#White Set Rendering

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 45

PREV

Renee Walker stands next to two of her best friends in the entire world holding up a hand drawn sign. There's an, admittedly crudely drawn, Fox on the sign that Allison had made up.

Renee had seen it and smiled from across the airport as she made her way over to where Dan and Allison were standing waiting for everyone to come. The team had managed to coordinate their flights to land all within about two hours of one another and Allison had exactly zero desire to go back and forth from the airport so her driver was waiting out at a nearby cellphone lot to come and get them once everyone was there.

"Is it nice having a driver again?" Dan asks Allison.

"I sometimes miss driving around in my car but it's a lot easier to do my makeup with him driving." she says with a shrug as they continue to catch up. Renee is holding up the sign since Allison had complained that she had lost so much of the muscle she had previously had.

"Yeah, New York City seems like a major pain in the ass to drive in too." Dan agrees as her phone buzzes. She pulls out her phone and looks at it before a huge smile fills her face, one that means she's talking to Matt, "Oh! They just landed!" Dan says confirming Renee's suspicions.

Allison looks at her watch, "Wow, 20 minutes early. They must have gotten through boarding quickly." she comments.

"Or some good tailwind." Renee offers.

"When are Neil and Andrew due up?" Dan asks looking at Renee who smiles back at her friend.

"Andrew said they're going to take a break halfway here so they'll be here tomorrow morning." Renee says.

"Get it Neil." Allison nods and it had been a wonderful thing last year to watch Andrew and Allison make peace with one another. Their mutual desire to dress Neil up a bridge towards....maybe not friendship but camaraderie.

It warms Renee's heart to see her friends get along.

"The plane got tailwind, Neil's getting tail." Dan jokes.

"I'm looking forward to meeting the new kid that I've heard about." Renee says gently moving the topic on from their friends getting together. It didn't bother her at all, but she knew that Andrew would prefer no one talk about what he and Neil got up to.

"Oh! Yeah, uh..." Dan visibly buffers.

"Dan, you're the only one of us that's met the kid. His name's Smith." Allison says with eyebrows raised in judgement.

"Look, when Coach and I went to recruit the kid my brain was like 90% on the fact that I needed to go to my interview." Dan defends herself.

"So he wasn't that memorable for you?" Allison asks.

"Yeah, I'm surprised that he's getting along so well with the guys." Dan says. "Getting stabbed over Thanksgiving feels more like a Neil move than the quiet kid Coach and I met." she adds.

That had been an interesting phone call from Andrew. Renee hadn't even realized that she had become Natalie describing the best way to get rid of the body until Andrew had clarified that it'd been an accident and Smith was alive. Renee had been a little ashamed.

She was excited to meet the kid who Andrew had spoken to her about. Glad that their strange found family was growing just a little bit bigger.

They wait around continuing to talk about plans for the break together. Allison wants to go shopping and she wants to do it once Neil and Andrew are back. Dan wants to skate at the Rockefeller center. Renee would love it if they could do Christmas Eve Mass.

They're sure that Kevin is going to want to check out an Exy game. They're mostly sure that Matt will want to check out the LEGO store in downtown manhattan and that Aaron will be as excited for that as Matt is but pretending not to be. Nicky wants to catch a drag show and has made it clear that he will be going regardless of what anyone else wants to do. Andrew and Neil will probably just want to be alone when they have the chance though Neil had expressed some prior interest in the EXITES superstore and Andrew will more than likely enjoy the day Allison has planned to go shopping since she wants to update Neil's wardrobe.

The new kid, Smith, will be a mystery, but they're more than willing to be flexible.

Eventually they hear the tell-tale sign of most of the boy's arrival. "Babe!" comes from across the airport and Dan's head shoots up and spots the sight of Matt Boyd approaching his arms out wide almost clotheslining four different families on his way to Dan.

Dan is not much better as she rushes to him arms as wide.

They embrace like they always do whenever they have to spend time apart from one another and Renee knows that part of the reason that Dan took her job as assistant coach where she did is that the Washington State Congress Team had been looking at Matt the year prior to scout him.

She looks beyond the passionate reunion and sees Kevin, Aaron, and Nicky. She frowns brows furrowing...

Weren't they going to bring-

Nicky throws his arm out and it wraps around a kid she hadn't even realized was there. She blinks startled by his sudden appearance and blank expression as Nicky was pointing them out. He points to her and he can see her name on his lips she gives a wave and a smile.

Smith nods back in greeting.

He seems quite nice.

***

Renee is at the end of her proverbial rope.

This kid is a threat and she doesn't understand how she's the only person who can see it.

Being a threat isn't really an issue when you're a Fox. It's almost a given that there's some part of you that can be dangerous when backed into a corner but no one seems to be treating him like a threat.

She watches as Nicky and Matt throw their arms around him. As Kevin pushes smoothie after smoothie into his hands as he blankly sips. As Andrew and Neil sit with him quietly. As Dan pinches his cheeks. As Aaron ribs him for being bad at MarioKart.

She can't feel anything from him, no joy, no anger, nothing.

She can't even track him.

Renee has always prided herself on her ability to keep track of those around her. Spacial awareness was incredibly important when you're in a fight and it had always been one of her strongest points. She always knew where she was in relation to everyone else.

Except Smith.

The kid had given her no shortage of heart attacks as he appeared and disappeared seemingly at random.

She had finally gotten Andrew alone to ask, "Smith's quiet, non-intrusive." Andrew says with a shrug.

There's just something about him that makes the hair on the back of Renee's neck stand on edge and she hates feeling like she's the only one. She hates it even more that there's no real evidence that there's something amiss with this newest Fox.

So she settles in to watch.

They're out shopping and Allison is doing her best to get Neil a proper wardrobe with Andrew's considerable help, AKA nodding in approval when Neil comes out. She's not skimping on any of them but Neil is her main focus.

"Smith, what's a color you like?" Allison asks as she's looking at hoodies.

"I like purple." Smith answers and Renee barely manges to stop herself from flinching as his voice comes from right next to her.

"Pass." Andrew says as Neil comes out in a charmingly orange sweatshirt.

"I like it!" Neil argues.

"You have 10 sweatshirts that are that exact shade of orange." Andrew dismisses. "Try the blue one." he says pushing Neil back into the dressing room.

"Which one?" Neil asks.

Andrew sighs dramatically in a way that lets Renee know that he's doing exactly what he wants to be doing, "I'll show you." he says going into the dressing room with Neil.

"I still don't know how it took Baltimore for me to realize they were together." Nicky says as he's holding up two different purple sweatshirts to Smith's body. "You look good in a more purpley purple." Nicky says putting the more indigo colored sweatshirt back on the rack.

"Pants are coming up next, I'll get a lay of the land. I know everyone else's but Smith what's your height?" Allison asks.

"Five feet, nine inches." Smith answers as Nicky pushes him towards the dressing room. "Nicky it's a sweatshirt, I can put it on out here." Smith says.

"I know but I need an excuse to go back there and make sure Neil and Andrew aren't defiling a dressing room." Nicky says with a grin that implies he'd be more happy if they were.

"Gross." Aaron says as he takes a picture of himself to send to Katelyn to approve of the new outfit that Allison was pushing for him to get. "Wait," he pauses turning to where Allison was looking through various men's pants, "you know our heights? Like you've memorized them?" he asks.

"Yeah." Allison says looking at a pair of black slacks. "Everyone's measurements." she says nodding to herself.

"Even bust sizes?" he asks, voice not as quiet as he likely thinks it is.

"You're such a boy." Allison laughs not even looking up from the very different rack.

"How much longer are we going to be here?" Kevin asks with a sigh.

"Well, at least the time that it took you to ask that longer. We'll be done when we're done Kevin." Dan says long having given up on stopping Allison when the woman is on a spree.

"She knows that EXITES closes at 5 PM right?" Kevin asks.

"More importantly," Matt leans in, "that the LEGO store closes at 8 PM right?" Matt asks.

"How is that more important? The LEGO store is open later?" Kevin asks.

"Because we're not going to EXITES today, but we are going to the LEGO store." Matt says.

"If we don't spend the whole day here we can do both-"

"We're not going to EXITES today Kevin." Dan says with a sigh.

"But-"

"We're not going to EXITES today Kevin." Renee says with an apologetic smile.

"But-"

"Kevin, we're not going to EXITES today. Just sit down and let me find pants that'll make your pin-up days look tame in comparison." Allison says.

"That's not what those posters were!" Kevin argues with a blush on his face.

"Sure." Allison dismisses

***

Renee is quite happy with the sundresses she found even if they won't do her any good here in New York City during the Christmas break. Their next stop on their shopping day is over to the LEGO store where Matt makes no attempt to hide his enthusiasm as Aaron very valiantly does try to pretend like he's not utterly entranced by the sets and builds.

Renee thinks it's all very charming.

"We could have gone to EXITES." Kevin says with a frown as he looks at a build of an Exy racquet. "Can you take my picture with this?" he asks but he's not quite looking at Renee.

"Sure." Smith says from beside her, where he had apparently been.

"Thanks Smiths." Kevin says and stands next to the Exy racquet of LEGOs and crosses his arms and leans back.

"Kevin, stop posing like this will be for the cover of a Forbes Magazine." Andrew says with a sigh as he comes to stand on Renee's other side.

"Shut up, it's a picture for me!" Kevin says and continues to stand with his arms crossed.

"Oh, can you get a picture of me next Smith?" Neil asks coming up eyes shining in excitement as he looks at the racquet.

"Sure. As an apology for letting Nicky-"

"Don't talk about it." Neil and Andrew say at the same time.

Kevin gets his picture and then Andrew hands his phone to Smith for Neil's since Neil had broken the lens on his camera ages ago.

They wander around and Kevin finds a set to build the National Court that he grabs without a second thought. Neil and Andrew find a little LEGO man of Kevin that they buy as their 'preferred Kevin'. Kevin of course threatens to buy their LEGO figures once they have them and refer to them as his 'preferred Andrew and Neil'. A threat that neither of them comment on but Renee does buy the little Jean Moreau she finds. She'll paint it Trojan colors and send it over to him as a little gift.

As she continues to browse with her purchase in hand she hears Nicky, "Smithy, if you like it you should get it!" Nicky insists.

"Is it the price?" Allison asks.

"Yeah, I don't want to spend that much." Smith says with a nod expression still worryingly blank.

"When's your birthday? It can just be an early or a late present from me." Allison asks.

"March 1st, but really I'm fine not getting it." Smith shakes his head. "It's not that I'd like it just my little brother liked trains." he says and Renee watches Nicky's face turn from joyful teasing to intense determination.

"We're getting this set." Nicky says grabbing it and marching over to the counter even as Smith followed after him.

Interesting.

***

They finish off their day with some ice skating.

Matt, Aaron, Andrew, and Kevin all fall into the 'challenged' category.

They get on the ice and all four immediately fall. Renee stifles her laughter as Andrew and Aaron scowl. "Are you okay?" Smith asks and Renee almost loses her balance as he skates by her.

"Why the fuck are you good at skating?" Aaron asks scowling even as he takes Smith hand. Renee skates over and offers a hand to Kevin as Matt and Andrew are being helped up by their respective partners.

"Oh," Allison says skating by, "have you been up to Canada or something often?" she asks.

"I've been to Canada a few times. It's more that there was a rink I would go to every once in a while." Smith answers before turning back to Aaron, "I can help you keep balanced." he says offering his other hand.

"Smith, I don't want to hold your hand. That's kind of gay." Aaron huffs letting go of Smith's hand only to immediately beef it again when he tried to move forward.

***

Skating was fun even if Aaron kept blushing as Smith helped him skate since he never really got his 'ice legs'. The rest of them all more or less skated on their own by the end or, in the case of Andrew and Matt, seemed fine to keep skating while holding on.

Renee was warming herself by the fireplace in Allison's home enjoying some hot chocolate as Allison took a seat next to her. There was a lot of commotion in the kitchen as the team was working to make dinner together. Renee had excused herself after Smith had startled her while she had a knife in hand and she'd almost stabbed him on instinct.

She's just relieved that no one seemed to notice the near murder.

"You okay? You seemed tense in there." Allison asks.

Well, almost no one.

"Yes, I'm fine." she smiles and hopes that Allison will believe it.

Allison looks at her and Renee does have the benefit that Allison is slightly drunk since she was told firmly not to help with the cooking since she'd paid for the majority of the day.

"I'm glad I got you alone, there's something I want to hear your opinion on." Allison says deciding, apparently, to let it go for now.

Renee relaxes smiling at her friend, "What's that?" she asks wondering what purchase or thing unpurchased Allison was regretting.

Allison looks at Renee, expression utterly serious. "Don't you think there's something...weird about this kid?" she asks.

Renee straightens up glad that Allison had also felt like something was off with the kid that her friends had brought along. "What do you mean?" she asks wanting to hear what Allison thought.

"Look, he seems really nice. I mean a little too nice to be a Fox to be honest but I mean I guess you're a Fox as well so..." Allison rambles slightly taking another sip of her wine.

"Yes, go on." Renee nods.

"Yeah, he seems nice and Matt said he's got his own stuff even if he didn't wanna go into what that stuff was." Allison continues and it's a good thing Allison is drinking white wine considering the white carpet and her gesticulations. "But...it's just.. okay you can't make fun of me. Even though this is about to sound crazy." Allison says.

"I would never do something like that." Renee swears.

"Promise me." Allison says expression grave as she lifts up a pinky.

Renee smiles despite herself and hooks her pinky with Allison's, "I promise to not make fun of you." she swears other hand over her cross.

"I think he's Justin Bieber."

MASTERPOST FOR ALL PARTS OF FLUENT FRESHMAN AU

[huntersapprentice]

hello everyone! I felt like trying out rendering with the watercolor brushes on medibang, so what better subjects to draw than my VeggieTales gijinkas holding swords

[obstinaterixatrix]

okay so obv there’s always been nsfw anime and of course there’d be nsfw bl anime it’s just not something you stumble upon unless you’re actively looking for it but while I was doing my regular browse of my least ethical most sketchy bl site I got hit by multiple revelations of 1) there’s an anime of ayaka matsumoto’s really smutty bl?? 2) it’s uncensored??? 3) it looks like shit???????? I’m aghast matsumoto’s art is so charming and expressive, just a really refreshing retro look, and the anime character designs look so… modern. generic. smoothened. condolences to matsumoto for being in lightsaber censorship jail while the anime team gets to draw dick I guess (that’s pretty unusual isn’t it??) anyway it’s 4 am enough reporting on smut

[cloudinal]

Mitsuru birthday !!

[infinityvalkariel]

✧・°・。・°・。・ aurosa embrace. - 2024.12.20

[redhotarsenic]

The Woowoo sketch I was talking about. Btw.

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 6, day 16

New texture again! This time a black marble with white veining, plus me playing around with the settings on it to get different colors. I really like that black and purple with gold veining, that turned out super cool :D

[aria0fgold]

Colour circles connect the dot...

Alright, I couldn't resist not posting something bout my art wip but this is so vague anyway that it's fine and also I find it so funny how it looks like a vaguely shaped tiny t-rex.

[manmuncher777]

How the jjk men would react to an aphrodisiac

Toji -

Being brutally honest, I love a dom man. But I think he would get a little subby. Being such a brat because you forget to tell him about the special chocolates you had bought and now hes been fucking aching for you all day. Then you had the audacity o be at work for the whole day.

“Fuck baby, gonna kill me” the giant of a man was basically whimpering beneath you, splayed out on your couch like a slut while you rode him half to death. Hips slamming down brutally against his thick thighs with all your might, doing your best to get him off.

Your slick now dripping all over his thighs as you rode him, your thighs burning and arms aching but you never slowed.

Toji could do nothing but take it, he had been thinking about this all day. And it was so much better than he imagined it rendered him almost paralysed. Forearm flung over his eyes as he grits his teeth as the feeling of your sloppy cunt swallowing him over and over again, your position allowing his bulbous tip to kiss your cervix. Stretching yourself over his thick cock. It’s like his sense were multiplied, usually he would bent you over and fucked into you until you were a drooling mess. But this time he was the drooling mess, as soon as you sunk down onto him he knew it was endgame

Hearing your big strong boyfriend whimper beneath you turned you on far more than you thought, each movement you made dead set on pulling the most pathetic noise from him.

“S-shit~ haa~” he hissed out at a particularly cruel squeeze of your pussy.

Oh how he wished he could watch you, your flushed face staring at him, tits bouncing with each grind of your hips, but he knew the second he stared into those glossy eyes he would be done for.

“What wrong baby?”You questioned, slowing your movements to teasing drags.

“F-fuck you doll.” He gritted out, hips pathetically bucking into yours trying to chase his pleasure

“Awh im trying baby.” You giggled

Shit that was music to his ears, he never usually lets you lead. But hes thinking he might have to from now on

After hes fucked you for payback however

Nanami -

Oh hes fucking insatiable. I mean hes already obsessed woth you enough as it is. Now imagine that tenfold. So its kind of freak you out when you come home from work to find him sat in your living room, glass of whisky in hand, tie undone, disheveled hair. And a devious look in his eyes

“Come on darling, show me how deep I am” he drawls with a Cheshire Cat like grin on his face. Gripping one of you hands and dragging it down to your stomach. Where he was clearly bulging through you poor little pussy. You did your best in your fuck out state to move his huge hands, bringing it down on the bulge. Only for him to press on it gently, watching the way your eyes lolled into the back of you head, mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

“Oh there? Is that the spot my love?” He questioned, cruel really as he knew you could hardly form the words to answer.

Sure you had seen Nanami feral before but it was nothing like this, nothing as raw and filthy as this. The way his eyes trained on you, never leaving. Watching you like prey, knowing you had no way of escape. His hand every now and then moving to the side that he had place his whisky, taking a sip before turning his attention back to you. Only this time he brought his mouth to yours, transferring the Smokey liquid into your mouth with a sloppy kiss, licking the trail it leaves as it spills from the corner of your mouth.

“Ken~” the sultry action pulling his name from your mouth in a broken whine. His cock fucking you deeper and deeper into the couch with every thrust, dragging through your velvety walls in a way that had his knuckles goin white with how hard the were gripping the cushions

“Oh- fuck say it again baby”

Suguru - (fucking father of all my kids, love of my life, underrated king)

He’s so fucking cruel with it, I mean you cant blame him, you left those chocolates out without sating a word, and then are too busy to pick up your phone all day when all he wanted to hear was your voice while he fucked his fist. So of course hes going to have to teach you a lesson

Hot tears stream down your face, ruining the makeup you had spent so long on that morning. You had just got in from seeing a friend, rushing because of all the missed calls. But instead of coming home to an emergency, you came home to Suguru fucking his hand on your shared bed, before pouncing on you, stripping you down and bending you over the bed.

“That’s it baby, cry for me” he gritted out to you, huge hands coming down to encase you wrists in his grip, using them as leverage to fuck you harder and harder. The slap of skin against skin echoing in the room, slightly masked by your screams of pleasure.

And you did exactly that, pouring tears into your bedsheets, smearing your mascara into the material. His hips snapped so savagely into yours, relishing in the feeling of your thighs trembling

“Sugu~ fuck fuck fuck” his name left your lips so sweetly it almost made him want to show some mercy. Almost.

His hips bucking into yours, fuelled by the sound of your pathetic whines.

“Oh no, not sugu for you tonight sweetheart, thats reserved for good girls” Groaning at he pummels deeper into you, struggling to get his words out as you clench so tightly around him. Getting even more distracted as he watched himself enter you, the way your thighs glisten with your own arousal, the noise your pussy makes as he takes a hand and swipes his digits through your folds

“It’s Suguru to you- fuckin tease”

A scream left you, muffled by the duvet you head was getting buried into. Nodding your head as you accept everything he was giving you.

“Yes Suguru.”

“Oh baby, now you want to play nice? Breaking my heart sweets” he leans down to whisper against the shell of your ear

“Cus im not done with your punishment yet”

Gojo -

Hi - pathetic whimpery mess, thats all - send tweet

“Shit baby, been thinking about this all day” hot breath tickles your ear from the shuddering man. He was fucking wrecked, skin sticky with sweat as he eagerly thrusts into from behind, muscular body hulked over, pressed into your back as he struggles to support himself, his hips moving as if they had a mind of their own, chasing yet another orgasm. “Been thinking about you.” He rambles, eyes squeezed shut as he fucks you, one of his thick arms wrapped around your torso, stopping your escape from his brutal thrusts. “Been thinking about this pretty little pussy” and you can hear the need in his voice, the pitchy whine that leaves him with every word. Silent pleas not to stop. His thick cock stretching you over him, so deep you could hardly speak. Your one choice being to listen to him as he talks to you. Words flowing from him with little thought. His only focus being how well you were taking him

“F-fuck, please let me cum inside” he stutters, a pathetic whisper in your ear. His pretty leaking tip mashing against your g-spot as he spoke, begging.

He never slowed, slamming into you over and over again, unable to stop himself. You werent sure how many times he made you cum already, you werent sure how many times he had cum now. But you couldn’t find it in you to care, hearing him so pathetic and whiny getting you wetter and wetter by the second.

“‘Toru~” You gasped as one of his hands dove sown to your clit, rubbing fast circles on the swollen bud. Legs quivering which each movement of his fingers

“B-baby, you cant ca— fuck- cant call me that.” He shudders against your, eyes rolling back into his skull as he replays the way you said that little nickname of his

“Toru..” you purposely repeat, only to be met by hard thrusts and a deep groan from behind.

One…. Two… three

“Fuck”

A warm sensation filling your belly as he shoots ropes of hot cum deep inside, over and over until he was shaking from the pleasure. Not pulling out before starting his pace again.

“Need more sweets.”

[expertrendering]

White Set Rendering Melbourne

For high-quality White Set Rendering Melbourne, Expert Rendering is your premier choice. They specialize in providing top-notch White Set Rendering in Melbourne that enhances the aesthetic appeal and durability of your property. This technique offers a smooth and refined finish, perfect for residential and commercial buildings alike. Their comprehensive White Set Rendering Services Melbourne…

[villiedoom]

❄ Colors of Winter ❄

3D render of a northern Kotie (fantasy feline from my lore) in a snowy setting. I tried to recreate my favorite play of light with bright warm outline of the Kotie's silhouette, against the cold blue shades of the snow and his white fur.

Made in Blender. Grass from Poly Haven.

[jadenvargen]

free online james baldwin stories, essays, videos, and other resources

**edit

James baldwin online archive with his articles and photo archives.

---NOVELS---

Giovanni's room"When David meets the sensual Giovanni in a bohemian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But his girlfriend's return to Paris destroys everything. Unable to admit to the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened - while Giovanni's life descends into tragedy. This book introduces love's fascinating possibilities and extremities."

Go Tell It On The Mountain"(...)Baldwin's first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves."

+bonus: film adaptation on youtube. (if you’re a giancarlo esposito fan, you’ll be delighted to see him in an early preacher role)

Another Country and Going to Meet the Man Another country: "James Baldwin's masterly story of desire, hatred and violence opens with the unforgettable character of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York. Self-destructive, bad and brilliant, he draws us into a Bohemian underworld pulsing with heat, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray, love and test each other to the limit." Going to meet the Man: " collection of eight short stories by American writer James Baldwin. The book, dedicated "for Beauford Delaney", covers many topics related to anti-Black racism in American society, as well as African-American–Jewish relations, childhood, the creative process, criminal justice, drug addiction, family relationships, jazz, lynching, sexuality, and white supremacy."

Just Above My Head"Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land."

If Beale Street Could Talk"Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."

also has a film adaptation by moonlight's barry jenkins

Tell Me How Long the Train's been gone At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty. 

---ESSAYS---

Baldwin essay collection. Including most famously: notes of a native son, nobody knows my name, the fire next time, no name in the street, the devil finds work- baldwin on film

--DOCUMENTARIES--

Take this hammer, a tour of san Francisco.

Meeting the man

--DEBATES:--

Debate with Malcolm x, 1963 ( on integration, the nation of islam, and other topics. )

Debate with William Buckley, 1965. ( historic debate in america. )

Heavily moderated debate with Malcolm x, Charles Eric Lincoln, and Samuel Schyle 1961. (Primarily Malcolm X's debate on behalf of the nation of islam, with Baldwin giving occassional inputs.)

----

apart from themes obvious in the book's descriptions, a general heads up for themes of incest and sexual assault throughout his works.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

You’ve probably been asked this before, but do you have a specific view on ai-generated art. I’m doing a school project on artificial intelligence and if it’s okay, i would like to cite you

I mean, you're welcome to cite me if you like. I recently wrote a post under a reblog about AI, and I did a video about it a while back, before the full scale of AI hype had really started rolling over the Internet - I don't 100% agree with all my arguments from that video anymore, but you can cite it if you please.

In short, I think generative AI art

Is art, real art, and it's silly to argue otherwise, the question is what KIND of art it is and what that art DOES in the world. Generally, it is boring and bland art which makes the world a more stressful, unpleasant and miserable place to be.

AI generated art is structurally and inherently limited by its nature. It is by necessity averages generated from data-sets, and so it inherits EVERY bias of its training data and EVERY bias of its training data validators and creators. It naturally tends towards the lowest common denominator in all areas, and it is structurally biased towards reinforcing and reaffirming the status quo of everything it is turned to.

It tends to be all surface, no substance. As in, it carries the superficial aesthetic of very high-quality rendering, but only insofar as it reproduces whatever signifiers of "quality" are most prized in its weighted training data. It cannot understand the structures and principles of what it is creating. Ask it for a horse and it does not know what a "horse" is, all it knows is what parts of it training data are tagged as "horse" and which general data patterns are likely to lead an observer to identify its output also as "horse." People sometimes describe this limitation as "a lack of soul" but it's perhaps more useful to think of it as a lack of comprehension.

Due to this lack of comprehension, AI art cannot communicate anything - or rather, the output tends to attempt to communicate everything, at random, all at once, and it's the visual equivalent of a kind of white noise. It lacks focus.

Human operators of AI generative tools can imbue communicative meaning into the outputs, and whip the models towards some sort of focus, because humans can do that with literally anything they turn their directed attention towards. Human beings can make art with paint spatters and bits of gum stuck under tennis shoes, of course a dedicated human putting tons of time into a process of trial and error can produce something meaningful with genAI tools.

The nature of genAI as a tool of creation is uniquely limited and uniquely constrained, a genAI tool can only ever output some mixture of whatever is in its training data (and what's in its training data is biased by the data that its creators valued enough to include), and it can only ever output that mixture according to the weights and biases of its programming and data set, which is fully within the control of whoever created the tool in the first place. Consequently, genAI is a tool whose full creative capacity is always, always, always going to be owned by corporations, the only entities with the resources and capacity to produce the most powerful models. And those models, thus, will always only create according to corporate interest. An individual human can use a pencil to draw whatever the hell they want, but an individual human can never use Midjourney to create anything except that which Midjourney allows them to create. GenAI art is thus limited not only by its mathematical tendency to bias the lowest common denominator, but also by an ideological bias inherited from whoever holds the leash on its creation. The necessary decision of which data gets included in a training set vs which data gets left out will, always and forever, impose de facto censorship on what a model is capable of expressing, and the power to make that decision is never in the hands of the artist attempting to use the tool.

tl;dr genAI art has a tendency to produce ideologically limited and intrinsically censored outputs, while defaulting to lowest common denominators that reproduce and reinforce status quos.

... on top of which its promulgation is an explicit plot by oligarchic industry to drive millions of people deeper into poverty and collapse wages in order to further concentrate wealth in the hands of the 0.01%. But that's just a bonus reason to dislike it.

[anqelically]

THE MOMENT THEY WANTED TO MARRY YOU

FEATURING. sanemi shinazugawa, giyuu tomioka, obanai iguro & mitsuri kanroji

WARNINGS. gn!reader, fluff, comfort, hcs in drabble form, reader and iguro are naked (no nsfw), hints to iguro’s past

NAVI | KNY MASTERLIST

SANEMI SHINAZUGAWA realized he wanted to marry you one day when he came home late at night to find you asleep at the dining table, apparently waiting for him. after the loss of most of his family, the shinazugawa brothers had moved into your home after you offered. you lost your mother to an illness not too long after, making it only you three who inhabited the tiny home.

you always cared for sanemi, and sanemi had always cared for you. so when you learned of his nightly activities, it worried you. sometimes he’d come home with torn clothes, and other days sanemi returned with fresh wounds. if you hadn’t fallen asleep by then, you’d dress his wounds tenderly. it wasn’t any better after joining the demon slayer corps.

the thought of him putting himself in danger like that gnawed at your stomach the first few weeks. but then time passed, and you no longer feared as much. there was always a possibility of losing sanemi, but he proved himself to be strong, both physically and in drive. though, you always prayed for his safety.

your upper body leaned on the low table, chest rising and falling as sanemi approached. the meal you set for him had grown cold a long time ago, but he’ll eat it regardless. first, the boy was going to carry you to your futon. though, the sight of a sleeping genya, whose head rested on your thigh, made him pause.

in his sleep, the young boy clung to your figure. and it was no wonder you only supported your head on the table with one arm, the other one rested on genya’s back. it must’ve been uncomfortable for you, yet you remained in that position for hours, awake or not.

the first one sanemi carried to their respective futon was genya. he was much heavier than before, the older boy thought. he was glad that genya was growing properly, especially with how much you fed him. the black-haired boy loved your cooking so much he almost always ate nearly half of it.

sanemi eventually carried your slouched form to your futon. he set you down gently before placing your blanket over the lower half of your body. you got warm easily, so sanemi knew it would be best to not cover you completely.

the moonlight shone on your sleeping figure as sanemi brushed your stray hairs away from your face. his eyes traveled from you to the cold plate on the table. always so caring, you were. his gaze then landed on genya, who you always treated as your own brother.

sanemi, despite the many things he has yet to comprehend, was sure of one thing— his love for you. the two of you were still teenagers, but he was sure of his feelings. as his fingers traveled from your forehead to your cheek, cupping your face lightly, there was only a single thought that occupied his mind.

one day, in a world free of demons, he’d take your hand and ask you to be his.

it was when you were crying in his arms that GIYUU TOMIOKA knew that he wanted your hand in marriage. although he was skilled, he was rendered unconscious during a mission after slaying two demons with tricky demon blood arts. although he was only unconscious from night till the next afternoon, you couldn’t help but worry.

you were no demon slayer, so the thought of your partner being bedridden had scared you. you rushed to his bedside when giyuu’s crow informed you of his state. and as you sat by his sleeping form, the little butterfly estate girls told you that although he was littered with cuts, none of them were deep.

part of you always believed that giyuu was invincible. even though you knew he was the highest rank in the demon slayer corps, he never came home with worrying injuries. a few small cuts here and there were all treated by you before the two of you fell into bed.

seeing giyuu’s bare torso covered in white patches reminded you that giyuu was not invincible, and even someone skilled like him was vulnerable to injury.

compared to the corps members that already died before giyuu was assigned the mission, he was barely harmed. but since you didn’t see it that way, he saw the tears that brimmed your eyes after he woke up. your hug was gentle as if you’d hurt him if you squeezed him tight.

giyuu snaked his arms around your waist as you cried and told him how you worried for him. your words, even your tears alone spoke volumes about how much you cared for him. the black-haired man held you tighter, knowing that he cared for you just as much, and one day hoped to show you by proposing with a ring fit only for you.

you and OBANAI IGURO were lying bare in bed the moment he realized he wanted to marry you. it was late at night and the two of you had your limbs tangled together underneath a thick blanket, skin-to-skin for half an hour in near darkness. the muted moonlight that shone through the shoji door was only enough to outline the other’s figure.

obanai’s skin burned beneath your smooth fingers, the gentle touch scorching his very being. you always had that effect on him, especially when he was most vulnerable to you, when he was bare.

your fingers brushed the skin of his cheeks, lightly touching the part of his face that he always kept bandaged up. your fingers ran over the bumpy skin once more before you cupped his cheeks, pressing your forehead to his.

there were a few nights you’d spend like this. though, it was always so dark. you wanted to see your lover in full, but knowing how he felt about it, you never forced him to. after all, it had taken you some time to get used to the reminder of your own past; the large scar that ran from your chest to your belly button.

you laid your head back onto your pillow before you asked him if it was okay to light up a candle although you expected him to politely decline. instead, he hesitated before saying you could. after you asked once more to be sure, the black-haired man decided to light the candle for you.

his face, illuminated by the candlelight, turned towards you. obanai watched as you crawled towards him and sat on his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck. you told him that his beauty never failed to make you awe as he snaked his hands onto your hips.

you smiled at him lovingly before you laid your head in the crook of his neck, finding comfort in your position. he tucked back a piece of your hair before resting his cheek atop your head. obanai thought someone as tainted as him didn’t deserve such love from you, someone so pure. however, you wandered into his arms with no argument, embracing his being. obanai was sure that when the time was right, he’d marry you under your favorite cherry blossom tree.

the two of you were having brunch when MITSURI KANROJI realized she wanted to marry you one day. being the absolute bundle of joy she was, mitsuri was excited about the brunch the two of you planned days before. you’d be coming over to her estate, so the woman made sure to have lots of food prepared.

you arrived at mitsuri’s estate earlier than planned with a tray of sakura mochi you made just for her. although she ushered you to the dining room while she rushed the rest of her cooking and baking outside, you couldn’t help but wonder what was taking her so long. and when you realized it was because mitsuri was running all over the place to pay attention to everything she was cooking at once, you opted to help her.

you smiled at the love hashira, telling her she didn’t have to do all of this by herself, especially since she was providing for their meal. with a blossoming pink dusted across her cheeks, mitsuri thanked you and the two of you finished soon enough.

with everything set on the table, the two of you dug in. mitsuri babbled about her recent adventures like always, and you listened with a small smile on your face. from the moment you met, mitsuri was always so bright. the happiness she had always oozed out of her being and spread onto you, though you’ve never minded it.

while you found yourself lost in admiring her, another blush made its way onto mitsuri’s cheeks. your fond stare nearly made her heart melt when she noticed it. setting down her bowl, she felt her heart race against her chest as a certain thought crossed her mind.

you seemed to have caught yourself and quickly coughed before eating some of the fluffy pancakes she had made, commenting on how good they tasted. mitsuri giggled before she grinned endearingly. if you got married one day, then maybe the happiness of sharing a single meal would continue forever. truthfully, she wished that day would come soon.

NOTE. i was so into sanemi’s coming up with the other 3’s was a bit difficult 😓 sorry it’s a bit ooc (imo) this is my warm up dw

—requests are open + join my taglist !

@aureatchi @soleelia

[phoebelovingcare]

THE NEXT PERSON WHO SAYS IT DOESN'T WORK GETS PUBLICLY EXECUTED VIA HAMMERCAR (check reblogs for further info)

"what's it like to use nightshade/glaze?"

so based on my own experience I thought I'd make this more transparent since I know a lot of people hesitate to take action on some things if they do not know Exactly what happens. it's me i'm people. So;

Nightshade takes about 30 minutes on its fastest setting. The end result tends to look like mild jpeg artifacting, very slightly creased paper, or just brush texturing. Looking at it normally, it is undetectable. Glaze is very visually similar, given the strategy, except that Glaze's longest time setting is 5 minutes.

You put in a file, select how much you want it affected and for how long you want it to render. For Nightshade, you also attach a tag to it, that way AI finds what it's looking for with an associated word. You select a folder for the final result to save to, then hit run.

It takes a lot of GPU/CPU. The fans on my laptop sound a bit like I'm running Minecraft, and it refuses to run if you have too many programs open. I could run Youtube and Nightshade at the same time, but Youtube did Not like it. Best to just take a break while you let it do its thing. Run Nightshade before you go out or something.

It does NOT like transparent png backgrounds. Makes me wonder how AI does with 'em. Anyways, running a backgroundless drawing through Glaze and Nightshade respectively makes it turn out like this:

creasing effect is more noticeable, and it adds strange blocky black and white backgrounds to it. If you want good results for your time, be that less than 1 minute or 180 minutes, consider getting rid of the transparency.

I would post a before and after picture of a Nightshaded piece but of course, I would like to post exclusively poison on this site.

As one last note, it took me a lot of effort to find where you're actually supposed to download these tools, so Glaze is here and Nightshade is here. Overall I highly recommend using them if you can. Don't let AI run you off of your sites: run the AI out yourself.

[redhotarsenic]

Had to get creative with the bubbles in that picture cuz like. I didn’t wanna draw a fuckton of bubbles by hand and I was getting to the point where I was sick of looking at the picture