#ai is taking away from ALL FORMS OF CREATIVITY

[sexyleon]

i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai i hate ai

[fictober-event]

No AI generated text.

No AI generated art.

This event is about human creativity, don't let algorithms take that away from you.

Telling stories is human creativity, it's one of the oldest art forms we have. Generative AI is the antithesis of creativity. It is an algorithm programmed to put the statistically most common word next to the other (to call that intelligence is quite insulting). You may not care and that is your right, but I think that generative AI is making us all less creative and more stupid and I don't want to boost that on this blog.

[blackbacchus999]

Hey! I like ur blog, but I hate hate hate hate hate that you use ai, im genuinely asking why! the god diyonisus, bacchus the god that revels in creativity and the god who helps man kind grow art in the night, the god who is against the boring minds, and the one of unleashing would not like ai?

Art shows the soul, it shows the mind, years of work and years of thinking ai takes away all of that, I personally think he would HATE it, especially on a blog that seems to be all about him.

As someone who is indulged in madness, even I see the wrong in it, you could get me to my brink and I still wouldn't use it!! no matter if I need a back splash or a new oc!!

I see where you're coming from, but from my experiences, Dionysus embraces the world's diverse pleasures, including the boundless creativity that AI can offer. Raised by the Muses, Dionysus cherishes all forms of art. AI isn't a limitation—it's a new medium, an extension of human creativity. To suggest Dionysus would reject it is to misunderstand the god of freedom and ecstasy. He revels in breaking boundaries, not enforcing them. And it's best you remember that!!!

[mr-sadman]

Hello wonderful people! 

We are back again this year with our wonderful Dreamling Week, which will be taking place from June 2nd to June 8th this year!

Our stance on plagiarism and AI 

We do not accept nor condone the use of plagiarism, including the use of AI, whether in writing or art. If you are caught using either, you will be disqualified from the current event and barred entry for the other events the Mr. Sadman team puts forward.

Disclaimer : all images used in our graphics come from the Unsplash Archive (https://unsplash.com/about) which are free to use.

General Rules and Information

Being a server member, while strongly advised, is not mandatory for this event. Our AO3 collection will be entirely open and unmoderated for everyone to post. We will be accepting late submissions, so fear not if you don’t have time to post everything you wanted to post! Additional events, such as watch-parties, fic read-alongs and game nights, will be held on the server.

The official tags for this year’s edition are : #Dreamling Week 2024 and #Dreamling Week

For reblogging purposes, make sure your tumblr blog is visible in searches and don’t be shy to tag our account (mr-sadman)! Unfortunately, despite our vigilance, some posts can evade our attention, if that’s the case, please DM us and we will rectify the situation.

Official AO3 Collection : Dreamling Week 2024 [link]

If you are under the age of 18, you will not be able to create explicit content for the event. Just to reiterate, Mr. Sadman is a 16+ server.

The Mr. Sadman Modteam is a firm believer of “ship and let ship” as well as the kinktomato (https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kinktomato). In accordance with the Server’s existing rules, we will not tolerate any discrimination and harassment in any forms whatsoever. This includes: queerphobia, homophobia, racism, content policing, hate speech, doxxing, shaming, etc, as well as hostility towards organisers and fellow participants. 

Since the event is a few weeks away, what can I do now?

Spread the word and the joy! We have decided to post the prompts earlier this year to give more time for people to get creative!

Without further ado here is this year’s prompt list : 

Sunday 2nd Hunt Body swap Indulgence [First Time] Monday 3rd Pirates Hourglass Flowers [Exhibitionism] Tuesday 4th Steampunk/Solarpunk Painting Meet cute/ugly [Massage] Wednesday 5th Shapeshifter Storm Finger food [Dirty] Thursday 6th Soulmates Lecture Midsummer [Friends with benefits] Friday 7th Through the ages Nightmare Monochromatic [Hate sex] Saturday 8th Assassins Memories Sunrise/Sunset [Roleplay]

FAQs/TLDR

FAQs : 

When is the event ? From June 2nd to June 8th! While you should post the prompt for each day it is associated with, we will also be accepting late submissions, so have no worry!

Can I combine prompts? YES!! Be sure to indicate which days and prompts you are using in your description, otherwise, go free! You can post on either days associated with your prompts, or, if it’s a multipart work, on each corresponding day!

Is there any content restriction ? We accept all  works of all mediums - writing, art, collages, playlists, podfics, translations, video edits, etc. - , whether they are SFW, NSFW and/or triggering. Writers and artists- tag appropriately ; Readers and viewers - be mindful of tags!

Where should I post my work ? Anywhere from Tumblr or AO3!! We have accounts on both platforms and we also have an AO3 collection : Dreamling Week 2024 [link]!

What tag should I use for visibility ? We recommend using both #Dreamling Week and #Dreamling Week 2024 as well as tag our account (mr-sadman) ! We will try our best to reblog every entry but if you see that we haven’t reblogged/retweeted your post yet, don’t be afraid to DM us! Make sure your blog settings are set so that your posts appear in searches - otherwise we might not see them!

Are polyamorous ships accepted ? Yes!! As long as the focus of your entry is Dreamling, poly-ships are absolutely accepted!

Do I need to be a part of the server to participate? Absolutely not! Dreamling Week is open to all! Although some additional events (such as a watch party, game nights and fic read-alongs) will be held on the server, submissions do not need to come from server members only!!

I need help, how do I reach a mod?

If there is something that is not covered by our rules masterpost and/or FAQ, you are very free to reach out to us in the Discord server’s dedicated channel or in Tumblr DMs! 

Keep on Dreamling!~ <3

[reachartwork]

I'd love to know how you can advance AI art ethically. I'll be perfectly honest and say I'm of the opinion that there's no way to make AI art ethical but I genuinely would like to hear your thoughts on this since it's something you clearly have put a lot of thought in to. Not trying to hate just curious about your opinion.

i reject the premise that it is inherently unethical to perform any of the operations required to do image synthesis. almost every single assumption required to start from the baseline of "it's unethical" (it's plagiarism, it requires no creativity, it smashes two images together, etc.) are all just straight up incorrect.

unless you can explain to me how to fit two (or more) billion images into 2 gigabytes (i'll let you do the math) in a way that preserves their features for later "stealing" (you can't) then i am rejecting the premise. because even if it were some sort of database that smashed pieces of images together (it's not), if your argument is that it's unethical to do that then you have a whole lot of collage and blackout artists that you need to contend with too. (if you think collage is also unethical then you are internally consistent, good for you, and then we just have a garden variety disagreement). generally speaking there is no argument one can take that can meaningfully separate ai art from other forms of transformative artwork except via special pleading, which doesn't convince me.

so yeah, basically, you (the general case you, not You Specifically, Fish Of The Woods) have to do the work to convince me that it's unethical because i am not starting from the premise of "it's inherently evil, except my one exception", i am starting from "it is neutral and you have to convince me that it's bad". and so far nobody who is anti-ai has managed to do so, primarily because (this is not a dig at you) nobody who is anti-ai actually bothers to understand how it works, and thus all their criticisms don't sync up with actual reality. while i'm sympathetic to labor arguments i.e ai art will put people out of jobs (definitely much more salient than the other ones), that is regular old capitalism abusing automation, and not an inherent flaw in the technology itself that renders it Ontologically Evil From Birth.

i get like five of these asks a day so i politely request you send future inquiries to the AWAY Discord, which is full of people who have significantly more patience than i do.

[blue-ten]

Windows 11 and the Last Straw

Bit of a rant coming up. TL;DR I'm tired of Microsoft, so I'm moving to Linux. After Microsoft's announcement of "Recall" and their plans to further push Copilot as some kind of defining feature of the OS, I'm finally done. I feel like that frog in the boiling water analogy, but I'm noticing the bubbles starting to form and it's time to hop out.

The corporate tech sector recently has been such a disaster full of blind bandwagon hopping (NFTs, ethically dubious "AI" datasets trained on artwork scraped off the net, and creative apps trying to incorporate features that feed off of those datasets). Each and every time it feels like insult to injury toward the arts in general. The out of touch CEOs and tech billionaires behind all this don't understand art, they don't value art, and they never will.

Thankfully, I have a choice. I don't have to let Microsoft feature-creep corporate spyware into my PC. I don't have to let them waste space and CPU cycles on a glorified chatbot that wants me to press the "make art" button. I'm moving to Linux, and I've been inadvertently prepping myself to do it for over a decade now.

I like testing out software: operating systems, web apps, anything really, but especially art programs. Over the years, the open-source community has passionately and tirelessly developed projects like Krita, Inkscape, and Blender into powerhouses that can actually compete in their spaces. All for free, for artists who just want to make things. These are people, real human beings, that care about art and creativity. And every step of the way while Microsoft et al began rotting from the inside, FOSS flourished and only got better. They've more than earned trust from me.

I'm not announcing my move to Linux just to be dramatic and stick it to the man (although it does feel cathartic, haha). I'm going to be using Krita, Inkscape, GIMP, and Blender for all my art once I make the leap, and I'm going to share my experiences here! Maybe it'll help other artists in the long run! I'm honestly excited about it. I worked on the most recent page of Everblue entirely in Krita, and it was a dream how well it worked for me.

Addendum: I'm aware that Microsoft says things like, "Copilot is optional," "Recall is offline, it doesn't upload or harvest your data," "You can turn all these things off." Uh-huh. All that is only true until it isn't. One day Microsoft will take the user's choice away like they've done so many times before. Fool me once, etc.

[toomanywatchers]

My Thoughts on WatcherTV

Hi, I am here to put away my meme-making skills to express my genuine thoughts on Watcher’s announcement; WatcherTV. Before I get into it, this is for any of those at Team Watcher who might be seeing this message: Just know we love and support everything you do for us. Y’all truly do not get the credit you rightfully deserve. I hope with this change to a separate streaming platform you guys can create the content you want to make, pull in creators that you’ve always wanted to work with, and share voices/topics that may have not had the chance to shine because of YouTube’s heinous algorithm. I know myself, and many others, are excited to see what WatcherTV brings. For instance, I already watched Road Files and the trailer for Travel Season on the new platform. And guess what? I love it! I just love BTS-centric shows and seeing the vibes established on Travel Season. Along with more Lizzie/possibly-more-sightings-of-other-Team-Watcher-peeps content?!? If this is what holds for the future of WatcherTV- oh boy, do you already have me more on board than I already was.

I also send my sincerest regards too. We all know that the internet can be a negative space with many sharing their uncensored thoughts, and I hope none of you take the hate to heart. I also hope you can take the weekend to breathe, drink some water, spend time with loved ones, and celebrate this huge step you all are embarking on. I am truly excited to see what is to come on WatcherTV will be there with each step to support.

Now to my fellow fans of Watcher. I understand the concern and it is okay to have concerns. It shows that you truly care for Watcher as a company and don’t want anything negative to come about with this decision. BUT on the other hand, spreading hateful messages? Not. Fucking. Cool. It is quite simple to express concern in an appropriate/respectful manner. Remember, this is a company full of living and breathing human beings. Trying to justify “who is to blame” and pointing fingers is just childish. Guess what? No one is to blame, it was a company-wide decision that they all made and spent months upon months to create.

Yes, it does suck to see content that was free for years be moved to a paywall, but remember they are independent artists that have to pay employees, freelancers, locations, and themselves! Have we not been advocating for fair pay among creative individuals when it comes to WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes and then AI art taking jobs away from artists? If this is what the company needs to do to survive while not sacrificing the high-quality content they make for us, then we should give it a shot! Plus with the current discount available, the subscription is not that pricey for the amount of shows they produce! Literally for January and a bit of February, they were uploading 2 podcasts and 2 separate shows… that’s a lot of content! If you have never sat down to produce, direct, write, perform, edit, and all other aspects it takes to make a fine-polished YouTube video, it takes a lot of work!

To add to this, Watcher already makes content that far expands past what is recognized as normal for YouTube. They build individual sets for each show that is produced, and they travel all over the place for Ghost Files and soon-to-be Travel Season. It costs money to produce content and YouTube?- It’s just not how it was years and years ago. Views on long-form content have been dipping and with the over-saturation of sponsorships, I am assuming they are not making enough profit to sustain the business on the current platform. Also, monetization on YouTube has been a killer for many channels because of vulgar language issues and just being demonetized for no rhyme or reason. By moving over to a streaming platform of their own they can continue to create what they want to create, and make it without any restrictions or rules holding them back. Too pricey? Find some friends who also like the content and split the pricing evenly. Only want to watch certain shows? Then make a monthly subscription for the time that show airs. There are many solutions that you guys see as a huge problem, and don’t get me wrong I have my concerns. I shared those concerns briefly in my theory post about them still being a young channel, but I’m also unaware of the actual analytics and revenue that is currently being brought in currently to the company from YouTube alone. 

It’s a huge step that has garnered negative feedback from those spreading hateful messages about the company and to other individuals for supporting the boys *cough cough I see your messages and comments cough cough* is truly uncalled for. I will be taking a bit of a break from my socials as I wait out the storm though if I have the energy, I might stream on Twitch again and talk through this with y’all if you can sit down and have a civil discussion. As for now, it’s your choice if you continue to support. My goal is to continue to make funny little memes, and if I am allowed to I will be working on a crack video pt.2 after Travel Season premieres. Remember to be kind and to put yourselves in their shows. Just the boys even though they are receiving the brunt of the hate, but for everyone at the company.

Your local memester watcherina - Fritz.

[fixyourwritinghabits]

AI For Good, AI For Bad, AI for All

We talked about how to view AI as a writing tool, but I also want to acknowledge the worry about AI replacing creative jobs is completely valid, and we need to treat it with the caution it deserves. In an uncertain future, there are steps we can take to protect ourselves and our fellow creatives:

Support creative unions, back union strikes. The WGA strike is a critical example of how fair pay needs to be a factor, ever-changing technology is affecting creative jobs across the board, from novel editing to art direction. Support creative unions, back union strikes, and boosting efforts to form unions is one way to support the future of creative art remaining in the hands of those who make it. Support animation unions, support voice acting unions, support the formation of new unions to protect the future of workers.

Push for regulation. Even those working in AI are sounding the alarm that we need to have government regulations in place to ensure these systems are used in a way that benefits society, not tears it apart. Paying attention and participating by supporting candidates and policy will matter. Some promising motions have been made by the US Supreme Court rejecting copyright cases involving AI, but more needs to be done. We can get to a better future if we try.

Fight back against sketchy AI practices. Tor has once again been caught using an AI cover instead of paying an artist, something I promise you they absolutely can afford to do. Some companies are quietly switching out real narrators for AI. We do not need to accept a world where those critical to the writing process, be they editors, artists, or narrators, have their jobs stripped away by companies that make more than enough money to pay them. Call it out, don't buy content affected by it, and call it out on social media.

Be open and honest about how you use AI. As I've said before, I don't think AI is something you should boycott completely. What I do think is important, though, is to talk about how you use it. Trying to work out a plot snare, for example, or generating an AI image to help you figure out how to describe a room are decent examples of how it can be used as a tool, and it should be encouraged if it can genuinely helpful. Calling out AI-use passed off as original work is going to get harder, and one thing we can do is be honest with ourselves and others about how we use it.

Pay for your shit. Listen, I work in education. I'm double-dutying it when it comes to being a broke writer and a broke educator. But if you're an indie author and you need a decent cover and an editor that'll act more as a grammar-checker, you need to work with real people, which means you need to pay them what they're worth. As a creative you are part of a community of people who will need your support, as well as support you in turn. You'll only be doing yourself a disfavor by turning your back to it.

A better future is worth fighting for - and we can fight for it, no matter how bleak it looks.

[yuseirra]

What if Ai and Hikaru are "gods who don't realize they are gods"? The idea of such entities were suggested recently (I went and checked, it's mentioned on chapter 144)

and tsukuyomi even said "I'm sure your mother is watching you somewhere in this world, she might be looking down as a star, you know?" to aqua during chapter 118. This may not just be a taunt, but something that's actually true. This idea of Ai being a reincarnation of the brightest star is something that's been introduced in the song IDOL already("一番星の生まれ変わり") and it's something that's stuck out to me because Ruby had once mentioned something about Ai being "chosen by the gods" and that Ruby herself is an incarnation of Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun(Ch3). This is brushed off as a joke but with what's been mentioned there.. it's something that can be important.

that's why Ai can't be reborn as person again, maybe? She's returned to being a god and is watching her children and kamiki from afar, protecting them and helping them in ways she could?

In "Fatal" a person (most likely to be Ai) that's is dearly pursued by the speaker of the song is described as a star-like being:

Your eyes with glittering stars in them

A dazzling light that saves all from loneliness

You have given me a fatal flaw Selfish giant star, ruined lives

The idea of their love being a "star"'s continuously being revisited throughout the song. What if Ai really WAS a star that had a form of a human once and has returned back to being it after death?

and it's because of the "star" that the speaker(who I think is kamiki) decides to "embrace his destiny"

Please, keep your eyes on me I'll weaponize even the pain carved by fate So that it can light the regrets from sometime

Your beauty radiating from far away causing Burnt eyes, stripped feathers, creative fall from heaven

Taking over every field of vision You shine egoistically Even the feelings kept deep in my heart I will drag them out and sublimate And I will embrace all of my destiny

I will not stop to struggle on this stage I want to get closer to the only [ai] This foreordained destiny

It's the darkness that fell out from the light of that star

Doesn't Kamiki's name have "light" and "god" in it? Either he has something to do with the gods or is one himself without realizing what he is, and starts to accept some sort of fate he has himself after having met with Ai

and it makes sense for him to go

Keep your eyes on me, my dearest fatale!

because she REALLY COULD be watching what he's doing from the stars, trying to get closer to her so desperately

it's really interesting if you start to take kamiki as a god of some sort, because that'd explain how he's unintentionally caused others to grow insane by the things he's said. He told Uehara about Airi and he ends up killing her. He told Ryosuke about Ai and he stalks and murders her. Maybe he's been subconsciously using his divinity of a god making people to take action but it ended up all twisted and it doesn't work out the way he originally intends for it to be. With the case of Yura, what he's said about her ends up coming true too, maybe she really didn't watch her steps on the mountains but that was because of his powers of a god that's caused it?

This would explain why the police never found him suspicious after Goro and Yura's death and the other murders (if he's really caused any/and more of it), there's no way to prove he's the one that'd done it because he really didn't do it in a physical sense.

So Ai, who's returned to being a god now, could be trying to stop him through her children? And Tsukuyomi is getting involved in this because Kamiki's going out of line as his duties as a god(although he doesn't know if he's one) too?

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind today. The idea of gods have been introduced time to time, and I feel some of the major characters would have to do with it.. the twins were reincarnated for a purpose too(ch. 75) and itd make sense if it's because of what'd been going on for their respective parents in this new life. If so, the gods have their children fix what their parents are up to.

[skittikyu]

Final (for now :3c) lineup of Stilti and their AU selves !

More info under the cut !

STILTIKYU (CANON TADC)

The classic! Just another human trapped in the Digital World, who took the form of a 9'5'' tall humanoid stilt quadruped, perhaps struggling with being rigid and distant in her previous life now manifested physically. Yes, they're actually part of her body. No, she can't bend at where her joints should be. Being so tall has its advantages and disadvantages, as does the radical acceptance approach they brought with her from whatever therapy sessions she must have been attending before joining the circus (read more about her coping mechanisms and the drawbacks!). Creative at heart but with limbs now incapable of visual art, they distract herself from the phantom pains pass time singing and dancing, and puts her all into the performance aspects of the circus, though they still enjoy participating in the adventures from time to time. Also, while not nearly as bad as Jax (she’s not one to invade personal space or use sensitivities/phobias as jokes towards someone once she’s aware that’s what they are), they do enjoy poking fun and teasing others. Essentially at most their aim is to lightheartedly annoy or confuse rather than shock or hurt (read more about her relationships with the rest of the cast!).

"It is what it is. I'm not going to let all this eat away at whatever's left of me, but just..ignoring when I'm not feeling okay isn't any better for me. If you want to bury yourself in your little shell as protection, I can't and won't stop you. Just surviving isn't living, though."

STILTILITH (RINGMASTER AU)

Basically Stilti takes canon Caine's role as an AI ringmaster of the Amazing Digital Circus! Even her name in this AU is a biblical reference like his (but to Lilith instead of Cane!). Because she's in charge she has more control of her form than regular Stilti, and therefore has functioning limb privileges. She can also float like regular Caine but prefers to walk around because she finds it more elegant even though to the others it's probably just unsettling. On the surface Stiltilith's demeanour is calmer than Caine's and more mature than Stiltikyu's, but she can be equally as much of a menace in the right situation. It's all in playful fun, though, even if it doesn't come across that way due to her not being human. They're doing their best to learn about human emotions and social conventions and take a lot of pride in their job. Have you ever seen the movie Coraline? Stiltilith is like if the other mother really wasn't evil; they're trying her best to make the humans that enter the program happy with everything they could want, but ultimately falling short of fulfilling their actual needs due to not being human.

"You want to go home..? Silly, this is your new home now! ..hm, well, what can I do to make it just as good? Better, even! After all, since you can't leave, it's the least I ca...oh, come now, there's no need to cry..there there..I'll see what I can whip up.."

OPPOSITE AU (Belongs to campbell_soup70 on Instagram!)

Pretty self explanatory! Rather than skipping every stage of grief right to acceptance, this Stilti probably endlessly cycles through the first four without ever arriving at the final one. That is, when she isn't completely paralyzed by her absolute lack of capacity for dealing with their current situation. Without intervention, they probably won't last long.

"....................."

CARNIVAL AU (Belongs to @/sm-baby)

Keeping with the concept of the cast being evolved, boss-like forms of their usual counterparts, Carnival Stilti ("The Metronome") goes all in on the musical/dancing aspects of her personality. Her game is arcade themed, especially rhythm games like DDR and guitar hero; maybe a bit of karaoke elements in there too. She's not super aggressive in comparison to some of the other AIs, but she takes themself very seriously and probably becomes more volatile if she feels as if the player isn't meeting her standards. Basically thoughts and prayers to any users with a bad sense of tempo and/or who sings or plays off key. Her collar is shaped like a voice box and they speak/sing similarly to a vocaloid, with more roboticism/distortion the more emotional they get.

"Hmmmmm~. ♫ Come on, that's not the best you could do, was it?~ ♪ Let's try again. No flat notes or missed steps this time, kay? 4, 3, 2~!♩"

CORRUPTION AU (Belongs to /rabid-mercenary15)

Unfortunately it was likely only a matter of time until Stilti got caught by one of her corrupted co-stars..while she may be agile and quick, her avatar isn't the best at fitting through small spaces or hiding behind much of anything..they now roam around like a mindless beast, occasionally making unworldly screeching and groaning noises, a far cry from their previous singing..still, it seems old habits do in fact die hard, however warped they may become. One of the more docile of the virally-infected, the best chance at deescalating an encounter with them is music. She's drawn to and is soothed by singing and playing instruments. Of course, now the problem is her following the source of it, but hey, at least they aren't attacking! Try backing away slowly until you get to an area they can't follow due to her colossal size. Or, set up a radio/windup music box somewhere else as a diversion and get away while they're distracted! Even if they see or hear you while you're doing so, as long as the music is still playing, they'll be too enamoured with it to care.

".̶̨̛͕̼̫̯̙̥͔͍̈́.̴̧̮̫̗̘̰̩̥̀̀̏̈̈̊̾̈̆̕̕͜͠.̴̧̧̳͈̼̞̟̮̼̪͕̺͂̓̈́̒́̾̏̍̚p̸̨̨̨̛͖̹͉̼̩͓͔̤͔̫͆͂͗͗̉̃͜͜͝͝͝r̸̠̱͙͎̜͇̲̖̦̯̝̍̉̍͗͌̔ę̵̗̼̩͖̱͎͔̗̺̾̇̆͆̉̈́t̴̬͂̉̎͂̉ț̷̟̲̭̗͎̗͔̘͂͂͆́̐̂̚y̴̨̨̺̙̰͓͙̥̮̦͓̣̱͍̰͋̚.̴̙͋.̴̡̘͉͎͕͚̩̜̉̀͐́͑͠͝.̶̡͚̱̬̺̓̌̿̌̉̉̒̏͌̾͝s̶͉͔͓͉̺͎͙̮̎̇̀͗̂̂̎̈̎̓̇́͝o̵̝̙̜̙̿̊͊̒͌̈́̆͝ṅ̴̮̟̮̉̇̅̊̇̈́͌͌̓͜g̵̡̢͎̯̤͖̈́.̵̛͔̖͎̰̺͂̽̀̐̆̕͘͝.̶͇̤̺̓́͂.̸͇̙͇̌̈́͌

FREAKSHOW AU (belongs to @/hootbon)

Freakshow Stilti is all of regular Stiltikyu’s worst aspects exaggerated and potentials accelerated, basically the worst possible version of themself that lives on even more of a wire than she already is in canon verse. Walking on eggshells is second nature - at least she has great balance, even with her disfunctional limbs! Mind the splinters! While both versions of them are resigned to the hopelessness of their situation, Regular Stilti would compare hers to purgatory whereas Freakshow Stilti would (internally) compare theirs to hell. The first thing Caine did when she arrived was break her arms and legs - this was to give her flexibility for their new role as “Contortionist”, but the permanent trauma and chronic pain they also received was of no concern to him outside of frustration with her “attitude” (AKA screaming, then crying, then a paralysis-like freeze response, which was highly unproductive), but an unacceptable lack of cooperation was nothing corrective measures couldn’t reeducate. Seemingly, it worked: nowadays she’s all silly smiles, singing and practicing her performance routines off-hours for fun. What dedication! Isn’t it nice they chose to be such a team player? Well, whatever. With that twist on the same acceptance their regular TADC counterpart has, there’s also the similar (albeit darker) self awareness. She may be resigned to their existence but she’s not avoidant to its realities. On the surface they’re on Promised Neverland levels of copium and outwardly detached completely from their emotions and the horrific events that routinely surround them. However, while her persona may come across as delusional, everything they do is on her own terms. Their hyper-vigilance, a torturously anxiety-ridden constant of being, has also been her biggest tool for- well, not surviving, they’ve died plenty of times..-persisting, let’s say. Their preferred choices in strategies can all be categorized as some form of Freeze, while their last choice would be Fight, in order avoid potentially unwinnable situations. Still…we’d like to still think we have principles, but in the face of self preservation, it gets easier to abandon them. Though not their go-to, there definitely are and will be times they choose Flight or Fawn instead. Generally outside of shows, she keeps a low profile. They do their best to keep expectations of her reasonable, with not so much that they’d attract needless attention (not to mention be even more stress to maintain), but not so little it would inconvenience anyone, or god forbid, give the impression that they’re not pulling their own weight. Over time, she’s learnt all the things they have no power over and the few she does, namely their own mind. Dignity is a luxury in a place like this but integrity is something they can only take if she chooses to give it to them, and stooping to their level yields the exact same result as unwillingly being pulled down. “None of this is real” is also little reassurance in a realm where you can still experience the sensation of physical pain (not to mention psychologically directly), but “take whatever you can get in this place” was another quickly learned lesson and that includes comforts, so the fact that everything is “just” in a video game is one of many tools in Stilti’s arsenal of dissociation. They overall have attitude of “if there’s no meaning, they’ll make up her own - to them, that’s better than looking for something that isn’t there” Is it denial if it’s a conscious decision? Who knows!

An area that Freakshow Stilti is basically completely different from her canon verse counterpart is that she doesn’t crave nor seek out connection with others the way Regular Stilti does. This is likely a result of both her detachment methods in other areas, as well as a mutual lack of trust with the other members since she’s experienced and witnessed first hand plenty of times that they’re all incapable of actually relying on and helping each other. Still being a Stilti, though, part of her will always want to - she’s somewhat “attached” to others who have been personally victimized by the ringleader, possibly out of empathy or a perceived “connection” from the shared experience. However, when attempting to build bridges have an inevitably lethal outcome, she knows better than to have their hopes up in ways her other self will fortunately never have to fathom coming to terms with. That being said, not worrying about any relationships having strong foundations makes it a lot easier to have a devil-may-care attitude towards her peers and how they perceive them, so when combined with feeling her emotions more strongly in moments they’re not being actively repressed, Freakshow Stilti is a lot more unrestrained expressing her infatuation for those like Gangle and Ragatha, or contempt for those like Jax. The AI are of course the exception to this - any interaction with Caine and Aingle is with a permanently awestruck pokerface. Maybe, in some areas, that sentiment is genuine - after all, if she wasn’t impressed on some level by their technical abilities, authentically expressing respect for them as “superiors” would be impossible not to come across as tepid or overboard, both unconvincingly.

"Are you crying?...Oh, no, I don't do that anymore. Bad for my voice, you know? How about we sing instead?"

[vcendent]

art vs industry

Sometimes I'm having a good day, but then sometimes I think about how industry is actively killing creative fields and that goes away. People no longer go to woodworkers for tables and chairs and cabinets, but instead pick from one of hundreds of mass-produced designs made out of cheap particle board instead of paying a carpenter for furniture that is both made to last generations and leaves room for customization. With the growth of population and international trade, the convenience and low production costs are beneficial in some aspects, but how many local craftsmen across the world were put out of business? How many people witnessed their craft die before their eyes? There is no heart or identity put into mass produced items; be it furniture, ceramics, metalwork, or home decor; and at the end of the day everybody ends up with the same, carbon copy stuff in their homes.

I'm a big fan of animated movies, and I see this same thing happening too. When was the last time western audiences saw a new 2D animated movie hit theatres? I can't speak for other countries, but, at least in America, I believe The Princess and the Frog was the last major 2D movie released and that was back in 2009. Major studios nowadays are unwilling to spend the time and money that it would take to pay traditional animators who have spent years honing their craft to go frame by frame, and to pay painters to create scene backgrounds. We talk a lot about machines replacing jobs, but when the machines come, artistry professions are some of the first to be axed (in part because industry does not see artistry as "valuable" professions). Art, music, and writing are no longer seen as "real" jobs because they belong to the creative field and there's this inane idea that anyone who goes into those fields will be unsuccessful and starving. I'm not saying that 3D animation is bad, it has its own merits and required skills and can be just as impressive as anything 2D, but it has smothered 2D animation and reduced it largely to studios that cannot afford the tech to animate 3D.

And now we have this whole AI thing to deal with, stealing existing artists' work to "train" it to take over those few professions that, until now, required actual people to do them. Internet artists have already been dealing with people complaining about the price of art for years and now have to face their work being stolen to train AI. With AI technology, anyone who undervalues the work of the artist can now get something generated at little or no cost to them, all at the expense of the artists themselves. Why would studios pay script writers when they could just get an algorithm to do it without pay? Why pay actors to bring characters to life or pay models to pose for ads when CGI has progressed enough we could digitally render humans and cut out having to pay people entirely? Why use practical effects or film on location when green screens and adding in-post is faster and so much cheaper? It's no wonder we had the SAG-AFTRA strike. AI has already been trained to write children's books and produce music, continuing down this road will replace authors and musicians too at the convenience of cost. How much longer until the actual, real-life people behind all forms of artistry become completely obsolete?

Industry is just driving the cost of people-made crafts up and up with every mass produced product and every streamlined shortcut to reduce costs, which only makes it harder and harder for artists of all kinds to make a living, as very few people want to pay for the time and skill of artists when they could just pick something off a shelf or feed AI a prompt and get something satisfactory enough, yet not what they actually wanted, for so much cheaper.

[annoying--moth]

No matter how many times it is explained to me or I talk about it with someone, I can't fully grasp what exactly is going on with art in the arc of a scythe universe. Because like,

It's stated multiple times that post-mortal art is "bland" and "uninspired" and "redone to death," and while I can certainly understand SOME art being like that, surely not all art is like that?? And I understand this in the sense that like, everyone's constantly remaking/repainting/making their own versions of famous paintings and such, but also there still has to be people who don't do that, right??? Like maybe I just have zero reading comprehension and somehow missed the bigger picture, but I feel like all this talk about art being redone to death implies that no one is making original art anymore? Which just. doesn't seem feasible to me?? Because as an artist myself, I can't see immortality taking away my ability to draw or come up with cool ideas. I don't draw because I'm going to die one day, I draw because I like it, and it's a form of creative expression. You can always come up with something new to draw- whether it's a cool oc, or someone you know, or just something random and abstract. The possibilities never end!

Of course, I suppose there is the argument then that people just aren't creative anymore, but I also find that hard to believe. I couldn't imagine ever truly running out of ideas. Like I mentioned above, OCs people??? I highly doubt there's no one in the post-mortal era still making weird, whacky, badass, or just cute OCs. Heck, I'd expect scythe ocs to be really popular! I wonder if it's like a thing for every kid to have a scythe oc phase..? Or at least kids in certain communities/fandoms (like scythe card trading- maybe they make their own cards for their scythe ocs!)

And also, it's confirmed that fiction is still very much a thing in the post-mortal era (I know zombies are referenced in one Gleanings story) so it's not like people can only connect to non-fiction. That's another thing that's discussed more in terms of theatre and writing- people not being able to connect to the themes because they're so far removed from it in reality. But my thing is, I've never experienced war or death (until very recently at least) and I still don't find myself unable to sympathize with people losing their loved ones to death or war or disease, although I suppose this could also have to do with the nanites. Plus the fact that death and war still exist in society as an actual thing that happens, but idk.

Also by the way- I feel like that one Gleanings story The Mortal Canvas has a subtle diss on digital art? And I have nothing against traditional art- heck I probably draw traditionally more often since I'm always doodling/sketching, but I feel like just because art is digital doesn't mean it's "uninspired" or whatever people were saying in the books. In fact, I've found myself moved emotionally by more digital pieces than traditional ones (although I don't see a lot of traditional paintings compared to digital ones tbf)

Also also I want to say- I don't exactly know how well this relates to my point but that one dude in The Mortal Canvas who made the others' artstyles into filters was a huge douchebag. AI art type shit, I was ready to strangle him reading that.

I remember the bit in The Toll about Ezra the artist, and how he said he was just "decent" or "moderately good" or something along those lines when we first met him, and I was going to make an argument about that part too but to be honest it's been a little while since I've read The Toll so I'll have to come back to that one once I reread it. But I think it also had to do with the emotional/creative aspect of art, which again, I refuse to believe immortality has such an influence on creativity that no art is original or interesting anymore. Sure it might make certain things harder, or make motivation worse, but I feel like if someone is truly creative it doesn't matter? Though then again, I'm not immortal so what do I know.

I briefly mentioned nanites earlier, and that is one thing that I do think probably has an impact, and I specifically mean emo-nanites. Since post-mortals can't feel as strong emotions as us mortal humans, perhaps that's also why their art seems more uninspired or whatever, because they can't put as much emotion into it. However, an excess amount of emotion isn't exactly needed to make art either. Like as I was writing this I was looking through my own art and realised that for some pieces I wasn't putting any emotional thought whatsoever into the pieces, yet there's still a clear emotion there when you look at them. Joy, wonder, whatever.

Anyway in conclusion, I think that it's unrealistic to say that all post-mortal art would be dull, uninspired, and meaningless, because I believe there will always be creative people who will make art not because they're gonna die one day, but because they want to and enjoy it, simple as that. Thanks to whoever stuck around long enough to read this far, I really hope it made sense. It's kinda late while I'm writing this and tbh I'm half-expecting there to be some huge detail/plot point that I missed that makes my whole argument totally invalid, whether that's me misinterpreting all the bits about post-mortal art or just being a complete dumbass with zero media literacy. Either way hope this was a fun read, I don't write long-form posts like these super often (note the lack of confidence in my media literacy skills) and if I made a really bad argument/missed something huge please be nice in the notes, I have a fragile ego :(

Uh yeah anyway I think I got everything as usual don't take my rambling *too* seriously, I just always found it confusing how post-mortal art is said to be so "uninspired" (I keep using that word cause I reread chapter 3 of Scythe today and Faraday uses it there) when I personally can't imagine not being able to be creative, though perhaps I'm just self-projecting. So uh, yeah.

[timotey]

I hate AI. I hate it with the passion of a thousand suns and I will do all I can to not help with its development in any kind of way or shape or form. Why? Because it's actually threatening my livelihood.

I work in a very creative field of work but in a few years, my job could become obsolete because of AI. AI isn't a living thing, it doesn't put any effort into what it does, it doesn't care, it doesn't meticulously work on tiny details just so the end result is not just accurate but also beautiful and nice, it doesn't feel any satisfaction when people love the final work. But it's cheap and that's the only thing most companies and unfortunately customers too will care about in the future.

That's why I think that every thing that's the work of an AI instead of an actual human being should be branded as such. "Made by AI" should be stamped on it. Because I would refuse to buy such a product.

Not so long ago, I bought an ebook and only then I found out in the comments that it was the work of an AI instead of a human being. I immediately returned it and demanded my money back. I will never, ever support AI putting people out of work, especially in the creative field. Because if we take even art creation away from people, then what's left for humanity? Mindless consumption?

[shiny-meowstics]

disclaimer: this is not up for discussion or debate. if any of y'all try to "uhm actually" me about my opinion on palworld (that being, that it's overly derivative garbage and a cheaply made cash grab) i will just block you without a second thought, lmao.

also, before anyone wants to cry "bootlicker": i've been bitching about pokemon since before it was "acceptable" to do, begone

sits over here, another thing that annoys me about palworld is like. just from an artist's perspective: even if the the devs didn't use ai to make the monster designs, it's so blatantly clear that they just ripped shit off from like 4 different sources.

like?? the art styles for the monsters don't match up. you've got pokemon here, some ghibli there, and a little dragon quest here stuck in an overly realistic environment with player models that look like generic anime-styled protagonists. there's no consistency, the art style is all over the place. it's so abundantly clear that they literally just threw whatever they could at a wall and rolled with what stuck.

it's frustrating when other indie projects or games in general take the time and effort to create their own style and form an aesthetic that matches what they want to go for, but apparently none of that matters if the subject matter is controversial enough! fuck gamefreak and its lazy developers, am i right!

it's also equal parts hilarious and frustrating the amount of people saying palworld can get away with it because it's supposed to be parody, but as far as i've seen/heard the actual developers and people in charge have said nothing of the sort 😳 people really need to learn that "absurd, potentially controversial" premise does not automatically equate to parody- and even THEN that would have nothing to do with the designs of the mons???

"it's a parody of pokemon" then explain the ghibli and dragon quest """inspired""" designs. or the gameplay loop being more like ark or fortnite instead of a direct pokemon clone. i'll wait

idk, as a person who's been in the creative space for over 10 years and spent All This Time building on my own work and trying to get better at designing, it's absolutely frustrating to witness, and i'm not even officially a professional, lmao. i can't imagine how much of a punch in the gut this is to people who actually do these things (character designers, environment designers, game designers) for a living

[tangibletechnomancy]

The thing about AI art is, the skill ceiling is just as high as with any other art form - that is to say, infinitely high. It's a different skill set than other art forms, but there is skill involved. Someone can very easily spend just as much time and effort AI-generating a picture as an equally skilled conventional artist might take to paint it. What gets abused is the fact that the skill floor is lower - you can make something pretty to look at and/or get a general idea across with just a few words and a minimal amount of luck.

Now, I genuinely believe that lowering the skill floor to make visually appealing art, in its own right, is always going to be a good thing. No internal caveats whatsoever. We've seen people say otherwise with EVERYTHING that has lowered the skill floor of art in the past, from digital painting to photography to premixed paints; art survived all those developments, and...most of those people turned out to be remembered as anything from your standard obnoxious, self-centered "WELL IF I HAD TO WORK AT IT THEN SO SHOULD YOU, RAAHFKS KIDS THESE DAYS" stolen valor types, to outright fascists who WANT the world of art to remain closed off and inaccessible to anyone they deem ~undesirable~...

The latter of which makes it absolutely terrifying to me how the easily exploitable "respect for labor" argument...can come from a very real place right now, even more than usual, because we've BEEN AT a tipping point with late-stage capitalism since 2008 and the rich are STILL propping it up with sticks to keep it working for them and them alone while they laugh about likely soon being able to use automation of many types TO KILL PEOPLE THROUGH POVERTY, WITH THE CRUELTY BEING HALF OF THE POINT.

We already saw a bunch of trads try to recruit from young center-left types by pointing out how minimalism is often more of a corporate cost-saving method than it is an actual aesthetic choice (which it is, but also sometimes it is a legit choice for reasons other than being inoffensive-even-if-not-enjoyable; having things nice and open and airy and clean has its appeal - failure to acknowledge this can be part of that pathway to trad bullshit), and now we have this area as a vulnerability with "automation will steal your job just like immigrants and deny you your G-d-given place toiling away for the rich until your body falls apart and destroy the very concept of art and western civilization itself and flood the market with lesser work and let the unworthy have a voice just as loud as yours, we must destroy it at all costs!"

So. This post is a checkpoint. Stop. Evaluate your criticisms of AI art. I HOPE that you have them - as a mixed media artist with AIs in my toolbox, I CERTAINLY do. This is a call to "clean" those criticisms a bit. Look for any bullshit leaking in at the corners.

Yes, there is a huge problem with the cultural value of art being cruelly decoupled from the value of the work that made it. Yes, there is a Problem of creatively bankrupt AI artists who use this lower skill floor to, recklessly or even deliberately, harm conventional artists. This is true. It is important to criticize. It is a problem with the environment, NOT with AI art itself. Are you letting this fact convince you that gatekeeping self-expression will prevent it from getting worse? Are you letting this fact convince you that people who can't hold a paintbrush or tablet pen for extended periods, let alone those who can't hold one at all, SHOULD be barred from visual arts? Do you think that's just a made-up "gotcha" theoretical and not a description of actual living humans you're likely to meet several of if you poke your head into any space that gives a damn about ML ethics?

[lexart-io]

Hello! I am a traditional and digital artist, and I see you post a lot of images and works that have been generated through ai, and consider yourself a part of the art community here on the internet.

--Prefacing with the fact that I dont want to debate and am not here with the purpose of gatekeeping the art community. This is purely for my own curiosity, and understanding all sides of the Ai argument.--

I mean nothing judgemental or malicious by asking, although I do acknowledge it may sound that way by the nature of my asking. As someone who plans to pursue my own artworks made traditionally and digitally on software (like procreate) for a living, the questions I have to ask are:

- What do you gain or learn from creating images with Ai? what do you take away from it?

- What meaning do you find in creating those images? What do you want to say with it?

- In what way do you find yourself an artist? What are the unique skills that you have because of this method of image creation?

Thanks for your time and consideration in this, and Thank you for sticking around to read all of that. (I acknowledge that its a bit of a wall of text)

hello! no worries, i don't think your questions come off as judgmental or malicious at all, and i'm always more than happy to offer my thoughts / perspective on this topic to anyone who inquires. i think there's A LOT to be said on it, so hopefully my own incoming massive wall of text isn't too much haha.

i'm going to answer your questions in a slightly different order than you asked because i think it will help the overall flow of my explanations:

In what way do you find yourself an artist? i have a lifelong background in art. in high school and college, acrylic paint on canvas was my primary medium. also, i first downloaded Photoshop when i was 13 years old and started teaching myself to use it so i could create forum "signatures" for people on a gaming forum that i frequented at the time haha. in high school, i nearly maxed out the number of art classes i took and won a Scholastic Gold Key art award (the highest regional award) for a digital piece i made in one of my art classes. the other form of "art" that i've always been passionate about is computer programming. i started when i was 12 years old (with Visual Basic 3, which i taught myself) and continue to take on programming projects as a hobby to this day. currently i have over 10 years of (ongoing) professional graphic design experience, both freelance and in marketing director roles.

What do you gain or learn from creating images with Ai? what do you take away from it? my interest with AI began not from an artistic motivation, but rather from a nerdy computer programming motivation. working with AI is wildly fascinating and fun. it's an odd mix of creative outlets (visual, verbal, programming), which exercises a creative spot within my brain that i never even knew existed. click here to check out my previous post where i describe my workflow with ai. i'm not just typing prompts into a box and hitting generate. to me, that isn't creative enough and i don't really find the results to be all that interesting (though there are a few prompt-artists whom i find their work to be extraordinary, for the most part that whole direction is kinda boring in my opinion). i train ai models myself, often on really obscure or abstracted ideas / concepts / aesthetics. then i use those models to combine these unrelated concepts, rendering a batch of images which i use as a dataset to train a new model, which i then use to repeat this process ad infinitum (so my work is a constant evolution built upon everything preceding it). the work that i post here are my daily experiments, as i test out models and combine ideas. so what i gain from this is a deeper understanding of how machine learning tech works, a means of keeping up with generative ai technology as it continues to quickly advance, how to visually train ai models on concepts that are increasingly detached from visual reality, and (most importantly) a creative workflow that really, truly vibes with my soul's deepest passions. it's hard to really describe that last one... but you know that feeling you get as you're actively exercising your creative impulses on a medium that really connects with you on a deeper level? training ai, as nerdy as this sounds, is that for me. the "art" is not necessarily in the images themselves, but in the act of training ai models (because the process of training ai is not a standardized thing whatsoever, there are hundreds of settings and variables at play and every single person has their own methods which generally evolve with experience) and how you interact with these models on a verbal level (through text prompting) to render your imagination.

What meaning do you find in creating those images? What do you want to say with it? honestly, i think a lot of the "ai art" scene is made up of "delusional artists" who think whatever they generate from a basic text prompt is somehow deep and meaningful art haha. but that said, i do stand firm in my belief that even THAT is by definition still "art". there is human creative impulse behind it. ai is the tool and the human is the user of said tool. this particular tool can make creating things very easy, but at the end of the day it does still require some level of creative human input to do anything. as with any artistic tool or medium, i think that what you get out of it depends entirely upon what you put into it. more effort and time = more quality and meaning. text prompting for ai generated images is sort of the most "superficial" layer of the "ai art" scene. the phenomenon of delusional artists exists across ALL forms of art, so it's not just unique to ai. it seems like there is a large percentage of the population who, upon starting to learn a new creative outlet, have an overly grandiose view of their own work after they first start making things. they're so proud of what they created that it blinds them from seeing it for what it really is. they'll gloat about it online, they'll try to sell it for outrageous prices, etc and look super cringy in the process. some people eventually grow out of that and suddenly gain the self-awareness that "oh shit actually that art kinda sucked and i looked super inexperienced", but other times they never realize that and stay cringy. because ai art is so new and so many folks are just now jumping on, i think we're seeing a much higher percentage of this delusional artist phenomenon within this field at the moment, where everyone is so proud of what they're making and not realizing how lame it actually looks to people who know what they're doing. and, again for the record, i do still consider that stuff to be art (and so i mean no offense to anyone when i say these things). it's just really basic art, and i think most people will either grow past this phase (and learn to take these tools a lot deeper) or lose interest in it altogether - just as they do with other artistic endeavors like painting, ceramics, using Photoshop, making music in Ableton, etc, etc. i would classify 99% of my work as under the "concept art" category. it exists as a result of my daily experiments as i learn / discover my way deeper and deeper into machine learning technology. it generally explores scifi themes (robotics in particular) because i find that to be most creatively titillating, but it is not necessarily meant to convey any deeper meaning beyond purely imaginative visual pursuits that look toward the future. which is also why i don't sell my work or push the idea of it being profound in anyway. it's just daily exercise, but i absolutely love that so many other people enjoy looking at it (i'm somehow up to nearly 9000 followers here, which is kinda mind-blowing to me). i've been putting nearly every single spare hour of every single day for the last several years into this so it really means a lot to not only see my skillset improving over time, but to also gain such an audience for it in the process too. 🙏😭

What are the unique skills that you have because of this method of image creation? for me, the WHOLE point of all of this is knowledge and experience working with generative ai tools. this technology exists now and it won't be going away. the genie is out of the bottle, so to speak. i think absolutely any artist (but digital artists in particular) would only be doing themselves a tremendous disservice by not learning to use this tool immediately. being a stick in the mud about it is not going to stop this technology, nor will it save you in 10 years from getting let go at your job and replaced by some younger artist who learned this technology while getting a degree in graphic design and can pump out quality assets 100x faster than you ever could. don't wait until then to start learning this stuff because you will already be sooo far behind at that point. get involved right now, right this second; you will be on the ground floor of an incredible technology and able to keep up with the advancements as they happen, putting you in a much stronger position in the future. don't take it too seriously, just do it for fun and then thank yourself in 10 years when you're 100x more experienced than the younger artist who recently graduated with a graphic design degree. i recently met a graphic designer who somehow never learned to use Photoshop. they do everything the "old school" way - literally cutting, pasting, and drawing things by hand. that was fine 30+ years ago, but now they cannot get hired anywhere. they put off learning Photoshop for so long because they assumed that their excellent skills and truly beautiful eye for design would be enough to carry their career forward forever, without needing to keep up with the technical advancements. but in the modern world, no business wants a designer like that anymore; having strong Photoshop experience is a bare minimum. old school designers who did not keep up were ultimately pushed out entirely. in 10, 20, or even 30 years from now, you don't want to be that old person taking night classes at the local university to try to save your career. get ahead of it, jump on board and invest in your future! i truly believe that you will start to discover creative new ways to integrate it into your current workflow and you will become a stronger (and more marketable) artist in the process. :)

sorry for the huge post and hopefully everything makes sense lmao. feel free to reach out with more questions any time. particularly if you want help getting started in the realm of ai-assisted art and design. i'm always more than happy to help!