#corvid does art... ON COMPUTER

[starcorvid]

black hole

[fishboneart]

Fishbone #005

They weren't kidding, that history can rhyme

Only 9 layers and 5 source images this time. Things don't always have to be a federal fucking issue.

With how much ai art wank discourse is rooted in purity politics, especially but not exclusively on tumblr, I was amused by the mental image of slipping into a hazmat suit before venturing into the dangerous and repulsive wasteland of ai art to retrieve alien salvage like the stalkers in Roadside Picnic. It doesn't feel like that, it feels like being a grabby little corvid in the shiny trinket factory, but I still enjoyed the concept.

The rest of the image is about art as alchemical process and I'm not going to explain it.

I've been observing for some time that the objections to ai art are indistinguishable from the objections to photoshop ~20-25 years ago (including the one about "it's different this time bro trust me") so I want to look at some of them a bit closer.

It's not real art

Stop getting your talking points from fascists.

But-

I don't care how you justify it, it's a fascist talking point. Stop.

It's stealing

At risk of resurrecting stupid bullshit I was already bored with 20 years ago, I honestly think there's a better case for this regarding PS than machine learning. PS artists actually do use elements from existing images, lots of them (ideally with permission/license). However, consensus opinion has long since concurred that PS artists substantially transform and recontextualise those elements and the result is an original creation, same as physical collage.

As I've come to understand it, ML doesn't use elements from existing images, just mathematical descriptions of image attributes. It doesn't incorporate images on any level, or even pieces of images, so I'm left wondering what's being stolen here? I'm not being shitty I genuinely can't see anymore what is stolen when ML simply does not use any part of any existing image to generate an image.

There's no skill/creativity involved

The first time I ever used adobe photoshop (I've long since switched to GIMP, change the name, FOSS 5evar, etc.) I spent about fifteen minutes excitedly stacking filters on a picture of a butterfly, before the person showing me how it worked dismissively explained that filters don't make art.

Elements and principles of design are learned skills. They're taught at art school because they're not innate and they're important as hell. I often feel like people are tacitly arguing all that stuff's just padding--and if you're staunchly anti-ai-art I promise that's not an argument you want to make, it will backfire spectacularly on you.

And yeah, I think everyone still agrees that just piling filters on a photo isn't very creative and takes no particular skill. I doubt anyone thinks instagram filters take a good photo for you. I think (or hope) that we all understand now that complex image editing and manipulation does in fact take skill and creativity.

I can't help but wonder how much of the vapid trash we're seeing in the explosion of ai art is the equivalent of the 2000s explosion of shitty filtered photos.

The computer does it for you

There's so much more to PS art than filters, and the computer emphatically does not do any of that stuff for you. It doesn't do composition or colour theory or concepts or art history for you. It just does what you tell it to, you still have to make the art good. Fishbone #001 involved manually isolating dozens of fucked up hands from ML images, and I complained about it the entire time and the computer didn't even get me a cup of tea.

A lot of people used to actually genuinely believe that photoshop was a magical plagiarism machine that you stuck stolen art in and it automatically made perfect composites for you. Probably some people still do, it's a big world. But it never was true, no matter how hard they believed it.

Is there more to ML image generation? Idk I'd have to try it to find out for sure and I'm very tired. But the more I learn about it the more I think there could be. The frequency with which I see very elaborate and specific prompts with garbled and all-but-irrelevant images does at least suggest that the magical ease of making ai art has been somewhat oversold.

Using it in any way is cheating/cheapens your art

I think the cheating idea mostly came from the photography community, who thought PS was a shortcut to better photos for undisciplined talentless hacks who couldn't be bothered to learn to take a good photo. The irony. But for me, since I wasn't using it to improve photos, this was such a weird take. Cheating at what? At photoshop art? I'm cheating at photoshop by... using photoshop?

And the idea that using PS at any stage in your process irredeemably sullies your art is just stupid on its face. It's not radioactive. It's not a PFAS. Sin isn't real. Santa isn't putting you on the naughty list for photoshopping. The Galactic Council of Artistic Integrity aren't checking for pixels.

Needless to say, since 100% of the source images I use in this project are ML generated, I also think it's a bit of a silly objection to ML image generation.

It has no soul

I am not and have never been christian. I do not and will never care what your imaginary friend thinks about art.

Also, this is a repackaged fascist talking point. I told you to stop that.

It sucks

Most of everything sucks, what's your point?

People are going to lose their jobs

Unfortunately this one had some connection to reality. By about 2010 there were almost no painted book covers, and painters who'd made their living from them were forced to adopt PS or find a different job. It wasn't just book covers of course, commercial artists across the board felt the pinch of automation. That's not exactly PS's fault, the parasitic owning class will simply take any opportunity to fuck over a worker for half a buck, and PS art is generally cheaper because it's generally faster to make.

I actually have some questions about how this will play out with ML though. Currently, yes, it's looking very much like in ten years there won't be any PS book covers any more, but I think the parasitic owning class are going to quickly remember they don't actually want art that they can't hold copyright over, and human artists will remain necessary. No one wants a logo they can't trademark. No one wants commercial art if they can't control the licensing. I don't even think it'll take a wholeass test case, just a few things like selfpub novels using the same cover image as a major release or folks using pure ML images from the big stock sellers without paying, and as soon as they realise they can't sue anyone about it they'll come crawling back, cap in hand, to hire you back as a contractor at an insultingly low rate.

People will lose their jobs or find their billable hours severely cut, but, unfortunately, as the brave Luddites showed us, you can't stop automation by fighting the machine, no matter how noble your motives. You need to actually change society somewhat.

But I think this should be enough of a concern without having to also make shit up. You can just object to ML on the basis of tangible harms it will be used to inflict on individuals and society. That's plenty to be mad about, you don't need to put lipstick on it.

It's different this time bro trust me bro

Plenty of people sincerely believed that rise of PS was fully automated skill-free art theft and the sky was falling, and pointing out that all the same things were said about the invention of everything from the photocopier to home video to the printing press to the camera didn't even slow them down because this time it's different, this time it really is that bad. It wasn't.

And I honestly don't know anymore if it is.

[shtern-and-art]

"Skeppy will probably cry" "Bad will probably cry". Bish, screw, that I am crying!!!

This whole thing was bloody gorgeous and I wasn't expecting that ending. I had no clue what ending to expect but that was definitely better than any I could have hoped for. Forest spirit to soulmate your honour!

I was terrified that you were gonna leave it at the point where he loses the spirit and becomes mortal again. If you had I would be actively sobbing!!!! And oh my god, the art!!! I still can't get over how wonderful your style is.

Imma ask fun things because if I don't I'll sit in a puddle of emotion all night:

What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it? Poor Skeppy trying to answer 101 questions about something he doesn't really use XD.

Is no one concerned that the odd couple from a town they never name has a pet wolf??

Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while. Find hidden creeks and befriend bears?

Does Bad still have a connection to nature and animals, like are creatures naturally more trusting of him?

Do they ever visit the og town again?

Does Skeppy still cause absolute chaos in other towns or has he learnt his lesson and only causes minor trouble now?

Does Bad ever try and study again? If he did what would he study and would Skeppy try to study as well?

Does Skeppy steal? I dunno, he just give off the vibe of a naughty lil trickster who'll pocket something if the owner refuses to sell it him.

Immediately after leaving the forest what the first 'argument' they have (not including the car one)?

Would they ever ride horse? If yes, how terrified would Skeppy be?

Skeppy falls outta tree. I don't know why but my mind keeps telling me that this man has great balance until he climbs trees. They are his mortal enemy and Bad finds this both hilarious and terrifying because he is going to hurt himself.

I had waaaaay more questions than I intended to have. My bad '^_^ but this story was way too much fun to read and you are entirely to blame for making it so engaging!

Make sure to take care of yourself and do stretches after and during drawing. You don't wanna hurt yourself <3

AaaaI’m so glad you liked it! :D And, dang, man, I cried while writing that part too :D

And I promised a nice ending for the main story, I did, and this one also makes the most sense narratively! For the story I wanted to tell, at least. Bad can’t really become human again, he’s changed to much. He can only move on, and do something with what he is, and has. And he did! :D That’s really nice and inspiring, this story will always have a place in my heart, heheh <3

Being a guardian spirit connected to a person and all, Bad may be not as strong as before, but he can’t die unless Skeppy dies first. And Skeppy can do that, but he’s pretty sturdy, and his lifespan operates on a whole other scale than human ones. And Bad knowing Skeppy’s real name balances it all out, makes them equal in the power and influence they have over each other.

So hellyeah, soulmates for the win :DDD

I’ll answer all questions under the cut, and this close up from one of the pages!

1) What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it?

Probably a pager! Because it’s a more feasible thing to get than a wholeass computer Bad actually wanted :D An it means Skeppy will have to get one too, and that Bad will be having the time of his life texting him and everyone he can get a number from, even if they’re still in the room with him.

Poor Skeppy indeed, he can learn to appreciate the pagers, and later phones, too, and computers, but he really has 0 idea on how it all works and why Bad is so fascinated by it all.

2) Rat and regular people

Oh, she can shapeshift, just like Bad! If they’re out with people around, she takes form of a puppy, and Bad can pass her off as a weird mix breed rescue doggo.

3) Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while?

Oh, since they have no end destination in mind, they can ride around for a bit, go visit some cool places and roadside attractions. Sadly, Skeppy is probably not spiritually or morally ready to full on befriend wild bears yet, and they do need money for gas and snacks. So, at some point they will have to stop somewhere and find work – at least for a bit, to save up. Life’s gonna be a bit complicated with all that, until Skeppy figures out his treasure-finding abilities :DD

4) Bad and nature and animals

He is definitely still in tune with all wildlife! Even more – Bad could become a proper guardian spirit for Skeppy in part because, in a way, Skeppy himself is part of the nature.

So yeah, Bad can understand animals (and plants) and communicate with them; they’re just more free to not take his shit, and Bad’s emotions do not “possess” them unless he makes an effort to do so.

He doesn’t like doing it, tho.

5) Do they ever visit the og town again?

Hm, I think they will completely forget about it for a while, until, like, 30+ years later they will be going somewhere, and find themselves around those parts. And they try to not appear too often in the areas they’ve spent a lot of time in already (they can be pretty recognizable, and also barely show signs of aging). But it’s been a long time, and the town’s really different now… So they make a stop, and spend a day there. They walk the unfamiliar streets between the new buildings, check out the popular hiking trail, the advertisements for hot springs and winter activities. The old cinema is still there, and is hosting an all-night marathon of classic horror movies of the last century.

Bad and Skeppy leave the town after sunset – the day was nice, but they have nothing more to do there. They ride through the forest on a well paved road, with radio playing something barely above the whisper. And in the dark of hot summer night, Bad can see the white stag running between the trees alongside their car. Shadows dance over the shimmering light of it’s fur.

Somewhere after the towns border, the stag disappears back in the forest. But the air in the car stays light and fresh, saving the smell of old pines and dry leaves all though the night.

6) Skeppy and chaos

Well, after the whole mess in the main story, Skeppy definitely learned some lessons, especially about not being a dick :D

But the thing is – he can’t really help the fact that things tend to stir up around him a lot. He naturally brings in chaos into everything, because he is, in part, a personification, or an outlet for it in the world. And so, to feel, well and good, and himself Skeppy gotta do stuff that disrupts balance, and creates some mayhem. And in gave him a lot of trouble in early life, but in the course of the main story he learned that he can chose were he lets that chaos to take hold, learned what can come of that chaos, apart from utter misery.

Like, where it can help dismantle something destructive, and where – bring in the more positive change, that was already brewing, possible, but is stagnant for some reason.

Soooo, I can’t say Skeppy causes only minor chaos in his life, but he sure learns even more about not being a dick :DDDD

7) The studying

I think Bad will want to get a higher education at some point, because he wanted to, and because it’s already new millennia and all that. Bet he’ll go for something very technical and/or literature. Maybe he’ll start by piking up some classes in small time colleges, when they stop in one place for a while, and later get into an online program, because why not.

Skeppy is not a college guy at all. He’ll listen to Bad talk about it, read textbooks if he wants to, can research stuff, buuut going to classes and doing homework is definitely not his thing.

8) Stealing

Well, you’re right, Skeppy can and will steal stuff out of spite! And will be scolded by Bad for it, and will not feel (that) sorry about it. But real stealer between them will be Bad himself :D

It’s just… he has the corvid tendencies, and a hoard (a box) of sentimental mementos from different people and events, and the thrill of stealing something small and harmless is very exciting. Bad is very proud of his little collection. Skeppy finds it very adorable, a bit hypocritical, and kinda creepy. Like, that pretty box he gifted Bad at some point is now full of stuff like:

- pressed flower from the clearing they had a picnic at on their anniversary

- the button the waitress lost that one day the storm caused a black out in the whole town

- some small animal bones

- couple pretty rocks Bad stole from Skeppy’s pockets

- penny that was once glued to the ground

- a handful of teeth people (and not people) lost in fights with Bad

- pen from some fancy hotel

- rainbow dash keychain that belonged to a child

- the list goes on

9) Argument

Oh, that same day they’ll fight over whether they should stay at the really crappy and suspicious looking motel, or go sleep in a perfectly fine forest near the road. Ironically, Bad wanted to try out the motel (because, yay, first time spending the night back in civilization), and Skeppy was the one insisting on sleeping in nature (because the motel looks like it could give you 10 diseases if you even stand near it, and sleeping in the forest is kind of nice, and means they can cuddle).

10) Horses

The guys will probably ride them at some point. Well, Bad will ride, and Skeppy will sit on his horse and hope it knows what to do and where to go, because trying to make this giant thing do something seems dangerous. If they’ll have to actually go somewhere fast, Skeppy will not survive that day, his butt (and legs) will be dead for days to come.

And riding with Bad on one horse may sound romantic and nice, but all romance dies when the gallop starts.

F.

11) Skeppy and climbing

Skeppy is more down to earth kind of guy, more of a “rocks and caves” kind of creature, real-life lizard person or something. Up on the trees and in the air – not really his element, yeah. But it doesn’t mean that Skeppy will accept this fact easy. The embarrassment of never managing to safely make it down a tree is too strong, he just has to do it all over again, and again. And again. Because, clearly, he was distracted this time. And the time before that Bad was teasing him, and it “disrupted his flow”. And, really, maybe these trees here just do not like Skeppy much, and make him slip a lot. Yeah.

So, more often than not, if Skeppy climbs a tree, he will not stop climbing it until he falls, or the tree ends. Bad had to take him off high branches couple times, forcefully, because, of course, Skeppy was sitting there for 2 hours just to properly enjoy the sunset. He can climb down at any point, he just Choses not to. The view is amazing. The bark is literally part of his skin now, not because he holds on tight, no, he’s just Than Much one with the nature )<

---

Don’t apologize for the questions! It’s always so fun to answer them, and it makes me think more about stuff I may have skipped, or didn’t think about before. It’s really nice :3c

Again, thank you for the ask, and for being here for this story! <3

(And I’ll try setting timers for rest breaks while I draw, mb that will help)

---

In The Dark - masterpost

[mimzy-writing-online]

Savior of the Cake/Other Blind Mishaps

Hello Friends, so yesterday was my birthday. And, spoilers, it’s definitely the best one I’ve had in my 25 years of living.

Birthdays aren’t something I got to enjoy as a kid, so making the most of them in my adulthood has been important to me. And because of the CORVID-19 crisis and quarantine, I was afraid this one wouldn’t go well.

It went beautifully!

I got to have a small gathering of my closest friends (minus one, but she lives very far away). Three of them share an apartment, so we were able to go there and keep everything as isolated as possible.

So here’s one fun part of the story- the cake. I’ve had three birthday cakes in all my life now and this is my favorite one. Red velvet cake with chocolate icing and a sunflower on top. Sunflowers are my favorite flower.

So, here’s the thing about the cake and my blind mishap:

[Image Description: photo of the cake on a white marble counter. The icing sunflower takes up the entire top of the cake with three rows of yellow petals and eight small green leaves poking out. The leaves serve as markers to suggest where to cut the cake. The icing is a medium chocolate color, with dark chocolate icing decorating the bottom edge. No birthday writing or candles, because I didn’t want anything to mess with the sunflower. End Image Description]

I ordered it a week in advance and picked it up yesterday. We took that along with an early dinner (take out) to my friends’ apartment. I was carrying the cake, my friends were carrying dinner and drinks. 

But here’s the thing: my friends’ apartment has this ridiculous and completely unnecessary step separating the living room from the rest of the apartment, AND I AM BLIND.

And I fucking tripped while carrying that cake!

I tripped and landed on my knees, cake still in balanced in both of my arms. And for the half second it took to process what happened, all four of my friends were freaking out about me. I managed to get K to take the cake into the kitchen while I kind of mentally collected myself.

K checked on the cake and here’s the results: there was not a single scratch on that cake. That photo is taken from after falling. I held that cake perfectly.

On the other hand, when K tried to help me up I couldn’t get my footing right and fell a second time and had to just sit on the floor for a moment and figure it all out.

But I was fine. A few small bruises on my knees, but fine all the same.

Did thoroughly remind me of the time I tripped on a sidewalk curb in bright daylight two and a half years ago, the incident that convinced my mum that I should get a cane (because I’d been arguing for it for the last month but she wasn’t ready to accept what was happening, and then I came home with two bleeding and horribly bruised knees, and we ordered my cane that day).

I’ve visited their apartment aplenty, and except for the first day I’ve never had trouble with that step, but this time I just miscalculated were I was or forgot just long enough that I tripped. But all was fine.

Anyway, I’m sharing this because I like most of my blind stories and think they’re at least a little funny and worth enjoying/telling others.

Why is the title Savior of the Cake? Mostly because I’ve been singing Black Parade to myself every time I wash my hands. As one does.

Other Birthday Things:

My county passed an ordinance saying there would be no unnecessary social gatherings that same day (literally minutes before we arrived at my friends’ apartment). So bars are closed, some stores are closed, restaurants are only doing take-out. Kinda not the thing you want to see happen on your birthday, but it worked out just fine.

“Yeah, no necessary social-gatherings is the new rules,” S said.

“It’s Mimzy’s birthday, that’s a necessary social gathering,” A said.

While on the phone with a friend, S said, “Yeah, I have an illegal birthday party going on at my apartment. Five people in the same room.”

S is making an apocalypse playlist, which so far has a fair amount of punk and different genres of EDM. If any of you have any cheery but vaguely eerie songs to recommend for the playlist, send me an ask and I’ll check them out.

There were actually a lot of theoretical ideas on surviving an apocalypse. My job will apparently be records keeping and maintaining computer servers, should we gain access to some.

We played games, ate cake, and were merry.

It’s the best birthday I’ve ever had. I’m so unbelievably grateful for my friends.

My mum got me a birthday card that included this quote: “You’re a fabulous writer, and an incredible son/daughter/child/offspring!”

[Image Description: photo of birthday card cover. A drawing of a purple cat with a big round face. The cat’s cheeks are colored with blue stripes. There are stars and triangles drawn on the purple cat in glitter gold and black ink. The cat has a sleepy content look in their eyes. End Image Description]

The artist of the card is Laurel Burch, and she’s well known for her colorful cat drawings. My mum has a mug and a wall tapestry of her making. Also a teapot, but the teapot was damaged an no longer holds water, so it’s kept on display. I recommend checking her art out. The link to her website is here.

[chuckling-chemist]

You Know What, It’s My Birthday So I’m Gonna Talk About Fantroll Etymology

Now bear with me, this shit’s gonna refer to a lot of trolls without pages (because they’re sitting in drafts or haven’t bothered making a page yet since there’s no art yet, written or otherwise) so a lot of these bad boys (at least of the ones I remember. Look man, I started making fantrolls over 5 years ago and 3 computers ago, and unfortunately some of the etymologies I managed to forget. I think it’s on a flash drive....that’s at my parent’s house.):

Lyzeki Vernus: Lyzeki is based off the owl Ezylryb from Guardians of Ga’Hoole, who was originally known as Lyze of Kiel. (Ezylryb is Lyze backwards + ryb, which means teacher in universe) Lyzeki is Lyze + “Ki” of Kiel. 

Nivell Abbela: Nivell comes from the abbess Gertrude of Nivelles, who, while never officially named a saint, is viewed as a patron saint to sailors. Abbela comes from the word Abbess, or the female leader of a community (abbey) of nuns. (She was based off of a human Catholic OC named Maria, whose own name is because her Catholic parents named all their children after Saints or Angels somewhere in their name)

Valeba Medala: Valeba is basically a corruption of valor...I think, and Medala is a corruption on medal. By corruption I mean “I stuck an a at the end and called it a day.” This is reference to her being a treasure hunter. Medals and treasure are...close enough. I guess.

Aluala Medala: Aluala is a corruption (I think? It’s been a while) of a Hawaiian for the morning sun. Because she’s a light player. 

Stikla Medala: Stikla is named directly after the Viking pirate of the same name, who turned to piracy to avoid marriage. Stikla worked with Rusla, otherwise known as the Red Maiden

Elliah Fagane: A corruption on Eleanora Fagan, or more popularly known as Billie Holiday. Elliah is a brownblood inspired by Billie Holiday.

Ektome Altses: Ektome is the phonetic spelling of the spider Lakota trickster god, Iktomi.  

Nafasi Altses: Nafasi comes from the Swalhili word for Space. No, he’s not Spacebound anymore. Yes, I’m too attached to the name to change it. Turns out Life fits the Altses line better! (I mean...it still does in the sense that Nafasi likes astronomy, among other things, and their lusus is a reference to the Coyote in Navajo faith who put the stars in the sky by accident...okay yeah it still fits.)

Gadung Galiel: Gadung comes from the Tolkien Gnomish word for spider, a reference to her trapdoor spider lusus. The liel on Galiel is the feminine ending for many Elvish words in Tolkien. The usage of butchered Tolkien specifically is because she’s based around a specific type of (thankfully pretty much nonexistent anymore) Dagorhir player. Dagorhir which is a fantasy foam sport/LARP originally based around Tolkien’s fantasy.

Coraxe Heelio: Coraxe comes from Corvid, a reference to his lusus (and one of the animals associated with Helios/Apollo), and Heelio comes from Helios. You know...Apollo. 

Sayida Titwan: Sayida comes from the infamous female pirate Sayyida al Hurra, a Turkish pirate queen in the 16th century. This is also where her last name comes from, as one of her other names was Hakimat Titwan, or governor of Tétouan. She’s also from a Dagorhir fansession and represents Sunhawks.

Icasui Zakees: Icasui comes from Icarus - but like Kid Icarus/Pit, not actually the Greek figure Icarus (it’s why her lusus is a flightless bird) and Zakees comes from the angel Zadkiel, the patron angel of forgiveness. This came back from when I was going to make her a Hope player and thought “hey wouldn’t it be cool to base a Hope player off of an actual angel?”, and have her be aspire for no more than runner/intern-esque role the way actual basic angels are. (Not the big fancy kind). Also because Kid Icarus Uprising makes a few jokes about how Pit’s a glorified intern for Palutena. Just so you know, barely any of this still exists. She’s not even a Hope player. ...Though she does work in a mail room when she’s full time babysitter to an heiress.

Haniel Zakees: Haniel is named for the angel Haniel/Anael, the angel of joy.

Fioria Leccia: Fioria comes from the Italian word for flowers, Fiori, and she draws inspiration for composing through her flowers. (Also her moirail, Ektome, has a natural green thumb).

Pallia Alkali/Azotes: Pallia comes from the element Palladium. I swear to God, I had no idea one of Athena’s names was Pallas Athene and that snakes go with Athena until roughly 4 years after I made her. Alkali, her fake last name, is named after the alkali metals on the periodic table. Azotes, her actual last name, comes from Azote, one of many alchemical names for Nitrogen.

Fospha Azotes: Fospha name derives from the element Phosphorous. 

Brylis Azotes: Brylis comes from the element Beryllium. Is Pallia’s whole lineage going to be named after elements? Yep, probably.

Volcor Heftor: Volcor comes from Vulcan and Heftor comes from Hephaestus. Fitting for an engineer who’s had more than a few mishaps fighting.

Fenald Heftor: Fenald comes from a portmanteau of Ferrum, the Latin name for Iron, as well as the ASOUE character Fernald (aka: the Hook-Handed man).

Thysus Bakkae: Thysus comes from Dionysus, and Bakkae comes from Bacchus. Thysus is also from the Dagorhir fansession and is based on the unit Sour Wine.

Gliden Rectus: Gliden comes from the protein group gliaden, which are not only found in gluten, and the one your body can’t break down if you have Celiac Disease. Rectus comes from the Latin word for straight. You know, just like how straight and narrow he is on that gluten free diet. Mmhm....

Charis Zakmos: Charis comes from the Greek figure Charon, or the ferryman of the dead. Zakmos is also based off of Zadkiel. Charis is a purpleblood based off of the Ticketkeeper in The Devil’s Carnival, a figure who is frequently the first one the fallen come across, and certainly one of the more sympathetic carnies to their plight.

Glacin Bebuso: Glacin comes from the Irish plague doctor named Niall Ó Glacáin from the second major outbreak of plague in the late 1500s-early 1600s, who was also a pioneer in pathological anatomy. Shockingly, not from the word glacier. Or the protein Glacin A/B which is found in plants. Or Glacin tablets, which are used for cramps and pains. Bebuso comes from the word bubonic. That’s it.

Dontoc Leiniz: Dontoc is a corruption of the word dolphin, which is his lusus. Leiniz comes from Leibniz, the other founder of Calculus - the one who isn’t Newton that you probably don’t remember. I pronounce it “lay-niz” which sounds kind of like how you pronounce “Les Mis”, and while les miserables might be a good way to describe his early life that’s...pretty accidental tbh.

Inaeis Leiniz: Inaeis comes from the Latin word Inanis, which means void, worthless, or foolish. Google Translate 4 years ago only gave me the first (it’s a Voidbound joke, hey!), but the other two words certainly fit just as much.

Nieche Leiniz: Comes from the philospher Nietzsche. 

Haiark Noblet: Haiark’s is based on the Dagorhir unit Uruk-hai (and you can imagine what they named themselves off of.) and seeing those names together you can see where it came from. Noblet is just noble, since Haiark is a violetblood.

Careen Elsker: Careen comes from the term “careening”, or dry docking a ship to clean off the barnacles. It’s a shipping joke. @deadmen--tell--no--tales‘s idea 100% thanks to their obsessive knowledge of ships. Careening, of course, also means to move in a wildly unspecific direction, which...yeah okay that was unintentional but it fits too. 

Carica Elsker: Carica comes from the Serbo-Croatian word spelled in English that way and is really pronounced more like “charicha” than with the hard c’s I actually read it with that means Tsarina or Empress.

Mayola Yoscan: Mayola is a portmanteau of the Spanish words el mar and la ola, or the sea and the wave.

Domina Gnomen: Based off Rome from the Dagorhir fansession, Domina is named after Dominus of Rome but feminized, and gnomen comes from the Latin word cognomen, or “last name”. Yes, her name is Dominus Last Name. I’m clever.

[starcorvid]

take a deep breath in

[starcorvid]

signal lost

[starcorvid]

time buddies finally got a day off

Unlit version below the cut!

p.s.: i dont really do backgrounds ever lmao so please forgive any errors

[starcorvid]

They're quantum buddies

Headcanon rants and Gabbro without the bg/lighting under the cut!!

I read @2isted-chocol8-art's ADORABLE comic abt little Gabbro (hope it's okay i tagged you!!) and it made me think, what if their ears were made a bit funky and they can hear a version of the quantum fluctuations? Kinda like how we can hear higher and lower pitched sounds when were younger. So I wanted to draw them playing along with their shard buddy!! I think they're harmonizing pretty well ::P

[starcorvid]

It Feels Like Stars Under My Skin

[starcorvid]

messy little comic of @tadporridge and i's ocs Tor and Coquina meeting for the first time:]

[starcorvid]

been posting art for a few months (!!!) here now so i figured it was time for an intro post!

so hello!! I'm Juice, or Corvid (pick ur favourite, i answer to both) and i post mostly outer wilds art on here! i do a lot of traditional sketches and im trying to get back to digital more often.

im very passionate about video games, amongt many things. if yall wanna chat games, art, ocs, hcs,etc. my dms nd asks are always open!

currently trying to tag properly.. pls bear with me

big art tag: #starcorvid art

digital art: #corvid does art... ON COMPUTER

traditional art: #corvid doodlings