#General Purpose Machine Tools

[bucketteeth]

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[jupiterswasphouse]

Not certain if this has already been posted about here, but iNaturalist recently uploaded a blog post stating that they had received a grant from Google to incorporate new forms of generative AI into their 'computer vision' model.

I'm sure I don't need to tell most of you why this is a horrible idea, that does away with much of the trust gained by the thus far great service that is iNaturalist. But, to elaborate on my point, to collaborate with Google on tools such as these is a slap in the face to much of the userbase, including a multitude of biological experts and conservationists across the globe.

They claim that they will work hard to make sure that the identification information provided by the AI tools is of the highest quality, which I do not entirely doubt from this team. I would hope that there is a thorough vetting process in place for this information (Though, if you need people to vet the information, what's the point of the generative AI over a simple wiki of identification criteria). Nonetheless, if you've seen Google's (or any other tech company's) work in this field in the past, which you likely have, you will know that these tools are not ready to explain the nuances of species identification, as they continue to provide heavy amounts of complete misinformation on a daily basis. Users may be able to provide feedback, but should a casual user look to the AI for an explanation, many would not realize if what they are being told is wrong.

Furthermore, while the data is not entirely my concern, as the service has been using our data for years to train its 'computer vision' model into what it is today, and they claim to have ways to credit people in place, it does make it quite concerning that Google is involved in this deal. I can't say for certain that they will do anything more with the data given, but Google has proven time and again to be highly untrustworthy as a company.

Though, that is something I'm less concerned by than I am by the fact that a non-profit so dedicated to the biodiversity of the earth and the naturalists on it would even dare lock in a deal of this nature. Not only making a deal to create yet another shoehorned misinformation machine, that which has been proven to use more unclean energy and water (among other things) than it's worth for each unsatisfactory and untrustworthy search answer, but doing so with one of the greediest companies on the face of the earth, a beacon of smog shining in colors antithetical to the iNaturalist mission statement. It's a disgrace.

In conclusion, I want to believe in the good of iNaturalist. The point stands, though, that to do this is a step in the worst possible direction. Especially when they, for all intents and purposes, already had a system that works! With their 'computer vision' model providing basic suggestions (if not always accurate in and of itself), and user suggested IDs providing further details and corrections where needed.

If you're an iNaturalist user who stands in opposition to this decision, leave a comment on this blog post, and maybe we can get this overturned.

[Note: Yes, I am aware there is good AI used in science, this is generative AI, which is a different thing entirely. Also, if you come onto this post with strawmen or irrelevant edge-cases I will wring your neck.]

[fireflysummers]

FireflySummers’ Guide to Arguing Against the Use of AI Image Generators

(AKA I hate AI image generators so fucking much that I published a whole ass academic article on it)

Read the Paper: Art in the Machine: Value Misalignment and AI "Art"

Citation: Allred, A.M., Aragon, C. (2023). Art in the Machine: Value Misalignment and AI “Art”. In: Luo, Y. (eds) Cooperative Design, Visualization, and Engineering. CDVE 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14166. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43815-8_4

The purpose of the original paper and now this post is the following:

Provide at least one academic article that you can cite. (Full paper + citation available below)

Make explicit community values that have previously been implicit, in order to better examine your own perceptions of the online artist community, and where you sit within it.

Provide rebuttals to common pro-AI talking points, with the intention of shutting down the conversation and reclaiming the narrative. 

What this paper and post cannot do:

Act as a sole authority about the online artist community and its values. We are not a monolith, and it is up to you to think critically about what, exactly, you want to take away from this discussion.

Provide a way to convince AI Evangelists that what they’re doing is wrong and bad and needs to stop. You will never convince them. Again, focus on shutting them down and reclaiming the narrative.

Final Disclaimer: I'm a very fallible researcher who is still very much learning how to do academia. I cannot speak for the entirety of the online artist community or fanartist community. We all have different lived experiences. I have done my best to include diverse voices; however if you have concerns or critiques, I am open to hearing them.

If you show up to debate in favor of AI image generators, you will be automatically blocked.

Credits:

Editors, Meme Experts, and Annotators: @starbeans-bags, @b4kuch1n, @cecilioque.

Tutorial Examples: @sabertoothwalrus, @ash-and-starlight, @miyuliart, @hometownrockstar, @deoidesign, @cinnamonrollbakery

If you have read this far, thank you very much. I hope that you have found a constructive lens for approaching the war with AI image generators, as well as a new tool for shutting down debate and reclaiming the narrative.

[sreegs]

the past few years, every software developer that has extensive experience, and knows what they're talking about, has had pretty much the same opinion on LLM code assistants: they're OK for some tasks but generally shit. Having something that automates code writing is not new. Codegen before AI were scripts that generated code that you have to write for a task, but is so repetitive it's a genuine time saver to have a script do it.

this is largely the best that LLMs can do with code, but they're still not as good as a simple script because of the inherently unreliable nature of LLMs being a big honkin statistical model and not a purpose-built machine.

none of the senior devs that say this are out there shouting on the rooftops that LLMs are evil and they're going to replace us. because we've been through this concept so many times over many years. Automation does not eliminate coding jobs, it saves time to focus on other work.

the one thing I wish senior devs would warn newbies is that you should not rely on LLMs for anything substantial. you should definitely not use it as a learning tool. it will hinder you in the long run because you don't practice the eternally useful skill of "reading things and experimenting until you figure it out". You will never stop reading things and experimenting until you figure it out. Senior devs may have more institutional knowledge and better instincts but they still encounter things that are new to them and they trip through it like a newbie would. this is called "practice" and you need it to learn things

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Hi Skyen, hope you're well! I'm seeking some advice and since you used to work doing mainly art commissions I figured asking you was worth a shot.

I'm a furry artist and I'm looking into doing commission work as a side gig while I finish animation college, and hopefully acquire enough experience/clients/notoriety to turn it into a full time job once I graduate.

Do you have any advice for someone literally just starting out with fresh accounts and zero following? Especially when it comes to reaching people and getting your first clients, and anything that one should take into account when working with NSFW specifically. Also advice for pricing your work is always useful 😅

No need to answer obvs but I'd appreciate your viewpoint if you want to share!

Got 2 asks on this exact subject so I'll write up what advice I can. One big caveat: I haven't worked as a commission artist for like half a decade at this point, and this job has a tendency to change fast, do not take anything I say as gospel. This is advice from a limited perspective, be critical of what I say and trust your peers and the people you are in community with before you trust me.

building audience

Step one is getting people to notice the artwork you create. Literally nothing else can happen until you have eyeballs on your work, and the most consistent and reliable way to make that happen is fanart. Ideally you'd want to produce fanart in a fandom you are personally engaged with and passionate about and familiar with, and which also has a sizeable community whose attention can help you build recognition and a base of followers.

This isn't always possible, and there's many a working artist who creates work for fandoms not out of deep personal connection, but because the fandom is large and relevant and a good way to capture the goodwill of algorithms and content feeds.

This approach has some downsides. For one, genuine fans can usually tell when someone's engagement with Their Thing is shallow, and for another it can be deeply creatively exhausting to chase the algorithm. I don't recommend this approach, but it is a valid means of building a business.

Another important consideration, especially when you are early in your career, is that volume tends to trump quality. Every artist will eventually learn that their shitty joke-doodle they sh*t out in ten minutes on a whim will get a billion reposts, and their complex personal work that took eight weeks to finish gets 2 likes from their closest mutuals and a comment from a bot saying "wow!"

In the age of the algorithm, what machines and for you pages value is a consistent, high-volume of output that generates user engagement. You will generally get further, faster, by producing a lot of work than you will producing great work. Again, this can be rough on your mental state, and a fast way to burn the fuck out, so please be careful and mind your health before all else.

The best way to build something that will last is to build your audience in communities and around fandoms and themes and ideas you genuinely care about and enjoy exploring and interacting with. Being your authentic self and creating work from your authentic interest is generally both healthier and long-term better for your career than trend-chasing. Treat trend-chasing and volume > quality output as tools in your toolbox, as creative and business decisions you can make to achieve a specific purpose, never ever EVER let them become the center of your praxis or your philosophy. Never ever EVER allow the Numbers™ to be your source of validation and accomplishment.

building business

Ok, so you've got eyes on your work. You've got some followers. How the hell do you get them to commission you?

Well, again, by demonstrating a capacity to create kinds of art for which there is demand. In the furry community, there's brisk trade in things like ref sheets and character design, for example. For most fandoms, ship art is a product which tends to be in demand. Being able to do really good expression sheets is a marketable skill. Being able to create compelling and clear emotes for streamers and creators is a marketable skill.

Showing the capacity to work in a wide range of styles is valuable. Showing the capacity to work in a wide range of genres is valuable. If you can do both comedy and romance your appeal expands. If you can do shonen-like action and angst as well, it expands again.

Equally, being incredibly good at a specific niche is valuable as well. Focusing hard on an under-served niche of work can give you a lot of opportunities to be the Go To person for that specific kind of thing.

Perhaps the hardest part of all of this is marketing yourself. Not only showing that you have the skills, but actively informing your audience that you are available, eager and willing to practise your skill for a fee. You have to sell yourself. It sucks, but you have to do it. You have to advertise what you can do, and you have to suffer the rejection and annoyance that comes along with doing that.

You have to ask people to commission you. You have to raise your hand and demand attention. It's not fun, but it's business.

Walking the line between self-promotion and being a person is hard. I can't help you that much with it, it's a very personal balance to find. Stay in touch with your soul, but kill the part that cringes at yourself.

Ultimately, you best marketing asset is your portfolio. Every time you do work, show it off. Repost it, retweet it, spread it around. If someone is happy with what you've made for them, do your best to make sure that other people see that happiness. Ask your clients (politely) to tag you when they share your work.

Oh, and for the love of god, sign everything you create, slap watermarks on anything that's likely to get reposted, and make it impossible for someone not to find your business email on your profile.

building network

If you're a commission artist, you are in community with other commission artists. You share interests, you share experiences, you share needs.

Practise solidarity. Absolutely seek out professional peers to help your business, but equally seek out opportunities to help them with theirs. If someone comes to you for art and you don't have commission slots open, point them at a colleague who you know can do the work too. Gas up your peers and spread their work.

Be a symbiote, not a parasite. Respect the craft of your peers, and don't chase celebrities and big names in the hope of coasting on their coattails. It will fail.

smut

If you're a working artist, at some point you have to reckon with smut and r34.

These genres are excellent sources of income, and fertile ground to build a business and network of customers. BUT. Do not ever make the mistake of thinking that they are "the easy way" or a shortcut. Do not ever make the mistake of thinking you can simply offer to draw tiddies and rake in the cash.

It's work and graft same as literally any other form of labor, it's challenging on both a technical and creative level, and the audience can sense if you're looking down on them. If you approach this from a position of shame, of "eugh, I'm debasing myself by doing this for rent money," it will not work, and you will lose standing and respect in the eyes of every peer whose support you need to succeed.

Just as in all other forms of creativity, if you treat the audience as morons who will slurp up whatever slop you serve them, then you will attract clientele that agrees with you, and you will deserve the misery they will inflict upon you.

If you are going to work in smut, establish your boundaries and enforce them. Know that good clients will feel safer and more comfortable with an artist who clearly states their red lines and earnest interests than they will with someone who tries to attract more clients by pretending to be open to work that they are actually uncomfortable with.

Never, ever, EVER let a client push you to create work you are not comfortable creating. It scars your soul in both the short and long term.

Also, when working with this kind of content, know the rules of payment processors and know how to hide the nature of your business from them. PayPal should never, EVER know the details of the content you sell with their service. Frankly, neither should your bank, most likely.

Look to your peers for advice and best practises about this. And be meticulous about your bookkeeping.

money

I want to tell you to charge at least minimum wage for your time. I want to tell you to charge substantially more than that, because your labor is specialized and highly skilled.

But the economic reality of commission work is that there is a crushing downwards pressure on the labor price of art, which has only been made more devastating by the rise of generative AI, and especially when you are a young artist just starting out, you're going to find yourself in a position where charging even minimum wage for your time will turn away a huge proportion of your potential customers.

Again, your portfolio will be the greatest argument for the value of your work, but you have to build that portfolio first, and very often that means doing a f*kton of work for not remotely enough pay until the pressure of demand finally works in your favor.

I don't condone or justify this state of affairs. It is horrid and I hate it, but I don't know how to fix it either.

Making a living from content creation of any kind requires you to get lucky, on top of working obscene hours and foregoing rest and vacations. It's not a safe or sensible plan for a career or paying your bills.

My sensible advice is to get a "normal" job you can survive doing, and do your creative work on the side, and resign yourself to the possibility that the creative work may never actually pay your bills.

And that is soul-crushing, but I cannot stomach pretending that hard work and gumption will guarantee anyone a decent living if they just try hard enough.

There are people who are better at every aspect of my work than I am, and they struggle harder and work for longer, and they will never see half the success I have, because I happened to get lucky, and they happened not to. It's wretched.

I'm not telling you not to chase your dreams. I'm telling you to do it with your eyes open, and with compassion for yourself first before all else.

All of this to say: I can't tell you what to charge for your work. It depends on everything from your competition to your niche to your genre to your community to your economic situation. You have to figure it out on your own.

All I can tell you is never forget that your work is worth more than the market will let you charge, and to raise your prices as soon and as much as you can. Try to reach at least minimum wage for your time as fast as possible.

in conclusion

Again, I haven't been a commission artist full time for a long time, please do not take any of this as gospel. Listen to your peers before you listen to me.

But trust me about the solidarity. It will save you when all else fails.

[ewingstan]

Seek seems to have an interesting viewpoint on AI-generated art. It envisions a future where people don't really make art to be viewed and purchased by others, judging by A's conversation with Addy. And it does frame that as sad in some ways: Addy doesn't react with quite the level of joy we'd expect from receiving a drawing from her kid. A's dream of being a famous artist doesn't seem like it fits in this world.

And yet, it isn't just an "oh this is the death of art and human creativity" perspective. The first time we see this real-time made-for-you art, its a familiar instance of childhood play, with the Onboards adding details to a pretend shoot-out. The next, the movie with prompts input by A and Quinn, is an instance of kids collaborating to get a unique story, like kids asking for their parent's bedtime story to include pirates and moonmen. It seems like this world doesn't really respect specific, individual pieces of art as objects to be viewed and interacted with multiple times. There isn't a cultural context for "Great works" or the like. But such a view of art isn't necessarily what art's always been, and Seek doesn't view it as something we should expect to be in the future. Its world's ephemeral, machine-created art isn't framed as soulless; it's an interaction between tools and users for purely creative purposes between friends.

And yes, that itself is given a bit of melancholy. Wildbow seems to be setting up a theme that a post-scarcity, post-want life can start to feel meaningless. Even still, since machine-made art is often bemoaned as the ultimate corruption of art as commodity, its novel to see it positioned instead as unbridled play.

[bucketteeth]

Choosing The Right Compact Track Loader Attachments

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[txttletale]

I think the reason I dislike AI generative software (I'm fine with AI analysis tools, like for example splitting audio into tracks) is that I am against algorithmically generated content. I don't like the internet as a pit of content slop. AI art isn't unique in that regard, and humans can make algorithmically generated content too (look at youtube for example). AI makes it way easier to churn out content slop and makes searching for non-slop content more difficult.

yeah i basically wholeheartedly agree with this. you are absolutely right to point out that this is a problem that far predates AI but has been exacerbated by the ability to industrialise production. Content Slop is absolutely one of the first things i think of when i use that "if you lose your job to AI, it means it was already automated" line -- the job of a listicle writer was basically to be a middleman between an SEO optimization tool and the Google Search algorithm. the production of that kind of thing was already being made by a computer for a computer, AI just makes it much faster and cheaper because you don't have to pay a monkey to communicate between the two machines. & ai has absolutely made this shit way more unbearable but ultimately y'know the problem is capitalism incentivising the creation of slop with no purpose other than to show up in search results

[whitecompri]

Love Circuits

Pairing: Metal Sonic x Fem!Human!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Romance, Light Humor

Rating: G(General Audience)

Warnings: Minor injury,

A/N: I can only say that I did and deleted and redid this entire story because I didn't like the first version. But I was much more satisfied with the result of this one. And it was even fun to imagine a good motivation for Metal to act the way he did in the fic. I hope you like my first story with him.

--*--

Your hands moved skillfully, shifting tools and parts over your workbench, your eyes intensely focused on your task. You had promised the local villagers that you’d finish your project for a more efficient stove by the end of the afternoon.

Of course, since early in the day you had been investing your time into it, using your mechanical and machine assembly skills on something simple, yet still complex.

What your focused mind hadn’t noticed, however, was a very familiar presence, standing at the entrance of your workshop. His glowing red eyes observed you intently, trying to understand why you would spend your day working on something that, to him, had no clear purpose.

Letting out a low hiss of impatience, he walked toward you, his metal feet clicking against the floor with each step. Finally, he stopped by your side, letting out short beeps and static-like noises of curiosity.

It couldn’t exactly be called words or a language. Still, you understood the noises Metal made quite well — after all, it had been a long, very long time since the two of you began living together. Ever since the day you found him covered in mud in a river and fixed him.

Your eyes shifted away from your work, focusing on Metal beside you. One of your eyebrows lifted as you wiped the sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand.

“What’s the matter, Metal?” you asked, confused by his sudden appearance in your workshop.

He let out a few more beeps and static noises, pointing at the nearly finished stove on the bench, then let out another hiss — this time, one of irritation.

Scratching your neck, you tried to understand why he was upset about the stove. Your eyes locked onto his, searching for answers, but the robot only tilted his head to the side and pointed to himself, letting out a questioning noise.

You furrowed your brow. If you understood him correctly, he wanted more attention, which could also be interpreted as some form of jealousy, you figured. But you quickly shook that thought out of your mind — there was no way Metal could feel jealousy. He probably just wanted more of your attention. That was likely all.

“Metal, I know I’ve been here all day working on this... But I promise I’ll finish it soon, okay?” You crouched down to be at his level. “In the meantime, why don’t you take care of the lawn outside? It’s been a few days since some weeds started growing. It might distract you until I’m done here.” You gave him a reassuring smile, placing a hand on his cold shoulder.

Metal stood still for a few seconds, simply observing you. Then, he slowly nodded, turned around, and walked out of the workshop, determined to take on the task you’d entrusted to him.

Sighing, you stood back up and turned once more to your workbench, returning to your tasks.

--*--

With your hands on your hips, you admired your impressive finished work, which would surely bring many benefits to the humble people living in that village.

Looking through your window, you noticed the last rays of the day fading from the sky, leaving behind a shallow, orange glow. Sighing, you picked up a cloth to wipe your hands, deciding to go see how Metal was doing with the weed removal.

Your steps to the front door were calm as you hummed a melody.

However, the moment you opened the main door of your house, the melody came to an instant halt, your eyes widening at the sight before you.

Your lawn, which had once been overgrown and filled with weeds, was now perfectly trimmed to a suitable height, with no flaws or weeds in sight. But even that wasn’t what impressed you the most. What truly caught your attention was the blue robot crouched in the middle of the lawn, adjusting the last blades of grass in his own meticulous way.

Metal had shaped the grass into a heart, trimming it to the perfect height to be clearly visible to anyone — especially to you, who was still frozen at the doorway, jaw dropped as you observed the scene.

At first, you thought you were hallucinating. But it was real, and the design was clear.

Maybe it was some kind of joke from Metal, or maybe he was somehow genuinely expressing emotion. But as far as you knew, that was impossible — it had never happened before. He had his robotic mannerisms of wanting your attention for reasons even you didn’t understand, not to mention his desire to protect you from every little thing — including poor butterflies who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

But this was the first time he had done something that directly hinted at feelings. For a second, your heart felt warm, but you quickly tried to ignore the feeling, not wanting to overthink it.

“Metal... That’s... really beautiful...” The blue robot turned to look at you, then stood up and walked over, stopping in front of you and letting out a few low beeps.

He pointed at his natural artwork, looking at you with his red eyes, a hopeful expression in them.

“Yes, I liked it,” you said, crossing your arms. But he kept pointing at the large heart made of grass that he had designed.

Growing a bit confused by his reaction — still standing there, pointing — you raised an eyebrow at him.

“Metal, I liked the heart. It added a nice touch to the garden. It was a... different design choice, I wasn’t expecting that from you.” You chuckled lightly. The robot slowly lowered his metal arm, but still maintained intense eye contact.

He let out a hiss and a few more quiet beeps, then began walking slowly back toward the house. You shrugged, choosing not to dwell on it for now. As odd as this behavior was for Metal, you figured sometimes his robotic circuits might misinterpret or process things in exaggerated or strange ways.

You started walking behind him slowly, deciding to worry only about dinner for now.

--*--

Organizing the pots and ingredients on the counter, you began working on your dinner. Picking up a knife, you started chopping some vegetables quickly and skillfully.

Your eyes shifted slightly to the side, focusing on the bluish, robotic figure and the pair of red eyes locked onto your every movement with the knife, as if assessing whether you were handling the tool with care and safety.

“Metal, how about you pick a movie for us tonight?” You’d probably regret that later. For some reason, Metal always picked movies that had robots or some kind of sci-fi element. It was somewhat understandable, considering what he was.

Still, his appreciation for that kind of content bordered on obsession. But for now, you just wanted to keep him occupied, so he wouldn’t spend the whole time standing there watching you.

Metal gave a brief nod, turning and walking into the living room just ahead. He stopped beside the sofa, grabbed the remote control, turned on the TV, and started browsing.

Turning your attention back to your task, you focused more and continued chopping the vegetables with precision.

That’s when the sound of the movie began. However, to your surprise, the house wasn’t filled with explosions or gunfire from an action film, nor with threatening robotic voices. Instead, what started playing was soft, soothing music, with low voices speaking gently in the film.

Turning your head to look, you frowned. It was clearly a romance movie — a couple was on screen, face to face, exchanging a long and sweet dialogue.

Metal was still standing by the sofa, holding the remote, focused on the television screen.

“Metal... did you pick a romance movie to watch?” your voice came out soft and shocked, confused about why he had chosen a romance, of all things.

The robot turned his face toward you and met your gaze. Then, he nodded slightly.

You stood frozen for a few seconds, observing him and the movie still playing in the background on the TV. Shaking your head, you simply returned to cutting the ingredients.

But now, your focus was shaken by his surprising choice of movie, and your hand slipped a little while trying to cut a carrot.

Letting out a sharp hiss, you dropped the knife, quickly lifting your injured finger. Your eyes scanned the kitchen, searching for a clean cloth.

Metal looked at you, confused, trying to understand what had caused your reaction. That’s when he saw it — fresh blood trickling from the cut on your finger, running down your arm. It was as if a warning light had gone off inside him; in the blink of an eye, he was right by your side.

His metal hand gently held your arm, bringing your hand close to his eyes. His red gaze scanned the wound, analyzing it meticulously. Then, he took the cloth from your hand and pressed it against the cut, letting out some hisses and beeps — almost as if scolding you for being careless.

Your eyes narrowed in confusion — after all, he had never reacted like this before when you got hurt. He was a robot, not exactly built or programmed to worry about superficial injuries.

And your confusion only deepened when he took your hand, making you follow him through the kitchen, stopping near the cabinet where you kept your medical kit. Metal’s hand reached for the cabinet, grabbing the kit box. He opened it, searching for the correct items.

"Metal… it’s okay, I know how to take care of myself, you don’t have to do this, let me wrap this finger up." You tried to pull your hand back, but were met with his metallic grip tightening.

Metal stared at you with glowing red eyes, letting out a soft hum of disapproval at your attempt to refuse his help.

Sighing quietly, you simply relaxed.

"Alright, I get it, go ahead..." With no choice, you just allowed him to take care of you, even if his behavior was starting to feel a little strange.

--*--

When the first rays of sunlight peeked through the next morning, you woke up stretching. The first thing you noticed was your finger perfectly bandaged. Your eyes focused on the wrap for a second before you got up, sighing.

However, as soon as you stood, a strange odor reached your nose. Something was burning.

Your eyes widened immediately as you dashed out of your room, running through the house, searching for the source of the unpleasant smell.

Stopping breathless at the kitchen doorway, you looked around, then furrowed your brow. In the end, nothing was actually on fire.

Metal turned to face you, letting out a beep and a hiss. Then, his hands reached for a tray, which he firmly held and carried over to you, stopping in front of you.

Looking down, you focused on the contents on top of it. You couldn’t help but let out a muffled giggle.

“Thank you, Metal. You really seem to have tried hard to make this for me.” Your eyes scanned once more the breakfast items he had prepared.

A piece of toast that looked more like tire rubber, completely burned — probably the source of the smell you’d picked up — and a cup with coffee overflowing, spilling all over the tray with each slight movement.

Extending your hands, you took the tray and set it on the table, slowly sitting in the chair. Metal positioned himself beside you, watching you intently. He apparently didn’t have a clear sense of what was or wasn’t edible for humans.

But you didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. Swallowing dryly, you picked up the burnt toast and hesitantly brought it to your mouth. Then, gathering some courage, you took a bite.

But instead of the bitter, painful taste of burnt toast, a delicious and crispy flavor filled your mouth. At first, you thought it might be psychological, but no — the toast really tasted like that, despite looking like charcoal.

“How did you do this?” you asked Metal, surprised by the food. He just continued watching you attentively, not making a single sound. “Anyway, thank you, the toast is honestly delicious.” You smiled at him, carefully picking up the cup and sipping the coffee — which was also perfectly balanced.

Suddenly, Metal’s hand extended in front of you. Your eyes widened. He was firmly holding a vibrant red rose, offering it to you.

“Metal?” you gave him a questioning look. The robot just let out a soft hiss. Your hand reached for the rose, admiring how beautiful it was.

But then, you came to a conclusion — this was going too far.

As much as you liked this side of Metal, it wasn’t like him. And the thought that this might be a bug or a dangerous malfunction for him weighed heavily on your mind.

So you made a decision.

“Metal… let’s go to the workshop. I need to run a check on you.”

--*--

The robot’s red eyes focused intensely on you as your hands swiftly typed into a console. Your worried eyes searched for something — any sign of a defect, a bug, or a missing line of code in his programming.

But he seemed in perfect physical condition, at least.

“That’s strange… what could be causing this behavior…?” you muttered to yourself before initiating a full system scan. “I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand the programming Eggman used in you... But at least I want to try fixing you if this is a bug... Software is just so much harder for me than hardware...”

You crossed your arms, observing the blue robot. That’s when you heard a beep from the console. Turning around, you saw a notification about something found. Frowning, you clicked to check what it was. You began reading the information — and your eyes widened.

“A subroutine? It’s relatively new… it definitely wasn’t here before, but…” You typed a few more commands, digging deeper, all while Metal watched you attentively.

Scratching your chin, you read the new data with interest. Then, you turned to look at Metal, eyes wide.

“Metal... Since when do you have a Romantic Behavior Simulation Module?” The robot just shrugged.

With quick steps, you approached the bench where he was sitting. Your hands reached for the side of his head, carefully opening a small panel, your fingers finding the said module.

“Damn… you really have one… I do remember never knowing what RBSM stood for…” Your eyes met his. “Apparently, it’s a beta version module, still under testing in you, but it says it activates when you spend long periods of time near a preferred person…”

Metal looked at you attentively, then raised his hand and pointed at you.

“Yeah, now I know I’m your preferred person.” You gave a small smirk. “I’ll never stop being amazed by you, Metal… Normally robots can’t express emotions, let alone have a favorite person…”

The robot emitted a soft hum, appreciating your compliment.

“Who would've thought, huh? And all this time I thought it was a bug...” You placed your hand on the side of his head, carefully closing the small panel.

That’s when the metal hand reached over, grabbing one of your notebooks and a pen from the bench, starting to write with his controlled, calculated handwriting.

Your eyes followed curiously, waiting to see what he would write. Finally, he set the pen down and turned the notebook toward you.

You let out a snorted laugh, covering your mouth to muffle the giggle.

‘Positive confirmation. Emotion identified: affection. Intensity: critical level. Recommended solution: kisses.’

Metal beeped.

“Well, in that case, I can say I’m also at a critical level of affection for you…” You crossed your arms, giving him a sly smile. “But your solution is inconclusive — lips are required, or at least a mouth, to make it work.” You teased, waiting for his reaction.

Metal hissed, pointing at his metallic muzzle.

“No, Metal, I’m not going to put a synthetic mouth on you. That’d be weird — and I’m pretty sure Eggman would kill me for messing up your design.” You chuckled softly, watching the robot let out an indignant buzz.

Smiling gently, you stepped closer to him, leaning forward slightly, and pressed your lips against the blue metal of his head.

The robot made an exclamation noise, surprised by your gesture.

“…But nothing stops me from doing that.” You said softly, seeing how Metal froze for a few seconds, trying to process what had just happened.

Finally, he focused his eyes back on yours. His hand once again reached for the pen, starting to write in the notebook again, then turned it for you to read.

‘Update system status to: Official Dating?’

This time, you couldn’t hold back your laughter at how adorable he was being.

“Well, I guess I can’t say no to such a cute request. Go ahead and update it.” You smiled at him, hearing a soft beep of approval and happiness. Then, he extended his hand to you.

Mimicking his motion, you reached for the robot’s metallic hand, intertwining your fingers with his. In that moment, you felt truly content. Sure, it wasn’t anything conventional. But you certainly wouldn’t trade your metal partner for any human out there.

[jstor]

I saw something about generative AI on JSTOR. Can you confirm whether you really are implementing it and explain why? I’m pretty sure most of your userbase hates AI.

A generative AI/machine learning research tool on JSTOR is currently in beta, meaning that it's not fully integrated into the platform. This is an opportunity to determine how this technology may be helpful in parsing through dense academic texts to make them more accessible and gauge their relevancy.

To JSTOR, this is primarily a learning experience. We're looking at how beta users are engaging with the tool and the results that the tool is producing to get a sense of its place in academia.

In order to understand what we're doing a bit more, it may help to take a look at what the tool actually does. From a recent blog post:

Content evaluation

Problem: Traditionally, researchers rely on metadata, abstracts, and the first few pages of an article to evaluate its relevance to their work. In humanities and social sciences scholarship, which makes up the majority of JSTOR’s content, many items lack abstracts, meaning scholars in these areas (who in turn are our core cohort of users) have one less option for efficient evaluation. 

When using a traditional keyword search in a scholarly database, a query might return thousands of articles that a user needs significant time and considerable skill to wade through, simply to ascertain which might in fact be relevant to what they’re looking for, before beginning their search in earnest.

Solution: We’ve introduced two capabilities to help make evaluation more efficient, with the aim of opening the researcher’s time for deeper reading and analysis:

Summarize, which appears in the tool interface as “What is this text about,” provides users with concise descriptions of key document points. On the back-end, we’ve optimized the Large Language Model (LLM) prompt for a concise but thorough response, taking on the task of prompt engineering for the user by providing advanced direction to:

Extract the background, purpose, and motivations of the text provided.

Capture the intent of the author without drawing conclusions.

Limit the response to a short paragraph to provide the most important ideas presented in the text.

Search term context is automatically generated as soon as a user opens a text from search results, and provides information on how that text relates to the search terms the user has used. Whereas the summary allows the user to quickly assess what the item is about, this feature takes evaluation to the next level by automatically telling the user how the item is related to their search query, streamlining the evaluation process.

Discovering new paths for exploration

Problem: Once a researcher has discovered content of value to their work, it’s not always easy to know where to go from there. While JSTOR provides some resources, including a “Cited by” list as well as related texts and images, these pathways are limited in scope and not available for all texts. Especially for novice researchers, or those just getting started on a new project or exploring a novel area of literature, it can be needlessly difficult and frustrating to gain traction. 

Solution: Two capabilities make further exploration less cumbersome, paving a smoother path for researchers to follow a line of inquiry:

Recommended topics are designed to assist users, particularly those who may be less familiar with certain concepts, by helping them identify additional search terms or refine and narrow their existing searches. This feature generates a list of up to 10 potential related search queries based on the document’s content. Researchers can simply click to run these searches.

Related content empowers users in two significant ways. First, it aids in quickly assessing the relevance of the current item by presenting a list of up to 10 conceptually similar items on JSTOR. This allows users to gauge the document’s helpfulness based on its relation to other relevant content. Second, this feature provides a pathway to more content, especially materials that may not have surfaced in the initial search. By generating a list of related items, complete with metadata and direct links, users can extend their research journey, uncovering additional sources that align with their interests and questions.

Supporting comprehension

Problem: You think you have found something that could be helpful for your work. It’s time to settle in and read the full document… working through the details, making sure they make sense, figuring out how they fit into your thesis, etc. This all takes time and can be tedious, especially when working through many items. 

Solution: To help ensure that users find high quality items, the tool incorporates a conversational element that allows users to query specific points of interest. This functionality, reminiscent of CTRL+F but for concepts, offers a quicker alternative to reading through lengthy documents. 

By asking questions that can be answered by the text, users receive responses only if the information is present. The conversational interface adds an accessibility layer as well, making the tool more user-friendly and tailored to the diverse needs of the JSTOR user community.

Credibility and source transparency

We knew that, for an AI-powered tool to truly address user problems, it would need to be held to extremely high standards of credibility and transparency. On the credibility side, JSTOR’s AI tool uses only the content of the item being viewed to generate answers to questions, effectively reducing hallucinations and misinformation. 

On the transparency front, responses include inline references that highlight the specific snippet of text used, along with a link to the source page. This makes it clear to the user where the response came from (and that it is a credible source) and also helps them find the most relevant parts of the text. 

[triptuckers]

capture the flag - leo valdez

Request: nope Pairing:  leo valdez x apollo!reader Summary:  during capture the flag, no one gets stuck in leo's traps and he wants to find out why Warnings:  none Word count:  800 A/N: this has been sitting in my drafts for a while and now that I'm back in my pjo era time to finish it! enjoy :)

capture the flag is always fun. it's a nice way for people to train together while it feels like a game. even though sometimes people get too competitive.

it gives leo the chance to litter the forest with traps, and to test new inventions. of course, he could test them in the bunker or on his friends. but this is the real deal. no one knows where the traps are, how many there are. it's the perfect conditions to test them.

he's made a new batch of them but for some reason none of the traps work.

whenever he goes to check on them, they're all disabled. no one's activated them, or he would have found a fellow camper near one.

and leo is absolutely sure he activated them. they didn't blow up so there's nothing wrong with them.

and yet they're disabled.

rather than trying to capture the flag, he decides to hide in the bushes near one of his traps to see what - or who - is disabling them.

he listens to the sounds of the woods around him and pulls stuff out of his tool bel two mindlessly build little machines.

after a while, he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.

whoever it is moves quietly and gracefully. so definitely not an ares kid, leo concludes.

the person slowly walks over to leo's trap, careful where they put their feet down on the forrest floor.

leo watches as they walk around the trap, examining it. he shifts to get a better look at who it is.

he frowns slightly. he would have expected someone from the hermes cabin. maybe piper because he's spent a lot of time trying to explain his machines to her.

but he didn't expect it to be a daughter of apollo.

to be fair, leo thought the apollo cabin didn't know anything about traps or machines in general. their skills were mostly archery, medicine and music. not traps built by a hephaestus kid.

leo's eyes follow your hand movements as you carefully prod around the trap. surely you wouldn't be able to- and you disabled it.

smiling to yourself, you straighten your back and us your foot to slide the now useless trap aside.

when you turn around, you hear leaves rustle behind you.

instinctively, you knock an arrow on your bow and turn on your heel.

you are met by leo, who is frantically waving his hands in front of his face.

'don't shoot, don't shoot! I come in peace!' he yells.

you lower your bow. 'leo! gods, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!'

'that's alright.' says leo, lowering his hands. 'I was the one hiding behind you.'

you frown. 'why were you hiding anyway? usually you like to be in the middle of the action.' you say.

'can't help the fact people start fighting over me wherever I go.' says leo, making you chuckle.

'yeah, right, valdez. as if anyone could come near you with the amount of traps you're setting.' you say.

'speaking of which.' says leo, walking over to his trap and picking it up to examine it. 'how did you know where the kill switch was on this?'

you shrug. 'that's a tactical secret I can't reveal.' you say. 'for future capture the flag purposes.'

'or you just got lucky.'

'23 times?'

'yeah, that seems unlikely.'

you smile. 'there's a window in the roof of bunker nine.' you say. 'it's actually a two way mirror. it doesn't let any light through. gives me a perfect view of your workspace, though.'

'so the tactical secret is spying.' says leo.

'can't win if you don't play a little dirty every now and then. plus it's cool to see all the stuff you create.'

you shoulder your bow. 'good luck activating all of the traps again.' you say. 'I need to get back to my cabin.'

you start to walk toward the noise your fellow campers are making, to see if your team is winning and how you can help.

'hey!'

you turn around to see leo is still standing in the clearing with the trap in his hands.

'if you want to, I could show you how to make these? then you will be able to do more than just disable them.' he says.

you smile at him, you've always liked leo.

but you are surprised, you know leo is kind of protective of bunker 9 and usually only Hephaestus kids go inside. it must be a huge deal for someone from another cabin to be invited into the bunker.

and Leo wants you here.

'sure.' you say. 'I'd like that. but first we have to steal your flag.'

'oh no, you won't.' says leo.

with one last smile, you disappear into the woods, leaving leo to reactivate his trap before coming after you.

A/N: If you want to request something, make sure to read my house rulesHere’s the list of characters I write for. Everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. Please don’t repost my work, as I spend much time and effort on it!! Thank you for reading! Much love, Marit/Max

[magiturge]

okay.. go my sheriff/hank ( individual and pairing ) headcanons / thoughts this is going to be really long, careful when you open it.

each dash is its own thing. for hank ( he / they / it / she is reserved. ) :

- hank is G01 / generation 1 grunt, but a particularly strange one in the sense that they are not a grunt. hank is a script. i headcanon hank as being the cannoneer / cannoneer script in the original marshmallow madness and how they are shown in the magiturge arena mode ending. i am on purpose ignoring that he was mentioned to be a G02 by swain.. hank is a script and as such behaves differently than everybody else because they were never intended to be a person or an entity. hank as the cannoneer script was intended to just be that, a placeholder with a face in the very early stages of nevada's creation and the nowhere. i started to lean into this headcanon a lot more when i saw a clip of krinkels answering a question regarding why the maker scribbles out hank in the cave drawings, with him saying "because he's a strange one. he's a very strange one. not really a.. not really a one with the identity as the maker understands it." ..i just think it'd be funny if hank was never meant to have an identity in the first place and was a function first before being a person. it's why hank is so down the straight and narrow about getting the job done, you gave him something to do and he will do it. i like to describe hank as being an extension of the machine itself as a script.

- hank's height, width and depth changes subtly to drastically with each time he dies and comes back. i like to keep his base height at 6'2" but if you were to linger around them for long enough, you might notice every so often that he seems a bit shorter than usual or a bit taller, or he has a bit more or less muscle somewhere. it's just a result of supply of material to sew him back together.

- hank harbors no sense of physical attraction to anybody in the sense of finding anyone 'hot', 'cute', 'pretty', 'sexy', etc. they see absolutely nobody as attractive in that sense and the most you will ever see in terms of complimenting appearances is with how much 'cool factor' there is to something.

- hank sees red. for them there is not really a black and white, a good vs evil, a grey area. everything is red in that everything and anyone can be a tool. it's not really a 'sees red and gets angry / violent' thing. everybody looks the same to it on a moral / alliance / loyalty point. it has no issue turning on you if you get in the way or alligning with you if you can work to the same goal it has.

- for awhile, hank behaved very npc like or average grunt like before the whole punching the boombox guy. a whole lot of no particularly violent activity until that incident and it being like the switch flip of 'oh wait. i dont really know why but i think ive done this kinda killing people thing before ( marshmallow madness ) but im really really enjoying it,' like it might be a natural thing hank knows to do. - almost all of hank's outfit is a diy project it works on when it is bored, parts are stolen during missions ( homes / clothing stores ) or straight from the garbage. in a sense that's how hank is gradually building an identity for themself.

∙ hank has no issue with dying itself, but it's a matter of what circumstance and how they die that will determine if that irritates it enough to come back. ( i.e some stupid rug pulling bullshit or getting a kill stolen by dying to something stupid. )

- much of hank's skin is discolored or outright not the same shade or tone as their original skin since they're a hankenstein of various people's body's now ( haha ). they're also missing some certain parts that don't particularly bother them. its more like accessory and so long as they have the necessary parts that won't cause them complications, it frankly doesn't give a shit if something is gone.

for sheriff ( he ) : - go my transgender bear. - sheriff self medicated with alcoholic and as a result, over the years became a functioning alcoholic. this is entirely based on the line of 'pass the whiskey' he has and also the whole.. debacle he's been put in. he smells always vaguely of whiskey as a result of this. he feels a bit braver drunk but y'know.. reality backhands him in the face again and he focuses.

- sheriff and jeb are not friends. at best they are aquaintances, allies by circumstance not by goal. sheriff is afraid of jeb and worries about pissing him off as it might mean he loses an ally and potentially gains an enemy if he doesn't comply with his orders ( i.e assisting jeb in plans like lending his men to deal with hank ). at this point in time, jeb seems wildly unstable and too zeroed in on his savior bullshit for sheriff to feel comfortable speaking up at all about not wanting to deal with this stuff anymore. sheriff was a normal guy first that had no intention of getting involved with this stuff in the first place until jeb pulled him into it with fear as a motivation. jeb isn't a friend, just a 'friendly-face'. - sheriff has gotten better at hiding his fear / non-fighter nature at least with the way he talks. the fear and the desire to live is always there but the way he presents himself feeds into how he is perceived. at the end of everything, sheriff is always running away from the site of conflict if he's in an unsafe spot or at a disadvantage. covering up his fear makes him appear very cocky and arrogant - sheriff's hair is long as well as his beard, it is like a mane. it's his pride and he tries his best to keep it well maintained but he's.. too stressed to keep it up all the time. there are some curly and wiggly looking hairs ( i don't know the right term for it ) sticking out, and some parts tangled and thick. he feels weird if he were to ask anyone of his men to brush it out. - sheriff is a lot better at fighting and defending himself at this current point in time ( mpn2 and ahead ) but he is held back by the fact he is worried about dying or getting injured in general. he's afraid of taking a risk and would much rather use traps and a whole lot of walls in the way. - sheriff likes to hum, whistle and sing quietly to soothe his nerves. unfortunately, given his desire to uphold a strong image, he overthinks that being heard humming or singing, even quietly, around any of the MERC units will have him perceived as too soft or an oddity. for this reason, he is usually found whistling little bits when he's actually roaming the MERC buildings and his humming and quiet singing is for when he's patrolling the industrial sector walls on his own. - he carries a level of care for the MERC under his leadership but has a confused relationship with his individuality and being a part of a group. he was a guy first and foremost and because of the responsibility that was put onto him by jeb to protect these people he feels an obligation to forego his feelings and emotional needs. as a result he doesn't really.. interact with them on a super friendly level as much as he would say, a stranger with a friendly chat. he sees them as just people to be protected, a group and not individuals. he can separate himself from them but he also cant. - the nutrient slop in a can he's been eating for so many years has dulled his sense of taste a bit. if you gave him something that tasted real, even as greasy as a goddamn burger his face would light up. hot food does things to your mind and you dont realize it until you've had it again. - sheriff and the industrial sector represent each other. with large walls and many defenses to protect himself but with unfortunate cracks and weak points created over time. there can be so many barriers but many pathways, many vents for someone to crawl through and find the weak point.

ok. go my old man yaori.

their entire relationship is a push and pull. - their relationship (?) is a secret for as much as they are capable of keeping it a secret. sheriff desperately wants to keep it a secret because he fears that his men ( MERC ) finding out could potentially get him exiled or worse killed for being a 'traitor'. he also doesn't want to lose that sense of safety and togetherness, a stable foundation for him to stand and walk on. it's why he kicks himself in the head about the whole thing because he knows he shouldn't be getting involved like this. - as i mentioned before, hank feels no physical attraction to anybody and that applies to sheriff as well. it feels nothing in terms of 'wow he's cute' or 'he's hot'. the times that it can be mistaken that hank finds something about sheriff that is cute in terms of physical appearance is for different reasons. for example.. sheriff blushing and hank responding positively to that is not because hank finds that image to be cute but because he understands that image to be a positive thing. if : sheriff is blushing, then : i did something good, since i understand blushing as something that happens when someone is flattered. it elicits a positive reaction from hank because he understands it as something good and beneficial, rather than it being found personally cute or pretty. - hank thinks that sheriff did have a sort of glow up and that he looks 'cooler' now ( i.e you don't look like a wimp anymore ) however he thinks that the absolute layering of clothes, body armor and ammo looks tacky as hell. he gets why sheriff is wearing all that but it could have better days. they do find the leather chaps sheriff wears to be the one thing that kind of look cool, so it has taken the liberty of messing with them a bit, with permission, to make them look a bit cooler. it likes leather. on the topic of what sheriff wears, hank also doesn't like what he's wearing because it makes sheriff obnoxiously annoying to fight in close combat. it'll swing at sheriff and feel the padding and get a bit irritated because he really is just layered in protection, no satisfaction that it normally gets from feeling the injury caused in a fight. ..hank knows that it'd be better to leave not too many injuries, but that doesn't stop it from being irritated when they trade punches and it can feel a bruise on the highway while sheriff likely hasn't gotten something so serious. it's the kind of bullshit it doesn't like. hank wears body armor and padding too but not nearly as much. - they're both at around level terms of fighting capability, it is their personalities and style that make the difference. hank does not like sheriff's style of fighting in the presence of other people watching whatsoever as he thinks it's cowardly and unengaging. he's always at a distance, rapid fire, itchy finger. it's like dealing with a turret with self awareness and a mouth to run insults at you. the bullshit bullshiiiit he doesnt like. it's why hank prefers the little spats they get in. - hank's biggest upside in their situationship is how direct and to the point they are, it really hates the dancing around the topic sheriff does. if sheriff is being particularly dodgy about something or acting differently or avoidant, hank asks directly what is going on. it figured out relatively fast that sheriff's cowardly avoidant nature applies to just about anything and it has to adapt to that. sheriff's biggest downside is his reluctance to vocalize his needs as he doesn't entirely perceive hank as a person yet, still seeing him partially as the man in the posters, meaning he doesn't believe hank is capable of accommodating, being affectionate, or being considerate of his needs.

- sheriff hates vocalizing or articulating anything that seems like proof to the world or himself of his affections towards hank. something simple as wanting to have an embrace, he does not want to say it. it's acknowledgement of his affections, and he doesn't want to acknowledge it. he would rather outright go for the hug or for hank to initiate it first. on the same note, neither of them say i love you to each other. hank doesn't particularly care.. it just sees it as another expression of affection and it doesn't find words to be as fun as actions. sheriff doesn't say it for the reasons above and it feels way too intimate for him anyway. it's like saying 'yes, hank j wimbleton most wanted person in nevada who has killed many many and killed me once as well, i lovey wovey you'. he feels stupid saying it. it's 3 words but he hears a lot more. - sheriff still maintains a grudge for having been killed by hank many years ago, it's sort of shallow now though. he already got even with hank at the start of this snowballing situation, as they had a spat and he shot them dead. - hank is the grounded one in the situationship, more mentally stable and.. decisively stable than sheriff. he often has to be very blunt so sheriff stops rocking around, thinking too hard about something. - they don't talk to each other that often but on the chances they do, they do have some.. detailed conversations on things. it can range from something mundane as guns, what attachments they like on theirs to .. more delicate topics.

- hank often returns to sq hq smelling faintly of whiskey and sheriff often returns to MERC warehouses smelling vaguely of rotting bodies and blood. they both have smelled each other and they both think they both smell like shit. when possible, sheriff will continuously nudge that hank go and bathe, though that means sheriff has to as well. - hank thinks sheriff is a bit.. like crazy? or at least not making the smartest decisions sometimes. he wonders why sheriff maintains really long hair even though he works around machinery a lot. hank thinks that he's beign a bit ridiculous for being such a worry wart and not doing anything about the glaring issue in his wardrobe. it has vocalized this issue and are usually met with sheriff giving him a bit of a dirty look. at the least, hank does like to touch his hair. sheriff doesn't particularly care that much about hank touching his hair, just that he doesn't cut it. it likes to feel the texture and pick out tangles, it gives hank something to do in a mundane slow time. - sheriff has one of hank's black bandanas. it let him keep it when sheriff as gotten a bit of a nasty slash during a spat they had together, hank had tied it around the wound and he let sheriff keep it. sheriff now uses it as part of his outfit from time to time. it alternates usually from 3 places : a hair tie for a low ponytail, tied around his arm, or most unseen, in his right back pants pocket. aaha. hheh. heh. ok i'm tired, there's more but big man wants to eat his damn ass food.. idk uh, my writing somewhat properly is escaping me

[bucketteeth]

Factors to Consider When Choosing Mini Excavator Attachments

Factors to Consider When Choosing Mini Excavator Attachments Since attachments differ and picking the right tool for the job is crucial to ensuring efficiency, consider these factors when choosing mini excavator attachments: Machine specifications: Confirm your compact excavator specifications to ensure you get compatible attachments. These add-ons come in various sizes or configurations, and you…

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Heyyyy, for no particular reason, who would take Z's role in the role swap universe??? Y'know, just as a silly question, no other reason...

;3?

I... still have no solid idea. As I've said before, it's difficult to roleswap them.

But here's what I was thinking for everyone though (this may change, but I want to keep their original classifications intact as much as possible):

Ragatha:

Swapped with Sunny and Moonie, now she's an Edutainment Mannequin.

Sunny and Moonie's original purpose were to teach astrology, therefore, Ragatha's now a "teacher" teaching people on tours about archeology, and ancient artifacts.

Jax:

Swapped with Gangle, now he's an Actor Automaton.

Instead of a streetside performer, Jax is now featured in B-tier movies, usually for comedic slapstick purposes due to the 'rubberhose-like' nature of his.

This means he regularly gets physically and verbally abused by the directors and human actors, the same way Gangle was.

Gangle:

Swapped with Ragatha. Her passive nature makes for a good luxury party Puppet, performing for a private audience. (no, not in that way.)

She also doubles as a maid sometimes, if she can do her job right.

Z:

Swapped with Kaufmo, now she's a Carnival Figurine and has the full name "Zooble" again.

The concept of Architectural figurines never went into full production, instead the Figurines became a 'pull-apart-and-put-back-together' carnival attraction, and wow were they popular with kids and adults with issues.

Kingr:

Swapped with Z, now he's an Arsenal Pawn.

Constantly making tools of war and becoming the portable, walking supply depot in the battlefield.

Kaufmo:

Swapped with Jax.

He's still a Manimatronic Automaton, usually performing for birthdays or general parties that need 'em instead of a carnival.

Sunny and Moonie:

Swapped with Quinnie and Scarlet, becoming the 'Cycle of the labyrinthian maze'. Both of them are basically the "night" and "day" wardens of the maze, and teach the inmates how to be a good member of society again.

If the inmates misbehaved during their term, these two are quick to act on it.

Quinnie:

Swapped with Kingr. Now, she's the highest ranking general, an Armada Pawn.

She's a damn powerhouse. If you thought Prime Kinger was bad, she's worse.

She's the literal definition of "hell hath no fury a woman scorned"

Scarlet:

Surprisingly, she's not swapped with anyone, unless you count Sunny's current position in the swap. Me and Scarlet were talking, and we decided that Scarlet, instead of becoming a war machine guarding the upper levels of the maze Quinnie is in, Scarlet had become a personal bodyguard for an eccentric millionaire who may or may not be a furry

TL;DR:

Ragatha = Sunny and Moonie's position Jax = Gangle's position Gangle = Ragatha's position Z = Kaufmo's position Kingr = Z's position Kaufmo = Jax's position Sunny and Moonie = Quinnie and Scarlet's position Quinnie = Kingr's position Scarlet = role has been changed without swapping with anyone.

[studywithelle]

why I don't use AI for school work, and I don't think you should either

I have been staunchly against using AI for as long as ChatGPT has been a regularly used tool, not necessarily for moral reasons but for arrogant ones. I firmly beleive that I can write a better essay then a malfunctioning robot. My teacher used it to generate photos of scrabble tiles for a wall display, and despite the prompt spelling the words exactly correctly, ChatGPT spelt them wrong. Why would you want to trust a clearly flawed machine with your grades? However recently the sheer amount of people I see at school using AI and supporting the use of AI is so horrifying to me I felt it was something I needed to talk about

Using ChatGPT prevents you from learning properly. Doing things quickly does not equate to doing them well. I understand how difficult it can be to schedule and make time for everything, but using ChatGPT is just like getting someone else to do your work for you. You will not learn! (Most) teachers are not setting difficult homework for the sole purpose of making things hard for you, they set the work to help you learn and to grow resilience.

People are using it for completely stupid tasks, that they could perform far easier without it. For our English Portfolio Essays the SQA requires us to have a certain amount of sources and so many people asked ChatGPT to find them articles. It was ridiculous and slightly horrifying. Have we lost the ability to simply look things up for ourselves? Or to, god forbid, read a real book? Do not use ChatGPT for tasks that could be performed to a higher level if you simply did them yourself! My mother has a friend who marks Advanced Higher Biology Assignments for the SQA, she recently marked one that had 30 references, none of which were right! ChatGPT is not a good tool!

Yes it can save time, but what would you do with the extra time? and surely there are other ways of saving that time. Don't use it to help format emails, there are human made email templates available online, don't use it to help find quotes, you can just search them up yourself on a normal search engine, whatever ChatGPT does for you, there will be an honest hardworking person willing and able to do for you, please go to them instead. If ChatGPT saves you fifteen minutes a day is that really worth it? and if it saves more time then what do you do with that extra time? scroll tiktok? watch netflix? you are not saving time you are wasting your life!

[idliketobeatree]

dead boy detectives characters as art objects and sculptures; extended ---

hello, i remembered i made some subjective explanations and notes on few of my choices for this post, and i thought some folks might enjoy it. soo let's get into it.

1.

monty finch

author: anders krisár

pretty self-explanatory; it's a moulded male torso with visible inprints on its skin.

anders krisár’ artistry explores the themes of loss, separation, and the condition of the psyche through the lens of a human body in duality: perfectionism meets unsettlement, skin meets marble and bronze and polyester, to create sculptures spanning geological time far beyond the living's capabilities.

monty's creation by esther was already stripped of any human agency. "he was made a boy, not a person", small, almost doll-sized, with a singular purpose: to seduce and entice the chosen dead boy into their doom. the naked skin and specifically the position of its arms are mildly erotic, but in a way that makes your skin crawl. the imprints are intimate, placed possesive; notice the thumbs digging close to especially sensitive areas like nipples and the belly button.

the latter seems to connect the "creator" to the subject, the navel here as a symbol of cruel, invasive motherhood. the fact that the torso is cut off in the middle and at the neck furthers the uncanny valley feeling of a young male body, but then again. this is a realistic portrayal. so was it ever a person? what does it have inside to make dents so profound? how deep you can press until it breaks?

--- i'm leaving out crystal and edwin (for now?), but @nicheoverhere brilliantly noticed that it was the same author for both. that was intentional! because glen martin taylor is all about taking kintsugi, which is a beautiful art form of repairing fine china and generally delicate things with veins of precious metals, but with materials like— nails. scissors. barbed wire. all ugly. the repair after a great shattering is seldom pretty after all, they really are similar in this regard. ---

2.

charles rowland

author: robert hudson

okay, strap in. this funky dreamy world belongs to robert hudson, and i picked it for charles rowland because it's all first impressions. the colours? the composition? they give you the 80s vibes, almost; like something a kid would design if you asked them what a time machine would look like. it could probably move in several ways. the pieces seem mismatched, but hold themselves together surprisingly well. or maybe you underestimate it?

it's neither big nor small. you can't tell its size at all. it's a bit overwhelming to look at, at first, and at second, and after a while, but it carries that comfortable familiarity and nostalgia for— well, nothing in particular, because the longer you look, the sadder its past seems. the bold pops of contrasting colour are fighting for your attention. they want you to like it! and yet, the major material seems to be just. rusted steel. made from tools.

and look at that botched up sphere, it wants so badly to be a perfect sphere and it knows it'll never be one. fine!! perhaps it could be a football ball instead! or maybe a head. if you close your eyes, that is. and this facing-up horseshoe? a lucky charm, made to collect good luck and keep it from falling out cause god, it needs it.

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3.

niko sasaki

author: justin cloud

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niko sasaki, now how do i describe her? let's start by saying— she's cleary a her. this one is a she. and there's something to be said about blooming, and femininity, and delicacy, because pink is a hopeful girly colour and a surprise and a delight.

what are you doing in a gallery, little flower, shouldn't you be at home? in a field? look how pretty you are! mind you, of course there's something wrong with her as well, but you're not sure if that is because someone messed it up, or because of a different entity alltogether. was it always half-electric? its elegance seems purposeful— the iridescent metal fits all too well with the white-pink petals— but also uncanny. and oh suddenly you can't stop looking at the stigma from which a pollen should release aaany time now.

when i look at her, at her black artificial stem and the small leaves imitating the real ones, i wonder if she doesn't want to lure me into a trap. is it her fault?

the beautiful petals seem like the only thing left real of the flower. whichever way she turns, it will probably mean— death. and flowers are ephemeral. what is a flower mounted to a wall, fortified with steel, connected with cables and enfused with electrical energy, then?

i think she's a self-preserving survivor. ---

4.

the night nurse

author: elizabeth turk

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now. the night nurse.

of course it's the only piece in the collection where the background needed to be dark. no one here is older than her. there is no inoffensive, fading-into-background white for this absolute pillar of truth. or maybe something like a totem, quite protective in nature. and it's terrifying, 'cause you're immediately hit with the feeling that you're looking at something out of this realm, something you're not supposed to witness. the perspective is all wrong. is it downwards or upwards? why does it seem unstable when the pieces are so perfectly centered and seemingly well-balanced? child, you should calm down, it's not like you will destroy it with a stronger puff of air. will you?

this sculpture is called "tipping point — echoes of extinction", and it's actually a mix of technology and sculpture and sound, with elegant visualizations of the lost voices of birds and sea mammals. the author said it "was conceived in reverence to the astounding lives the species which envelop humans have lived and the mysterious ways they have contributed to our well-being. the shadows of their memory, whether a shape or a sound, have inspired this project." so the piece deals with death. moreover, it deals with murder. it records the harsh reality and makes sure the ones that suffered horribly at the hands of humans are, in a way, celebrated. but also— categorised. like epitaphs. the birdsong, once a living sign, is only visually represented by the lines of varying lenghts in 3D, and you can do nothing about it anymore, right, you can't bring back the dead, you can't help the innocent dying in any way other than— stacking them on top of each other and moving on.

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so that's for now, i might someday write more if anyone's curious. :")