#And there's no unskilled way to make art

[niuniente]

There's an important artist campaign in Twitter going on against the AI art bullshit. The theme is that art skills are skills anyone can learn. If they just practice enough, anyone can become a great artist. Talent has nothing to do with it.

While anyone can learn arts and practice, it's false that anyone can become really skilled in the arts if they just practice enough. You do need to have some natural talent to become really successful and good in art. Otherwise we all would be next Picasso, da Vincis or Yoshitaka Amanos. Just by practicing.

There was a rugby player who said that swimmers don't have that kind of a body because they swim. They swim because they have that kind of a body. He said that he has not obtained his own frame because of rugby but he is a rugby player because his natural body type is fitted for rugby.

We need to understand this also in art. You're not skilled in art because you are only practicing enough. You do art because you are, in a way or another, suited for making art. Perhaps you can see and understand colors better than others. Perhaps your geometric understanding is good. Perhaps you really understand anatomy easily.

Same with singing. Not anyone can become the next Big Star just by practicing singing a lot. You need to have some natural talent to it, same way as with the rugby player and the swimmer.

It doesn't mean you haven't practiced and put lots of work in your art. Sure you have! The same way as an Olympic swimmer has put effort on their development. Still, not everyone is ever going to reach the level of a professional swimmer no matter what they do or how much they practice. The same way not everyone can learn, for example, realistic painting. Or painting itself!

This narrative also forgets other art forms than realistic and semi-realistic styles. Or really gorgeous children book illustrations. Perhaps your aim shouldn't be in becoming a realistic painter but Miroco Machiko. Perhaps your skills lay in an abstract art or conceptual art. Perhaps you are a really talented storyboard artist.

So, just little something if you feel like you need to practice your ass of and you're not talented enough. Perhaps you aren't. I'm not myself either. I could never learn how to paint realistic stuff. Or sculpt, I'm horrible in sculpting. But it's OK. I can do other stuff, art in other ways and forms. I've drawn over 35 years and studied art and I'm not even near of many skilled people. But it's OK because I have fun with my own art. That is important.

Also, you don't need to aim for a professional level unless you wish to work with companies. Those who don't understand art, like big corporations, see art only as "How much of a photo this art looks like" as an only talent.

Not everyone needs to be professional or can. We all have a certain level in ANYTHING we do which we can reach, only. No matter what. Otherwise anyone could become professionals in anything ever with just practice

All skill levels are OK! All art styles are OK!

Ai art is not OK and that should die sooner than later. Here I though that at least art would be safe from the technology that takes jobs away from people...

[canni-killer]

finish drawing. feel proud! see three pieces of art. i want to kill myself.

[iceta]

never watching writing tips video again, all they say is "this makes your book sound fanfic-y" as if half the most soul-touching memorable words i've read weren't from fics. THE WORD YOU'RE LOOKING IS AMATEUR. AWKWARD, PERHAPS.

[tangibletechnomancy]

Economic anxiety has a way of bringing out reactionary sentiment in anyone if they're not careful.

It is deeply, deeply frustrating to watch it play out in front of me in leftist spaces such that self-proclaimed leftists are using actual, literal fascist arguments about Real Art vs. Fake Art and Real Labor vs. Lazy Button-Pushing.

These things don't become any less bad when you SAY your enemy is "some rich techbro" while calling broke disabled hobbyists "evil soulless automatons".

The central logic doesn't become true when you SAY you're targeting an inhuman machine while you screech obscenities about a great replacement at its operator.

When you say one minute "there is no unskilled labor, only undervalued skills", it doesn't magically absolve you of saying "nooo, you were supposed to automate away the BAD and DEMEANING jobs with no financial safety net for the workers, not THIS one I consider RESPECTABLE" in the next breath; it only makes you a fucking hypocrite.

"Fair use for me but not for thee" is not a rational position to prevent plagiarism and forgery; it's just a means to codify an ingroup and an outgroup.

"Degenerate art" is always, ALWAYS a reactionary and proto-fascist thing to believe in, even if you wrap it up in other fancy words because you know "degenerate" is a Bad Word. "There is Good Art that makes society better and Bad Art, if you can even CALL it Art at all, that will rot our brains and turn us all into mindless drones if it's allowed to survive" cannot be made into anything but a reactionary position! Period! End of!

"Lazy button-pushers" are EXACTLY what corporations want you to think ANY automation operator is, so they can take credit away from those employees and criminally underpay them. They said the same damned thing about digital artists back in the early days of Photoshop. They say the same thing about overworked VFX artists today. You are DIRECTLY helping them make it worse with this argument.

The same old fucking trick of making you uncertain of your financial future so you lash out at other victims of the system because you "can't take the risk" of coming together to fight the actual enemy? Is working a FUCKING treat on way too many people who pride themselves on Not Being Like That - and it's even worse because a lot of the time pointing this out will get nothing but denial because maintaining pride in a leftist, progressive, pro-labor, pro-human Identity is more important to way too many people than ACTUALLY identifying the root of reactionary sentiment and the strategies used to spread it.

It makes me genuinely feel like I've fallen into a Fox News convention, hearing all these blatantly reactionary arguments and actively self-defeating strategies to Protect Labor.

[tomlinfonda]

"Why are artists so butthurt about AI art? Horse carriage drivers didn't complain when they invented the car, they were just grateful that the technology evolved and made it easier to get around."

Art is not a carriage, it's not a vehicle. Its purpose is not to be efficient, to do a practical job with as little effort as possible. Art is not something that can be automated, because its artistry lies in the humanity of its creator. Art is wonderful, from a baby's first drawing, inexperienced and unskilled, to the paintings adorning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

If you consider yourself an AI artist, I ask you: are you proud of yourself when the computer has completed another image that you will claim as yours? Do you look at it and feel the joy of having created something?

Does the generative process teach you how to see the world better? With every image created, do you evolve? Do you understand the planes of the face better now than 1000 images ago? Do you know what rim light is, and where to put it? Do you understand light sources? Tones? Could you take a piece of paper and shade a portrait by yourself?

"AI software is just like Photoshop or Blender, the next step in artistic technology".

It's not though, is it? A digital artist uses a pen to put colors on screen, chooses where to put each brush stroke, when to smudge or use the liquify tool. A 3D sculptor manipulates basic shapes into characters just like a traditional artist molds clay. An AI "artist" doesn't make any of the thousands of choices that lead to the creation of a real piece of art.

"But art is hard, and I'm not good enough."

Neither am I! Man, I'm not the worst artist in the world, but I'm not great, still not at the level I would like to be. Sometimes I draw something and I look at it and realize that it sucks ass! Sometimes I post a drawing online and realize that I drew a character out of proportion, that the light source is not consistent, that I've shaded outside the lines! And you know what's great? That I get to have an understanding of what I did wrong! I get to evolve! I redraw something from 5 years ago and realize that my composition is much better, my shading more believable. And I know that in 5 more years, I might redraw it again and pride myself in how much I've evolved.

I've been drawing since I was a baby, and I still have a long way to go. And that is also fine, because art is a lifelong pursuit, growing, changing, just as I am.

It's okay to not be good. Hell, it's okay if you don't even try to get better. By drawing, you WILL. It's inevitable that, by practicing, you'll learn.

You know what will not make you a better artist? Software that will generate your "art" for you. The result might look more complex than what your skill level allows you to create right now. But it doesn't look better. You could draw a crooked circle on xerox paper and it will look better than all the AI art in the world. Because you made it. Have some faith in yourself. Your vision has more artistic value than what that computer generated.

"If you're afraid that AI will steal your job, learn to draw better!"

I'm trying. Are you?

[ot3]

I do not understand your love for image genAI bc apart from the rampant theft from artists most of its uses are just. Not good like. Some people are capable of making interesting things with it but 90% of what it's being used for is like. Terrible anyways.

i don't really have any particular love for image gen AI. for starters, the styles its primarily designed to emulate are completely outside of my taste bracket and i find those types of work exactly as hollow and soulless when produced by human hands. there's a reason you don't see me going out there using gen ai for a bunch of stuff. i've never even touched midjourney. i like to draw! i dont want something to draw For me!

but here's the thing. if '90 percent of stuff made this way is crap' was a valid reason for something not existing we would have to get rid of every single art form on the planet. it's the same argument people make about booktok books - Stuff Used To Be Better But Now We Have This Sludge Factory Turning Out Fine-Tuned Consumer Slop With Reckless Abandon And It's a Threat To The Fabric Of Society

buddy ! that sludge factory is the Human Race! what you're witnessing is the lowering of barriers! the more people are capable of producing a specific type of creative work, the overall less quality there will be, because most people are not particularly skilled in creative work, or lack the taste you need to make something compelling when unskilled. that's a good thing. i would rather 99,999 people get the chance to make something i hate if it means 1 person gets the chance to make something i love that they wouldn't have otherwise been able to.

i think that the question of art theft as is done in the training of AI image generation models is a sticky one. i hate the fact that tech companies have made boatloads of money that wouldn't have been possible without a truly countless number of man hours by artists that will never see a penny of that wealth in their lifetime. but i also think the more time i spend sitting down and thinking about it and the more conversations i read on the subject, i can't view the output of these generative models as theft. at least, not without conceding a ton of ground to ideas about intellectual property that i think have been overall much more harmful to the health of the art world than AI image generation will be in the longterm.

gen AI models do not store images. they are not churning out recombination of images that have been fed into them. they were trained to analyze visual patterns in these images, associate those patterns with specific concepts, and produce new images following these patterns when prompted with the specific concept. it is fundamentally not dissimilar to how human artists learn and for me i can't in good faith view it as morally wrong on its own merits. i think where plagiarism/theft/fraud-adjacent concerns come in is 1. attempts to disguise how a piece was created and 2. attempting to create stuff that pass muster as a specific other artist's work.

but neither of these are problems unique to AI. people have been arguing about lying about how you make your art and copying other peoples styles for ages. what AI does is it VASTLY increase the scale this can happen at, because it's removing an insane skill barrier from the whole process. and yeah ultimately at the end of the day that's annoying. there are absolutely going to be repercussions on the art world the same way the digital camera impacted portraiture and the printing press impacted scribing. but ai image generation... isn't going to go away. it's just not. so i feel like developing standards for how we engage with this insane, objectively cutting edge and impressive tech, is going to make the art world much safer than starting what boils down to a fucking culture war about it.

[porcelain-rob0t]

do you know why i post so much about telling people to make art even if they think it will be bad? because making art is the #1 way to fight against fascism. in nazi Germany, art was heavily restricted and art that was seen as "bad" would be displayed in "degenerate art" galleries to induce repulsion and to inspire hatred for people who made said "degenerate art". those artists were Jewish, queer, disabled, and people of color. any kind of transgressive or modern art was seen as degenerate and would worsen society. fascists hate art, fascists hate art that means something, fascists hate art that seems to be meaningless, fascists hate art made by anyone, and fascists would hate art made by you.

so do yourself (and those who could not) a favor and make some absolute garbage unskilled, poorly made art as it is your human right.

make art for fun. make art to stand up to fascism. make art to uplift others. make art to piss off fascists because we will outlive them ♡

existence is resistance, being an artist is antifascist action

[messycunt]

everyone fawns over hucow!Epel, calling him cute and doting over him... it makes him so mad!! he wants everyone to see him as a big, strong, manly man! he gets all huffy with his handlers and starts nipping when they call him cute. imagine: Crowley assigns him a new handler because the other ones are sick of getting headbutted and nipped. in comes his cute new handler, and they're so perfect! they treat him well without being condescending and he really thinks he's finally gotten the perfect handler! then... he gets called cute again. Epel decides to show them how manly he is and make sure he never gets called cute again.

fun epel facts: there's concept art that was displayed at an exhibition showing epel fully cross dressed, it's p cute actually 

his final design also looks almost exactly the way his grandma did when she was younger

cw: josou seme, afab reader, dubcon(reader kinda lets Epel get away w it even though they're not feeling it tbh), hybrids(hucows), male lactation, doggie style, name calling(stupid mutt, bitch, slut etc), slapping, hair pulling, blackmail,

Having been warned that your assigned cow was extremely difficult to work with, that he had run through almost a dozen handlers and that you'd probably quit in a few days had you high strung on your first meeting.

After meeting him you were confused to say the least. 

Epel was polite, soft spoken, and aloof at times. It seemed to be an intentional attempt at distancing himself from you.

But he opens up to you in due time.

You see him as an equal. Unlike his past handlers you don't patronize him. He loves that.

He tries showing off for your attention often but even if his attempts aren't successful he's still going to try. He wants you to think he's cool!

Maybe the stars just aligned at the right time or Vil just trusts you enough to take care of Epel the same way he would but he's less helicoptermom-y now that you're around, much to Epels delight.

Vil will be Vil but at least he's not forcing his way into almost every facet of Epel's life anymore.

Still, not much else has changed.

It's not that he doesn’t like doing shows, he tells you. It's that they treat him more like a heifer than a bull.

He's forced to wear those stupid frilly outfits for shows, all lacey and tight, just to put on performances for venues full of older men. He hates the way they look at him.

He can't wait until his growth spurt finally kicks in, then he'll finally be taken seriously as a bull.

Milking him is easy.

The machines tickle him on good days and make him a little sore on bad ones. depending on which type of day it is he will be either staring into space blankly or blinking away frustrated tears from overstimulation hoping you don't notice.

His milk has a subtly sweet taste.

Unlike with his past handlers Epel doesn't mind taking baths with you, especially if it means getting to spend more time with you in the main house. 

It means alot to him when it's you. Leaning up against your neck while basically feeling him up while washing him is almost like heaven for the boy, almost. 

He wants more but you must not see how frustrated and wanting it leaves him.

It makes him so angry with you truthfully. He wants you so bad and you wouldn't even consider him in a million years.

"See! I ain't some precious lil' calf that needs protectin' so stop treatin' me like one ya bitch!" Epel shouted from behind you, yanking your head back by the hair he held in his balled up fist. 

Droplets of water falling from his still damp lavender pelt onto your back in time with his thrusts.

His movements are frantic and unskilled. Too worried about clumsily chasing his own pleasure to care about much else.

The cold tile of the bathroom floor was uncomfortable to kneel on to say the least, and the hard marble of the tub pushed up against your chest uncomfortably. 

The constant jostling of your body didn't make it easier to ignore.

But you didn't say as much. Trying your best to keep quiet, you don't say much of anything.

Maybe this was your fault? you had no way of knowing a quick compliment would set him off the wrong way but… maybe you should have?

Maybe letting off some steam would be good for him? the poor boy must be so pent up right? maybe it's best to let him go at it till he tires himself out.

Epel's slender hands moved from gripping your hair to desperately tugging at your hair to gripping at the fat of your hips in an attempt to keep his frantic pace.

"I really did think it would be different this time. But y'er no better. Patronizin' me just like the others" he said between pants.

A harsh slap against your thigh echoed in the bathroom before he went back to pulling at your hips.

His continued attempts at pushing his dick as far into the back of your cunt as physically possible became even more frantic, if that was even possible, he was close.

 "But maybe ya' are different. I never had one of those pretty ladies let me mount them so easy before! Y'er jus' like a stupid mutt in heat."

That comment did earn a defeated whimper in reaction from you

With that Epel's petite body stiffened up and he emptied himself of all he had inside of you. White filling your insides in excess and leaking down onto the bathroom floor to form conjoined puddles. 

You didn't even bother to try sitting up.

Not that you could easily with his wet warm body laid out against your back. You took this time to catch your breath while you had the chance.

His softening cock still lay nestled inside of you

"Don' fall asleep on me" he slurred " You still gotta clean me up okay? It'd be a shame if Crowley and Vil found out that the sweet new girl they trusted so quickly was a good for nothing slut that couldn't control herself around even the smallest bulls wouldn't it?"

Sitting up and pulling back enough to slip himself out of you Epel stretched.

The high pitched whine he let out as he did was cute, not that you'd verbalize that, you learned your lesson.

[fire-lizard-ro]

The only thing on my mind right now is Argenti with a reader who's just as, if not more, flirtatious and poetic than him getting in a compliment contest where he ends up losing.

No mentioned gender, so reader is gender neutral.

Anon your brain is so big. <333

This is perfect like?

Argenti is a Knight of Beauty and always uses proper speech. While he claims to have no skill with words, he always seems to speak with such flowery language you typically wouldn't find in every day conversation. At least not in modern times (irl and in the Star Rail universe).

But to find one such as yourself who can match him and even go beyond his skill in language as well as use poetry and prose? He would be enamored with you.

He would smile and listen to you speak before attempting to match you in wordplay only to not quite get there. But the attempt was made. Sometimes it's because he cannot think of a good response or flirt to counter you and sometimes what he comes up with just doesn't match his personal standards when comparing his words and yours. But he isn't too put out over it. He would chuckle and flash that radiant smile of his at you. "I did say I was unskilled in the art of words, my dear. It's your win, this time. But don't be too excited- I'll best you one of these days."

I'm almost certain one of his reasons for wishing to win is because he wants to fluster you. To see you become embarrassed over his words. After all, you are beautiful to him, but he'd like to see that cute side of yours a little more.

He'd just have to earn it, is what he'd think.

But when the two of you aren't competing, he enjoys just listening to you speak about anything and everything. Especially the things you were passionate about. Because to him, it is always a treat to get to hear your personal rendition of things. He is in awe of how you use your words of what is basically a honed craft in his eyes. The way that the story or ideas you convey to him take shape and become even more interseting because of how you say it is absolutely astounding to him.

And the way you are able to make him feel with your words of affection aimed at him is something he always wants to keep experiencing.

He's in love with you and your words. He'll practice more so he can show you his love in the same way.

Thank you for the ask! I love Argenti so much and this idea is amazing. Feel free to send in another ask, if you'd like~

[whriskypancake]

OMG I am reaching 100fo yayyyyy thanks guys I love y'alllllll

anyway I want do free art like art raffle but skip the lucky draw part because I may just draw everything I will be quite free next week after my school project deadline.

I want to do TF2 related because yeah most of you follow me for TF2 related stuff, I will do any ship as long as it is requested and HELLS I WANT TO DO TF2 OC guys just, I love when people creating tf2-related original character man they are all so cute awww.

It may be line art or coloured, depends on what I think will make better effect (seriously I think my line art is way more detailed than the coloured version)

I know my drawing is a bit unskilled as long as you don't mind :(

Just follow, like, and reblog? with what you want me to draw directly under this post and I will then start because it will be easier for me to see.

[owlespresso]

vere tutors you on the sacred art of the handjob. spice beneath the cut. obviously. tags: handjob

Thank u @xvi-the-tower for the advice

"Of course we're using lube. What are we, animals?" The corner of Vere's lip draws up as he sends you a look bordering on exasperation and disgust.

You blink at him, slowly and blearily. This is the last time you take him up on an offer for anything, even if it's free. "And don't answer that. I don't want to hear your smart mouth right now."

"...Right," you mumble.

You're perched on your knees between his wide open legs. Looming over his laid out, prone form. He's completely open. Belly-up. Taut abdomen and lean chest and wide hips. It's a vulnerable position, one that you suppose should give you a feeling of...authority? Dominance?

You just wind up feel out of your depth, set in between the open vise of his thick thighs, just waiting for them to snap shut. Dig snug into you like the teeth of a bear trap.

"Lube's in the nightstand. Go get it." He nods his head towards the lacquered nightstand. The shiny russet waves of his hair fan out on the pillows and halo his thin, handsome face.

Grateful for the chance to move, you scuttle over and open the top drawer, retrieving a dainty, but elaborate glass bottle. Popping the cork, you lather a generous amount onto a trembling hand.

"Awh," he coos in faux sympathy, fluttering his eyelashes at you. "Are you nervous, little lamb?"

"No," you mumble, and settle in between his spread, naked thighs. He lounges back, radiating disinterest as you stare down his cock. A pretty, curved thing which stands proud against his stomach.

"Well? It's not going to bite you," Vere, growing impatient, seals his hand around your wrist and pulls you forward. "Though, I might if you keep dragging this out. Have you never seen a cock, before?"

You don't answer that. Cautiously, you press your palm against the head of his cock and tentatively rub it. Immediately, he heaves a contented sigh, head falling back onto that audacious mound of pillows.

"Take it in your hand," Vere instructs breathily. He's still staring at you, through half-lidded eyes.

You listen. Your wet fingers curl around the heat of him.

"Up and down, now," he says, and you start a tentative pace. He's hot in your hand. A little heavier than you thought he'd be. Enough girth to probably hurt if he put it inside you. "Faster," he murmurs, and you oblige. "Faster—right there, lamb."

He rolls his hips into the rhythm, droplets of lube spattering into your chest, your lap. Onto the nice silken beneath you. It dribbles down your wrist and your forearm, all the way up to your elbow.

"Tch, messy. You'll be—aah—cleaning the sheets after this," he says, but there's no bite to it. His voice is but a tender, lavish sigh. The sweet sound prised from his lips by the unskilled touch of your hand. It strikes you, then, how strange and thrilling it is to have such a powerful creature at your mercy. Writhing and moaning because of you.

"When you start to feel friction, add more lube," Vere instructs. "Or just spit on it, if you don't feel like stopping." You make a face at that, and he laughs. "Really? Your hand is already on my dick. It's a little too late to be a prude."

"I'm not a prude," the space between your eyebrows wrinkles in irritation. You debate on pointing out how much of a pillow princess he's being, but quickly decide that withholding his release could easily cost you your life. You've seen him kill more people for less.

"Whatever," Vere snorts. "Just put more on. I don't want you touching me with sandpaper hands." You pour more lube onto your hand and resume working. He tilts back onto the cushions like a spoiled cat, tail curling with each dulcet noise. His cheeks are flushed, rosen all the way down to his sleek shoulders. Long lashes fanning against his cheeks.

The rhythm of his hips stutters and begins to break as he climbs towards his orgasm, chases it, nips at its heels

"Twist your wrist," he pants huskily. "Just a little bit—"

He comes with his eyes closed. White fangs peek out from beneath painted red lips. He twists with the pleasure, hot cum spurting over your hand, dripping down your wrist and onto the bedding below. You milk him through it, eyes wide, fixated, and fascinated as he endures the throes of his pleasure. You persist until he's batting your hand away with pursed lips.

"Don't get too enthusiastic! One handjob and you think you have the right..." Vere complains, voice lowering into little grumbles you don't bother to catch. You watch him as he falls back, track the steadying rise and fall of his chest as he regains his bearings. It's silent, besides the soft sound of his breathing.

"How was that?" you ask after a few minutes. He huffs, amused. One of his eyes cracks open.

"Still second rate. But improving."

[morlock-holmes]

The argument about AI art is essentially that it's bad because it allows unskilled artists to (in certain highly limited ways) to compete in a market that used to be limitd to skilled workers, with the concurrent economic problems that skilled workers always have in that situation.

But "This is bad because it lets people make art easily and cheaply" is the kind of thing that would sound absurd, so people have decided to spontaneously invent an entirely new ideology of art which is, compared to the dominant strains of 20th century completely off on in a new direction.

It's a conservative ideology of art, in that it says art is only art if it demonstrates the craftsmanship of the artist. Warhol, Fountain, cut-up poetry, pretty much the entirety of the Dada and Pop Arts movement are this rebuked as not art, but economic exploitation, attempts to degrade the originality and craftsmanship of true art, whose purpose is to demonstrate the virtuosity of the artist.

So far that's in line with the conservative ideology of the 20th century. But conservative ideology in the 20th century recognized a split between high and low culture that fucking Tumblr is obviously not going to bring back. The real artist, I'm the 20th century conservative mind, did not make Spider-Man comics or science fiction book covers, he concerned himself with better things.

So, the anger at AI art still takes from the latter 20th century the idea that any subject matter is proper for artists, that the person making Naruto fan-art or pulp sci-fi book covers is just as much an artist as, I don't know, Michaelangelo, but if and only if that art is produced through labor intensive processes.

Like, in one sense this isn't surprising at all; commercial art for hire produced through labor intensive processes is exactly the kind of art that is directly threatened by AI processes, so of course if you want to defend it economically you assert that it has a high value.

But the idea that this kind of art is, definitionally, the best, truest expression of artistic spirit would have been shocking to pretty much anybody living before, like, 2005.

And this radical view of art is constantly presented as the most obvious thing in the world, as though everyone has always thought this way, that's the part that really throws me off.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

OC: Silke | Favorite Memory & Free Day in the City

@lemongogo I have some basic background information about Silke in my answered ask here: Silke Ask

So I'll focus on answering your questions in this one!

Favorite Memory

Silke's favorite memory would probably be tied between the day he first started his apprenticeship and the day he created his first masterwork. The former because it was the day his first and truest love unveiled itself before him. He was clumsy, unskilled in his gestures of devotion, but it loved him all the same, and reflected his passion back at him tenfold. The latter because it marked the moment he felt as though his own skill had improved to the point that his devotion could be judged true indeed. Although his master told him he could consider his apprenticeship completed with that work, Silke declined. He knew he could do better, and he wouldn't count himself a journeyman - let alone a master - until he did.

Free Day

Because I'm a menace who loves angst, I'm going to answer for after Silke received his curse/pact. With a free day in a given city, no obligations to his mercenary company, he'd find his way to the artisans' district. He'd spend hours slipping in and out of various workshops and storefronts, talking shop with a gleam in his eye usually missing. He'd carefully tuck away the knowledge he gleaned in a mental folder marked "One Day".

When asked, he'd happily share his own depth of knowledge in return, although demurring whenever he was pressed to show the specifics of some technique discussed, or join in with their creation. He'd hold his hands clasped behind him in a seemingly casual pose, although they would twitch and clench with the desire to join in.

When the workshops closed down for the evening, proprietors making their way homeward with thanks and companionable slaps to Silke's shoulder - or hip, in the case of some of the smaller races - Silke would make his way to Sorcerous Sundries, or a close equivalent. There he would pore over any books that made any mention of the Fey, their arts, and - most importantly - how to act against them and win.

He wouldn't buy any of the books, that being far too obvious a hint at his ultimate aims, but he would carefully memorize any information that seemed pertinent, emblazoning it into his mind with the strength of will he used to devote to his craft.

[tangibletechnomancy]

The reason I keep stressing that The Problem Is Capitalism isn't because I think we should all just give up on doing damage control with the worst of the ways new tech is abused and wait until Capitalism Gets Overthrown and solves all our problems; I think that's an incredibly stupid strategy for anything and damage control matters a lot-

I keep stressing it because ~98% of the proposed "solutions" are at best time-honored losing bets (e.g., "unmake these technological advances! Shove those worms back in the can NOW!") and at worst actively making things worse (agreeing with corporations that use of new tech is Mindless Unskilled Labor not even worth minimum wage) or even indulging in blatant trad and/or fascist ideology abstracted by the computer (if you have accepted the premise that degenerate art is a real thing and a great replacement is possible, you are headed for some DARK places even if you truly believe you're not fighting any human - you're already dehumanizing the people operating the "robot" you hate so much by extension).

We don't need copyright to devastate transformative art, we don't need to shove worms back in a can, and we DEFINITELY don't need to attack random hobbyists as Fake Artists; we need unions and automation taxes. We don't need to clamor for Real Art over Degenerate Art, we need to recognize the work involved in art that's been devalued for decades. We need to, for example, stop shitting on CGI because it's "lazy" and start shitting on the conditions that MAKE it unfairly cheaper than practical effects - i.e., corporate greed combined with the idea that the computer just does it for you and CGI is a cop-out rather than an art that we've been hearing since 1982; we need to push for VFX artists to unionize and recognize them as artists. We need improved unemployment protection as a foot in the door that can be upgraded into UBI, paid for with said automation taxes. We need online privacy protections so we have more control over who has access to personal things in the first place, as far as we can have privacy in a public space at all, and we need to undo Facebook culture and start remembering, and reminding others, that public websites ARE public.

Does it suck that the easy way out is anywhere from impotent to actively detrimental? Yes. Does the fact that it sucks suddenly make it untrue? No!

[subcomandante-star-butterfly]

A really interesting(and depressing) reaction to AI Art is how a lot of the anti-AI crowd subtly reveals their true thoughts on manual labour(ers) and unskilled labour(ers)

“AI is taking away the fun jobs!” “Why do we have to live in a world where AI does creative work and we do manual work?” “Robots should be doing the stupid jobs and humans the creative ones, not the other way around” “There’s something dystopian about how the first jobs to be replaced is the Arts”

It’s subtle, but there’s a clear implication in these statements(all of whom are paraphrased from actual comments that I’ve read) that creative and intellectual jobs are superior to manual and unskilled labour, and not just that, but that these jobs *should be replaced* while creative jobs shouldn’t. Bare minimum, it at least implies that manual and unskilled labour being replaced isn’t as important as creative labour being replaced

It doesn’t occur to those who make these statements that people who work those jobs may actually enjoy them, or that the people who work these jobs rely on them to survive, or that manual and unskilled labour have taken the brunt of automation-caused job loss historically, because to *them*, these jobs aren’t worthy of consideration and automation only becomes a societal threat when creative jobs are at risk

It’s a horrid and elitist worldview, and yet it pops up over and over again when AI art discourse appears

[hulloitsdani]

Gather round children it’s time for a Ted Talk about FEH and how I go about drawing these characters.

When making art for this game, I have found immense satisfaction in attempting to meet FEH on its level and remain fairly loyal to the Intelligence System’s approved content we have. This is remarkably challenging. For me, at least. I find this game’s design sensibilities run very counter to my own. That’s not a critique of any in game art of the characters (although I do think they improve greatly over time) as they fulfill their purpose really well. They are meant to be drawn 4 times max which means they can go pretty crazy on the details. But hahahaha I’m not doing that. Clearly. I’m drawing these guys by hand at different angles and posses fairly consistently, which is just not what they were built for. Don’t think when someone designed Kiran they thought of the person who’d be drawing them chilling ontop of a fridge with a bottle of mustard in their hand, you know?

So naturally I got to do some translating! And that’s the really fun part >:]

There are many things I had to find creative answers for, like Kiran’s face and Alfonse’s stupid haircut. But the one rotating rapidly in my brain atm is the Askr quartet in combat. I wanted lean hard into the fact that these four are, well, very human in comparison to every other combatant that enters Askr. They aren’t exactly helpless nor unskilled. If any of the trio raised their blade at Kiran, they’d start digging their own grave themselves. But the group are regular soldiers fighting against straight up warriors of legend. As individuals, Anna, Sharena, Alfonse, and Kiran are not that strong in comparison. No merges for these bitches they gotta work with what they got. However, they all know that. So they make up for their weaknesses through terrifyingly effective teamwork. Through the power of trauma bonding- I MEAN FRIENDSHIP they become a fucking terrifying force of nature. It’s like pissing off an ant hill or a wasps nest. A lancer goes for Alfonse and suddenly theres a swarm of five level 1 heroes making such a distraction that they don’t see Anna’s axe sweep through their Achilles heels or Sharena’s follow up shield bash.

So this means I get to convey their team composition through their body shapes and give them clear strengths and weakness for the others to cover. Which is just so god damn FUN. Like we all know Kiran is the squishiest of the squishy, so it’s really fun to show just HOW squishy they are through the immediate comparison Alfonse and Sharena. I gave those two sturdier square shapes, and thus making them shorter yet stocky. This makes it look like they could fucking launch Kiran’s bony ass to the moon and back. However, that’s on the condition that either of them could catch Kiran, as their tall slim build implies the lightweight speed they move with. Which is so!!!! Fun!!!! Aughhh big love. Kiran could literal use Sharena as cover to snipe enemies from. Meanwhile Anna and Alfonse are a bit ahead using reposition to let Anna provide swift dps without getting too beat up herself. And by reposition, I mean Alfonse using his shield as a jump pad to launch Anna at the enemy with. You know. Just bro things. Anna’s triangle shapes make her both just hearty and lean enough to pull it off, might as well go for it. Just make sure she’s properly supported and safe by the time the enemy phase rolls around you know?

And I swear, the combos just write themselves too. Like between Sharena and Alfonse, a poor soul gets caught in the worst version of ping pong as Alfonse captain America’s his shield between the two of them. Kiran could then use that same shield like Link does and surf out of enemy range, shooting at the enemy the whole way. It’s fun! These guys have the potential to really sync up during combat and be emblematic of their bonds with one another.

Example, Alfonse. Alfonse could TECHNICALLY be a stronger solo fighter if he ditched the shield. He has the constitution and skill to not actually need the extra protection, and if he decided to two hand his weapon (haha there’s a joke there) the damage he could do would be devastating. However, the shield isn’t for his protection, but to be better help to his closest friends. The shield isn’t taking as many hits for him as it is for Kiran and Anna, who can’t afford to carry shields without compromising their own effectiveness. Plus through creative (and probably not intentional) uses it helps better position them on the battlefield. It’s for THEM. The only time he’s going to stop using the shield is when they aren’t there fighting along side him.

Enter Líf.

He hasn’t had a shield for a long time now.