#creativity confluence

[confluence-of-consciousness]

🧠 What secrets does your mind hold?

Unlock the mysteries of neural interfaces and telepathic communication. 🔓✨

Start your journey today! 🚀🌌https://www.confluenceofconsciousness.com

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Harpercollins wants authors to sign away AI training rights

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/18/rights-without-power/#careful-what-you-wish-for

Rights don't give you power. People with power can claim rights. Giving a "right" to someone powerless just transfers it to someone more powerful than them. Nowhere is this more visible than in copyright fights, where creative workers are given new rights that are immediately hoovered up by their bosses.

It's not clear whether copyright gives anyone the right to control whether their work is used to train an AI model. It's very common for people (including high ranking officials in entertainment companies, and practicing lawyers who don't practice IP law) to overestimate their understanding of copyright in general, and their knowledge of fair use in particular.

Here's a hint: any time someone says "X can never be fair use," they are wrong and don't know what they're talking about (same goes for "X is always fair use"). Likewise, anyone who says, "Fair use is assessed solely by considering the 'four factors.'" That is your iron-clad sign that the speaker does not understand fair use:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/27/nuke-first/#ask-questions-never

But let's say for the sake of argument that training a model on someone's work is a copyright violation, and so training is a licensable activity, and AI companies must get permission from rightsholders before they use their copyrighted works to train a model.

Even if that's not how copyright works today, it's how things could work. No one came down off a mountain with two stone tablets bearing the text of 17 USC chiseled in very, very tiny writing. We totally overhauled copyright in 1976, and again in 1998. There've been several smaller alterations since.

We could easily write a new law that requires licensing for AI training, and it's not hard to imagine that happening, given the current confluence of interests among creative workers (who are worried about AI pitchmen's proclaimed intention to destroy their livelihoods) and entertainment companies (who are suing many AI companies).

Creative workers are an essential element of that coalition. Without those workers as moral standard-bearers, it's hard to imagine the cause getting much traction. No one seriously believes that entertainment execs like Warner CEO David Zaslav actually cares about creative works – this is a guy who happily deletes every copy of an unreleased major film that had superb early notices because it would be worth infinitesimally more as a tax-break than as a work of art:

https://collider.com/coyote-vs-acme-david-zaslav-never-seen/

The activists in this coalition commonly call it "anti AI." But is it? Does David Zaslav – or any of the entertainment execs who are suing AI companies – want to prevent gen AI models from being used in the production of their products? No way – these guys love AI. Zaslav and his fellow movie execs held out against screenwriters demanding control over AI in the writers' room for 148 days, and locked out their actors for another 118 days over the use of AI to replace actors. Studio execs forfeited at least $5 billion in a bid to insist on their right to use AI against workers:

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2023/12/06/a-deep-dive-into-the-economic-ripples-of-the-hollywood-strike/

Entertainment businesses love the idea of replacing their workers with AI. Now, that doesn't mean that AI can replace workers: just because your boss can be sold an AI to do your job, it doesn't mean that the AI he buys can actually do your job:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/25/accountability-sinks/#work-harder-not-smarter

So if we get the right to refuse to allow our work to be used to train a model, the "anti AI" coalition will fracture. Workers will (broadly) want to exercise that right to prevent AI models from being trained at all, while our bosses will want to exercise that right to be sure that they're paid for AI training, and that they can steer production of the resulting model to maximize the number of workers than can fire after it's done.

Hypothetically, creative workers could simply say to our bosses, "We will not sell you this right to authorize or refuse AI training that Congress just gave us." But our bosses will then say, "Fine, you're fired. We won't hire you for this movie, or record your album, or publish your book."

Given that there are only five major publishers, four major studios, three major labels, two ad-tech companies and one company that controls the whole ebook and audiobook market, a refusal to deal on the part of a small handful of firms effectively dooms you to obscurity.

As Rebecca Giblin and I write in our 2022 book Chokepoint Capitalism, giving more rights to a creative worker who has no bargaining power is like giving your bullied schoolkid more lunch money. No matter how much lunch money you give that kid, the bullies will take it and your kid will remain hungry. To get your kid lunch, you have to clear the bullies away from the gate. You need to make a structural change:

https://chokepointcapitalism.com/

Or, put another way: people with power can claim rights. But giving powerless people more rights doesn't make them powerful – it just transfers those rights to the people they bargain against.

Or, put a third way: "just because you're on their side, it doesn't follow that they're on your side" (h/t Teresa Nielsen Hayden):

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/#just-because-youre-on-their-side-it-doesnt-mean-theyre-on-your-side

Last month, Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the history of human civilization, started including a copyright notice in its books advising all comers that they would not permit AI training with the material between the covers:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/19/gander-sauce/#just-because-youre-on-their-side-it-doesnt-mean-theyre-on-your-side

At the time, people who don't like AI were very excited about this, even though it was – at the utmost – a purely theatrical gesture. After all, if AI training isn't fair use, then you don't need a notice to turn it into a copyright infringement. If AI training is fair use, it remains fair use even if you add some text to the copyright notice.

But far more important was the fact that the less that Penguin Random House pays its authors, the more it can pay its shareholders and executives. PRH didn't say it wouldn't sell the right to train a model to an AI company – they only said that an AI company that wanted to train a model on its books would have to pay PRH first. In other words, just because you're on their side, it doesn't follow that they're on your side.

When I wrote about PRH and its AI warning, I mentioned that I had personally seen one of the big five publishers hold up a book because a creator demanded a clause in their contract saying their work wouldn't be used to train an AI.

There's a good reason you'd want this in your contract; the standard contracting language contains bizarrely overreaching language seeking "rights in all media now know and yet to be devised throughout the universe":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/19/reasonable-agreement/

But the publisher flat-out refused, and the creator fought and fought, and in the end, it became clear that this was a take-it-or-leave-it situation: the publisher would not include a "no AI training" clause in the contract.

One of the big five publishers is Rupert Murdoch's Harpercollins. Murdoch is famously of the opinion that any kind of indexing or archiving of the work he publishes must require a license. He even demanded to be paid to have his newspapers indexed by search engines:

https://www.inquisitr.com/46786/epic-win-news-corp-likely-to-remove-content-from-google

No surprise, then, that Murdoch sued an AI company over training on Newscorp content:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/25/unjust-threat-murdoch-and-artists-align-in-fight-over-ai-content-scraping

But Rupert Murdoch doesn't oppose the material he publishes from being used in AI training, nor is he opposed to the creation and use of models. Murdoch's Harpercollins is now pressuring its authors to sign away their rights to have their works used to train an AI model:

https://bsky.app/profile/kibblesmith.com/post/3laz4ryav3k2w

The deal is not negotiable, and the email demanding that authors opt into it warns that AI might make writers obsolete (remember, even if AI can't do your job, an AI salesman can convince Rupert Murdoch – who is insatiably horny for not paying writers – that an AI is capable of doing your job):

https://www.avclub.com/harpercollins-selling-books-to-ai-language-training

And it's not hard to see why an AI company might want this; after all, if they can lock in an exclusive deal to train a model on Harpercollins' back catalog, their products will exclusively enjoy whatever advantage is to be had in that corpus.

In just a month, we've gone from "publishers won't promise not to train a model on your work" to "publishers are letting an AI company train a model on your work, but will pay you a nonnegotiable pittance for your work." The next step is likely to be, "publishers require you to sign away the right to train a model on your work."

The right to decide who can train a model on your work does you no good unless it comes with the power to exercise that right.

Rather than campaigning for the right to decide who can train a model on our work, we should be campaigning for the power to decide what terms we contract under. The Writers Guild spent 148 days on the picket line, a remarkable show of solidarity.

But the Guild's real achievement was in securing the right to unionize at all – to create a sectoral bargaining unit that could represent all the writers, writing for all the studios. The achievements of our labor forebears, in the teeth of ruthless armed resistance, resulted in the legalization and formalization of unions. Never forget that the unions that exist today were criminal enterprises once upon a time, and the only reason they exist is because people risked prison, violence and murder to organize when doing so was a crime:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/11/rip-jane-mcalevey/#organize

The fights were worth fighting. The screenwriters comprehensively won the right to control AI in the writers' room, because they had power:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/01/how-the-writers-guild-sunk-ais-ship/

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

--

Eva Rinaldi (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rupert_Murdoch_-_Flickr_-_Eva_Rinaldi_Celebrity_and_Live_Music_Photographer.jpg

CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

[lackadaisycats]

How do you draw so well on paper without getting frustrated with your own art? Bless me with a tip pls

I often draw very messily on paper. I just clean it up afterwards, either by erasing stray marks and guidelines and relining the drawing, or by scanning and doing digital touchups. Or I just leave some of the messiness there because sometimes that has more personality and charm than a pristine, polished drawing does. I am also in a near perpetual state of frustration with my art. I think that's normal for anyone doing any sort of creative work. Having to erase and redraw something, having to reconfigure your approach after trying and failing the first few times, having to relent and seek out some reference material - it's a confluence of frustration and challenge. As maddening as it can be, it's also part of what keeps things interesting. If it was all completely effortless, what satisfaction would there be in doing it?

I guess if there's a tip in here somewhere, it's to embrace frustration. If you're feeling frustrated, it's a good indication you have a critical eye for your own work and that you're venturing beyond your comfort zones. Both of those things are essential to improving. (That's not to say you should torture yourself. If you're so frustrated that your blood pressure is spiking, well, take a break, cool off, return after a refresh.)

[cognitivejustice]

 Shangwei was an unassuming and modest village, ringed by small warehouses and repair shops. The village itself had been designated an arts and cultural village, and was home to a motley group of artists, sculptors, and other creatives.

The practice is dedicated to “community-gardening” as a form of regeneration of urban villages 城中村. Urban villages are a uniquely Chinese phenomenon, stemming from the confluence of rapid urbanization clashing with the existing dual land structure of Chinese villages/cities—village land is still classed as 集体 “collective”, with each villager entitled to collective ownership, often entailing rights in communal enterprises and right to build a house and farm.

When Shenzhen urbanized, villages like Shangwei and many others were often able to keep their residential property, while farmland around the village was absorbed for urban development. Today, Shenzhen’s urban villages provide low-cost housing, vibrant street life and food. While many Chinese cities have been moving to demolish their urban villages, many of Shenzhen’s villages have become quite wealthy, undertaking their own property development and renovating homes, maintaining their “right to the city”.2 

Huang and Yuan promote their approach as “community-led design”, borrowing from ideas about bottom-up urban planning and community governance in the West. They argue that their practice is “as much about governance 治理 as about design 设计. Although, even in the projects they have worked in, the commissioning entity is often the local village administrative committee, which is technically part of the state apparatus. Thus, the question of how much “grassroots governance” is really possible within China’s hierarchical administrative system is an open one. Huang and Yuan acknowledge this, but also state that they are commissioned by the local village authorities to undertake community planning, working with residents in the village on behalf of the local government, which lacks the capacity or understanding of community-driven design. So in this sense, they are consultants hired by the local village government to interface and work with the local population.

Their projects also span typologies from community gardening to public services. One of their projects in Shenzhen’s Window of the World neighborhood was built in a community with many foreign residents from 22 countries. Here, residents were selected by lottery to obtain small plots for farming vegetables, “including shared planting areas, gravel gardens, four-season orchards, herb gardens, bee and butterfly gardens, rainwater gardens, and activity squares.”3 At another project in the Huaiyayuan Community of Nanshan District, Sketch Action helped a community transform an empty paved area of a parking lot in front of the community into a diverse garden, and residents participated in planting and design themselves.4

[originalcrime]

my personal viewing experience (for context bingeing the show from the beginning after hearing about 7x04) is that even if there were creatives who wanted to do canon buddie during the fox era, for whatever confluence of outside reasons it was never going to happen and there were never any concrete strides to make it happen. and there was never a chance of it happening in a season as transitional as s7 needed to be but it seems like abc is more willing to play ball as a network, at the very least they co-signed the potential proof of concept that was bi buck. which was a successful plot line that was received well and contributed to strong engagement and viewership.

so s8 is imo the first time there’s actually a chance canon buddie could happen, if that’s what the creative team wants. which makes me think that it will be abundantly clear by the end of this season if that’s a road they’re (still?) interested in going on. now whether it is or not, i have no clue and i could genuinely see them taking at a minimum one of three different directions. but i am all about watching the show for what it is and what it’s doing so i’m not going to really worry about all that. i think no matter what i’ll have fun watching the story that’s playing out and in the next sixth months i’ll have an even better idea about what that story is going to be long term so, post pruning, i can enjoy the view of the tree that much more

[mynonsenseistingling]

Template by @wanderingaldecaldo

I got a little more creative this year with my vp, just to stretch out and see how far my creativity could reach. A lot of this, for me, is luck. I don't know how to get a good shot, but occasionally I'll walk backwards into something great. So these 12 shot were the luckiest I'd gotten. Just the right confluence of lighting, time and location. Which is the way all good photography works out, it's like many thing from the inside you can see where it didn't work.

Some of my favourite projects this year were Postcards From Night City; which was fun and I would love to do more, but I ran out of ideas. My Adventures in the outlands was tremendous fun just breaking into, and out of, Night City. I really liked the Vehicle Pairings sets I did. The Red Hood Cyberpunk Cosplay were a fun diversion into action from usual static city/vehicle shots.

And let's not forget October's Spirit of Vengeance series. A series of heavily edited Ghost Rider inspired shots interspersed with an off-the-cuff, non-drafted, bit of fan fiction. Creative writing was never something I enjoyed in school and that hasn't changed. I have the ideas but I can't get the words together. It was like pulling teeth. In fact I'd rather do that, than write again.

So as the year comes to a close, I'd like to thank everyone of you who always came back. Those of you said nice things in the replies and the tags. Those few who popped in to my asks. I did all of this for me, but I'm glad some of you enjoyed them from time to time.

[asaraviapt]

[EN] Video Game Writing Resources!

Hello! My name is Andrea--I have been writing for games since 2018, and even worked as a writer at Firaxis Games from 2022 until April of 2023. So, I knew a few things about narrative design--but what the fuck is it? Recently, I gave a talk about the fundamentals and history of the field of narrative design. In Spanish. So, let's talk about it in English--the "what," "why," "how," "when," and "who," of narrative design! What is narrative design? Narrative design is not just writing--it's a huge part of it, but designing a narrative system involves implementing narrative content into the build of the game. So there is a technical learning curve to it. Personally, I watched and obtained certifications in Unreal Engine 5 and Unity in order to be aware of the limitations of each engine. I used the free trial of LinkedIn Learning, but courses about this engine are available in these websites: - https://platzi.com/ - https://www.arkde.com/ - https://www.domestika.org/?query=unity - https://www.coursera.org/ Why do we need narrative design? In order to create an interactive story that the player feels a part of, narrative designers are mandatory. It's not a responsibility that can be placed on other designers (then we would be entering crunch territory) rather someone who specifically specializes in both creative writing and game design is needed to explain within the context of the game's story why the mechanics work in a certain way. Imagine if a Telltale game did not have dialogue, for example--what would we be left with? Or if The Last Of Us did not convey a narrative through its environments.

Narrative designers are needed so that all of the departments are in sync and understand the story that they are trying to tell. For example, if a game takes place in a haunted house that was abandoned, we need all hands on deck. The narrative designer can explain to the environment artists why there are so many holes in the living room--perhaps the last tenants of the house were a rowdy bunch. Or, they can tell the sound designers which planks of wood are the most rotten and need a loud sound effect to highlight how it has been abandoned. How do I become a narrative designer? There is no one way to become a narrative designer. Some people start in QA and transition into the field, I have also witnessed engineers and doctors wanting to get into narrative design. I do recommend having the following (at least): - A passion for storytelling. - Deep understanding of the mechanics of the game and the player experience. - Communication skills are incredibly important--can you describe your story in a concise way to your peers in a Confluence page?

Documentation skills are also a massive plus.

Very basic understanding of game engines and limitations. You don't have to be a computer science major, but know what your requests will entail. If you have an idea of a cutscene, can the engine handle it? Will the animators have enough time? Is it within scope?

If you can, attend game jams! They are an amazing way to network with amazing people and get a feel of what the game production pipeline is like.

Additionally, I highly recommend the following resources: First, the free resources! ~It's free real estate~

Look up Twinery tutorials. (https://twinery.org/) Not only is it free, but you can use it on your browser. More importantly, you will learn about branching narratives and can create your own games within a few minutes--the interface, though it requires a bit of coding, is incredibly easy to use and there are a lot of tutorials available online.

Download Ren'Py (https://www.renpy.org/) and watch tutorials. It's free, and there is a huge community of visual novel developers who may need help with narrative designers, writers, editors and even translators. An amazing resource that a colleague shared was this Discord with visual novel developers--if you have an idea, feel free to connect with artists and voice actors here! https://discord.gg/nW5yn4FE

Network, network, network! Follow narrative design and game writer groups on Discord, Facebook and even LinkedIn. -- An amazing convention that is online, free and accessible regarding narrative design is LudoNarraCon.

If you go to itch.io you will see a list of game jams that you can attend to for free! Some game jams that I have attended and had a positive experience are the following: - Woman Game Jam. I encourage folks from marginalized genders to attend this game jam, as we have a large pool of mentors willing to help in every single discipline at any time due to the global nature of it. It is a safe and inclusive space for women and nonbinary folx who want to get into the gaming industry! - Global Game Jam. Self explanatory, it has some in-person opportunities but you can also attend remotely. - Greenlight Jam. Do you have an idea that can not be done in only 48 hours? The Greenlight Jam is amazing, as it lasts four weeks--which allows narrative designers to develop complex narrative systems and even record voice lines for a more complex project. Side Note: Even though most game jams have a time limit, I do encourage narrative designers to develop and polish the prototypes and levels created during game jams to have portfolios and writing samples that stand out!

Work With Indies is a job site that publishes job opportunities--including ones in writing and narrative design. Additionally, their Discord has some networking events with writers so you can connect with them.

Other websites that not only publish jobs but include networking events are Hitmarker.net (this is their Discord), IndieGameAcademy (link to Discord),

Newsletters! A lot of experienced game writers have newsletters dedicated to the craft, to name a few that I highly recommend: -- Greg Buchanan's newsletter. Rounds up game writing news every Tuesday, and includes job opportunities. -- Bright Whitney's newsletter. A studio founder with amazing insights regarding game design and thoughtful narrative, Whitney's threads are extremely insightful. -- Susan O'Connor's blog on The Narrative Department. In addition to providing free knowledge regarding world building, narrative design, game writing and other specifics of the craft Susan interviews industry professionals and alumni who offer testimonials that have amazing advice. -- GDC talks about narrative design. Though I recommend the GDC vault as well in the next section, I highly recommend the GDC talks regarding not only narrative design but the development of your favorite titles!

Now, for resources that may not be free--but I highly recommend, as someone who used them first hand. - The Narrative Department. This post is not sponsored by them at all, however it is rare to find an instructor as kind and hard-working as Susan O'Connor who has been a narrative designer in historic AAA, AA and independent titles. Known for her contributions in Tomb Raider, Batman: The Enemy Within, and BioShock to name a few (imdb is: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1897248/) her Game Writing Masterclass offers a certification in everything related to game writing. A few subjects she touches on are: -- Characters and how to make them compelling. -- Barks and ambience writing. -- Dialogue, backstories and scripts. -- How to work with other departments. And more! Additionally, you would obtain access to a huge alumni network full of game writing professionals working in independent, AA and AAA studios! Not to mention that all of the assignments completed in the class will look amazing in a portfolio as game writing samples. - GDC Vault. Though I have an opinion on the price tag of GDC tickets and the vault, I would definitely include it as it has resources from several studios, writers, narrative designers and more! When was narrative design formed? When can I become a narrative designer?

That's a wonderful question. Narrative design, as a term, was first used around the 90s but became more established between the 2000s and 2010s. So, although the field is relatively new, and there are not a lot educational resources available, consider yourself part of an innovative field that is exponentially growing! Recently, a game developer asked when was the best time to keep an eye out for job openings. And a harsh truth about the gaming industry is that it is extremely volatile--layoffs, downsizings and startups rise and fall. This is not meant to deter anyone from pursuing a career in narrative design, but rather I am including it for the sake of transparency. We cannot predict when a studio is going to layoff their employees, or when they cancel unannounced projects. Unlike most industries where we know for a fact that recruiters keep a sharp eye for candidates in Q1 and Q3, a piece of advice I received from a mentor of mine was to try to predict when projects are going to need more stories. There's the release of a game, and then there is the addition of additional narrative content--and for this, they will more than likely need associate/entry/junior level narrative designers, writers and quest designers. But--this is related to searching for a job as a narrative designer, and I can write a novel about that (and will edit this article to redirect folx into it.) So, keep an eye out for huge game announcements. Then, cater your resume to what the studio is looking for in a narrative designer. Now, to finish off this article: Who is a narrative designer? If you have a passion for storytelling and games, and have participated in game jams, congratulations you are a wonderful narrative designer! Make sure you always include that you are a narrative designer, and not an aspiring narrative designer--it makes you stand out amongst applicants. That's all I have for now--feel free to interact, comment and share! Let me know if I missed something and I will be sure to add it.

[anonbeadraws]

i'm HOME!!! Gonna start looking at emails properly tomorrow but I'm so excited and full of creative energy after that time off!! PLUS, confluence has funded, and if we hit 60k we get to show the comic i made for it, yay!! Fingers crossed!!!

What a wonderful time to be home!!! Missed you guys!!

[sendmyresignation]

re my tags. thinking about barry's ray toro supportive keanu reeves matrix post lol. in addition to ray calling gerard a genius for writing teenagers when everybody else thought it was a joke <- very funny confluence wherein ray seems to be the one person who frequently goes along with gerard's ideas because he just trusts his creative vision and can match his energy/concept quickly, even when other people don't, while simultaneously being as a guy who is self-professed as being lyrically dis-inclined.

[confluence-of-consciousness]

neural interface technology

Dreams converge and awaken in a shared reality. 🌌💭 What mysteries lie in the collective mindscape? Dive into the enigma—visit the website to uncover the truth.

Visit the website: https://www.confluenceofconsciousness.com/quotes

[fanhackers]

An Intimate Sound–Podfic and Confluence

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about podfic, i.e.., audio versions of fanfic, read out aloud. Podfic, as an audio-based medium, sits at the confluence of disability accessibility, performance, and of course, simply being a new form of narrative text.

In the first ever published article on podfic, Olivia Riley states:

“Audiobooks, another auditory predecessor of podfic, share podfic's emphasis on fictional narrative and vocal performance as well as other qualities typical to all the audio mediums so far discussed, including portability and ease of access. The comparison of podfic to audiobooks is particularly important because in my investigation I ran across numerous instances of listeners explicitly comparing the podfic experience to that of an audiobook, while only one referenced podcasts in relation to these audio narratives; thus, we must take into account how fans theorize their own texts and experiences.”

This particular comparison between audiobooks and podfics interests me; podcasts, whether fictional or non-fictional, arguably may be more intimate, in so much as we may get to listen to the speakers’ personal opinions, thoughts, ideas, etc. And yet, podfic finds itself standing more with audiobooks, despite sharing half its name with podcasts. I’d like to complicate this further, drawing from my own experience of both running zines with audio components, as well as interacting with fellow fans who make podfic, and who have had podfic made off their own work: fans are sometimes hesitant to provide permission to have their work read out aloud, concerned about the voice and audio work “exposing” perceived flaws in their written texts.

There’s a certain intimacy involved in the process, certainly, more than just that of getting a work beta-ed, or proof-read. It’s similar to the collaborative nature of fanart for fanfic, except fanart is welcomed with a lot less hesitance.

In the same article, Riley further goes on to explore this very intimacy:

“The audio performances of podfic produce a queer network of relations between the performer, the text, and the listener. To begin with, the text itself is an actor in podfic. All the podfics examined for this article were explicitly queer in their content, featuring queer(ed) characters, queer themes, romance, and often explicit sexuality. The characters in these podfics carry variously transformed and reimagined genders and sexualities. These podfics are palimpsests of many texts and authors, including the fan fic being read aloud, the source text the fan fic was inspired by, the contemporary fanon and fan community that shaped the fic's production, the various music and sound effects often used in these recordings, and the labor of all the creators who made these media. Further, through the reader's performance, listeners receive a unique interpretation of the fan fic being read, conveyed through the intonations and other subtleties that emphasize and elide various textual significances. This profusion of overlapping and sometimes contradictory layers of meaning impact how a listener understands a character's gender and sexuality, refusing the simplicity of heteronormative binaries.” RILEY, OLIVIA JOHNSTON. 2020. “PODFIC: QUEER STRUCTURES OF SOUND.” TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS AND CULTURES, NO. 34. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.3983/TWC.2020.1933.

There is, then, a definite sense of vulnerability in getting podfic made off one’s work. But podfic, I’d argue, is almost the most celebratory fan-object fandom has ever produced—it sits again on a confluence, not just of medium and accessibility, but of multiple creatives, all of whom have a singular contribution in making the final product. Podfic is, in many ways, a community object, more so than most fan-objects, simply by its nature of needing multiple inputs. 

What are your thoughts on podfic?

[legionofpotatoes]

All other criticisms of modern Star Wars aside, the thing that gets me the most is how every single story is being written to fit into some Avengers-level grand finale that just isn't laying a solid enough foundation to make it worth the wait. Regardless of whether the individual stories are good or bad, what makes them fall so short, imo, is that there's usually no real payoff within their own runtimes (unless you count cheap callbacks or loose promises of More, which you shouldn't)

Like, I already knew halfway through Ahsoka that we were in for a cliffhanger and it's just like...alright, guess we'll see how this ends in about 5 years? Even Mando, which had a great first season and was poised to stand on its own two feet and ride off on a rootin' tootin' bounty huntin' adventure, has ultimately become yet another dusty path on the road to the current Big Plot with an indeterminate due date. That's not deliciously addictive media, it's a dry-ass carrot on a spindly little stick, lol

Of course, this is a problem that many franchises are happily getting cozy with lately because everybody wants to have their own Infinity War / Endgame moment, but I guess it seems a bit more egregious with Star Wars because, ironically, it used to work best because it had less overall focus. Like, sure, we had concurrent movies, animated series, and games, but they were always happy to do their own things and tell their own stories with definitive conclusions. Now it all has to funnel into the Big New Plot and, man, I honestly just can't bring myself to care when it feels like an endless waiting game

I definitely need to get around to watching Visions at some point because, every time it pops up, it sounds like the lifeblood that Star Wars sorely needs atm

Yeah the setup-and-payoff a-to-b type dramatic clarity that seemed so entrenched into the very bones of cinematic grammar - up to around the emergence of streaming, wink wink nudge nudge - is sorely missed in star wars atm. sure maybe downsized writers rooms fidgeting with limited series formats instead of doing actual seasonal TV has something to do with it, but even that is probably such a small piece of the larger issue that spins all this longform storytelling bullshit ferry wheel around.

Another part is certainly chasing the MCU business model of it all like you said. Carrot on a stick is verbatim how I've often described these things myself, the endless promise of another promise of another promise instead of forming a complete thought with a beginning and an end. servicing the plot before story at all costs. another part still is reverence towards the aesthetic trappings of the source material instead of its themes, trying to nail the exact texture of tatooine's huts and dial in the perfect balance of lightsaber choreography and pay homage to a thousand iconic shots before articulating something true in the text.

And like it's an endless laundry list, this confluence of capital-I Issues both industry-scale and creatively-driven that seem to be flaying the skin off the bones of whatever star wars even "is" nowadays. no one can answer that in the context of billions of dollars made off toys and storylines centering around this one moment in fictional history about sons and fathers and empires and rebellions. so they just keep twisting in the wind filling in any gaps within that period. I don't know nonnie, it's all so bleak. ahsoka and obi wan and even mando tbh. as charming as season 1 was, it truly felt like it coasted on its incredible restraint to avoid muddying its aesthetic with cameos, and lucked into effective storytelling as a result of that utterly unintentional alchemy. that's obviously well and truly gone now as its true optics have reared head.

what star wars is by itself is such a pointless discussion, right? andor argues it's a perfectly functional heightened universe that can support incredibly nuanced and dramatically charged stories of grassroots rebellion and the bureaucratic strain of fascist regimes. visions argues it's a world beholden to the force, an endlessly mutable and elegant metaphor that can support infinite monomyths and fairy tales. both are equally fantastic at executing on their takes, despite being in diametrically opposite extremes of interpreting the source. so it's not really about that at all, why the other stuff sucks this bad.

they're just bad at the craft of it, that's really it. whether it's auteur worship or business decisions rotting that fish down, it still rots all the same. maybe the new writers' guild contracts can shift the winds a little, because I was so securely done with star wars and then the aforementioned 2 shows came and affected me. so, so profoundly that I'm back on the hook again. like a lil sucker!

[inkspottie]

Hi :3 I’ve been hella silent recently cuz I’ve been a tad bit obsessive over this anime I recently watched LOL. I’ve still been keepin up with all ur new posts and am excitedly awaiting the new chapter, but it unfortunately kinda halted all of the confluence related things I had been working on. BUT I had a creative spark today and I have now continued this unfinished deathjoy oneshot that had been sitting in my notes for far too long. Ima hopefully be postin it some time later today and I just wanted to let u know😈 anywaysss I hope ur new job has been treating u well, and I’m def looking forward to the next chapter :D

Oh no worries friend! I get the feeling haha I’ve been distracted with work and dragon age veilguard lol

But we always welcome you with open arms whenever you do return, excited to see what you have in store 👀✨

[unscrupulousartist]

Kickstarter Update #2

Cross-posted from Kickstarter:

A few things I'm looking forward to in October...

Hullo, hullo! Welcome to Update #2.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who's supported my campaign so far. :) This first week I was hit by an influx of spam marketers and questionable conversations that, while a shitty achievement badge in general, I was unprepared for emotionally; but each and every one of you has been a reminder that there are real people out there who want to support real art.

Speaking of supporting real art... there are some exciting things coming up in October that I'm looking forward to supporting in my life, and perhaps it'll be stuff you'd want to support, too.

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 

October 15th—Confluence ft. Publishing Goblin | @publishinggoblin

Confluence is on my radar because of my low-key obsession with Publishing Goblin—'cause come on, how great of a name is that? I've supported previous Publishing Goblin projects and will likely support more of their projects in the future. Publishing Goblin brought me The Alleyman Tarot, will eventually bring me The Hot Housewife Tarot, and has been steadily working through several poetry projects. As a bit of a goblin myself, I've got a starry eyed vested interest in seeing another cool creative make art and succeed in this world; for it's art that makes the rest of it worth living.

Confluence has beautiful artwork, a trusted artist working with a diverse team, and is a perfect excuse to throw dice into trays and laugh with friends. Full disclosure: this is likely to be a nice little gift for my TTRPG loving step-son, and we'll see about bullying him into running a little campaign for me and his dad. 

October 22nd—A Fool's Errand by J Strautman | @strautmaskreplica & B Marsollier | @b-marsollier

In other TTRPG news, your friends and mine over at Planet Arcana have designed their own tarot-based system.  A Fool's Errand puts your party into the world of Planet Arcana, with it's lavish landscapes, brilliant beasts, and arcane insight. You don't need to be familiar with the podcast to enjoy the game; but if you're looking for an award-winning group of Canadians playing through a unique Tarot-Inspired universe, it's definitely worth a listen. 

Playtesting our own little calamity has been a highlight of my still-very-novice RPG experiences. I get to live out my piscean fantasties as an angry waterbreathing aquean composite, and weave a tale of prophet and mystery with some storytelling friends. We're only a few sessions into our campaign, but it promises to be a fun experience. 

Sometime in October, Probably—Refugium by Simon Roy | @simon-roy

And I would be remiss not to include my favourite comics on my list. Refugium is the third book in Simon Roy's Griz Grobus series, following the eponymous first book Griz Grobus and the second, Miramar. Simon's a fantastically detailed comic artist and works with a wonderful colourist, Sergey Nazarov, to bring this galaxy-spanning universe to life. It's already funded, but you can buy the backlog or support Simon on Patreon while you wait for whatever he makes next. I'm trying to be patient while I wait for my copy of Refugium to arrive—hopefully sometime this month.   

Can you think of anything else exciting happening this month? Let me know. :) I always like finding new artists to swoon over. 

Stay Rested, Audrey

[heliumspirals]

All New Solar Weapons for Episode: Heresy, Reviewed and Discussed In-Depth

This is from the perspective of an endgame challenge player, so I won't be entertaining much in the way of "neat fun rolls," since what's fun for me isn't necessarily what's fun for you and vice-versa. I'll mention them where especially noteworthy, especially if the weapon doesn't have any genuinely good rolls. This is going to be a series split up into one post for all six damage types, because of tumblr's length limitation

FINALITY'S AUGER

Finality's Auger is one of our only real competitors to Anarchy, and is a competent sidegrade with different strengths and weaknesses. The turret configuration has superior total damage to anarchy and roughly the same DPS, whereas the standard LFR mode has lower total damage in exchange for about 3x the DPS. It takes a tradeoff for ad clear purposes, in that you'll generally use less ammo to kill the same amount of enemies, but you can't directly trap spawn doors in the same way. Additionally, your Ruinscribe Turret is at the mercy of map geometry in a way Anarchy simply is not. This is apparent in ad clear encounters like Confluxes and Descent. Recommended Use Case: Defend an area with your Ruinscribe Turret while using your other weapons to maintain Bait and Switch uptime. Switch back to your Linear form to deal with any priority targets.

HEZEN VENGEANCE

Hezen Vengeance is like a swiss army knife that's composed entirely of varying shapes and sizes of just blades. Not much in the way of tools, but it has a lot of increasingly creative ways to solve one specific problem. As of right now, this is objectively the best DPS legendary weapon in the game. Elemental Honing makes an appearance again, with a relatively favorable starting element of Solar allowing you to use things like a Prismatic Warlock with a Strand super for your setup period. Additionally, even though I said I wouldn't discuss "Haha Funny" rolls, with Timelost Magazine/Overflow/Bipod you can have a total of eight rockets in the tube at once. Recommended Use Case: Envious/BnS for general play, but something like Demolitionist/Elemental Honing could put in serious work against a boss like Atheon.

KEEN THISTLE

I initially wrote off Keen Thistle as something of a meme weapon, outclassed by Omniscient Eye by virtue of having better perks but a substantially worse archetype. I didn't really entertain Triple Tap/Fourth Times as a legitimately viable perk combo, but lo, ten million total damage I guess. This is more than a lot of power weapons can output. You won't find many encounters where you can legitimately get this total damage out, and in situations where you can you probably shouldn't, but it's genuinely potent if you can find the right place to use it. I'm just glad we've been getting more Hakke snipers lately. I want the Silicon Neuroma model back so bad. Recommended Use Case: Extended DPS phases without an enrage timer. This should serve you very well in Nightfalls, but consider BnS for that instead.

VISION OF CONFLUENCE

For the sake of damage and perk calculations, Firefly is considered weapon damage. This means a kill with Firefly inherits the weapon's combatant scaling and perk effects. This means a kill with Firefly procs Incandescent. This means, finally, that if you get two additional kills with your Firefly explosion, you've triggered an ignition. The only other weapons with this interaction are Nullify from Salvation's Edge, Tyranny of Heaven from Last Wish, and Avalanche from the Dawning. There's a whole host of more traditional damage rolls as well, like a 3rd column Explosive Payload to pair with the rare Paracausal Affinity, as well as Elemental Honing and Desperate measures. This thing would've done numbers back in the Beyond Light era of slow and surgical GM gameplay, (I know my old one did!) but there's more exciting things to do than stack damage perks to chip down an Unstop from half a map away. Recommended Use Case: Potent ad clear option with access to an incredibly rare perk interaction. Having high single-shot damage and a solid critical multiplier means you'll be getting those Firefly procs very consistently, enabling a shockingly aggressive playstyle for the likes of a scout.

[litrpgburrito]

Spoiler Warning: This blog post contains detailed information about the essence types and confluences in the LitRPG series “He Who Fights With Monsters.” If you haven’t read the series and wish to avoid spoilers, please proceed with caution.

The Essence of Power: A Deep Dive into “He Who Fights With Monsters”

In the enthralling world of “He Who Fights With Monsters,” essences are the cornerstone of an adventurer’s power, defining their abilities and shaping their journey. These essences, made of pure magic, are categorized into five rarity ranks: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary1. Each essence is unique and offers up to five abilities, which adventurers can unlock through bonding rituals and Awakening Stones1.

Common Essences

Common essences are the most accessible and include a wide range of abilities. From the Adept essence, which enhances learning capabilities, to the Wind essence, which grants speed and agility, these essences provide adventurers with their initial powers. Other examples include Fire, Water, and Earth, each offering elemental control1.

Uncommon Essences

Uncommon essences offer more specialized abilities. The Blood essence, for example, is known for its healing and destructive powers, while the Dark essence is associated with stealth and manipulationLightning and Venom are other examples, each with their unique attributes1.

Rare Essences

Rare essences are harder to come by and often have more potent effects. The Moon essence is tied to intuition and mysticism, whereas the Star essence is linked to destiny and foresightCrystal and Echo are also part of this group, providing abilities related to reflection and sound manipulation1.

Epic and Legendary Essences

Epic essences, such as Rune and Elemental, offer powerful and often complex abilities that can significantly alter the course of an adventure. Legendary essences are the rarest and most powerful, with Dimension and Void being prime examples. These essences can warp reality and are often sought after by the most ambitious adventurers1.

Confluence Essences

Confluence essences are a unique phenomenon where the first three essences absorbed by an adventurer combine to create a fourth, unexpected essence. This new essence reflects the synergy of the initial three and often results in extraordinary powers2. For instance, the confluence of Blood, Dark, and Sin essences leads to the creation of the Doom essence, which embodies destructive and foreboding abilities1.

The Role of Essences in Advancement

Essences are not just about the powers they grant; they also dictate the path an adventurer takes. As one climbs the ranks, the choices of essences can lead to different specializations, alliances, and even conflicts. The series masterfully illustrates how these magical elements are intertwined with the characters’ development and the world’s lore.

In conclusion, the essences in “He Who Fights With Monsters” are a rich and intricate system that adds depth and excitement to the series. They are a testament to the creativity of the author, providing readers with a complex and captivating magical framework that keeps them engaged and eager for more.

The essences and their confluences are a fascinating aspect of the “He Who Fights With Monsters” series, offering endless possibilities for character growth and storytelling. As readers, we can only marvel at the intricacies of this magical system and anticipate how it will continue to evolve in future installments.