#Between that and my general lack of real artistic talent

[freebooter4ever]

one of the biggest ironies of my life that i was thinking about yesterday - i know that drag and drop / node-based 'coding' helps a wider (usually more visual) variety of brain types learn to program. this was the entire basis of the research group i was on for seven years in the burgh, and i completely agree with and support it. but im not that way at ALL. im that stereotype who likes pure code, and finds it easier to read the language and find patterns in the words/numbers/formatted lines than in nodes. i HATE nodes, and sometimes even fellow programmers look at me like im crazy for it.

Like dont give me that pretty but controlled interface, i want to know whats underneath.

[skaruresonic]

"Real human beings draw that?" yes they do. People draw anything and everything in a variety of styles. Come on, man. You can't pick and choose. Either we all have your respect or none of us have your respect.

I've also a slight chip on my shoulder about this particular mindset that fanfic doesn't get enough attention on social media because it requires more engagement from the audience than a drawing. While I understand your frustrations, you need to think about what you're implying. Low engagement affects all creative endeavors; it's no reason to disparage artists. Your problem lies with social media and its push for quick, "consumable" content. Which also hurts us because it treats our efforts as disposable as well. From where I'm standing, it's absolutely not true that people will pay attention to your art simply because it's art. If my Sonic art gets a couple of notes because A.) the people reblogging it don't hate my guts and B.) it's Sonic, then the attention my original work gets will be severely diminished because it's lacking criteria B: familiarity.

That's why I appreciate every like my work receives, because honestly, it's incredibly hard to come by.

The overlap between people who like your art and are willing to give it proper attention without stealing it, which is yet another risk is actually quite small, and hence why those artists who strike it big make "mass-produced" art that appeals to the widest possible audience, like the jelly art style. But even they shouldn't be disparaged on the basis that they too work at their craft.

Not to mention the cream-of-the-crop artists who do receive those hundreds of notes per piece get treated like content machines. Grass is always greener on the other side until you actually get there. Besides, it's precisely those snap judgments that make folks literally not pay you. I'd rather take low kudos than sink weeks' worth of work into an art piece I was promised payment for only to get paid nothing because the client didn't like one (1) detail, thus rendering the entire piece worthless. And the fannish culture surrounding fic is such that I can reasonably expect people to refrain from offering unsolicited critique without having to ask them "can you not be a dick to me on this piece I lost sleep over pls." At least with fic, people are compelled to say something nice sometimes, instead of rattling off every mistake you made on a piece you can do nothing about because it's finished. Folks will say the meanest shit to your face or straight-up dismiss you and think it's justified because you're an artist and you're meant to take it as a matter of course; if you were a Real Artist(tm), criticism would ~help you improve~ no matter how unnecessary, meanspirited, or unsolicited. An issue that gets compounded when the person in question has a complex about not being as "talented" as artists who practice their craft. Not only do you have to deal with imposter syndrome, you have to take the brunt of others' insecurities too.

Like, becoming an artist is not an easy get-rich-(or popular)-quick scheme. You'd really have to love what you do, because the process of becoming one is grueling, thankless, and sometimes traumatizing depending on your environment.

No one becomes an artist for the accolades. AI bros think typing keywords into a generator prompt makes them professional artists because they can't be bothered to sit down and learn how to draw a circle.

My old university used to have an art professor who'd whip out a cigarette lighter and set your painting on fire during critique if he didn't like it, FFS. They expected artists to be chained to the studio eight hours a day or more, subsisting on vending machine food, even sleeping there.

Compared to that, regular classes were a relief 😵‍💫

[vaelzz]

I'm curious: do you think AI art should be considered art or not? I honestly don't agree with it because it's just plain lazy, but I want to hear your opinion about it.

Been procrastinating on this ask because there is a lot to be said. I've actually written about 10k words around AI art throughout the year which I've been planning to breakdown and make digestible because I know no one wants to read a massive text wall randomly.

For the most part I'm pretty conflicted, I do think that people relying on AI to create art with no understanding of beforehand tends to lead to these repetitive and soulless pieces with no substance. From a technical perspective it's usyally pretty impressive albeit with some minor defects, it has all the bells and whistles of what you'd think would be art yet it fails to actually feel like art.

Over time this has led me to believe that AI is just a tool like all the other tools that came before it that made things easier, it's an amplified version of the same principle. However there is a distinction between art and craft. It just makes the technical side faster and more professional but without a lack of intent and personal touch you are always going to get these soulless pieces with AI models as most are trained on other people's artworks/styles. 95% of AI art I see is just complete garbage and you can tell it's AI because all the AI pieces typically have a pretty distinct style so you just end up being flooded by millions of AI art pieces in a spammy fashion by people that have nothing to say or express. It's actually pretty offensive to all the hardwork and lifetime artist's have spent learning their craft but the worst part is that it causes oversaturation so the public perception of art's value goes down. This means unless you are already well known or insanely talented no one is going to give a fuck about you or your art unless you have a close group of friends interested in art. So overall as an artist it just means spending countless hours, weeks, months, years? Alone and isolated working on things traditionally for no real return which is fine if it's for fun but it feels like you have to make such heavy sacrifices to even make art in modern society. Simply for no one to truly value or appreciate it.

I know it's going to be adapt or die to keep up so I've been experimentint painting, blending and compositing different elements generated with AI in Photoshop to make new and original things but I do also feel perpetually guilty about it so I have rarely posted any but I will mention that I'm still putting tons of hours and effort into creating. It just puts me in a weird spot because implementing AI tends to carry the connotation of the AI is doing all the work (which can be true for the soulless spammy pieces around) but the fact it's not entirely AI or entirely done from hand just puts me in an anxious loop lol. But ultimately I have this idea in my head that I'd like to get out faster but often I just end up actively handicapping myself and spending many hours extra for stuff that people aren't going to care about.

I think intent matters massively in all of this and I'm still debating and questioning myself. I think on this account though I'll continue to post any non-AI work and post mixed Art implementing AI on my new account idiovoidi

I've been posting to Tumblr since 2013 on/off so I'd hate to discredit all the work I've done over the years.

[halliescomut]

My Beautiful Man and the Plight of Celebrity....

I've been watching My Beautiful Man, and while it's kind of not for me as far as the romance aspect, at least in the first 2 seasons. The movie I actually enjoyed quite a bit, likely because my issue with the series was the CONSTANT misunderstanding between Kiyoi and Hira. I've very much enjoyed the films commentary on celebrity and fan culture. Once we get into season two and the film, Kiyoi is now like a full-fledged celebrity, and we are also given insight into Anna, his colleague and coworker.

We see sort of the struggle between following artistic passions versus what will raise an actor's status with Kiyoi auditioning for stage roles, while his manager encourages him to pursue TV dramas. I think it's easy to forget sometimes that actors come into these careers for love of the art and not in the pursuit of fame or fortune. Which I think is a conversation that doesn't often happen. Even if you are well-versed or aware in audtioning politics and all of that, it's not always as simple as it seems to get the roles that you want, especially as a newer actor like Kiyoi, talent aside. And many management agencies focus more on public perception and popularity rather than an actors skill or talent.

The 'fandom' problem that we've seen so often in real life is shown here as well, with fans being on set, showing up on location and being disruptive. It's nothing as extreme as we may have seen in real life, but it very actively reminds me of fans showing up at airports and being invasive and disruptive in those spaces. We've sadly seen an unfortunate level of these situations happening and moving beyond being simply overwhelming and intrusive to 'fans' putting hands on people, which is not okay. And while there are occasions where fans are invited, some companies announce their departure and even set up an area for fans to say goodbye, we've seen things happen when actors are travelling for personal vacations, and just essentially are off the clock and should not be disturbed. (Also, I'm clearly not talking about those that just happen to run into these people, I'm talking about those that are purposely turning up places they know they will be.) It's a conversation that's been addressed by many in fandom, but I've not seen much in the way of real change, likely because those who are doing these things don't feel they're doing anything wrong (What? I can't be in a public place?) or simply don't care (I'm allowed to because I know them and love them).

And the unfortunate thing that is actively touched on in the show is the lack of agency that celebrities really have when it comes to fandoms. When there's fan backlash over dating rumors, it's generally not allowable for a celebrity to respond "It's not your business, fuck off." When fans cross boundaries it's difficult for celebrities to respond without risking alienating fans. In some cases you will have people who are at a level where they don't have as much concern for reprise, from either fans or management, like Jung Kook's response to people sending food to his residence. He has a level of influence that brings him more autonomy than newer idols or celebrities would have. On that same note, when 'fans' met Mile and Apo at the airport (while they were traveling for personal and not professional reasons) and put their hands on them, he could not respond as many people would ("What the fuck is wrong with you??"), but instead had to simply smile and play along. And there's a difference in some ways, since in one case you are face to face versus over a livestream, but it's still addressing boundary crossing.

But moving to the more extreme, what I would call sasaeng or stalker level of everything shown through the movie. We first encounter the fans of Kiyoi and Anna and they're presented as mostly cool if a little extreme. The Kiyoi-fans shunning of Hira is more in relation to him behaving so different from how they do, and it's honestly not unreasonable for Hira to gain the nickname 'suspicious man'. But in general it's an amiable atmosphere. The introduction of Anna's fan is where things really do become suspicious and more than a little creepy. I posted a little throw away here about how I specifically found it disturbing that he kept describing Anna as 'pure'. And the reason I found it so off-putting is because that type of language speaks to an unhealthy level of obsession and is an indicator that his 'affection' for her has requirements. But these are things that she has no awareness of. He has placed her on a pedestal in his own mind, and should she fall it sets up a situation where she could be in real danger. Because of the dating rumors that begin to go around her 'purity' comes into question and he instead turns his wrath to Kiyoi as the one who 'defiled' her in his mind. And hilarity aside of him tying him up with red ribbon tied in bows instead of knots, he presents a very real physical threat, and because of his obsession would not see himself as the villain at all because he is simply defending Anna.

Now, in the story we know that the villain will be vanquished and that our intrepid Hira will get his happily ever after with Kiyoi, because this is a love story and that's part of the agreement. But real life situations have existed for as long as specifically visual media have existed of fans going too far and causing harm to the 'objects of their affection'. The point that always comes to mind for me because of my age is Selena, who died at the hands of not just a fan, but someone she truly thought was a friend and that she trusted. It's these stories that lead me to be extremely nervous to see fans approaching celebrities when they shouldn't be. The video of the recent encounter involving Jackson Wang when he was out with his parents for dinner literally makes my blood run cold because that is a person that got close enough to cause real physical harm if that was their goal. It seemingly wasn't, but we can't ever know people's intentions. And it becomes incredibly unfortunate for any type of fan because as the few begin to violate these boundaries set by both society and these celebrities, they will have to institute more and more safeguards for their own privacy and wellbeing. It's pretty well known that Jackson is an incredibly friendly guy and often happy to chat with fans that he encounters in public when he has the time, but these types of intrusions when he's clearly on private time are probably going to put an end to that.

But I was particularly impressed with how these different aspects of celebrity were handled in the film. It's made clear that the fans are a consideration, but not always a priority (which is as it should be) and that can be possible to have a happy medium. While we don't truly get to see fan reaction for the reveal of Anna and Hiriya, we do have the privilege of both of them coming to the realization that they don't have to make their 'celebrity' the center of their world, and also that they don't have to sacrifice their careers in order to be with the one they love. Now it's of course very much different for them as a straight couple than it would potentially be for Kiyoi and Hira, but that's not quite as much a of a concern for them. To me it looks like all they might want is to be able to be known or out to the select few around them, not to the whole world. Hira doesn't want to announce to the world that he loves Kiyoi, he simply wants to stand next to him when he can. Personally I would predict that their future holds something more akin to Hira accompanying Kiyoi to private industry get-togethers and not to public appearances. People would know of their professional relationship, but not have interest in their private one. Also realistically, because of his age here, it would be quite a while before we would see fans or media speculate or comment on Kiyoi's single status, meaning that if they did ever choose to make their relationship known they would be very comfortable and stable in that relationship.

IDK, this was quite the ramble, I don't know how interesting anyone will find it, but if you read this far I appreciate it.

I wish I had enjoyed the show more, but sometimes it's just not your bag, but I will say that overall it's a very well made and well acted drama, and I very much appreciate the time and effort that went into it. Please enjoy this picture of Riku and Kusei being cutie patooties

[verifiedaccount]

Fatigued by the endless “based on a true story” movies coming out that are just half-assed dramatizations of popular non-fiction books, articles, docs. I just saw the news about Taron Egerton starring in a movie about the story of Nintendo acquiring the rights to Tetris, adapted from a chapter of some book on Nintendo, and it’s just fucking miserable. At least that book is from the 90s and not a current thing like the execrable The Dropout miniseries with Amanda Seyfried (who I generally like in things). Like, I heard the podcast The Dropout, I read the news stories about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes of which there were approximately a billion, I skipped the book and the Alex Gibney doc but those existed before they made the miniseries, I saw those texts between her and Sunny hundreds if not thousands of times on social media, what is there to possibly gain from watching famous people recite the same lines and act out the same details I’ve already seen and read over and over, now with (from the bits I’ve seen) glib, hacky screenwriting and editing that underlines every obvious punchline and heavy-handed “emotional moment” like it’s pre-chewing my food for me? Or the upcoming series based on Tiger King, or Inventing Anna, or WeCrashed, or any of these other unimaginative recreations of something we’ve already seen and read about endlessly; at this point, the restraint showed in just making two Fyre Fest docs seems almost impressive. I get the appeal for actors and writers, because it’s a way to have a “measurable” sort of display of your talent, since people can compare your impression/script to the real people/events, and applaud your goddamn lack of imagination in “transforming” yourself and mechanically recreating moments and mannerisms, but have audiences become so incurious and literal-minded that they actually want this shit?

That shitty Franco adaptation of The Disaster Artist was a mistake (I still think the book, which is much stranger and more unsettling — The Talented Mr. Ripley is convincingly made a motif — in addition to being way funnier, especially in audiobook form with Greg doing Tommy’s voice, and more insightful about movie making, is great); it hardly started there, but acclaiming a literal-minded impersonation and recreation of moments that already existed on film was a bad idea (like giving Jessica Chastain an Oscar for impersonating Tammy Faye Bakker in a remake of a documentary). And, while The Social Network was a much better movie that avoided the simple “imitation” move, it probably is the most to blame for the current trend.

This kind of shit used to be confined to TV Movies of the Week, rightly regarded as a place for hacks, has-beens, and up-and-comers who, if they ever made it, would later be embarrassed if anyone brought their early TV work up. It’s lazy junk-food, which was fun as an occasional thing but is now being shoveled at us in the guise of stories about “real people” as opposed to superhero stuff in spite of the fact that it still tends to have as much relation to what actually happened as those TV Movies of the Week. Some of this is streaming and “Prestige TV” collapsing the distinctions, in addition to everything shooting on digital whether it’s theatrical or television; the Tetris movie is for Apple+ but it’s getting a festival premiere. SXSW, which is by this point mainly a corporate showcase, but still, it’s depressing and looks like a creatively bankrupt dead end.

[sleepymarmot]

Miss Hokusai (2015)

[Watched on March 31st – April 1st]

There’s a reason why this film was on my to-watch list since *checks notes* at least 2016, and why I haven’t gotten around to it until now. I guess the vibes I was getting from it were correct.

In theory, the story of a real-life female ukiyo-e artist (Hokusai’s daughter, no less) is something exactly in my wheelhouse. Representation of women and gender nonconformity in the past, especially in an era that interests me? Check. Life of commercial artists in Edo? Check. Surprise yokai, even? Check.

In practice, the execution is uninspired and mediocre.

Throughout at least the first half hour, I was appalled by the cliché facial expressions, body language, and other basic building blocks. Over the course of the film, they stopped bothering me; I don’t know if it got better or if it was me who acclimatized. It seems like this happens every time I watch anime again after a long break, and I don’t know if I’m allergic to the general style of the medium or I’m just watching the really unfortunate ones.

It can’t be all my skewed perception, though. Like, that fucking wave scene?! How cheesy can you possibly be?

To the film’s credit, it’s creative enough to actually show the artists’ work in the authentic style instead of redrawing them in the same style as the main story. Unfortunately, the shifts between the two only showcased how deficient the main style is in comparison.

The screenplay eschews the standard structure in favor of loosely connected vignettes. According to the Wikipedia page, that was also true of the manga it’s based on. The story certainly sounds better suited to a long-form episodic comic book that came out over four years than it is to a 90 minute feature film. I guess this loose structure might also be said to be reminiscent of some Japanese classics, and I feel like a stereotypical western viewer accusing a Japanese work of a lack of conflict… But it still feels unsatisfying.

I have to give it credit: there is also more connection between the vignettes than it seems initially. The film has several storylines:

O-Ei is talented and skilled, but still far from her father’s level of mastery

O-Ei loves her younger sister and wants their father to stop neglecting her

Spirits are real and Hokusai knows how to deal with them

O-Ei is bad at drawing erotica because she is a virgin

O-Ei has a crush on her fellow painter, and another painter has a crush on her

1 intersects with 3 and 4. 4 intersects with 5. 2 intersects with 3. These were the highlights of the film for me, and felt like they foreshadowed something bigger. It feels like all five of them should have somehow come together at the end for a climactic scene that revealed them as parts of a harmonious whole, but that didn’t happen.

The supernatural storyline is the most baffling. The audience and the protagonist learn that various kinds of spirits actually exist, the genre seems to shift for a scene or two… And then what? I guess the scene of O-Nao’s death is supposed to be a culmination of that storyline, but it doesn’t feel like a natural one.

When O-Ei watched the burning building with fascination, I thought it was leading to something like Akutagawa’s Hell Screen, in which an artist asks for a deadly fire to paint it and gets more than he bargained for. The film even followed this with a whole scene centered on an actual hell screen! How could this be a coincidence? As it stands, the fire scene is very short and not connected to any other scene before or after her — the only one in the entire film.

Zenjiro’s character seems completely superfluous. I was shocked when the ending narration revealed he was also a famous artist under another name. This leads me to the question: how is the intended audience supposed to view these characters? Do they know the names of all these minor painters and enjoy the feeling of recognition? Do they learn something new to them about the setting, or on the contrary, find it pleasingly familiar?

In general, I just don’t understand what the purpose of the film is. Specifically, I don’t understand where it’s situated on the scale between “using historical characters and settings as a vehicle to tell a story that interests you” and “semi-educational biopic strongly rooted in reality”. Surely the most educational value comes from the film’s mere existence. “Did you know Hokusai had a daughter who was also a talented artist? There’s even a movie about her!” That is certainly useful information, but actually watching the movie doesn’t add much more. Is anything in it based in reality at all, beyond the artists’ names and their specialties? What’s going on here beyond a combination of clichés? Pretty much nothing, I’m afraid. If the film isn’t bringing interesting real-life events to screen, and isn’t playing out interesting made-up events with dolls that have real names pasted onto them, then what is it even doing?

I feel bad about being so critical. Somebody at least made an effort. Decided to make a whole movie about a historical woman few people knew about. Made her a grumpy, rude introvert, devoted most of the storyline to her relationship with her craft and her family. Made her awkward and distant in romantic and sexual matters in a realistic way. She isn’t sexualized at all, while the film deals with the subject of sexuality in an open and mature way. The idea of different storylines woven through separate scenes had promise too. There’s a warm portrayal of a disabled child and the way her loved ones accommodate her blindness. These are all things deserving of praise.

And still, it’s so… empty. Lacking in negative qualities, it also lacks in positive ones. Is this the best we’re going to get?

Highlights:

The pretty background of the snow and the morning sky.

As I said above, the visual style shifts. (I’m assuming they’re the reason for this film being animated instead of live action.) I’ll include the shot of Hokusai’s spirit hands weaving around the bridge here, that looked just like a woodblock print.

The scene in which a prostitute latches onto our shy and reluctant heroine as a welcome break from servicing unpleasant monks, then promptly falls asleep on top of her. Surprising level of psychological nuance. The spirit of Edo lit was alive in this one.

And finally, a question:

Did Hokusai fucking kill O-Nao with that “protective” drawing? That couldn’t have been a coincidence, right? What was the film trying to say here?

[kamreadsandrecs]

No question is more dreadfully pretentious than “What is art?” except possibly “Can you come see my one-person show?” Yet I’ve accepted that at some point in the course of a life, both will need to be answered. Because I’m a writer facing the advent of ChatGPT, the time for the first question is now.

Most people (including some writers themselves) forget that creative writing is an art form. I suspect that this is because, unlike music or painting or sculpture or dance—for which rare natural aptitude straightaway separates practitioners from appreciators—writing is something that everyone does and that many people believe they do well.

I have been at parties with friends who are dancers, comedians, visual artists, and musicians, and I have never witnessed anyone say to them, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” Yet I can scarcely meet a stranger without hearing about how they have “always wanted to write a novel.” Their novel is unwritten, they seem to believe, not for lack of talent or honed skill, but simply for lack of time. But just as most people can’t dance on pointe, most people can’t write a novel. They forget that writing is art.

Read: The college essay is dead

Art plumbs the depths of human experience and distills the emotions found there. That’s hard work, which inherently—and perhaps conveniently for me—can be done only by a human. This doesn’t mean that all art humans make is effective or good, nor does it mean that a computer cannot generate content that might entertain or inform. A computer alone can’t make art. But it can, I expect, make “good writing.”

The rise of ChatGPT forces us to think about this distinction between art and good writing—or “craft,” as we’re taught to call it. For most writers, the path to publishing involves writing-preparatory programs—workshops and private writing classes and M.F.A. programs—that are structured around the mastery of writing as a craft. But if we want human writing to survive as an art (and as a profession), these programs need to reassess their priorities because they are facing an existential crisis.

I was 41 when I took my first intensive writing course during a week-long summer workshop. Its structure, I’d come to learn, was largely based on the same pedagogical model as most M.F.A. programs: an instructor-led workshop, where we would evaluate one another’s stories, supplemented by craft talks. I found my writing so improved by the course that I wanted more. By the following year, I was enrolled in a master’s-of-fine-arts program.

I loved graduate school. I had instructors who changed how I thought about writing and my art and who I could be as an artist. But I found myself occasionally frustrated, and one particular incident from my last semester sticks in my mind.

It was the pandemic, and we were workshopping a classmate’s story that, we all agreed, wasn’t “working.” On the Zoom, we danced around the reason, but privately, in a smaller chat, some of us were more frank: The author was evading the real reason their character seemed so distressed. In other words, the story was a well-written pile of emotional bullshit.

Encountering this in a story feels the same as hearing a well phrased but feeble excuse in real life: You might accept it, but you’re not buying it. Yet the professor’s advice was all about cleaning up the point of view and adding more action. In short, mechanical fixes for an emotional problem.

Maybe the endless Zooming had finally gotten to me, or maybe it was the impatience that has struck me post-40, but suddenly I unmuted and blurted out: “I’m sorry, is this a master’s in fine arts or a master’s in fine mechanics? The sentences could be perfect, but it won’t fix the fact that the story isn’t being honest.”

To which my professor replied, “What’s wrong with being a good mechanic?”

The answer, of course, is nothing. Writing beautiful, clear sentences that string together into gorgeous paragraphs that assemble into elegantly constructed narratives requires discipline and discernment and technical understanding. My work as a novelist has absolutely benefited from the improvement of my technical skills. But literary art is not about the mechanics of sentences. It’s about how those sentences support emotional honesty.

You can dissect great writing without ever analyzing or even discussing the emotions involved or evoked, and walk away with some craft strategies to deploy in your own work. But a machine can do that too. It can read—it has read—the same great writers I have read. It can (and is beginning to) learn all of the clever lessons of craft. It will almost certainly become capable of producing what many M.F.A. classes would consider “good writing.”

But if that’s the case, maybe that “good writing” isn’t so good after all. If this new technology makes such writing ubiquitous, that writing may as well be obsolete.

If we want to push the art of writing out of a computer’s reach, the questions posed in writing workshops should go past “How could this piece work better?” to “How could this piece be more honest? More emotionally effective? More resonant?”

These are tougher questions, not only because they’re more subjective, but because they require skills that go beyond the command of language: insights into human nature, imagination, innovation, creativity, a mastery of pathos, ethos, and logos. These are harder things to teach. But we can try.

Some of the problem may lie in the tendency of literary-fiction writers to disregard what mass-market novels can teach us. These books are not always masterfully written, but—if the videos of readers weeping on BookTok are evidence—they are clearly tapping into human experience and making readers feel. A hell of a lot, apparently.

Consider Colleen Hoover, who self-published for years before readers drove her romance and young-adult novels to best-seller status. A lot of her books admittedly rely on “trauma narratives”—a critique that’s lately been wielded against some literary fiction as well. But readers keep reading her because they connect to her stories of women finding love while on the brink of financial collapse or seeking to break patterns of domestic violence. Say what you will about her sentences, but no Colleen Hoover fan thinks that ChatGPT can replace her.

To be fair, the best writing teachers were already pushing students to write with emotional honesty long before AI was breathing down their neck. The greatest lesson I ever got in the art of memoir was to write the story you felt, not a recounting of what was actually lived. A course in science fiction taught me that the complex emotions of humanity can sometimes best be conveyed outside the realm of reality. A novel workshop gave me the idea of the author as a maestro, conducting the reader through an emotional journey that should have many movements and variations.

And yet despite all of this, I’m not sure I actually believe that writing as art can be taught at all. One can certainly improve and gain greater mastery over the form. But the magic stuff that makes the great literary artists what they are cannot be manufactured and replicated. At least, not in a classroom. Only, possibly, out there in the wild world, by living and observing.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see a one-woman show.



[kammartinez]

No question is more dreadfully pretentious than “What is art?” except possibly “Can you come see my one-person show?” Yet I’ve accepted that at some point in the course of a life, both will need to be answered. Because I’m a writer facing the advent of ChatGPT, the time for the first question is now.

Most people (including some writers themselves) forget that creative writing is an art form. I suspect that this is because, unlike music or painting or sculpture or dance—for which rare natural aptitude straightaway separates practitioners from appreciators—writing is something that everyone does and that many people believe they do well.

I have been at parties with friends who are dancers, comedians, visual artists, and musicians, and I have never witnessed anyone say to them, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” Yet I can scarcely meet a stranger without hearing about how they have “always wanted to write a novel.” Their novel is unwritten, they seem to believe, not for lack of talent or honed skill, but simply for lack of time. But just as most people can’t dance on pointe, most people can’t write a novel. They forget that writing is art.

Read: The college essay is dead

Art plumbs the depths of human experience and distills the emotions found there. That’s hard work, which inherently—and perhaps conveniently for me—can be done only by a human. This doesn’t mean that all art humans make is effective or good, nor does it mean that a computer cannot generate content that might entertain or inform. A computer alone can’t make art. But it can, I expect, make “good writing.”

The rise of ChatGPT forces us to think about this distinction between art and good writing—or “craft,” as we’re taught to call it. For most writers, the path to publishing involves writing-preparatory programs—workshops and private writing classes and M.F.A. programs—that are structured around the mastery of writing as a craft. But if we want human writing to survive as an art (and as a profession), these programs need to reassess their priorities because they are facing an existential crisis.

I was 41 when I took my first intensive writing course during a week-long summer workshop. Its structure, I’d come to learn, was largely based on the same pedagogical model as most M.F.A. programs: an instructor-led workshop, where we would evaluate one another’s stories, supplemented by craft talks. I found my writing so improved by the course that I wanted more. By the following year, I was enrolled in a master’s-of-fine-arts program.

I loved graduate school. I had instructors who changed how I thought about writing and my art and who I could be as an artist. But I found myself occasionally frustrated, and one particular incident from my last semester sticks in my mind.

It was the pandemic, and we were workshopping a classmate’s story that, we all agreed, wasn’t “working.” On the Zoom, we danced around the reason, but privately, in a smaller chat, some of us were more frank: The author was evading the real reason their character seemed so distressed. In other words, the story was a well-written pile of emotional bullshit.

Encountering this in a story feels the same as hearing a well phrased but feeble excuse in real life: You might accept it, but you’re not buying it. Yet the professor’s advice was all about cleaning up the point of view and adding more action. In short, mechanical fixes for an emotional problem.

Maybe the endless Zooming had finally gotten to me, or maybe it was the impatience that has struck me post-40, but suddenly I unmuted and blurted out: “I’m sorry, is this a master’s in fine arts or a master’s in fine mechanics? The sentences could be perfect, but it won’t fix the fact that the story isn’t being honest.”

To which my professor replied, “What’s wrong with being a good mechanic?”

The answer, of course, is nothing. Writing beautiful, clear sentences that string together into gorgeous paragraphs that assemble into elegantly constructed narratives requires discipline and discernment and technical understanding. My work as a novelist has absolutely benefited from the improvement of my technical skills. But literary art is not about the mechanics of sentences. It’s about how those sentences support emotional honesty.

You can dissect great writing without ever analyzing or even discussing the emotions involved or evoked, and walk away with some craft strategies to deploy in your own work. But a machine can do that too. It can read—it has read—the same great writers I have read. It can (and is beginning to) learn all of the clever lessons of craft. It will almost certainly become capable of producing what many M.F.A. classes would consider “good writing.”

But if that’s the case, maybe that “good writing” isn’t so good after all. If this new technology makes such writing ubiquitous, that writing may as well be obsolete.

If we want to push the art of writing out of a computer’s reach, the questions posed in writing workshops should go past “How could this piece work better?” to “How could this piece be more honest? More emotionally effective? More resonant?”

These are tougher questions, not only because they’re more subjective, but because they require skills that go beyond the command of language: insights into human nature, imagination, innovation, creativity, a mastery of pathos, ethos, and logos. These are harder things to teach. But we can try.

Some of the problem may lie in the tendency of literary-fiction writers to disregard what mass-market novels can teach us. These books are not always masterfully written, but—if the videos of readers weeping on BookTok are evidence—they are clearly tapping into human experience and making readers feel. A hell of a lot, apparently.

Consider Colleen Hoover, who self-published for years before readers drove her romance and young-adult novels to best-seller status. A lot of her books admittedly rely on “trauma narratives”—a critique that’s lately been wielded against some literary fiction as well. But readers keep reading her because they connect to her stories of women finding love while on the brink of financial collapse or seeking to break patterns of domestic violence. Say what you will about her sentences, but no Colleen Hoover fan thinks that ChatGPT can replace her.

To be fair, the best writing teachers were already pushing students to write with emotional honesty long before AI was breathing down their neck. The greatest lesson I ever got in the art of memoir was to write the story you felt, not a recounting of what was actually lived. A course in science fiction taught me that the complex emotions of humanity can sometimes best be conveyed outside the realm of reality. A novel workshop gave me the idea of the author as a maestro, conducting the reader through an emotional journey that should have many movements and variations.

And yet despite all of this, I’m not sure I actually believe that writing as art can be taught at all. One can certainly improve and gain greater mastery over the form. But the magic stuff that makes the great literary artists what they are cannot be manufactured and replicated. At least, not in a classroom. Only, possibly, out there in the wild world, by living and observing.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see a one-woman show.

[okcomputeroknotok19972017]

🔥 inspired by OUR recent horror conversation!!!! horror!!!!!

let's get REAL unpopular

disgust is not a valid reason to claim that something isn't art, real horror, artistically valuable, etc. yes, that includes the most disgusting, depraved, gory, meaningless splatter film made on $2 and a dream that you specifically hate. you're more than welcome to dislike it, hate it, detest, it, and criticize it, but it has a right to exist. my only exceptions are when real abuse and exploitation are involved. take lucifer valentine, an abuser who exploited his partner's struggle with bulimia to produce his films, or a serbian film which uses real-life child actors in its simulated sexual assault scenes. this doesn't just apply to horror, i think that any art form that abuses its participants or depicts (child) sexual abuse in a pornographic, romanticized, or visually explicit manner is dangerous and does not have a right to exist.

on that note, though, one of the only reason i personally will hate a horror movie is if it insults its audience. that is the cardinal sin of horror to me, and of all art in general. for a mainstream example, the human centipede sequels prominently feature the series' director and dickride for him constantly, displaying a truly insufferable ego and lack of talent, originality, or humility. you know i'm a gorehound and i love what may be considered 'shocking,' but i think a line can be drawn between 'shock' and 'alienation.' it's a little hard to describe, but the human centipede sequels are what i would consider to be purposefully alienating. they reek of hatred for their audience.

friday the 13th is an unbearably dull franchise and jason doesn't have anything going for him. a murderous villain with a facial difference is a tired and insulting trope but at the same time it bugs me when people draw him without his facial difference, especially if they're drawing him to be "attractive."

the new wave of "elevated horror" films are tedious, uninteresting, afraid to push boundaries, and have nothing to really say. oh, it's about trauma... wow, that's really specific and original, i've never heard that one before. nothing is explored in an interesting or thoughtful way. look, this family has a fucked up dynamic and they kill each other which is a really powerful statement about familial trauma. blegh. if you want to go for something subtle, something meaningful behind your horror, you should first have something to say and then a clear vision for it. for another mainstream example, i think jordan peele does this excellently. i really appreciated how NOPE spun a story about how hollywood will literally chew you up and spit you out, how animals and actors (especially actors of color) are abused by the film and television industry, and how the pursuit of the "perfect shot," which may mean getting a picture of a giant balloon animal or just getting the scene right for your show, can be the death of you. if it makes your parents ask what the hell was going on throughout the entire movie, then it's working.

the saw franchise should be adapted into a soap opera because it already is one

[justboston]

Simone biles a quitter

#Simone biles a quitter how to#

#Simone biles a quitter how to#

I’ve said many times before, if I didn’t write romance I’d have no choice but to hire a cover designer because my time is more valuable than learning how to do a to-market cover for any genre that requires more than what I’ve taught myself to do. I may have spent as many hours learning what makes a good cover as I have writing because I can’t afford (don’t want to, and there is a lack of trust there, too) to hire out, and after watching tutorials and practicing I realize there’s potential for others to simply not be able to grasp those concepts. If we don’t excel in any of these areas, and we can’t afford to hire out to fill in the gaps of our own skillset, our books can fail. We do wear many hats–editor, graphic designer, copywriter. Then you hear that you shouldn’t publish until you’ve written a million words and who wouldn’t be discouraged? Gareth is correct in his author post, too. You can’t publish a book that hasn’t been written, and jokes aside that marketing is harder than finishing a book, finishing a book to some is the most daunting task. When it comes to publishing, or in Simone’s case, gymnastics, you do need to do the work. Of course, this brings to mind the preparedness+opportunity=success equation, or as Christian Grey told Anastasia during their interview, “I’ve always found that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” You networked with the right person who featured your book in their newsletter, or you courted the right book blogger at just the right time, or you applied for a BookBub featured deal, and the guy going over the submissions was in a good mood that day and approved yours. But along with that hard work is the need for a little luck. You don’t get anywhere without hard work, and that can be said with just about any profession out there, some more demanding than others, such as doctors, lawyers, engineers. The unrelenting Go! Go! Go! attitude can get exhausting, and I take responsibility for my part in it. I see this a lot in the writing community, and even have been a part of it myself. I doff my cap to those writers who have found some success to all who achieve their goals, and wish good fortune to those who are still working towards them. There’s no doubt that talent and hard work is important, but the bootstraps mantra is a poisonous misrepresentation of the real world. No, it’s not impossible, just much harder than people think.īeyond the obvious Trumps and Kardashians there are plenty of examples in the artistic and entertainment fields of those who perhaps had their bootstraps yanked up before they got started: Bradley Cooper, Taylor Swift, Paul Giammati, Emma Stone, Rashida Jones, Lady Gaga, Carly Simon, Nick Kroll, Rooney Mara & Kate Mara, Lana Del Rey, Robin Thicke, Kyra Sedgwick, Armie Hammer, Julie Louis-Dreyfus, Salma Hayek, Adam Levine, Edward Norton, Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Tori Spelling, Bryce Dallas Howard, Balthazar Getty, Chevy Chase… the list is long. At which point JK Rowling is usually brought up. To become a successful writer is very difficult, especially if you’re doing it alone. This is even true of artists and creators.Īs a sometimes writer, the whole landscape has changed in the world of writing and the belief is you just have to be talented, lucky… and teach yourself the skillsets of three or four jobs that used to be done by three or four different people. People who become successful, often require luck, good timing, or a little help. Nowadays, I’d argue those opportunities are fewer and further between. I don’t doubt there was a time when the opportunities were more readily available for a few hard-working souls to make enough money, not just to live on, but to be considered a successful person. This suggestion is often given unironically by people in privileged positions. The general concept being: you struggle because you don’t work hard enough. The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” attitude is constantly leveled at people who are struggling. My friend Gareth posted an interesting think piece on his FB Author page, and I’ll quote it here (with his permission) because I think it’s something worth talking about: Do you consider this a harmful message? Taken from:

[mickules]

What will you do?

►FIGHT PKMN ITEM RUN

---

Pokémon crossovers are never NOT fun, so I tried my own hand at some Dangan-Poké trainers!

The original angular designs are classic, but I have to admit I love the looser styles coming out of the newest games and anime. What I didn't anticipate is how hard it is to get those perfectly calculated 'cute' proportions right, pokémon artists have the ratios down to a SCIENCE. I planned to get this out around my birthday, but missed it by a week! XD

Since my main goal here was translating the danganronpa designs into bona fide pokémon trainer types; I'll admit I didn't think too hard about their pokémon partners. I only actually played the first few games so my expertise is kinda relegated to the original 151/251, with my knowledge of more recent generations lacking, so my bro helped me out with a few suggestions.

but for what it's worth - here's my logic:

Kyoko Initially this one was mostly aesthetics, but Absol does have uncanny observational skills coupled with a solitary nature. Makoto Lucky egg boy gets the lucky egg pokémon, but I also wanted the supposed 'pushover' to have a powerhouse, and Tyranitar needs a lot of attention to evolve. (geeze Makoto, how come you get to have 2 pokémon?) Taka What can I say, it's everyone's fave '''legendary''' police dog! (I'll come clean, I totally cribbed this from Chasml after reading 'My Real Test'; I cannot imagine Taka without an Arcanine) Mondo My bro calls Pangoro 'delinquent bear' so it fits Mondo well, but the idea Pancham refuses to evolve cos he knows Mondo loves the cute pre-evolutions is hilarious to me. Sayaka Primarina is an all singing, all dancing diva, just like the idol herself. Leon Zebstrika . . .zebSTRIKA . . .zebSTRIKA . . . STRIKE like in BASEBALL GEDDIT??? But also - ill tempered, physically talented with a punky aesthetic? Sounds like Leon. Celeste A stocky, grey, spoiled feline? That's not Purugly, that's Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg Hifumi When I saw the similarities between Blissey and Princess Piggles I couldn't unsee it. Hina Cute, bubbly and an excellent swimmer? Describes Marill to a T. Sakura Whilst she definitely has fighter type pokémon on her team - Alolan Ninetales' style, grace and calm demeanour just reminded me of Sakura. Toko Although insect/bug types would suit her well; I think a lot of them are still too 'cute' - 'unpleasant' pokémon like Grimer or Trubbish mirror her extreme self-image issues. Byakuya I know Ditto suits TWOgami better, but a bit of meta here - a foreign language Ditto is the best way to breed Shinys which seems right up Byakuya's alley; with the obligatory 'Rich Guy Persian' for good measure. Chihiro What self-respecting computer whizz wouldn't dream of a constant portable power supply? Helps that Charjabug is also adorable. Hiro Unpredictably psychic, undefinable intelligence and contentious usefulness, am I talking about Hiro or the Psyduck? Junko Gothorita is called both "the Manipulate pokémon" and "The Witch of Punishment" in its pokédex entries . . . (plus, clearly a fashion icon to boot) Mukuro Pawniard will follow a Bisharp's orders with no mind to its own wellbeing, a perfect pawn if you will.

(and my favourite still continues to be this stupid fat rat, so there's no accounting for taste)

[therobotmonster]

How big of a threat do you think AI Art is to the employment of concept artists? Given how artists like RJ Palmer and Bogleech are panicked about it, you've worked in fields adjacent to that, and you've worked extensively with AI art, I'd presume you'd have some perspective on that.

AI art is going to shake up the art field, any new art tool worth its salt can and will.

I was training as a graphic designer when InDesign was finally starting to hit its stride in the late 90s, but I learned on QuarkExpress and learned old-school techniques in high school Newspaper club. I'd been dealing with dot-matrix printers and photocopier work since I was 8 at my dad's office.

So I got to see the graphic design industry in a state of panic through my professors and our various industry guests. All the EM-dashes and the declaration that the " on the keyboard is the inches mark and not the quote were protective measures for the industry so that talented amateurs wouldn't know the secret handshakes and couldn't "fake" their way into being seen as real graphic designers. And they were PISSED that Adobe InDesign was easy to use and automatically converted the measure-marks into "proper" punctuation.

Yet there's still a graphic design industry.

That said, I'd be curious if the ones that are actually freaked out have ever actually used the products. Because I"ve been in a down slump and I'm prone to stim, I have done pretty much nothing but dig into Midjourney and Stable Diffusion's brains and my experience doesn't match the observations of the terrified.

I think part of it is because people only see the results and they don't see the work. And there is work involved.

Iteration and Curation: I've posted a couple hundred pics from Midjourney so far. What do you don't see is this:

Now, in Midjourney parlance "image" also includes 4-grid previews used while developing final images.

For each panel of "Glitch"/"The Bethesda Epoch", for instance, I generated at least eight options (usually more) and evolved several of them across many generations to get what I wound up with. The Bethesda Epoch took me days to put together and garners me feedback and response roughly equal to a 3d modeled piece I'd put together in the same time frame.

Truth of the matter is, you rarely get anything perfect first try, everything needs modification or massive amounts of reiteration to pass for final work.

Promptcraft: Spend even a little time on the discords and you can tell who is playing and who is trying to make art. Play is an entirely viable application of this technology (more on that later) but while this levels the technical skill barrier for a lot of people, it does not cover for a lack of vision or ideas, and it requires its own skill.

There's a big difference between "in the style of D&D art" and "as a D&D monster, full body, pen-and-ink illustration, etching, by Russ Nicholson, David A Trampier, larry elmore, 1981, HQ scan, intricate details, inside stylized border" in terms of what you get.

Play: Most people are just having fun. It's real easy for artists to take the ability to express the ideas in our heads for granted. Most of what you're seeing is people playing with ideas they've been unable to express before. A lot of what I do with it is play, too.

Accessibility: My hands cramp when I draw these days, depression and other problems frequently knock my motivation and energy out of me, but I can use AI to put my ideas out there when the other parts of me aren't cooperating.

Limitations: The tech looks miraculous, but it can't do everything. In fact, it can't do a lot of things. The artist is still needed for the vision, for the ideas, to work the outputs into something meaningful, to supplement the outputs with human intention so a copyright can be involved, the list goes on.

Even Rembrandt used a camera obscura.;

[kseniyagreen]

The drama Beyond Evil as a philosophical parable about human relationships.

The drama begins in the spirit of the classic detective story. A young policeman, Han Joo Won, arrives in the small provincial town of Manyang, the place where a murder took place 20 years ago and remains unsolved. Han Joo Won is talented, educated and has connections at the very top - his father is deputy chief commissioner of police. Han Joo Won is also full of enthusiasm, bordering on obsession, to solve a case that his father never solved. According to the laws of the genre, we have a limited number of suspects connected by a long history of relationships, keeping their own and other people's secrets. And the biggest secret seems to be Han Joo Won's partner, police officer Lee Dong Sik. Twenty years ago, he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of his sister, but released for lack of evidence.

The plot of Beyond Evil is well twisted, and a new intrigue is revealed behind each denouement. But at the same time, already in the first episodes, I felt that Beyond Evil could be more than just a good detective. And I was not wrong.

From the very first episodes, we plunge into the drama, like into a fabulous whirlpool. We get to know the life of a provincial town. We watch Lee Dong Sik intently, trying to figure out what is behind his extravagant behavior.  Shin Ha Kyun in this role masterfully  balances on the border of light and shadow, sober calculation and madness. In the meantime, we are wondering who he is - a "fallen angel" or a bright angel who fell from a height and broke his wings. We look into the faces of all the heroes, trying to determine which of them is the monster. And gradually we are imbued with the mesmerizing  beauty of this world and its inhabitants. 

At first, Han Joo Won was perceived as an outsider. "Young master" in an expensive suit, completely alien among the ordinary people of Manyang. And it's not just about social status. Han Joo Won chose this role for himself - an independent observer who looks from above at the ugliness of this world and does not touch the dirt. However, the further he progresses in his research, the more personal it becomes, and the mask of equanimity slips from his face. This is how a classic detective story turns into a psychological journey - to feelings and memories walled up in the basements of the soul, into a journey to someone else and to oneself. Because these two processes always go together - to find yourself, you need to see the other and be seen. Find your own reflection in the other person's eyes. 

The drama Beyond Evil is a real maze of reflections. Each significant event, the history of each hero has its own reflection. Some of them are false, some of them are true, but all these fragments, put together, allow you to see the truth. There is such a method of image restoration - from several dull and even distorted reflections, you can recreate a real image.  We recognize heroes by the way they are reflected in each other. And each new meeting, each new dialogue is another step towards finding a real face. This approach makes the image of each character multidimensional and deep.

The drama really captures all aspects of the relationship. Family relationships – healthy or toxic. Relations with oneself, relationships with the world, social relationships - the law and its implementation. Morality as the ability to contact. Breaking up relationships like disappearing. The attitude towards the deceased loved ones and the ways of dealing with loss, with death. Relationships are alive, supportive and healing. Relationships are codependent, burdensome and suffocating. Personality always lives in a relationship. Fencing off from the world, a person cuts off a part of himself and, ultimately, can completely die as a person. This is how a person turns into a monster.

“Everyone in the city is like one family,” says Han Joo Won of the residents of Manyang. And he is absolutely right. All heroes are connected to each other by a whole network of threads. But somewhere these are the supporting threads of life, and somewhere they are suffocating fetters. The family image is central to the drama. Everything begins with it - everything ends with it. For each of the heroes, this word means something different - a project, a burden, a duty, a dream of absolute happiness. But for everyone, it carries a lot of weight. Thus, a small town turns out to be a global metaphor for a community, a social family, in which our humanity is born, but sometimes dies. The density of connections and meanings in the drama is so great that not only each character, but the whole world of the drama is felt as something living, animated. The city of Manyang is not just a place of action, but an independent character. The whole city, as an integral living system, exists according to its own laws. The Beyond Evil story is the story of Manyang's illness and healing.

What's also great about the Beyond Evil is that there is no moralizing in it. Despite the great semantic load, the author does not reduce everything to one idea, does not teach, but shows reality in its complexity, even paradoxicality. Each character is a part of a big picture, an element of the inner life of an integral system. But also everyone is a separate unique person, with their own choice and responsibility for this choice. The story of the Beyond Evil is the story of Manyang, but it’s just as much the story of two people meeting. It is no coincidence that all the main scenes are "doubled". If you look at the titles of the episodes, you can see that the pairing is "sewn" into the very structure of the script. As if the whole story is a long dialogue between two, a series of questions and answers. Each character in the drama is interesting. Each has its own story, its own drama, its own unique personality. But the main axis of the whole story is the meeting and dialogue of the two main characters.

Lee Dong Sik and Han Joo Won, so different, but equally extraordinary, strong in spirit, but practically buried under the rubble of their own psychological trauma. Throughout the drama, they continually drift apart and collide, let go and catch each other, meeting again each time on a deeper level. They go a long way from mutual irritation, exploitation, projecting their fears and expectations onto each other, to true mutual understanding. Throughout the entire drama, the characters stare at each other - with suspicion, with rage, with interest, admiration, tenderness. But invariably - with intense attention, as if looking for something very important in each other's eyes. And in the end they find and return to each other the opportunity to be themselves - whole, feeling, alive. In my opinion, Beyond Evil, like no other drama, showed us an example of perfect human contact. At that difficultly attainable level, when you see and accept another as he is, in his true essence. The bromance of the main characters of the Beyond Evil is so beautiful that it overshadowed all the drama love lines for me. In fact, this is a "love story" - like the love of one soul for another soul. Someone sees them as a mentor and student. Someone sees them as father and son or even as a couple in love. In my opinion, we were specially shown these relations at such a level of generalization that each viewer is free to interpret them in his own way. For me, they are the embodiment of the idea of an existential meeting, beyond any categories.

The Beyond Evil is a theatrical chamber drama. But this simplicity of the means has a deep meaning. The real challenge for an artist is to show everyday reality as something magical, wonderful, and sometimes monstrous. And the Beyond Evil succeeded to create a heroic epic in the scenery of a small provincial town, where a butcher's shop, the basement of an old house or a reed field feel like a mystical place. Where dramatic battles and wonderful metamorphoses take place in the dialogues between the characters. Magic is created in the Beyond Evil, not taking away from reality, but immersing it in it. This is the fantasy world that really exists - in the space of the human psyche, in relationships between people.

This is a huge burden on the actors. They don't just need to play their characters, the actors pretty much create the world and atmosphere of the drama. And they also need to show the development and even the rebirth of their characters. Many characters in the drama wear masks. But in the end all the masks will be removed, ripped off or washed away by the rain. And under someone's mask we will find a monstrous grin, and under someone's - a beautiful face. Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo play characters whose faces change throughout the drama. In each new episode, they experience new trials, different emotions, but their eyes express not only situational emotions, but also profound personality changes. In some scenes, they need to act so subtly that it is like walking on a tightrope. A slightly different expression - and the impression would be wrong. But the actors are perfect in every shot.

The talent of all the participants has created an amazing artistic world. It's like the famous Doctor Who machine - more inside than outside. And you can dive into this depth over and over again, finding new nuances and meanings.

[o-fantome]

The Feminization and Fetishization of John Laurens in the Hamilton Musical and its Fandom

In this I will be talking about a few things:

The whole “turtle boi” thing

His role in the musical

The feminization of him in the fandom

The fetishization of him (and his relationship with Hamilton)

The shredded bits of personality he has in the musical

His historical personality being taken from him and instead added to Hamilton’s character

I will not be putting any art of him in here to respect the artists’ privacy, but if you’ve been in the Hamilton fandom or at least heard of the issues I’m talking about, you’ll probably know what drawings I mean. Also, no hate to anyone or any artists who I may indirectly mention, or to anyone in the Hamilton Musical fandom. I understand that not everyone in the fandom is like this, but I will just be using the broad term “the fandom” for simplicity. 

[cw: mentions of alcohol and alcoholism]

“UwU Turtle Boi John Laurens”

This image of him likely stemmed from the one drawing he did of a softshell turtle. But how the fandom took that and blew it up into him being obsessed with turtles and other sea creatures is beyond my knowledge. A lot of art depicts him with turtle stuffed animals or riding turtles or just general turtle-lover stuff. Not only are these wrong, but they’re also pretty weird. They often tie into the strange feminization of him, which I will discuss later.

His Role in the Musical

Laurens in the musical acts like Hamilton’s sidekick. He follows him around most of the scenes where they are together. He is almost always at Hamilton’s side, and when he is not or he is at the side of another character, he ends back up at Hamilton’s side fairly quickly. This seems like it makes sense, right? Hamilton is the main character, of course, everyone else is going to be behind him or beside him in some way. But it feels very forced, like Lin-Manuel Miranda purposefully made it so Hamilton was above everyone, no matter the cost. Laurens’ character suffered from this, and any kind of standing or power he held just from his personality alone was gone. What he is to Hamilton is like what Patroclus was to Achilles; a sidekick, overshadowed by the other’s glory and popularity. 

An example of this is the Laurens-Lee duel scene. Historically, Laurens was the “trigger happy” one. When the first shot was fired between himself and Lee, he wanted to go again. Hamilton was not very happy that the duel was happening. When both sides (Hamilton and Laurens, Lee and his second Evan Edwards) arrived, he and Edwards tried to get Laurens and Lee to just apologize and be on their way. Laurens refused. When Laurens wanted to shoot again, Hamilton prevented him from doing so. In the show, however, the roles seem reversed.

The Feminization of Him in the Fandom

In almost every Hamilton musical fanfic or story I have read (and I have read quite a bit from my time in this fandom) Laurens is so feminine-- especially in lams fics. He acts feminine, he dresses feminine, he is described in the fics as feminine, he carries around his cute uwu turtle stuffie wearing his cute feminine uwu turtle pyjamas. It’s sickening. John Laurens was a brave soldier and a talented artist and this is how the fandom sees him? As some freckled gay baby twink?

Not only is this disrespectful to John Laurens, it is also disrespectful to Anthony Ramos, who played him in the OBC. 

The Fetishization of Him and His Relationship with Hamilton

This, the feminization of him and the “UwU Turtle Boi” character are all very similar. You could argue that this and the “UwU Turtle Boi” character are the same, or that this and the feminization of him are the same. You wouldn’t be wrong; they are all very similar and overlap a lot. Because I covered the “UwU Turtle Boi” character already and have no more to say here about it, I will talk about how the fandom treats his relationship with Hamilton.

There are two very opposite sides of the “was lams real” spectrum: “it was not real, shipping founding fathers is gross,” and, “they were gay!!! Laurens was gay for Hammy!!! Read the letters!!!!” Both sides’ beliefs are valid; you are allowed to think what you want about this topic. It is a somewhat controversial topic that has no clear answer, and therefore is always being discussed. However, just because your belief is valid, doesn’t mean that the way you chose to phrase it is necessarily okay. I get that most of the people who say the second opinion tend to be young girls who may not know better, but the way that something is phrased is very important.

Read these two different phrasings of the same opinion, and think to yourself, “Which one sounds more fetishize-y?” 

“I believe that Hamilton and Laurens were in a relationship based on evidence from the letters they sent each other.”

“Hammy and Laurens were gay! Read the letters! He says ‘I love you!’ They were super gay!”

Too many fangirls have called Laurens things like “gay boi” or “smol gay cinnamon roll.” I’ve also seen a very concerning amount of people call him their husband or hubby or dead boyfriend. I don’t think I need to explain how disgusting that is.

His Terrible Personality and Character

His entire character can be boiled down to “tyranny bad, alcohol good.” He’s loud and rowdy and a very boisterous person, shouting and running around and causing a ruckus. It is unlikely that the real Laurens was like this. Seeing as he came from a family of wealth and standing, he would have likely been taught to behave properly and be polite. He was rash at times, especially during battle, but other than that he seemed very professional. His rowdiness makes sense in some scenes when he’s in the war, but other than that part of the show, it doesn’t fit him.

Alcohol is a very big part of his personality for some reason. In his first (real) scene in Aaron Burr, sir, he’s talking about alcohol and drinking and even bragging about how much he drinks. At the very beginning of Satisfied, he’s offering drinks to other people and is very clearly drunk. As far as we know, the real Laurens was not a heavy drinker.

His lack of character can be explained, though. While writing the personalities of the characters, whoever was doing it took Laurens’ historical personality and gave it to Hamilton instead, leaving Laurens with almost nothing.

His Historical Personality Being Added to Hamilton’s Character

I’ve already talked about the Laurens-Lee duel, but I have yet to bring up what happened after it. In the show, Hamilton is brought into Washington’s office and Washington gets into an argument with him, which ends in Washington sending Hamilton home. Besides the fact that the timeline of these events is incredibly off, this is not at all what happened. After the duel, Hamilton wrote up a report on what happened to be given to Washington either the day of or after the duel. When Washington found out what happened, he was furious. Not at Hamilton, but at Laurens. Lin-Manuel Miranda took this from Laurens and changed the story so that it was Hamilton who got chewed out because Hamilton is the main character, not Laurens.

Conclusion

Lin-Manuel Miranda just tore up Laurens’ personality, leaving him as a rowdy alcoholic who eye-fucks Hamilton for the entirety of Act I. The fandom then took this empty shell of a character, combined it with random historical facts about him, and created a turtle-loving twink. Disgusting. Everything about this is so gross.

[mauesartetc]

So… do you have some personal beef with the HH/HB crew or something? Cuz you post about that… a lot…

Haha no, not personal at all. More like professional beef. And to be clear, the vast majority of the team are doing a great job with what they've been given. My issue stems mainly from the writing and character designs, which have problems that are too big to ignore.

The thing with the designs is, if you look back at Viv's previous characters through the years (or hell, just in the Hazbin pilot), you notice a clear formula. She recycles certain visual elements to the point that it's practically a drinking game. There are numerous characters with either huge eyes, hair bows/bow ties, spots, stripes, a dress jacket with lapels, shark-like teeth, one gold tooth, fingertips of a different color from the rest of the hand, a stick-thin body, or some combination of the above. This reliance on the same limited cluster of traits ends up making each design look more generic than unique.

Character designers: Do not do this. You want your characters to stand out as individuals with their own personalities rather than look like part of a hive mind.

For example, I'd understand if the different-colored fingers and bow ties served as some kind of symbol or uniform in Hell (similar to wearing a hijab for religious purposes or wearing a badge to be recognized as an employee of a company), but there's no evidence to bear that out. What's the specific, story-related connection between all these characters with bow ties? We have no idea!

And why do these guys look like quadruplets despite being unrelated? 

Again, no idea.

Basically, the laziness and lack of research is what gets me. Once again, speaking directly to character designers:

Visual research is your friend. Pulling ideas from real life will serve you much better than adding random details from the top of your head just because you think they look cool. Ffs, take advantage of Google Images!

It seems like Viv has always prioritized style over substance, focusing on what’s easiest for her to draw and what the audience has come to expect of her rather than focusing on what’s best for the character. What the design says about them as a person. Much of her work comes off more like first-draft, knee-jerk reactions of how the characters should look, instead of polished final products that go deeper than appearances, and that went through multiple iterations. Chris Oatley has a great post on that.

As for the writing, this post sums it up well, so I won’t bother repeating myself.

The truth is, I want these shows to succeed. I want them to be great. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t say a thing. I’d just grab some popcorn and watch it all blow up. But there’s some real potential for a good story here, and if Hazbin’s studio deal results in a critical and financial hit, it could open the door for many more independent animators trying to go mainstream.

However, speaking as an animator and character designer myself, it’s insanely frustrating to see these projects stumble into easily-avoidable pitfalls. It feels like staying loyal to a talented football team that keeps losing because of the coach’s decisions. Like damn, I’m rooting for you, but you’ve gotta take the ball and run with it.

But yeah, I acknowledge that venting these frustrations, while cathartic for me and hopefully educational for young artists, can get to be a pain in the ass for some. Sorry, dude. There are just a lot of teachable moments to talk about, unfortunately. Don’t worry, though; I plan to funnel in more of my own characters and animations, so the floodwaters have subsided for now.

[nagasakidivision]

35 Facts Meme: Shirou Sonozaki

Let's do this for Shirou now! I uh, am trying to usually go in the leader/2gumi/3gumi order but Damien has so many spoilers (until I work my way through the drama tracks) that I need to dance around. I am still trying to figure out how to handle it. Below the cut blah blah

He's the youngest of four siblings!

There's a fairly large age gap between them, his oldest sister is ten years older than him.

The middle siblings are fraternal twins who are six years older than him.

So when I say he's the baby of the family...he's REALLY the baby of the family.

He was super spoiled because of this but he didn't turn out to be a nightmare child in spite of it.

He's in an older brother role to the other two members, which is a little new to him. This is partially due to him being the only responsible one.

He's half-Filipino on his mother's side!

He's from a trilingual household, and speaks Japanese, Tagalog, and English fluently.

Well...more or less. His reading fluency isn't as good as it could be in Japanese and he still struggles with some complex kanji just due to lack of exposure because...

He was not born in Japan but had dual citizenship.

He grew up (for the first thirteen years of his life) in western North Carolina.

He does, of course, need to have an opinion on barbecue since barbecue is serious business in North Carolina. However, he is a traitor to his geographic region who thinks Eastern style Carolina Barbecue is better. (He's right, but still a traitor given where he's from.)

He's Catholic...more or less. More on the Catholic Worker weird leftist end of things.

Him and his mom are the only members of the family who are actively religious.

He's generally closer to his mom than his dad, though his family is very tight-knit.

He's the black sheep of the family in the sense that he's the only one who didn't pursue a vocation in the arts. He just never had a talent for it...bar rap battles, of course.

(They still love him though, but it did make him try to pursue some kind of artistic expression for a while before falling into his current job.)

He's the only one of the team who has any real level of experience with Hypnosis Mics!

His sleep schedule is horrendous. He regularly only gets three hours of sleep a night.

Fortunately he is an expert of catching a few cat naps per day. Not that it helps much.

Powered by black sludge coffee and overbrewed tea, yes he is. Haruto, who is a food/drink snob, is appalled by the way he treats tea leaves/coffee beans.

Because he had to do chores and the like a lot, he's surprisingly a good cook! Top tier malewife...

He does not use profanity. Ever. Under any circumstances.

He has a remarkable skill in making phrases like "I beg your pardon" sound like "go fuck yourself" tonally, however.

While he's never outright rude, he also has a talent for being incredibly passive-aggressive.

Oh boy, he is extremely bad about holding grudges forever too.

He is quite nearsighted. 20/90 vision.

His favorite animal is vultures.

He does not have any pets because he's barely ever at home and his schedule is a nightmare since he's functionally on call 24/7.

Well, sort of: the three of them kind of co-own Lucia depending on who Damien is crashing with at the time.

During the inevitable drinking nights that happen, his usual drink order is a whiskey sour! He will watch you to make sure you use an actual lemon and not sour mix and that you add in the egg white.

Probably the most considerate roommate of the group between the three. He's reasonably organized and doesn't spend an eternity getting ready in the morning.

Hidden talent: he's surprisingly good at sleight-of-hand tricks!

Hidden talent 2: he's...uh...fluent? in flower language, both Victorian style and hanakotoba.

He's an extremely formal dresser who's rarely if ever seen in anything less than a button-up Oxford and slacks.