dracoskullonmain - Tumblr blog

[dracoskullonmain]

Hi there Choijesoo, So as an artist who's currently developing their skills in the hope of one day opening commissions, i thought i'd make this reblog to explain why, atleast for me and some artists, using AI even just to make a reference for a commission is a bad idea. First, im going to define something. When i say 'artist', i mean those trained either by class or by self, to create works of art with their own hands. traditional, digital, or otherwise. Opposing this, anyone who actively participates in the creation of AIs and the process of feeding these machines content to reproduce is an AI Supporter. This is just to define the terms going forward. Back to the point: Right now, the problem itself isn't using AI art as a reference, it's how AI art is made and what using it means. Ai Art is made by companies who scrape the internet in large batches, scooping up THOUSANDS of pieces of art to put into the ai to train it. this results in the AI mimicing these pieces, only changing small bits to fit whatever prompt is put in. The inherent problem here is the companies do not ask the artists who own the original works for permission to scrape their art. They just do it. So when that AI churns out a piece, it's often a very close replica to an existing artwork someone spent hours on already, taken without their permission and used without giving credit back to them. it's essentially theft of their work, even if the final product is somewhat different. Think of it like you made up a character, and i came along and saw that character, copied it, and only changed a few small details like the shape of their nose, then posted it without crediting you or getting your permission. It sucks to say the least. So for those who think and feel like i do, the concept that the work made by AI is stolen content makes it feel dirty, unclean, and sacrilegious to the very core of what we know as artists about making art. So the idea of even handling AI art as a reference for a commission is... unappealing. And this is just the art on its own. There's a second problem to consider: The threat AI poses to our livelyhood. Beyond just stealing the work of an artist, supporters of AI content have begun to intentionally use it to copy specific artists styles to circumvent commissioning them. There's plenty of cases you can google for this, but what it boils down to is this: An AI art supporter will intentionally fill an ai with specific work from one artist in order to reproduce their style and parts of their work to obtain a piece they wanted without the paying the artist or asking for permission. Now im not going to pretend that that supporter would have paid the artist for the commission in the first place, so the artist didn't technically lose profit on this. But what it means going forward does. Others will see that reproduced piece, and instead of paying the artist say, 40$ for their work, will pay the ai supporter $5. not only does this impact the original artist by stealing potential customers, but it reducing the value of their original work to the populous. And as more people use AI content, it gives these AI supporters the message that what they are doing is acceptable. The very use of it furthers their belief that this is not only a good thing to do, but the next step in the 'evolution of art'. Specifically, look to companies. the more Ai content is used, circulated, and supported the more companies look to it as a cheaper alternative to paying artists, something they already are notorious for not wanting to do. So to many artists, those better trained than i, it's taking their very jobs. For a recent turn of events, look to Riot Games, who just laid off a dozen of their talented concept and splash-art artists in favor of using AI assisted work.

So the very use of AI to make art, whether for reference or just a fun little tiktok filter, is an act that perpetuates a decline in our future as artists. Noting all that, i do want to say that the idea of being able to make a reference image using AI art does have its appeals. It is nice to be able to take some of the mental load off from the design to let another handle it and get a decent starting point to springboard off of. But by now, you can see where the problem lies. So atleast for me personally, and many artists that i follow who've been vocal on the subject (ex: Subjectively over on youtube), Ai art isn't something we want to touch. When i am able to take commissions, i would rather receive a detailed description and sit down with you for a quick concept sketch session then even think of touching an AI piece for reference. So to end off, im not saying you cant. It's your choice what you want to do moving forward, but i want to help you understand where some artists come from, and should you decide to make ai references for commissions, it is my hope this will explain why some artists might turn down the references. I hope this helps! If you have any questions about what i said, please feel free to reach out. (Minor note: To any Ai Supporter who wants to come onto this post and try to debate, argue, slander, or otherwise engage with me, I only promise to attempt to engage with you. if it becomes apparent quickly you aren't interested in discussion or debate on good faith, you will be blocked and ignored. I like to atleast try.)

I'm asking this because I've recently begun buying commissions, as though I do draw, I'm not good at drawing people, and have lots of OCs as a writer for years now.

I've never given an AI art reference (I usually just show what I have written about the character in question), but this question popped up in my head recently, as there have been so much talk about AI being used to make art, or potentially replacing commissions for people who don't draw, so I wondered how a kind of middle ground would be taken? Not replacing a commission, but AI still ultimately being used at some point in process.

I'd love if you were an artist you could elaborate in a comment or a reblog or something on how you would feel if someone sent you a picture reference as an artist for you to draw, and it were clearly made by AI.

[dracoskullonmain]

Hey, hope you've been doing OK Cassidy, It's been a while since you've posted and I lost the phone number I had to contact you with but I still remembered your art handle. Whether you see this or not, I just hope you're having a good day. May the sun shine on you always.

Oh good gods I am so sorry to miss this! I stopped using Tumblr for a long while, so I never saw this! Please respond if you see this and we can reconnect!

[dracoskullonmain]

Hi there, i’m entering the fray as someone who recently changed from just being ‘diagnosed’ with ADHD to someone living with ADHD.

And the thing i feel is important enough to warrant this is:

When someone with a neurodivergent diagnosis is admitting it to you, they aren’t saying “its other people’s problem”, they’re asking for your patience and cooperation by extending an opportunity of understanding.

Take me for example, some days my adhd can screw up my ability to remember names. If i had to straight up ask your name again despite knowing you for awhile, it could cone off pretty freakin rude.

But if i give you the heads up “hey i have trouble remembering names, can you tell me yours again?” Suddenly it goes from ‘yoyr name isn’t worth remembering’ to ‘i want to, but i’m having trouble and i’m asking for help’.

And that’s something i recently learned to do, because i /need/ that help and not asking for it to save face is hurting me more then just asking.

“But what if they think badly of me for my diagnosis?” Then they already thought badly of you. Would you think badly of a man who’s leg was born malformed saying “i cant” when you ask him to walk to the kitchen and get you a drink? Well unless you’re a heartless dick, no you wouldn’t.

Thats what having a neurodivergent diagnosis is, it’s the understanding that you have troubles with something and you want help from those around you.

You dont have to do anything when someone lets you know they have an issue, but you can atleast go forward with it in consideration.

To the anon in specific: you have a learning disability, and you dont have to say anything about it. I had my diagnosis of adhd since i was a kid and i received no accommodations because they felt i didn’t need help.

But you deserve to atleast get help when you need it. And you deserve to know ehat issues you have and access to resources to help circumvent them.

When did people get so comfortable about admitting they have autism or ADHD or other things? I was diagnosed with NLD as an adult and it’s something I’ll take to the grave. Only people who know are me, the psychologist, and my father. I would NEVER admit to it with my real name or even my online name. Not even with an alias. But people are just out here going “oh I’m austistic.” I’d rather eat poison than admit to having a learning disability under anything that can be connected to me.

--

That sounds like a you problem.

I mean, sure, I too side-eye people who think their extreme sensitivity to rejection is other people's problem, but just admitting you're neurodivergent? Why is that bad?

Do you realize how much of "default nerd personality" is just neurodivergence? I know fandom is mainstream now, so the ye olde SF fandom vibes are fewer, but geekdom used to be dominated by what was pretty obviously a collection of autism and ADD/ADHD traits.

Learning disability? Sheesh. Yeah, that's one part of what these things can be, but when people openly claim their neurodivergence, they're often talking about it as just that: divergence.

The way their brains are is weird. They think differently. But is it a disability? It certainly can be, but that isn't always the best lens to analyze it through, especially in social spaces that are heavily neurodivergent, and especially in adult life where we can hopefully control more of our surroundings, mitigating the bad parts and playing up the good parts of being different.

I like people with really intense interests who can obsessively discuss them for hours. Sure, the extreme monotone lecturing version gets boring, and I want friends who can do some give and take, but if you aren't a total nerd, why would I want to talk to you?

There can be instances where You Must Be This Neurodivergent To Ride This Ride.

That's why people on here talk about it as one of their demographics, no more shameful than their ethnicity or orientation.

[dracoskullonmain]

@squirrellygirlart this is why i love your teaching method

A Twitter Thread from David Bowles:

[Text transcript at the end of the screenshots]

I'll let you in on a secret. I have a doctorate in education, but the field’s basically just a 100 years old. We don’t really know what we’re doing. Our scholarly understanding of how learning happens is like astronomy 2000 years ago.

Most classroom practice is astrology.

Before the late 19th century, no human society had ever attempted to formally educate the entire populace. It was either aristocracy, meritocracy, or a blend. And always male.

We’re still smack-dab in the middle of the largest experiment on children ever done.

Most teachers perpetuate the “banking” model (Freire) used on them by their teachers, who likewise inherited it from theirs, etc.

Thus the elite “Lyceum” style of instruction continues even though it’s ineffectual with most kids.

What’s worse, the key strategies we’ve discovered, driven by cognitive science & child psychology, are quite regularly dismissed by pencil-pushing, test-driven administrators. Much like Trump ignores science, the majority of principals & superintendents I’ve known flout research.

Some definitions:

Banking model --> kids are like piggy banks: empty till you fill them with knowledge that you're the expert in.

Lyceum --> originally Aristotle's school, where the sons of land-owning citizens learned through lectures and research.

Things we (scholars) DO know:

-Homework doesn't really help, especially younger kids.

-Students don't learn a thing from testing. Most teachers don't either (it's supposed to help them tweak instruction, but that rarely happens).

-Spending too much time on weak subjects HURTS.

Do you want kids to learn? Here's something we've discovered: kids learn things that matter to them, either because the knowledge and skills are "cool," or because .... they give the kids tools to liberate themselves and their communities.

Maintaining the status quo? Nope.

Kids are acutely aware of injustice and by nature rebellious against the systems of authority that keep autonomy away from them.

If you're perpetuating those systems, teachers, you've already freaking lost.

They won't be learning much from you. Except what not to become. Sure, you can wear them down. That's what happened to most of you, isn't it? You saw the hideous flaw in the world and wanted to heal it. But year after numbing year, they made you learn their dogma by rote.

And now many of you are breaking the souls of children, too.

For what?

It's all smoke and mirrors. All the carefully crafted objectives, units and exams.

WE. DON'T. KNOW. HOW. PEOPLE. LEARN.

We barely understand the physical mechanisms behind MEMORY. But we DO know kids aren't empty piggy banks. They are BRIMMING with thought.

The last and most disgusting reality? The thing I hear in classroom after freaking classroom?

Education is all about capitalism.

"You need to learn these skills to get a good job." To be a good laborer. To help the wealthy generate more wealth, while you get scraps.

THAT is why modern education is a failure.

Its basic premise is monstrous.

"Why should I learn to read, Dr. Bowles?"

Because reading is magical. It makes life worth living. And being able to read, you can decode the strategies of your oppressors & stop them w/ their own words.

[dracoskullonmain]

“the millenium falcon would wipe out the enterprise in seconds” lmao the enterprise is just an innocent science class floating thru space…. all they wanna do is look at some rocks… kiss an alien…. find some space plants….. why would you fight that its not a battleship theyre just nerds…… leave them olone 

[dracoskullonmain]

Also! Super important to add:

You can and should do research! If you dont know what the land looked like during the Dark Ages, look up some maps, find a historical account, and get deep and dirty till you know what you need.

This works for anything, though it is important to do more then /just/ google and read the first article. If you want to say, diversify your cast of main characters, reach out to people of that race to get their input and LISTEN.

Write what you know, and learn what you don’t.

People will say “write what you know!” But I know so little

[dracoskullonmain]

Rebloggin for anyone who isn’t following my art page

Heyo everyone again!

I’m practicing traditional coloring lately, and while coloring Red Weaver i realized that she looked AMAZING if i omitted the base red of her suit for a white/pink. So new colors now!

Just as a reminder, here’s the original!

Red Weaver is the Akumatized Ladybug of my fic “Death Has Kissed Your Skin, My Love” which is an Angst to Fluff Ladrien indulgence fic i’m writing in response to all the MariBlanc fics out there xD (Link to fic can be found here)

If you check it out feel free to leave a comment!

Red Weaver (c) Me

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (c) Zagtoons and Thomas Astruc

[dracoskullonmain]

Seriously i did it twice and had a good vent in it. I still have no hope that @support @postplus will listen since they’ve ignored us every other time.

But it was nice to bitch in their face for one.

Hi There 👋

As you might have noticed, we’re beta-testing something new: Tumblr Post+. What’s Post+? A big deal, for starters. Post+ is our new subscription feature that allows you to use our existing multi-media post form to create unique paid feeds or support other blogs by subscribing to theirs. Fear not, Tumblr will always be free to use, this is just a way to continue to empower unique voices and throw a little coin to your favorite artists, fanfic writers, or maybe even that one mashup Supernatural/Studyblr blog you’ve been following since 2016.

(3 a.m. infomercial voice) But wait, there’s more. We want to know every possible way we can make Post+ the best experience for you and your community. To do that, we’d love to hear from you. Specifically, we want your thoughts on how you’d use a feature that provides a feed of exclusive posts on Tumblr. What would you like to see? Don’t be shy 👉👈. Get in touch. Do it often, if you like. We’re excited to hear your thoughts. And keep your eyes on this space (go ahead now, click follow ☝️). Teamwork makes the dream work, etc.

[dracoskullonmain]

Woo progress! Now to finish the third chapter.

Heyo everyone again!

I’m practicing traditional coloring lately, and while coloring Red Weaver i realized that she looked AMAZING if i omitted the base red of her suit for a white/pink. So new colors now!

Just as a reminder, here’s the original!

Red Weaver is the Akumatized Ladybug of my fic “Death Has Kissed Your Skin, My Love”, which is an Angst to Fluff Ladrien indulgence fic i’m writing in response to all the MariBlanc fics out there xD (the title is a link to it!)

If you check it out feel free to leave a comment!

Red Weaver (c) Me

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (c) Zagtoons and Thomas Astruc

[dracoskullonmain]

[dracoskullonmain]

Well, gabriel owns a multimillion dollar fashion company in the heart of paris, with Nathalie running secretary for him. He is likely well aware of the laws regarding the employment and use of minor labor. It’s very likely he has a personal legal team devoted to ensuring adrien’s financial protection should something ever happen. And as Adrien’s work as a model and voice actor would have no financial gain from Gabriel being Hawkmoth, it would be untouched. Especially since Adrien did the bulk if his work prior to Gabriel becoming hawkmoth.

So should Gabriel be found out, all assets that did not tie into him being Hawkmoth would pass to the next available. Either Nathalie, being his personal secretary, a board of directors who would likely elect a new ceo, or it would be pass to Adrien. Adrien getting it is HIGHLY unlikely though as it usually goes to the board to decide.

But we’re not done. The big question here is: will victims of Hawkmoth go after Gabriel and his assets.

The short answer is yes. It would be a huge lawsuit. Gabriel doesn’t strike me as the type to put protections in place incase he gets caught, only to keep him from getting caught. So you can bet your arse there would be a HUGE lawsuit over the damages left by him. Every person akumatized would be lining to to cash the check his dumb self wrote. Now it would probably only be emotional, psychological, and financial since he literally cant leave physical damage thanks to ladybug. But those three are more then enough to put a sizable dent into his... everything.

So, if that lawsuit happens, the gabriel brand would take a big hit but live. They’d tear into it for everything financially tied to Gabriel, and gouge out a sizable chunk. But companies are complex entities, so it’ll /probably/ survive with some changes. Probably a massive rebranding.

As for Adrien, the lawsuit will definitely impact him. Gabriel would lose the house, the car, and any staff fir the house. Adrien by extension would be homeless. I dont know french law for minors, but /probably/ he’ll either be taken in by next of kin (Amelia) unless someone volunteered their home and guardianship. His account would probably be spared the attack, since there’s plenty of evidence Gabriel hid his activities from Adrien.

So in the end, Adrien would be fine. Emotionally disturbed and permanently traumatized, but doing modeling for +5 years and the royalties Gabriel was sure to have gotten secured for Adrien’s voice as Chat Noir, he’d be well off enough to live comfortably, go to college, and get a decent house. Would he be living the life? No. Would he be destitute? Absolutely not.

Now would Gabriel be the type to ensure Adrien cant have his account till 18? Yes. Gabe would want that control. So Adrien would have to legally challenge the stipulation, which would mean he’d have some troubles till 18. Course he could /also/ throw in on the hawkmoth lawsuit, so he might get something in the mean time.

In the end it’s up to you, but most likely Adrien would walk away with a sizable bank account he may or may not have access to, and he’d probably still have connections to his dad’s company in a contracted employee aspect.

(Edit: just realized Gabriel probably signed shares into Adrien’s name from his company, so he’d also have that which he could either keep or sell )

Hope this helps!

suppose that, when Gabriel gets outed as a terrorist, all his assets get frozen, in accordance with legal something or other about terrorist-supporting financial stuff.

1) how screwed is Adrien personally?

2) who all else is screwed, and how many of them are there? like, if Gabriel Fashions money stops moving, how many paychecks go up in smoke, and whose are they? so far I've thought of his designers and sewists and accountants and boutique outlet staff, anyone whose creative effort's budget depends on his being executive producer (which may or may not actively include Clara Nightingale and the "Animaestro" animation studio), whoever's been hired to cater the Agreste Foundation’s Heroes Gala, the said nonprofit's own staff...

[dracoskullonmain]

Reblogging because I AM FINALLY WRITING FOR THE FIC!!!

So i’ve been on new adhd meds, and like i said last time i’m drawing so freakin much. I actually got through my reserves about inking a piece and inked them snatched the line-art onto my old phone to do a color test! Now to color the original sketch :D

This is the new and official look for Red Weaver, aka Akumatized!Ladybug/Marinette for my fic “Death Has Kissed Your Skin, My Love”

Art: (c) me

Ladybug/Marinette: (c) Thomas Astruc

[dracoskullonmain]

Oh oh i’m joining in!

I draw both traditionally, digitally via my old phone, and on my tablet,

I loom hats and a dice bag once

I work with wood alittle

And I grow flowers and veggies!

I actually also make soaps, custom candles from used wax melts, do origami, build lego models of dinos, sculpt clay, and i dabble in 3d modeling.

If you cant tell i have ADHD and pick up hobbies like a Pokemon trainer catches anything that moves in route two.

Jack of all master of none lol

horny this video games that I want to see the CRAFTS y’all do

[dracoskullonmain]

What is with companies and trying to get shot like this by us? Like, they aren’t smooth, we’ve done this dance. It’s automatically opt-in, everyone’s gonna opt out, and they’re going to get upset that no one’s using it so they’ll remove the opt out feature entirely. Microsoft did it, Nintendo did it, spectrum did it, And Verizon did it.

Like, the whole point of allowing services like this to be opt-out is to see how little people want it, but instead of taking the hint they just get butt hurt and force it on us anyways. It’s exactly like all those dumb ass apps no one uses on your phone that you cant get rid of despite the fact they take up storage space, try to use your data, and are literally useless. “Oh but it has 1 billion downloads to date!” No, no it doesn’t. No one downloaded the damn thing it came preinstalled and i cant get rid of it.

So i’m just gonna sot here and watch amazon play this game again. We’re all gonna jailbreak out Alexas so they cant do this shit.

Uhhhh..... heads up Amazon device users, I guess????

[dracoskullonmain]

On the subject of humans being a trash species that breed animals for the looks with no consideration for their health and well being, might i introduce you to the legendary Scottish Fold:

Look at this adorable kitten. With its short face and curled ears, its super adorable right?

Would you believe at first glance that it is BANNED to pure breed them??

The answer lies in those seemingly cute curled ears:

Weakened cartilage. The gene that the Scottish Fold is named after and breed for, is a gene that drastically weakens the animal’s cartilage so that the ears will fold permanently. Because of that gene, it is COMMON for these adorable cats to have a form of Arthritis as six months old.

Let me repeat that for those in the back:

SCOTTISH FOLDS GET ARTHRITIS AS EARLY AS SIX FUCKING MONTHS OLD!!!

Oh but it doesn’t end there. They are also known for their short, stocky limbs and cute tiny straight tail. Ever wonder what having tiny limbs and a stiff tail does to a cat? Nothing good. Their short limbs mean they cant move fast, so the cat with arthritis at six fucking months old has to waddle around twice as much as a normal cat just to get anywhere. And the stiff tails are well known to become so stiff that they hurt constantly.

They also have very common heart and liver problems that leave them with a life expectancy of between 11 and 15 years, two years off the average of domestic mix breeds of 13-17.

But here’s the problem: most cats only live with arthritis if they develop it for 5 years. The Scottish Fold will live with it for ALMOST EVERY YEAR OF ITS LIFE without exception due to the very fucking fold the breed is known for.

You guarantee your cat has to live in constant pain for its whole fucking life if you breed these cats.

And the worst part is it has no fucking idea. We as a species bred this adorable ball of pain and anguish for no better reason then we could. It did not choose to be born to a world of constant pain but it lives on, oblivious and happy, and it hurts my fucking soul so much.

Please, do not breed scottish folds, or i will find you and break all your joints with a baseball bat till you know how they feel.

Do not buy them from a breeder.

Just dont.

thinking about pugs really messes with my head

[dracoskullonmain]

Seeing this post now, four years into my relationship with the love of my life, i can safely say that this is 100% true for ALL relationships. Friendships, monogamous, polyamorous, it doesn’t matter. There are things other people can do for your partner that you cant. Like, my fiancé sometimes needs validation about events that happened from an outside source, and as much as i support her, i’m 9/10 times involved in the event so i cant do that. Her friend though, can! They can even bring an outside perspective that i could /never/ hope to achieve because i’m me and not them.

Not to mention that not all our interests align, and she needs someone to gush with about them with as much enthusiasm as she has for it.

If you truly love your partner, take my advice: nourish your partner’s friendships. Go out of your way to make sure they have those friends and enjoy them. Make your partner feel like they can have those friends, and they will love you as much as you love them.

Also, if you don’t have friends outside your partner, you should really go make some! Trust me as an introverted adhd dork who plays too much games and draws all day, its nice to have friends.

Now go forth and have a good life! I’ma tickle my fiancé awake now >:P

[dracoskullonmain]

Reblog cause i’m super proud of this!

So i’ve been on new adhd meds, and like i said last time i’m drawing so freakin much. I actually got through my reserves about inking a piece and inked them snatched the line-art onto my old phone to do a color test! Now to color the original sketch :D

This is the new and official look for Red Weaver, aka Akumatized!Ladybug/Marinette for my fic “Death Has Kissed Your Skin, My Love”

Art: (c) me

Ladybug/Marinette: (c) Thomas Astruc