...that's uncontestably a pretty picture (the white box is covering the "artist's" watermark.) And on a glance, it doesn't necessarily scream "AI generated"! But the devil is in the details, and the details are what this post is about. And that picture? Is definitely AI generated.

This post is based on 8 works I grabbed from a single person's account, all posted as their own work and watermarked as such. Some of the things that are giveaways only really show when looking at multiple pieces. I'm gonna start with those, and then I'll highlight some of the specifics I spotted that caused me to go from "suspicious" to "oh yeah no these are definitely not art."

Sign 1: all the images are the exact same size. I mean, to the pixel: 512 x 682 pixels (or 682 x 512, depending on landscape or portrait orientation). This makes zero sense. Why would an artist trim all their pieces to that size? It's not the ideal Tumblr display size (that's 500 x 750 pixels). If you check any actual artist's page and look at the full-size of several of their images, they'll all be different sizes as they trimmed, refined, and otherwise targeted around their original canvas size to get the results they wanted.

Sign 2: pixelated. At the shrunken size displayed on, say, a mobile Tumblr feed, the image looks fine, but even just opening the full size upload, the whole thing is pixelated. Now, this is probably the least useful sign; a lot of artists reduce the resolution/dpi/etc. on their uploaded works so that people don't steal them. But, taken in conjunction with everything else, it's definitely a sign.

Those are the two most obvious overall things - the things I didn't notice until I looked at all the uploads. The specifics are really what tells, though. Which leads to...

Sign 3: the overall work appears to have a very high degree of polish, as if it were made by an artist who really really knows what they're doing, but on inspection - sometimes even on really, REALLY cursory inspect - the details make zero sense and reflect the kinds of mistakes that a real artist would never make.

So, here's the image that I saw that "gave it away" to me, and caused me to re-examine the images that had first struck me as off but that I hadn't been able to immediately put my finger on the problem. I've circled some of the spots that are flagrant.

Do you see yet? Yes? Awesome, you're getting it. No? Okay, let's go point by point, with close ups.

Sign 4: HANDS. Hands are currently AI's biggest weakness, though they've been getting better quickly and honestly that's terrifying. But whatever AI generated this picture clearly doesn't get hands yet, because that hand is truly an eldritch horror. Look at this thing:

It has two palms. It has seven fingers. It's basically two hands overlaid over each other, except one of those hands only has four fingers and the other has three. Seeing this hand was how I went from "umm...maybe they're fake? Maybe they're not???" to "oh god why is ANYONE reblogging this when it's this obvious?" WATCH THE HANDS. (Go back up to that first one posted and look at the hand, you'll see. Or just look right below at this crop.) Here's some other hands:

Sign 5: Hair and shadows. Once I started inspecting these images, the shadows of the hair on the face was one of the things that was most consistently fucked up across all the uploaded pictures. Take a look:

There's shadows of tendrils on the forehead, but there's no corresponding hair that could possibly have made those shadows. Likewise there's a whole bunch of shadows on the cheeks. Where are those coming from? There's no possible source in the rest of the image. Here's some other hair with unrelated wonky shadows:

Sign 6: Decorative motifs that are really just meaningless squiggles. Like, artists, especially those who make fanart, put actual thought into what the small motifs are on their works. Like, in TGCF, an artist will often use a butterfly motif or a flower petal motif to reflect things about the characters. An AI, though, can only approximate a pattern and it can't imbue those with meanings. So you end up with this:

What is that? It's nothing, that's what. It's a bunch of squiggles. Here's some other meaningless squiggle motifs (and a more zoomed-in version of the one just above):

Sign 7: closely related to meaningless squiggle motifs is motifs that DO look like something, but aren't followed through in any way that makes sense. For example, an outer garment where the motifs on the left and the right shoulder/chest are completely different, or a piece of cloth that's supposed to be all one piece but that that has different patterns on different sections of it. Both of these happen in the example piece, see?

The first images on the top left is the left and right shoulder side by side. The right side has a scalloped edge; the left doesn't. Likewise, in the right top picture, you can see the two under-robe lapels; one has a gold decoration and the other doesn't. And then the third/bottom image shows three sections of the veil. One (on the left) has that kind of blue arcy decoration, which doesn't follow the folds of the cloth very well and looks weird and appears at one point to be OVER the hair instead of behind it. The second, on top of the bottom images, shows a similar motif, except now it's gold, and it looks more like a hair decoration than like part of the veil. The third is also part of the same veil but it has no decorations at all. Nothing about this makes any sense whatsoever. Why would any artist intentionally do it that way? Or, more specifically, why would any artist who has this apparent level of technical skill ever make a mistake like this?

They wouldn't.

Some more nonsensical patterns, bad mirrors, etc. (I often put left/right shoulders side by side so that it'd be clearer, sorry if it's weird):

Sign 8: bizarre architecture, weird furniture, etc. Most of the images I'm examining for this post have only partial backgrounds, so it's hard to really focus on this, but it's something that the post I linked (this one) talks about a lot. So, like, an artist will put actual thought into how their construction works, but an AI won't because an AI can't. There's no background in my main example image, but take a look at this from another of my images:

On a glance it's beautiful. On a few seconds actually staring it's just fucking bizarre. The part of the ceiling on the right appears to be domed maybe? But then there's a hard angle, then another. The windows on the right have lots of panes, but then the one on the middle-left is just a single panel, and the ones on the far left have a complete different pane model. Meanwhile, also on the left side at the middle, there's that dark gray...something...with an arch that mimics the background arches except it goes no where, connects to nothing, and has no apparent relationship to anything else going on architecturally. And, while the ceiling curves, the back wall is straight AND shows more arches in the background even though the ceiling looks to end. And yes, some of this is possible architecture, but taken as a whole, it's just gibberish. Why would anyone who paints THAT WELL paint a building to look like THAT? They wouldn't. It's nonsense. It's the art equivalent of word salad. When we look at a sentence and it's like "dog makes a rhythmical salad to betray on the frame time plot" it almost resembles something that might mean something but it's clearly nonsense. This background is that sentence, as art.

Sign 9: all kinds of little things that make zero sense. In the example image, I circled where a section of the hair goes BELOW the inner robe. That's not impossible but it just makes zero sense. As with many of these, it's the kind of thing that taken alone, I'd probably just think "well, that was A Choice," but combined with all the other weird things it stands out as another sign that something here is really, really off. Here's a collection of similar "wtf?" moments I spotted across the images I looked at (I'm worried I'm gonna hit the Tumblr image cap, hence throwing these all in one, lol.)

You have to remember that an actual artist will do things for a reason. And we, as viewers, are so used to viewing art with that in mind that we often fill in reasons even when there aren't. Like, in the image just about this, I said, "what the heck are these flowers growing on?" And honestly, I COULD come up with explanations. But that doesn't mean it actually makes sense, and there's no REASON for it whatsoever. The theoretical same flowers are, in a different shot, growing unsupported! So...what gives??? The answer is nothing gives. Because these pieces are nothing. The AI has no reason, it's just tossing in random aesthetic pieces together in a mishmash, and the person who generated them is just re-generating and refining until they get something that looks "close enough" to what they wanted. It never was supposed to make sense, so of course it doesn't.

In conclusion...

After years of effort, artists have gotten across to most of fandom that reposts are bad, and helped us learn strategies for helping us recognize reposts, and given us an idea of what to do when we find one.

Fandom is just at the beginning of this process as it applies to AI-generated images. There's a LOT of education that has to be done - about why AI-generated images are bad (the unethical training using copyrighted images without permission is, imo, critical to understanding this), and about how to spot them, and then finally about what to do when you DO find them.

With reposts, we know "tell original artist, DCMA takedowns, etc." That's not the same with these AI-images. There's no original owner. There's no owner at all - in the US, at least, they literally cannot be copyrighted. Which is why I'm not even worrying about "credit" on this post - there's nothing stolen, cause there's nothing made. So what should you do?

Nothing. The answer is, just as the creator has essentially done nothing, you should also do nothing. Don't engage. Don't reblog. Don't commission the creator or buy their art prints. If they do it persistently and it bothers you, block them. If you see one you really like, and decide to reblog it, fine, go for it, but mark it clearly - put in the ACTUAL COMMENTS (not just in the tags!) that it's AI art, and that you thought it was pretty anyway. But honestly, it'd be better to not engage, especially since as this grows it's inevitable that some actual artists are going to start getting accused of posting AI-generated images by over-zealous people. Everyone who gets a shadow wrong isn't posting AI-generated images. A lot of these details are insanely difficult to get correct, and lots of even very skilled, accomplished artists, if you go over their work with a magnifying glass you're going to find at least some of these things, some weirdnesses that make no sense, some shadows that are off, some fingers that are just ugh (really, getting hands wrong is so relatable. hands are the fucking worst). It's not about "this is bad art/not art because the hand is wrong," it's specifically about the ways that it's wrong, the way a computer randomly throws pieces together versus how actual people make actual mistakes. It's all of the little signs taken as a whole to say "no one who could produce a piece that, on the surface, looks this nice, could possibly make THIS MANY small 'mistakes.'"

The absolute best thing you can do if you see AI-generated images being treated as real art is just nothing. Support actual artists you love, and don't spread the fakes.

Thanks for your time, everyone. Good luck avoiding AI-generated pieces in the future, please signal boost this, and feel free to get in touch if you think I can help you with anything related to this.