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astra-ravana · 3 months ago

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Using Demonic Sigils

Demonic sigils are specific types of symbols or seals that are used in various magickal traditions to represent, summon, or communicate with demonic entities. These symbols are believed to hold the essence or the power of thr demon they represent, acting as a focal point for rituals involving these entities. The use of demonic sigils dates back to ancient times and has been incorporated into numerous magickal practices and grimoires throughout history.

Historical Origins

The practice of using symbols or seals to represent demons is ancient, with roots in cultures around the world. However, the formal use of demonic sigils is most notably documented in medieval and Renaissance grimoires. These texts, such as 'The Lesser Key Of Solomon' (also known as Ars Goetia or Lemegeton), provide a catalog of demons, each accompanied by a unique sigil.

A sigil can have immense power because it's a gateway to a certain energy. It's like having a direct line to a powerful person, except that the person is a spiritual force, not constrained by the time/space continuum. The ancients knew all too well that our world is not only physical, that there are entities among us that we can't perceive with our ordinary senses, yet they can be communicated with through symbols which activate our higher intuitive faculties and open a door for their arrival.

Purpose And Use

Demonic sigils serve several purposes in magickal practices, including:

• Summoning- Sigils are used in rituals to summon demons, providing a method for the practitioner to focus their intention and call forth the entity.

• Communication- Sigils facilitate communication with demonic entities, acting as a bridge between the practitioner and the spirit realm.

• Command- In some traditions, possessing a demon's sigil gives the practitioner a degree of control, over the entity, compelling it to perform or grant requests of the summoner. Most entities will resist this type of magick and some may turn hostile. Use sigils with respect and consideration.

A sigil of a summoned demon can be utilized in various ways after the ritual. For example, by carrying it with you, placing it in a prominent place in your home, an altar dedicated to the demon, or in some cases of baneful magick, placing it near the target, burying it, burning it, etc.

Creation And Activation

Demonic sigils found in grimoires are traditionally received through mystical revelation or compiled from older texts. Modern practitioners may use these historical sigils or create new ones through various methods of sigilization, such as the rearrangement of letters from the demon's name into a symbolic design.

Activating or charging a demonic sigil typically involves ritualistic practices. These can include specific invocations, the use of ceremonial magick tools, and the creation of a ritual space. The goal is to energize the sigil and open a channel of communication with the entity it represents.

There are also techniques that can be used to create a unique sigil that connects a person with a specific demon for the purpose of attunement. Such a sigil being charged and activated to serve a single connection rather than everyone who chances upon it, can be a more powerful conduit. It is comparable to a dedicated VS a shared network.

Authoritative Texts With Demonic Sigils

Some grimoires contain extensive lists of demonic entities, their attributes, and corresponding sigils. Here are some notable texts that include information and drawings of demonic sigils:

• The Lesser Key Of Solomon (Ars Goetia, Lemegeton, Clavicula Solomonis)- Particularly the first section, known as the Ars Goetia, which details 72 demons along with their sigils and methods of summoning them.

• The Grimoire of Honorius- Attributed to Pope Honorius III, this grimoire includes sigils and instructions for summoning spirits, including demons, and is known for blending Christian and pagan elements.

• The Book Of Abramelin- Written by Abraham von Worms, this book describes an elaborate ritual known as the Abramelin Operation, designed to obtain the knowledge and conversation of one's guardian angel but also includes information on the summoning of demons as part of its broader magickal practice.

• The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum- An appendix of Johann Weyer's 'De Praestigiis Daemonum', this text lists 69 demons along with brief descriptions and is notable for its critical perspective on the practice of demonology.

• Grimorium Verum- (Latin for True Grimoire) is an 18th century grimoire attributed to one 'Alibeck the Egyptian' of Memphis, who purportedly wrote itnin 1517. Like many grimoires, it claims a tradition originating with King Solomon.

• The Munich Manuel of Demonic Magic (Codex Latinus Monacensis 849)- A 15th century grimoire, this manuscript focuses on necromancy and demonology, including sigils for summoning demons.

• The Grand Grimoire (The Red Dragon)- Known for its powerful rituals and the summoning of demonic forces, this book also contains sigils and instructions for making pacts with demonic entities.

• The Black Pullet (La poule noire)- While primarily known gor its talismans, this grimoire also includes methods for creating sigils and rings that are used to grant the user various powers, including influence over demons.

• The Sixth And Seventh Books Of Moses- These books are a collection of magickal texts that purport to describe the magick practiced by Moses, including the use of seals and sigils associated with both angels and demons.

The sigils found in these texts are often used in their original form even today. There have also been modifications and new sigils are constantly being created, especially by chaos magicians.

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bumblehoneybee · 3 months ago

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Imagine Doey, or DogDay, or Kissy and Poppy stumbling upon Angel after finding out they're not a real person, but another of The Doctor's creations, spare parts put to use.

They sit there on their knees, documents or a tape about their creation in hand. Perhaps given by The Doctor because they just couldn't believe it.

Angst. :3

What Makes A Person

It's. . . not right.

Doey doesn't know you as well as Poppy, but he can tell you're not right, knelt on the floor in a circle of papers and photos. His reasons for coming to this place, sneaking so close to where the Doctor lies, are lost to the back of his mind.

"Hey. . ." He starts, but you turn, killing the words in his throat.

You stare at him over your shoulder, face half obscured by the ridges of your GrabPack. Your eyes are dull, not looking at him, shining in the low lights.

A TV cuts on. Doey snaps to it, hand out towards you, not that you even move as voices crackle through the old speakers. The screen is blurry, filled with static, but he can see familiar tables and tools. The scenes cut around, the table filling with more and more parts, pieces stitched together into a new, familiar shape.

When the head is added, Doey looks to you. He doesn't know what to say, mind filled with shouting and confusion. Instead, he points one stubby finger to the screen, to the body that lies there.

You face your documents, your photos, your history. The pain holds you there, bent over and forced to face it all. Not even the cool touch of dough eases the burn of humiliation that engulfs you.

Doey eases down onto the floor, carefully sinking his weight into your back. He can feel your heartbeat, fluttering and fast, and wonders if he knew the owner. Every bit of you is from someone else, someone he might have known, before all of this.

You know it too, no doubt.

It's not fun, the realization. So Doey sits through it with you, holds you down when the anger flares, and keeps you up when it melts into devastation.

And for the time, his head is quiet. Focused on you, and the grief that drowns you.

#doey x reader #poppy playtime x reader #poppy’s playtime x reader

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sightseertrespasser · 2 months ago

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Odds of Survival Part 6

Prowl comes up with a grim but viable theory, misses his ESP (Emotional Support Pterodactyl) and Jazz has a “cultural exchange” with Bluestreak.

Credit to @keferon for creating the AU!

———————————————————————

The cascade of Prowl rapidly drumming his fingers on the console was the only sound in the room. His gaze was fixed a million miles away, boring a hole through the far wall.

Hypothesis: Jazz, and possibly others, were secretly cold constructed by the Functionalists for the sole purpose of fighting Quintesson forces.

Many of Jazz’s eccentricities fell into place within that framework. He lacked a subspace, which would make it very difficult to hold onto personal items or contraband. His anatomy was was entirely specialized for battle, all curved angles, narrow gaps and thick plating. Likewise, Jazz’s subdued reaction to injuries could be accounted for if the Functionalists had removed a large portion of his sensory network and replaced his extremities with non-living metal prosthetics.

Prowl shuddered.

He turned from the physical to the mental. Jazz was smart, undeniably, but also severely starved of information.

The Functionalists were exceedingly well practiced in the art of secrecy and subjugation.

Keeping their custom soldiers in the dark about the greater galaxy would significantly reduce the chances of their mechs trying to escape or revolt. The muting, or possible removal of Jazz’s EM field would prevent him from easily emotionally connecting with other mechs and would hamper his ability to detect malicious intent from any handlers.

That alone could account for Jazz’s extremely tactile extroversion. It could be a form of compensation or maybe just a coping method for the loss of sensation. Add a manufactured language barrier, and even if Jazz had had previous brushes with mechs other than his handlers, he wouldn’t have been able to communicate with them. A perfect isolation tactic ensuring total control.

Until now.

Prowl finally straightened, creating a task list to execute once the ship arrived.

- Get Jazz seen by Velocity immediately. Both to treat his injuries properly and to document any evidence of prior abuse. He trusted her to catch and catalogue details only a medic would know.

- Debrief Elita One. He would need to phrase things carefully to ensure Jazz isn’t unfairly imprisoned or executed for possibly being connected to the Functionalists.

- Awake Green from hibernation. Despite his initial reluctance to interact with his therapist mandated “work-life balance tool”, the organic had grown on him. Further more, his Flyt afforded him an entirely neutral sounding board for times when speaking aloud was the best way to sort his processor.

The theory was good, but Prowl could still feel an itch in his processor. He was still missing something. He rubbed at the heat beginning to build under his helm.

Prowl tacked on a fourth task:

- Stick entire helm inside tub of coolant.

The tactician almost quirked an irritated smile as he made his way back towards his brother and the walking processor ache.

At least the likely hood of Jazz dropping us off another building was lower.

(14%)

Marginally.

For now, the Functionalist Creation Theory was still just that. A theory. He needed more information on where Jazz came from, and for that, they’d need to overcome more of their language barrier.

Thankfully, Bluestreak had offered to assist in catching Jazz up to speed on more Common.

Prowl keyed the door open.

“Frugg!”

Primus help him.

Jazz had his back turned to the door, free hand waving away Bluestreaks mispronunciation.

“Na, no R sounds. It’s Fuck.”

“Fugg!” Bluestreaks face was the picture of determined ambition.

“Getting closer! Now drop the Guh and replace it with Kh.” Jazz nodded encouragingly.

“Fruck!” His brother shouted, servos slapping on his knees.

“Nope, you’re putting an R back in there again. Like this: Fuck. Fuh-uck.” Jazz moved his hand through the air like a conductor, enunciating each Phoneme with clean cut clarity. “Try again, you got this man. Fuck.”

“Fuck.”

Jazz turned around at the perfectly pronounced cuss word.

“Heeey! What’s up mother fragger! How’d the meeting with your slag head boss go?”

Prowl turned on his brother so slowly you could have mounted a telescope on him. “Adequately.”

Prowl continued his one sided stare down with Bluestreak, who was lightly clapping his hands together while seemingly fascinated with the far wall.

Jazz was laughing again. “Don’t be too disappointed in him. I do have a much better understanding of Common now.” He stood taking the anesthetic tape with him.

“Aight, it’s your turn, sit down.” Jazz patted the bench.

Prowl broke his stare down and cycled his optics. Bluestreak stopped pretending to stare at the wall.

“That is unnecessary.” He said automatically. “We need to be ready to leave in one breem.”

Jazz crossed his arm over the sling, cocking his head to the side. “Well then you better sit your shiny ass down so we aren’t late.”

Bluestreak kept silent through sheer force of determination to not ruin this moment.

Prowl couldn’t move Jazz, and Jazz knew it.

He sat. Glowering.

“Thank you!” Jazz sang, warbling across the vowels. He tossed the tape to Bluestreak. “I’m pretty talented but handling sci-fi duct tape one handed isn’t for me.”

Bluestreak sputtered briefly, before going to work tearing off small strips.

“How. How? It took us VORNS to get Prowl to take care of himself even a little bit! And you pull it off in less than a cycle? I had to get blown up before he’d even step into a normal med bay AND Smokescreen had to basically drag him in! You could not BRIBE this mech into self care if you had all the shanix in the entire galaxy!”

Bluestreak talked and worked quickly, knowing he was on a time limit before Prowl would try and escape.

“Hah, I feel that. Whenever I go back to the {Shatterdome}, er, “base” they basically gotta corner me to do any kind of check up.” Then Jazz sounded almost nostalgic. “{Ratchet} had it down to a science before he left.”

As the small aches and pains began to dull, Prowl took lead of the conversation for some subtle information gathering.

“So Jazz, how many of your kind are there?”

Prowl ignored the hard flick Bluestreak gave him. However, Jazz seemed unfazed by his bluntness.

He leaned against the wall, looking up slightly in thought. “Uhhh let’s see. The base I’m from has five mecha. There’s me, my little brother {Ricochet}, {Hot Rod}, {Blurr} sort of, aaaand {Vortex}.”

He counted off on his fingers. Then made a so-so sign.

“Well, Vortex isn’t the uh, the person? The real Vortex died a long time ago. Now it’s just a uh.”

Jazz struggled to translate something, unaware of the Praxians steadily growing looks of confusion.

He snapped his fingers, “Dead-Not-Dead location stay? Some people think the Dead-Real-not-Real Vortex is still in there. I think it’s just a {Death trap.} Dangerous to be near positive-positive-positive.”

Jazz made a gesture above his head. “Vortex kills more quintessons than people though, so the high-important-leaders won’t get rid of the thing. They just,” he shrugged a little uselessly. “Keep feeding us to it.”

Is he… Is he describing what I think he is?

“You live with a Sparkeater?” Bluestreak broke the silence.

“Spark-eater?” Jazz sounded out the syllables. “That sounds like a good word for it, yeah.”

At least Prowl could finally confirm Jazz couldn’t detect EM fields. His and Bluestreaks horror saturated the room.

“…You guys okay?” Ah. Just dulled then.

“Yes.” Prowl reeled in his field and elbowed Blue to do the same. “Simply surprised.”

“And concerned.” Bluestreak chipped in. “Is your brother going to be okay? I mean, he’s alone with that thing! Are your leaders going to feed him to the vortex next? Is that what happens to mechs that don’t perform well enough?!”

Jazz startled upright, quickly shaking his head from side to side. “No no no! He’s fine! They won’t do that to Rico, he’s already proved himself plenty and it’s just new fighters they send to Vortex.”

“They don’t always die either, sometimes they just go crazy.” Jazz made a circling motion with his index finger next to his head, stopping awkwardly mid gesture.

“That.” He put his hand down. “Sounded better in my head.”

Bluestreak clasped his servos together behind his helm. Mouth pressed into a thin line.

Prowl twitched as he received a ping from their ship. “Our transport has arrived. We can discuss that later.”

Later.

Yes, let’s discuss the horrifying implications of your entire existence later. Perhaps over some lightly warmed energon?

Maybe he likes Flyts. Jazz can pet Green while they both have mental breakdowns.

With a consciously steady ex-vent, Prowl stood, dipping his doorwings in thanks to Bluestreak. “If you would follow us, I will see to it you are comfortable until we are able to..”

Prowl briefly struggled to find the right term. “Sort out. Your… management situation.”

Jazz nodded, “Right, right. You mentioned transport?”

Gratefully, Prowl gestured for Jazz to follow him towards the airlock.

Before the partial vacuum could cut off their voices once more, Prowl nodded to the narrow window facing the landing strip.

Curiosity pulled visored mech over and when Jazz reached the window, he gasped.

Prowl lifted his doorwings and held out one servo, presenting their ship.

“Welcome aboard the Lost Light.”

———————————————————————

Jazz pov: “Huh. Spark eater. I get it, cause it metaphorically snuffs out peoples spark of life. Cool analogy for a death trap.”

The Praxians pov: “whaT Do YoU mEaN THERE’S A VAMPIRE IN YOUR HOUSE?!”

Little be of extra short hand, these {} denote a word being spoken in English. So Prowl is hearing the sound of the word but doesn’t know its meaning.

Extra bit of world building, the Shatterdome Jazz is from was the one that originally housed all the Combaticons, which is why it has specifically five mecha cradles. It’s also the number one Research and Development Shatterdome which is why you’ve got stuff like Blurr’s turbo fast mecha housed there.

In addition, Ricochet is a fairly normal pilot, but he’s housed there specifically because of his relation to Jazz. You know those tests they run with twins where they’ll send one into space for a month and keep one on earth to compare the differences? Basically Rico is the control group and Jazz gets to try the crazy shit.

- SSTP

#writing #tf mecha universe #Edited for grammar

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all-things-are-nothing-to-me · 6 months ago

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Left to right. First row.

1. The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell.

In a joyous and perverse intermingling of fable, myth, heterotopian vision, and pocket wisdom, The Faggots & Their Friends tell us stories of the 70s gay countercultures and offer us strategies and wisdom for our own time living Between Revolutions. These pages sketch a different shape to time and offer instructions for living within it. This story, like our own, plays out in liminal time. Not the time of revolution, and not after-the-revolution, the story occurs between revolutions. Being between revolutions: being enmeshed in slow entropy, in abandoned spaces, in lives forged without recourse to “winning” or “after.” The faggots feel this disintegration, and live best when empires are falling.

2. Be Gay, Do Crime by The Mary Nardini Gang.

Among the discordant chorus of anons who penned the defining texts of the queer anarchist network Bash Back!, none was more fervent in its glorification of criminal desire, decadent hedonism, and social undoing than the Milwaulkee-based Mary Nardini Gang. Their fiery “Towards the Queerest Insurrection” still circulates as an integral manifesto of riotous queerness, while the “Criminal Intimacy” and “Whore Theory” have made their more subterranean way into innumerable conversations and correspondences.

Ten years later, the secretive group supplements these collected writings with a subtle retrospective. Carefully unlocking the hidden layers of their theses on insurrection, they face up to what they got wrong, concede that the world ended somewhere between the Greek insurrection of 2008 and now, and insist upon the vital task of ushering new worlds into being as we live amid the decomposition and cataclysmic death throes of the old one. To their theses on insurrection, they prepend a new arcana tooled for opening onto the queerest of outsides.

Dedicated to their friends among the dead, this pocket edition is a necromantic mirror, an encrypted message to old loves, and an invitation to those finding these words for the first time.

3. The Criminal Child by Jean Genet.

“As for me, I have chosen: I will be on the side of crime. And I will help the children, not to win back access to your houses, your factories, your schools, your laws, and sacraments, but to destroy them.”

So reads this new clandestine translation of a previously censored and unavailable text by Jean Genet. “The Criminal Child” is a critical engagement with the French youth prisons, a reflection on Genet’s formative years within them, a document of hostility towards society and its benevolent reformers, and – as argued by the anonymous afterword – an initiatory magical system.

5. Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture by Arthur Evans.

This radical faerie classic, first published in 1978 by Fag Rag Press, uncovers the hidden mythic link between homosexuality and paganism in an elegy for the world of sex and magic vanquished by Christian civilization. From Joan of Arc to the Cathars and the underground worshippers of Diana, the author shows how every upwelling of gender transgression and sexual freedom was targeted by the authorities for total and often violent repression or appropriation. The concluding manifesto calls for pagan reconnection with the living world, the creation of armed anarchist cells, and the destruction of industrial civilization.

Left to right. Row 2.

1. What is Gender Nihilism? A Reader.

A collection gathering readings for discussions on an end to gender: not the proliferation or liberation of gender, but its catastrophic cancellation. The reader brings together writings as old as 1883 and as recent as 2015, juxtaposing nihilist, radical feminist, queer, trans, anticolonial, communizing and insurrectionary approaches with other unclassifiable textual/existential disruptions. Many of the readings are out of print or have only appeared online or in zine form, and include: Adrienne Rich, Monique Wittig, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, A.R. Stone, Paul B. Preciado, the entities known as Radicalesbians, Gender Mutiny, Baedan, Ehn Nothing, Laboria Cuboniks and, as always, Anonymous. Also includes “My Preferred Gender Pronoun is Negation,” “Gender Nihilism” by Aidan Rowe, and the gender nihilism anti-manifesto that inspired the collection.

2. Baedan 1 – journal of queer nihilism.

3. Baedan 2 – a queer journal of heresy.

If the first issue of Baedan was a knife thrust wildly in the dark, the second is an effort to examine our enemies in a new light; enemies who bear scars yet endure. In a sense, this issue follows through our initial attack and pushes beyond our own horrors at the consequences of words. We write at a time when everything which seemed slightly possible two years ago has borne its rotten fruit; when queer recuperation has become more powerful and accepted than ever, while the fetish for technology has reached an unprecedented frenzy; when so many efforts at subversion languish under the tyranny of cybernetic identity and aesthetics (even our own etymologies have become identities!); when friends turn away out of fear of the unknown, turn toward all the comforts and certainties of the past (identity politics, traditionalism, religious morality, activism, et al). The old enemies rear their heads and the terrain is as bleak as ever. And yet we take seriously that adage: “There’s no need to fear or hope, but only to look for new weapons.”

4. Baedan 3 – journal of queer time travel.

Bædan: journal of queer time travel marks a further attempt to pose and to flesh out a queer critique of civilization. Queer not only in the sense of coming from those outside and disruptive of the Family, but also in the sense of a critique weirder than its more orthodox cousins. We imagine the Bædan project as an effort to pose the critique of civilization otherwise, to begin from another place. In this issue (and beyond…) we have conjured a strange bestiary of thinking, trying to unearth and trace the tradition of anti-civilization thought in the literature of queerness and in queerness as immanent critique.

*I couldn't find this one online*

#queer nihilism #queer anarchism

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letsatomicbanana · 6 months ago

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Ink!Sans Cultural Inspiration

(revised version)

art by @/sakuramochi64 on twitter

Disclaimer!

This post aims to explore and analyze both the prominent and subtle East Asian cultural influences—primarily Japanese—that have shaped the character of Ink!Sans. If any information in this essay is inaccurate or unintentionally offensive, please don’t hesitate to reach out! This essay serves as a revised and updated version of the analysis conducted last year.

Ink!Sans by @comyet

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

''It was a night where it felt like i was a miserable artist and i was very frustrated at my work and it felt like i wasn’t worth alot (we all have these), then I came across a picture of a japanese ink brush, and it was all I needed to start doodling a concept.

That’s how Ink is born.''

According to Ink’s creator, Comyet, the idea for Ink!Sans was sparked by an image of a brush specifically crafted for sumi and Chinese ink art. In China, the tradition of using specialized ink brushes, known as Chinese writing brushes, has been a foundational element in the art of calligraphy and traditional painting for centuries. These brushes are highly valued for their precision and versatility, allowing artists to produce a range of strokes, from fine lines to bold, expressive swashes. The brush itself is composed of a bamboo handle and a carefully tapered head made from animal hair, designed to hold and release ink in controlled flows.

This tool became central not only in Chinese culture but also influenced Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese art, where calligraphy holds a similar cultural significance and is closely tied to writing systems derived from Chinese characters. These brushes symbolize the control, fluidity, and intentionality required in both written language and visual art across East Asia. This deep-rooted cultural importance of the ink brush inspired Ink!Sans's character design and powers, allowing him to wield 'ink-based' abilities, symbolizing both creativity and adaptability. His main weapon—a brush—reflects this heritage and further emphasizes the connection between art and battle, as he channels the brush’s traditional associations with fluidity and strength into his fighting style, merging the arts of calligraphy and combat.

(visual example of an ink calligraphy brush)

At glance, the ink material is an enduring medium that still surrounds society till this day and it's used in multiple cultures across the world.

Writing with ink calligraphy brushes is also common in Europe and the Middle East, where artisans developed ink using a unique combination of iron salts and oak galls. This type of ink, known as iron gall ink, initially appeared in rich, dark tones, making it highly desirable for manuscripts and official documents due to its bold, readable quality. However, over time, the iron in the ink oxidized, resulting in a distinct color shift to warm, rust-like brown tones. This characteristic fading can still be observed today in ancient manuscripts, such as early European literary works, where the reddish-brown hues give a sense of history to these documents. The durability and aesthetic appeal of iron gall ink contributed significantly to its prevalence in both regions, influencing the artistry of calligraphy and manuscript illumination for centuries.

Like previously mentioned, Ink!Sans was inspired by traditional ink materials developed in East Asia, where artisans mastered the creation of carbon-based black ink, often using soot or charcoal mixed with binding agents like animal glue. This type of ink, known for its rich, deep color and lasting durability, was a staple in East Asian calligraphy and artwork. Unlike iron gall ink, this carbon-based ink maintained its dark, almost jet-black color for centuries, even in varying environmental conditions. The resilience of this ink allowed ancient texts, paintings, and scrolls to retain their striking contrast and clarity, making it a celebrated medium in East Asian art and culture. Ink!Sans draws inspiration from this enduring quality, symbolizing strength, creativity, and the timelessness of artistic expression

(visual example of an ancient art piece that used carbon-based black ink)

To note, unlike iron gall ink, carbon based inks are still very common to this day.

Although the primary Chinese calligraphic scripts were well established by the fourth century, calligraphy as an art form has continually evolved over the centuries, adapting to new cultural and aesthetic influences. Skilled calligraphers, who spent years mastering brush techniques and perfecting their own unique hand, were celebrated for their distinctive styles, and their works became templates for both art and personal expression. Over time, subsequent generations of artists studied these revered styles, incorporating and reinterpreting them to reflect their individual voices and the changing social landscapes. This ongoing transformation has kept Chinese calligraphy dynamic and relevant, and it remains a respected art form today, blending tradition with contemporary aesthetics.

In Japan, calligraphy also held deep cultural significance, symbolizing both personal refinement and intellectual achievement. Calligraphy was regarded as a mark of scholarly sophistication and artistic taste, with a variety of tools developed to enhance the writing experience. One notable example is the suzuribako ("ink stone box"), a portable lacquered wood box designed to store an inkstone, water dropper, brushes, and solid ink sticks. These boxes were crafted with precision and adorned with intricate lacquer designs, reflecting their owner’s status and appreciation for art. Suzuribako were lightweight and convenient, enabling calligraphers to take their tools outdoors or to scenic locations to write letters, diary entries, or poetry. This practice not only facilitated creativity but also connected the act of writing with nature, creating an immersive experience where one could find inspiration in the surrounding beauty while crafting words in elegant brushstrokes. The combination of these refined tools and settings underscored calligraphy’s role as a deeply personal and aesthetic pursuit in Japanese culture.

From this perspective, it is essential to highlight that Ink's character draws inspiration from traditional ink calligraphy, a detail reflected in his distinctive speech font, 'Note This'.

(Example of Ink's canon speaking font and ancient calligraphy)

Also clarified in an ask on her side blog, Comyet explained that traditional samurai clothing served as a key inspiration for Ink's outfit redesign in 2020. Ink's creator thoughtfully incorporated these characteristics to enhance Ink’s visual appeal and connection to his main source of inspiraton. This influence is particularly noticeable in the first and second analyses of Ink's character, where we see clear visual cues from iconic Japanese garments.

(Ink!sans reference sheet for the 2020 design, credit goes to @/comyet)

Ink's pants were inspired by hakama, a traditional Japanese garment known for its distinctive design as skirt-like trousers, typically worn over a kimono. Hakama are historically associated with a range of activities, from ceremonial occasions to martial arts, and are often considered a symbol of status and refinement. Specifically, Ink's pants appear to be inspired by the umanori style of hakama, which is characterized by a split or division in the middle, allowing for greater freedom of movement. This style was traditionally worn by samurai and other individuals involved in horseback riding, as the design allowed for ease of movement and flexibility when mounting or riding a horse.

The umanori hakama were not only practical for riding but also served as a functional yet elegant garment, embodying the balance of form and function typical in Japanese clothing. By incorporating this style into Ink's character design, Comyet likely intended to evoke themes of mobility, agility, and strength, while subtly referencing Japanese martial traditions and the samurai ethos. This choice enhances Ink's overall aesthetic, highlighting his dynamic, action-oriented nature, suggesting that his character is both rooted in tradition and capable of fluid, graceful movement.

The hakama was not merely a functional garment but also a powerful symbol of social status, loyalty, and the samurai's role in Edo society. While the hakama was predominantly worn by samurai, it also found its place in the wardrobe of scholars, priests, and members of the aristocracy, who wore it as part of their ceremonial dress.

Furthermore, Comyet has explained that Ink's outfit and appearance were partially inspired by the clothing worn by samurai, as depicted in ukiyo-e prints from the Edo Period of Japan. Ukiyo-e, which translates to 'pictures of the floating world,' was a popular genre of woodblock prints and paintings that flourished from the 17th to the 19th centuries, showcasing scenes of everyday life, landscapes, kabuki actors, and beautiful women. However, samurai were also common subjects of these prints, often portrayed in full regalia, highlighting their status and discipline.

(this line of text was found within old versions of Ink's FAQ post, mainly from 2020-2021)

In these ukiyo-e representations, samurai are frequently depicted wearing a distinctive combination of garments, including elaborate kamishimo (formal attire worn by samurai), hakama (wide trousers), and haori (a kimono-style jacket worn over the kimono), along with ornate accessories such as sashes and swords. These samurai were often shown in dynamic poses, suggesting a sense of power, grace, and readiness for battle, which reflected their societal role as both warriors and landowners.

Ukiyo-e representations of samurai often carried deeper meanings beyond their visual impact. Samurai in these prints were more than just warriors; they were cultural icons, symbols of virtue, duty, and sacrifice. Some prints portrayed samurai in the context of popular stories or historical events, such as famous battles or legendary acts of heroism. For example, the prints often depicted samurai as loyal retainers or leaders fighting for justice, reflecting the ideal of bushidō, the samurai code of ethics, which emphasized virtues like loyalty, courage, and respect.

(Ukiyo-e art made by Katsukama Shun'ei, Edo Period)

During the Edo period, the hakama was an important garment worn by the nobility as part of their formal attire, complementing other traditional outfits of the time, such as the noshi and kariginu, a sleeveless jacket with distinctive, sharply defined shoulders. These garments were designed to symbolize the status and refined taste of their wearers. The hakama, with its wide, flowing silhouette, was highly functional and practical, allowing for ease of movement while maintaining an air of elegance.

On another note, Ink's design is not the only aspect inspired by cultural roots, the musical themes associated with him also draw significant inspiration from traditional Japanese music, as described by Comyet. The incorporation of these musical elements into Ink's character enhances the depth and cultural resonance of his persona, creating a multi-layered and thematic representation to a broader cultural context.

A predominant theme associated with Ink is one called 'BrushWork.' This musical theme, featured in the popular series Underverse, shines through particularly with the use of the shamisen, a traditional stringed instrument, and a flute. The choice of the shamisen in this composition is significant, as it evokes the soundscape of Japan, with its distinct, plucked tones often associated with traditional music, storytelling, and performance arts.

The shamisen is a core instrument in genres such as kabuki (a traditional form of Japanese drama) and bunraku (puppet theater), where it is used to underscore the emotional intensity and narrative depth of the performances. In BrushWork, the shamisen helps set the tone for Ink’s character, enhancing the theme of 'brushwork' through its fluid, emotive sound.

Honorable mention: The instrumental video for ''Soulless Heart'', features an artwork that is inspired by traditional sumi-e (ink wash painting), an art form renowned for its elegant brushwork and minimalistic yet profound depictions of nature. This particular artwork, which accompanies the music, was created by the artist @/sakuramochi64.

Sources

1.National Museum of asian art (materials & techniques. Ink section)

2. Asian Brushpaper (an-overview-of-chinese-ink-history)

3. Wikipedia (wiki Hakama-pants+Shamisen)

4. Aikido Journal (Hakama-101)

#ink sans #utmv #undertale multiverse #ink!sans

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imsobadatnicknames2 · 8 months ago

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Been working on this for a bit: Ensam Själ. It's a set of tools and procedures for Mörk Själ, my soulslike hack of Mörk Borg.

In it you will find a 2d10-based Yes/No oracle with a chance for random events, a variety of dark fantasy-themed spark tables, and a set of specific procedures for exploration using these tools.

It takes inspiration from a lot of different solo and GM-less rules, such as Mythic GM Emulator, Conjectural Roleplaying GM Emulator, Game Master’s Apprentice, Solitary Defilement, FORGE, and my very own Pocket Delver (If you've played Pocket Delver, the last set of random tables should look pretty familiar)

As always, licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0, so feel free to poach and steal any bits and pieces you like from it.

It costs $5 USD, but there are 10 community copies available, and I will be adding a new community copy for each sale made. Also, for the next two months it will be available at a discounted price for everyone who already owns the full version of Mörk Själ.

Plus. If community copies run out and you still want a free copy because you can't or just don't feel like paying for it... you can just message me about it, and I'll be more than happy to give you a download code.

Anyway hope y'all enjoy it :)

As a little demonstration of how it works, I will copy the full example of play I included at the end of the document under the cut.

Example of Play

Here is a demonstration of solo play applying the procedures contained in this document.

After randomizing character creation, our chosen undead is Abigeal of Kingfisher Thicket, a Battlemage with a missing foot and vague memories of being betrayed by an old ally.

Abilities: Strength +2, Agility 0, Toughness -1, Presence +2

HP: 5

Inventory: Shortsword, Fur Armor, Lantern, 3 Flasks of oil.

Inventory slots: 4/13

Stamina: 9

Spells: The Fortress, Merciful Sunlight

Her main goal is to track down and punish the old ally who betrayed her, who is...

Roll on NPC spark table: 64 – Arrogant, 16 – Thief

... an arrogant thief by the name of Ciannán the Grinning.

Rolling on the Area spark table (22, 26) we find out that she begins her quest in a flooded prison. I’ve decided that the enemies for this area are: Nuisance: Sewer Rat – Normal: Ghost – Tough: Wraith – Miniboss: Amphibian Shaman – Boss: Giant Sewer Rat.

Let’s generate a room:

Roll for number of exits: 6 - three exits. Roll for cardinal directions: 2 – NE, 4 – SE, 8 – NW. I chose not to roll for exit type for the time being and assume the three of them are horizontal

Roll on room content tables: Encounter: 11 – Nothing. Loot: 8 – Weapon (Roll on weapons table to determine weapon: Femur) . Room feature: 9 – Nothing.

Standing on top of a small ledge, Abigeal looks upon the rest of the flooded room, an abandoned guard post in an ancient, now flooded prison.

Is there a light source in the room? (2d6 on Soul Oracle: 6 – Yes) Luckily, the light that filters from the cracks on the ceiling above is enough to see clearly.

Is the water shallow enough to walk across it? (2d10 on Soul Oracle: 4 – “Yes, and...”) The water is shallow enough to reach all of the doors walking, and barely deep enough to get your feet wet. Due to the Yes, and Response, Doom is increased by 1.

Abigeal ignores the femur floating in the water, instead going to check the coffer beside the old guard table.

Is there anything of value in the coffer? (2d10+1 on Soul Oracle: 12 – No, but...)

There is nothing in the coffer, but when she crouched down to check it she managed to spot something in the water under the table.

Is it a key? (2d10+1 on Soul Oracle: 8 - Yes)

Abigeal grabs the key she spotted under the table, and then finally decides to check the door to the Northeast.

Room generation:

Roll for number of exits: 2 – None, the room has no doors other than the one she came in through.

Roll on room content tables:

Encounter: 16 – 1d3 tough enemies. Loot: 11 – Nothing. Room feature: 12 – Nothing.

Upon entering the flooded guard barracks, Abigeal suddenly finds herself facing a Wraith. As she wasn’t making any particular effort to conceal herself, she’s spotted almost immediately.

Roll for Wraith HP (4d8): 21

Initiative: Test Agility DR12. 19 - Success, Abigeal acts first.

Knowing she can’t defeat the Wraith head-on, Abigeal tries to use her Merciful Sunlight spell to blind it.

Spellcasting: Test Presence DR12. 18 – Success.

Casting Merciful Sunlight and aiming the bright light directly at the wraith’s eyes, Abigeal manages to blind it for 8 combat rounds (There is no set effect for blinding, but I’ve decided the DR to avoid the wraith’s attacks has been reduced to 6)

The wraith tries to hit Abigeal, but she easily avoids its touch and counterattacks with her shortsword, just barely managing to hit its almost incorporeal form. She decides to spend one Stamina to add one damage die to her attack, hitting with 2d4 for 7 damage.

I will omit the full play-by-play narration of the encounter, but Abigeal manages to defeat the wraith after seven rounds of combat, with her HP reduced to 4 and her Stamina Reduced to 3, and earns 250 souls. She rolls her weapon’s Usage Die, but luckily it comes up 3, so her weapon isn’t damaged. However, when rolling her armor’s UD it comes up 1, so her armor receives one level of wear and its UD is reduced from d8 to d6.

After stopping to catch her breath, she recovers 2 Stamina, and decides to examine the room.

Is there any container for guards’ belongings still intact?

(2d10+1 on Soul Oracle: 3 – Yes, And...)

There is not only one, but several barrels and coffers containing the former guards’ belongings. Among them, she finds 2 bombs, a net, 20 ft of rope, and a spear. Due to the Yes, and Response, Doom is increased by 1.

Abigeal takes the spear and the two bombs and adds them to her inventory.

She then heads back to the guard post, now taking the door to the southeast.

Roll for number of exits: 3 – One exit. Roll for cardinal directions: 3 – East. Roll for exit type: 3 – Horizontal.

Roll on room content tables:

Encounter: 11 – Nothing. Loot: 16 – Random scroll. Room feature: 14 – Major obstacle.

Rolling on a spark table to determine what the obstacle is, I decided to roll Verb + Subject

31 – Increase. 16 - Adversity

Towards the center of this room, the water level is much higher respective to the floor, making it impossible to traverse to the other side walking.

Is the scroll on the side of the room Abigeal can reach on foot? (2d10+2 on Soul Oracle: 11 – Random Event)

A random event occurs. Before determining what it is, I resolve the yes/no question by looking at the result of the higher of the two dice. As it’s an even number (8), the answer is yes, the scroll is floating on the side of the room Abigeal can reach on foot.

Roll for event type: 12 – Reveal

Something is revealed to not be what it initially seemed. I decided to roll Adjective + Subject and...

21 – Ancient. 12 – Ally.

Rather serendipitous.

I decided to interpret this as... she suddenly remembers this was an important place for her and Ciannán, back in the old times before the undead curse.

Is this where he betrayed her? (2d10+2 on Soul Oracle: 21 – No, and...)

This doesn’t seem to be the case, quite the opposite, in fact. Due to the No, and Response, Doom is reduced by 1.

Is this where they met? (2d10+1 on Soul Oracle: 10 – Yes, but...)

She recognizes this as the place they met, but she can barely remember anything from that encounter other than the place itself.

I’m going to stop playing here for the time being, closing this example of play on what I think is the most interesting note so far.

#ttrpg #mork sjal #soulslike #indie rpg #solo rpg

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pdqdocs · 1 month ago

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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AI “art” and uncanniness

TOMORROW (May 14), I'm on a livecast about AI AND ENSHITTIFICATION with TIM O'REILLY; on TOMORROW (May 15), I'm in NORTH HOLLYWOOD for a screening of STEPHANIE KELTON'S FINDING THE MONEY; FRIDAY (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

When it comes to AI art (or "art"), it's hard to find a nuanced position that respects creative workers' labor rights, free expression, copyright law's vital exceptions and limitations, and aesthetics.

I am, on balance, opposed to AI art, but there are some important caveats to that position. For starters, I think it's unequivocally wrong – as a matter of law – to say that scraping works and training a model with them infringes copyright. This isn't a moral position (I'll get to that in a second), but rather a technical one.

Break down the steps of training a model and it quickly becomes apparent why it's technically wrong to call this a copyright infringement. First, the act of making transient copies of works – even billions of works – is unequivocally fair use. Unless you think search engines and the Internet Archive shouldn't exist, then you should support scraping at scale:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/17/how-to-think-about-scraping/

And unless you think that Facebook should be allowed to use the law to block projects like Ad Observer, which gathers samples of paid political disinformation, then you should support scraping at scale, even when the site being scraped objects (at least sometimes):

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/06/get-you-coming-and-going/#potemkin-research-program

After making transient copies of lots of works, the next step in AI training is to subject them to mathematical analysis. Again, this isn't a copyright violation.

Making quantitative observations about works is a longstanding, respected and important tool for criticism, analysis, archiving and new acts of creation. Measuring the steady contraction of the vocabulary in successive Agatha Christie novels turns out to offer a fascinating window into her dementia:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/apr/03/agatha-christie-alzheimers-research

Programmatic analysis of scraped online speech is also critical to the burgeoning formal analyses of the language spoken by minorities, producing a vibrant account of the rigorous grammar of dialects that have long been dismissed as "slang":

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373950278_Lexicogrammatical_Analysis_on_African-American_Vernacular_English_Spoken_by_African-Amecian_You-Tubers

Since 1988, UCL Survey of English Language has maintained its "International Corpus of English," and scholars have plumbed its depth to draw important conclusions about the wide variety of Englishes spoken around the world, especially in postcolonial English-speaking countries:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/english-usage/projects/ice.htm

The final step in training a model is publishing the conclusions of the quantitative analysis of the temporarily copied documents as software code. Code itself is a form of expressive speech – and that expressivity is key to the fight for privacy, because the fact that code is speech limits how governments can censor software:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/remembering-case-established-code-speech/

Are models infringing? Well, they certainly can be. In some cases, it's clear that models "memorized" some of the data in their training set, making the fair use, transient copy into an infringing, permanent one. That's generally considered to be the result of a programming error, and it could certainly be prevented (say, by comparing the model to the training data and removing any memorizations that appear).

Not every seeming act of memorization is a memorization, though. While specific models vary widely, the amount of data from each training item retained by the model is very small. For example, Midjourney retains about one byte of information from each image in its training data. If we're talking about a typical low-resolution web image of say, 300kb, that would be one three-hundred-thousandth (0.0000033%) of the original image.

Typically in copyright discussions, when one work contains 0.0000033% of another work, we don't even raise the question of fair use. Rather, we dismiss the use as de minimis (short for de minimis non curat lex or "The law does not concern itself with trifles"):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis

Busting someone who takes 0.0000033% of your work for copyright infringement is like swearing out a trespassing complaint against someone because the edge of their shoe touched one blade of grass on your lawn.

But some works or elements of work appear many times online. For example, the Getty Images watermark appears on millions of similar images of people standing on red carpets and runways, so a model that takes even in infinitesimal sample of each one of those works might still end up being able to produce a whole, recognizable Getty Images watermark.

The same is true for wire-service articles or other widely syndicated texts: there might be dozens or even hundreds of copies of these works in training data, resulting in the memorization of long passages from them.

This might be infringing (we're getting into some gnarly, unprecedented territory here), but again, even if it is, it wouldn't be a big hardship for model makers to post-process their models by comparing them to the training set, deleting any inadvertent memorizations. Even if the resulting model had zero memorizations, this would do nothing to alleviate the (legitimate) concerns of creative workers about the creation and use of these models.

So here's the first nuance in the AI art debate: as a technical matter, training a model isn't a copyright infringement. Creative workers who hope that they can use copyright law to prevent AI from changing the creative labor market are likely to be very disappointed in court:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/sarah-silverman-lawsuit-ai-meta-1235669403/

But copyright law isn't a fixed, eternal entity. We write new copyright laws all the time. If current copyright law doesn't prevent the creation of models, what about a future copyright law?

Well, sure, that's a possibility. The first thing to consider is the possible collateral damage of such a law. The legal space for scraping enables a wide range of scholarly, archival, organizational and critical purposes. We'd have to be very careful not to inadvertently ban, say, the scraping of a politician's campaign website, lest we enable liars to run for office and renege on their promises, while they insist that they never made those promises in the first place. We wouldn't want to abolish search engines, or stop creators from scraping their own work off sites that are going away or changing their terms of service.

Now, onto quantitative analysis: counting words and measuring pixels are not activities that you should need permission to perform, with or without a computer, even if the person whose words or pixels you're counting doesn't want you to. You should be able to look as hard as you want at the pixels in Kate Middleton's family photos, or track the rise and fall of the Oxford comma, and you shouldn't need anyone's permission to do so.

Finally, there's publishing the model. There are plenty of published mathematical analyses of large corpuses that are useful and unobjectionable. I love me a good Google n-gram:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=fantods%2C+heebie-jeebies&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3

And large language models fill all kinds of important niches, like the Human Rights Data Analysis Group's LLM-based work helping the Innocence Project New Orleans' extract data from wrongful conviction case files:

https://hrdag.org/tech-notes/large-language-models-IPNO.html

So that's nuance number two: if we decide to make a new copyright law, we'll need to be very sure that we don't accidentally crush these beneficial activities that don't undermine artistic labor markets.

This brings me to the most important point: passing a new copyright law that requires permission to train an AI won't help creative workers get paid or protect our jobs.

Getty Images pays photographers the least it can get away with. Publishers contracts have transformed by inches into miles-long, ghastly rights grabs that take everything from writers, but still shifts legal risks onto them:

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

Publishers like the New York Times bitterly oppose their writers' unions:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/new-york-times-stop-union-busting

These large corporations already control the copyrights to gigantic amounts of training data, and they have means, motive and opportunity to license these works for training a model in order to pay us less, and they are engaged in this activity right now:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/technology/apple-ai-news-publishers.html

Big games studios are already acting as though there was a copyright in training data, and requiring their voice actors to begin every recording session with words to the effect of, "I hereby grant permission to train an AI with my voice" and if you don't like it, you can hit the bricks:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d37za/voice-actors-sign-away-rights-to-artificial-intelligence

If you're a creative worker hoping to pay your bills, it doesn't matter whether your wages are eroded by a model produced without paying your employer for the right to do so, or whether your employer got to double dip by selling your work to an AI company to train a model, and then used that model to fire you or erode your wages:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/09/ai-monkeys-paw/#bullied-schoolkids

Individual creative workers rarely have any bargaining leverage over the corporations that license our copyrights. That's why copyright's 40-year expansion (in duration, scope, statutory damages) has resulted in larger, more profitable entertainment companies, and lower payments – in real terms and as a share of the income generated by their work – for creative workers.

As Rebecca Giblin and I write in our book Chokepoint Capitalism, giving creative workers more rights to bargain with against giant corporations that control access to our audiences is like giving your bullied schoolkid extra lunch money – it's just a roundabout way of transferring that money to the bullies:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/21/what-is-chokepoint-capitalism/

There's an historical precedent for this struggle – the fight over music sampling. 40 years ago, it wasn't clear whether sampling required a copyright license, and early hip-hop artists took samples without permission, the way a horn player might drop a couple bars of a well-known song into a solo.

Many artists were rightfully furious over this. The "heritage acts" (the music industry's euphemism for "Black people") who were most sampled had been given very bad deals and had seen very little of the fortunes generated by their creative labor. Many of them were desperately poor, despite having made millions for their labels. When other musicians started making money off that work, they got mad.

In the decades that followed, the system for sampling changed, partly through court cases and partly through the commercial terms set by the Big Three labels: Sony, Warner and Universal, who control 70% of all music recordings. Today, you generally can't sample without signing up to one of the Big Three (they are reluctant to deal with indies), and that means taking their standard deal, which is very bad, and also signs away your right to control your samples.

So a musician who wants to sample has to sign the bad terms offered by a Big Three label, and then hand $500 out of their advance to one of those Big Three labels for the sample license. That $500 typically doesn't go to another artist – it goes to the label, who share it around their executives and investors. This is a system that makes every artist poorer.

But it gets worse. Putting a price on samples changes the kind of music that can be economically viable. If you wanted to clear all the samples on an album like Public Enemy's "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back," or the Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique," you'd have to sell every CD for $150, just to break even:

https://memex.craphound.com/2011/07/08/creative-license-how-the-hell-did-sampling-get-so-screwed-up-and-what-the-hell-do-we-do-about-it/

Sampling licenses don't just make every artist financially worse off, they also prevent the creation of music of the sort that millions of people enjoy. But it gets even worse. Some older, sample-heavy music can't be cleared. Most of De La Soul's catalog wasn't available for 15 years, and even though some of their seminal music came back in March 2022, the band's frontman Trugoy the Dove didn't live to see it – he died in February 2022:

https://www.vulture.com/2023/02/de-la-soul-trugoy-the-dove-dead-at-54.html

This is the third nuance: even if we can craft a model-banning copyright system that doesn't catch a lot of dolphins in its tuna net, it could still make artists poorer off.

Back when sampling started, it wasn't clear whether it would ever be considered artistically important. Early sampling was crude and experimental. Musicians who trained for years to master an instrument were dismissive of the idea that clicking a mouse was "making music." Today, most of us don't question the idea that sampling can produce meaningful art – even musicians who believe in licensing samples.

Having lived through that era, I'm prepared to believe that maybe I'll look back on AI "art" and say, "damn, I can't believe I never thought that could be real art."

But I wouldn't give odds on it.

I don't like AI art. I find it anodyne, boring. As Henry Farrell writes, it's uncanny, and not in a good way:

https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/large-language-models-are-uncanny

Farrell likens the work produced by AIs to the movement of a Ouija board's planchette, something that "seems to have a life of its own, even though its motion is a collective side-effect of the motions of the people whose fingers lightly rest on top of it." This is "spooky-action-at-a-close-up," transforming "collective inputs … into apparently quite specific outputs that are not the intended creation of any conscious mind."

Look, art is irrational in the sense that it speaks to us at some non-rational, or sub-rational level. Caring about the tribulations of imaginary people or being fascinated by pictures of things that don't exist (or that aren't even recognizable) doesn't make any sense. There's a way in which all art is like an optical illusion for our cognition, an imaginary thing that captures us the way a real thing might.

But art is amazing. Making art and experiencing art makes us feel big, numinous, irreducible emotions. Making art keeps me sane. Experiencing art is a precondition for all the joy in my life. Having spent most of my life as a working artist, I've come to the conclusion that the reason for this is that art transmits an approximation of some big, numinous irreducible emotion from an artist's mind to our own. That's it: that's why art is amazing.

AI doesn't have a mind. It doesn't have an intention. The aesthetic choices made by AI aren't choices, they're averages. As Farrell writes, "LLM art sometimes seems to communicate a message, as art does, but it is unclear where that message comes from, or what it means. If it has any meaning at all, it is a meaning that does not stem from organizing intention" (emphasis mine).

Farrell cites Mark Fisher's The Weird and the Eerie, which defines "weird" in easy to understand terms ("that which does not belong") but really grapples with "eerie."

For Fisher, eeriness is "when there is something present where there should be nothing, or is there is nothing present when there should be something." AI art produces the seeming of intention without intending anything. It appears to be an agent, but it has no agency. It's eerie.

Fisher talks about capitalism as eerie. Capital is "conjured out of nothing" but "exerts more influence than any allegedly substantial entity." The "invisible hand" shapes our lives more than any person. The invisible hand is fucking eerie. Capitalism is a system in which insubstantial non-things – corporations – appear to act with intention, often at odds with the intentions of the human beings carrying out those actions.

So will AI art ever be art? I don't know. There's a long tradition of using random or irrational or impersonal inputs as the starting point for human acts of artistic creativity. Think of divination:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/31/divination/

Or Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies:

http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

I love making my little collages for this blog, though I wouldn't call them important art. Nevertheless, piecing together bits of other peoples' work can make fantastic, important work of historical note:

https://www.johnheartfield.com/John-Heartfield-Exhibition/john-heartfield-art/famous-anti-fascist-art/heartfield-posters-aiz

Even though painstakingly cutting out tiny elements from others' images can be a meditative and educational experience, I don't think that using tiny scissors or the lasso tool is what defines the "art" in collage. If you can automate some of this process, it could still be art.

Here's what I do know. Creating an individual bargainable copyright over training will not improve the material conditions of artists' lives – all it will do is change the relative shares of the value we create, shifting some of that value from tech companies that hate us and want us to starve to entertainment companies that hate us and want us to starve.

As an artist, I'm foursquare against anything that stands in the way of making art. As an artistic worker, I'm entirely committed to things that help workers get a fair share of the money their work creates, feed their families and pay their rent.

I think today's AI art is bad, and I think tomorrow's AI art will probably be bad, but even if you disagree (with either proposition), I hope you'll agree that we should be focused on making sure art is legal to make and that artists get paid for it.

Just because copyright won't fix the creative labor market, it doesn't follow that nothing will. If we're worried about labor issues, we can look to labor law to improve our conditions. That's what the Hollywood writers did, in their groundbreaking 2023 strike:

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

Now, the writers had an advantage: they are able to engage in "sectoral bargaining," where a union bargains with all the major employers at once. That's illegal in nearly every other kind of labor market. But if we're willing to entertain the possibility of getting a new copyright law passed (that won't make artists better off), why not the possibility of passing a new labor law (that will)? Sure, our bosses won't lobby alongside of us for more labor protection, the way they would for more copyright (think for a moment about what that says about who benefits from copyright versus labor law expansion).

But all workers benefit from expanded labor protection. Rather than going to Congress alongside our bosses from the studios and labels and publishers to demand more copyright, we could go to Congress alongside every kind of worker, from fast-food cashiers to publishing assistants to truck drivers to demand the right to sectoral bargaining. That's a hell of a coalition.

And if we do want to tinker with copyright to change the way training works, let's look at collective licensing, which can't be bargained away, rather than individual rights that can be confiscated at the entrance to our publisher, label or studio's offices. These collective licenses have been a huge success in protecting creative workers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/26/united-we-stand/

Then there's copyright's wildest wild card: The US Copyright Office has repeatedly stated that works made by AIs aren't eligible for copyright, which is the exclusive purview of works of human authorship. This has been affirmed by courts:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/20/everything-made-by-an-ai-is-in-the-public-domain/

Neither AI companies nor entertainment companies will pay creative workers if they don't have to. But for any company contemplating selling an AI-generated work, the fact that it is born in the public domain presents a substantial hurdle, because anyone else is free to take that work and sell it or give it away.

Whether or not AI "art" will ever be good art isn't what our bosses are thinking about when they pay for AI licenses: rather, they are calculating that they have so much market power that they can sell whatever slop the AI makes, and pay less for the AI license than they would make for a human artist's work. As is the case in every industry, AI can't do an artist's job, but an AI salesman can convince an artist's boss to fire the creative worker and replace them with AI:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/29/pay-no-attention/#to-the-little-man-behind-the-curtain

They don't care if it's slop – they just care about their bottom line. A studio executive who cancels a widely anticipated film prior to its release to get a tax-credit isn't thinking about artistic integrity. They care about one thing: money. The fact that AI works can be freely copied, sold or given away may not mean much to a creative worker who actually makes their own art, but I assure you, it's the only thing that matters to our bosses.

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/2024/05/13/spooky-action-at-a-close-up/#invisible-hand

#pluralistic #ai art #eerie #ai #weird #henry farrell #copyright #copyfight #creative labor markets #what is art #ideomotor response #mark fisher #invisible hand #uncanniness #prompting

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grison-in-space · 1 year ago

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Man, there is a huge bias in the way that hobby fibercrafters approach and think about textiles—and I say that as a hobby fibercrafter myself! See, weaving has a high barrier to entry relative to knitting, crochet, spinning—even embroidery or sewing, these days, as the sewing machine automated much of the tedium of the craft. All of those crafts require a lot less in terms of startup costs to the hobby crafter than the machinery of a loom does.

But... look, if you want to understand mass produced textiles or textiles in any historical context, you have to understand weaving. If you want to understand how most of the cloth that people wear is made, you have to understand weaving, because weaving is the oldest art for mass producing cloth that can then be turned into garments.

Spinning is also very important, of course. Spinning is how you get the thread that you can turn into cloth any number of ways. Historically speaking, though, the most common way that thread or yarn becomes cloth is inarguably weaving. More to the point, weaving is also a historical center of industry and labor organizing. Ironically enough for the argument about how no one asked a woman, the industrialization of weaving is actually an interesting early case example of men organizing to push women out of a newly profitable position.

Besides that, knitting and crocheting in particular are incredibly modern crafts. Most modern knitting as we would understand the craft is shaped by the inventions of Elizabeth Zimmerman, and even things like the circular knitting needle date back only to the past century. Historically speaking, the great innovation of knitting as a tool for fiber craft is the ability to construct garments for small, odd shapes that can stretch and grip: stockings, gloves, underwear. Even that great innovation, the knit sweater, is an artifact of the 1850s—and the familiar cable knit sweaters of the Aran Isles are even newer than that. Crochet is even younger: the entire craft originated in the 1820s as far as anyone can document.

None of that is any shade on anyone. Like I said, I knit; that's the locus of my personal interest in textiles. I just think that textile history is neat, but if you're going to make big pronouncements about the historical development of textiles, it's important to think about what changed about the technology of textile production in the most common ways of turning raw fiber into cloth—and you cannot stop at the level of understanding how to make thread or yarn, because the properties of the cloth are always going to be an artifact of the construction of the cloth.

That's technology, baby! It's literally weavecraft. But it's not obvious that weaving is missing from the bounds of a person's experience with textile manipulation until and unless they're trying to understand and work with a wide range of fabric types—and when you can quite reasonably go from raw fiber to a finished garment using modern popular craft techniques that don't rely on anything that appears difficult for a medieval craftsman to make, it's easy to forget the role of weaving in the creation of cloth as a finished product.

I suppose the point I am making is: think deeply about what your own areas of expertise are not bringing to your understanding of history. It's easier to miss things you'd think.

#textiles #fabric #fibercraft #history #technology

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lunar-witches · 2 years ago

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✨ Creating Your Grimoire ✨

In the realm of witchcraft and the arcane arts, a grimoire is a sacred vessel—a repository for your magical knowledge, spells, and experiences. To create your very own grimoire is to embark on a magical journey, a testament to your personal growth and a reflection of your unique spiritual path. With each page, you breathe life into a magical world that is uniquely yours. 🌙📜🔮

So, let us delve into the mystic arts and learn how to craft your very own grimoire, a treasured companion on your magical journey:

✨ 1. Choose Your Tools: Begin by selecting a journal or a notebook that resonates with you. It could be leather-bound, handcrafted, or a simple, beautifully designed book. Let your intuition guide you.

✨ 2. Dedicate Your Grimoire: Before you start filling its pages, dedicate your grimoire to your magical practice. Create a ceremony or ritual that signifies its importance in your spiritual journey.

✨ 3. Organize Your Content: Decide on the sections or categories for your grimoire. Common sections include spells, herbs, crystals, divination, moon phases, and personal reflections. Organizing your content will make it easier to reference.

✨ 4. Decorate with Intention: Use art, symbols, and colors that hold significance in your practice. Incorporate symbols, runes, and illustrations that resonate with your magical path. Each stroke of your pen can carry intention.

✨ 5. Record Your Spells and Rituals: Document your spells and rituals with care. Include ingredients, steps, and the outcomes. Personalize them to make them your own and infuse them with your energy.

✨ 6. Herbal and Crystal Wisdom: Devote sections to the properties and uses of herbs and crystals. Describe their magical associations and how to work with them in your spells and rituals.

✨ 7. Lunar and Planetary Magic: Dedicate pages to the phases of the moon and the influence of planetary energies. Include your observations and experiences with these celestial guides.

✨ 8. Divination and Tarot: Share your insights about divination methods like tarot, runes, or scrying. Document your readings and interpretations.

✨ 9. Dream and Meditation Journal: Dedicate a portion to dream and meditation experiences. Record your visions, insights, and messages received during your spiritual journeys.

✨ 10. Personal Reflections: Your grimoire is not just a book of facts but a record of your spiritual evolution. Write about your experiences, your magical progress, and how your practice has shaped you.

✨ 11. Protection and Secrecy: Consider creating a page or section dedicated to protective spells or enchantments to safeguard the contents of your grimoire.

✨ 12. Regularly Update: Your grimoire is a living, evolving document. As you learn, grow, and experience, continue to add to its pages and update your knowledge.

🌟🔮🌟

As you craft your grimoire, remember that it is a reflection of your unique connection to the magical world. With each entry, you breathe life into your practice, making it a powerful, personalized tool for your mystical journey. May your grimoire be a testament to your magical evolution, a record of your discoveries, and a key to the secrets of the universe.

📜🔮✨ Blessed be, as you embark on this enchanting journey of grimoire creation. 📜🔮✨

#witchy #witches of tumblr #witchblr #witchcraft #magick #grimoire #book of shadows #baby witch #witch community #witchcraft community #witchlife #witchy tips #witchy things #baby witches

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theresattrpgforthat · 2 months ago

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System Overview: Caltrop Core.

For three weeks, I’m exploring various ttrpg systems and what makes them tick, as per what was voted on in this poll. This week I’m going to dive into Caltrop Core!

Caltrop Core, by titanomachy (also known as Lex Kim Bobrow), is a genre-neutral SRD that uses d4's. It's flexibility sits in how you use the layered result system; from dice, to dice & tokens, to a pack of cards.

Let's take a look at the core pieces of this SRD!

Cybercore-Revelation, by Xelsius @ Forward Lightning, & A Night of Possibilities, by Vinicius de Souza.

The Results Table.

The actual SRD document for Caltrop Core is rather concise, and that's because pretty much everything in the game revolves around the Result Table.

When you describe an action by beginning with the words "I want to…", you roll 1 or more d4's. Your result is determined by the highest roll, and each level of the result is different.

Absolute Failure - You don't get what you want; things get worse.

Partial Failure - You don't get what you want (but possibly gain a benefit).

Partial Success - You get what you want, but with a complication.

Absolute Success - You get what you want, and more.

This is the centre concept for Caltrop Core: once you know this, you can iterate on this as much or as little as you want! I think this is why Caltrop Core can be such a great option for a first time game-maker: you can add some flavor to the core roll, use some basic modifiers built into character creation, and you're good to go.

That being said, there's more layers that can exist in a Caltrop Core game if you want there to be. One way is how you get to the results listed in the table above, and the resolution tools available have some interesting options.

Let's take a look at some of the examples available in the deep deep pool of Caltrop Core games!

Full Moon Investigations, by Patchster0730, Party Animals, by Dani Belonia, & Ceremony in Shadow, by tlando.

Stat Pools.

The most common resolution method uses dice pools pulled from your PC stats. These stats often are built out of an array, and then modified by a character class or background, such as in Full Moon Investigators: in this game, you have Bark, Bite, Brains & Bullets. You assign a 1, 2, 3 and 4 to each, and then gain modifiers to certain stats in certain stages of the game, depending on the background that you take.

Alternatively, you can create your character from a number of different pieces, like the options available in Cybercore Revolution. Since this game has 12 Skills instead of just 3 or 4, you have an opportunity to build a more highly specialized character. Instead of choosing a single character class, you can build a character out of Traits, Vocations, & Specializations, allowing you to hone in on just a few abilities, or allow yourself a generalized advantage in as many as you can.

In Dead Armour, your character has a stat array, but they don't have any backgrounds to improve their skills. Instead, this game introduces an additional mechanic: Tokens.

Dead Armour, by tim zee, I'll Be Taking That, by porchlightdusk, & Ghost-Fi, by aghostofeli.

Tokens

Tokens are a form of player currency that can be spent in a number of different ways in Caltrop Core. In Dead Armour, tokens are currency earned through role-play in Downtime between scenes, that can then be spent to avert disaster or find some crucial resources.

Similarly, in Hexfall, tokens are used to adjust the outcome of a roll, provide a narrative boost, or activate character actions assigned to your character class.

In The Stars Will Not Go Out and Party Animals, players gain and spend tokens through various prompts, which then fuel their dice pools. These prompts are often tied to character backgrounds, allowing your character abilities to remain unique and specialized.

There's also a fun twist you can add to Caltrop Core games by adding another form of resolution or randomness: Cards.

Or4cle, by 1eona, Hexfall, by titanomachyrpg, & The Stars Will Not Go Out, by RJKGames.

Cards

In the SRD, Lex mentions that Caltrop Core can also accommodate other toys in its game design, such as playing cards or tarot cards. Cards are often a great way to add randomness into a game that allows the group to play without a GM, or to provide results that don't map onto a success/failure matrix. Here's a few examples of how designers have decided to include cards into their Caltrop Core creations.

Or4cle, by 1eona, is a game that combines the d4 rolls with tarot cards, which are used for character & story generation, and might allow the game to become GM-less in the process. The Major Arcana are used to determine the hook of a story: such as investigating someone's lover if you draw The Lovers card, or a world-ending threat if you draw The World. The Wands are used for plot twists, Cups for a patron, Swords for Antagonists, and Pentacles for rewards. When it comes to character generation, each of these decks are also used to give you details about your character, allowing randomness and interpretation to both have a role in the game.

Meanwhile, Ghost-Fi pairs a pack of playing cards with the dice to determine details that connect ghosts to the world around them. The suits are categories of Tethers: things that keep the ghost connected. The symbols on the cards can occasionally offer up unique encounters, such as increasing Spite - a corrupting currency that could affect your ghost's ability to cross over to the afterlife. Since Ghost-Fi can be played solo, these cards allow for unexpected obstacles to face your character, even if you don't have a GM to come up with NPCs and enemies to stand in your way.

Rat Guardian by FiloHazard, & Space Taxi, by gothHoblin.

The Playground.

All of the examples I've talked about so far are just a small taste of what you can do with Caltrop Core. The basic mechanic is very simple, which means that you as a designer can take a lot of ideas from other games that you like and weave them into the basic rules to create an incredibly unique and inventive game.

For example in I'll Be Taking That, you wager items from your goblin hoard (read: inventory) to increase the number of dice you roll. This replaces the stats, although it doesn't have a token economy like Party Animals.

In Hexfall, stats are not even included in character creation; you simply roll 3d4 for every interaction, but the rules change depending on the kind of encounter you face.

In Rat Guardian, players have to pair up: one Rat player for every Resident player. The game's pacing happens through a series of Beats, which involve goals that the guardian Rats need to work to help their fellow humans achieve. In order to achieve these beats, Rats and Residents can sometimes pool their dice in hope of increasing their odds.

Caltrop Core is an excellent option for folks who want a fairly easy-to-understand resolution system that can be modified to fit a broad number of genres. If you're a new designer who wants an easy system that will allow you to try your hand at this hobby, or if you're a designer who wants to play with a neat mechanic and watch it interplay with a basic system, you might want to check out Caltrop Core.

Let's take a look at a few more Caltrop Core games that might interest you!

FishBlade on a Bright Reef, by PlaceHead Here, is a game about FishBlades helping human souls escape a Reef and move on to the afterlife.

NIGHTHAWKS is a game about lonely people in a Diner, who have to make a choice between risking rejection or succumbing to isolation.

Magic Moth Island, by LeightonConnor, is a game about animals defending their magical island from human invaders.

Duat, by Deep Light Games, is a game about recently deceased souls overcoming trials in the afterlife.

OK See You, by Bebop Tabletop, is a game about immigrant families and convenience stores, inspired by shows like Kim's Convenience.

Wardens of the Sundered Realms, by Groovy Dad Games, is a game about beast hunters in the service of the High King.

Final Notes...

You can check out my folder of Caltrop Core games on Itch, if you want to see what I've found so far.

If you like what I do, you can always leave a tip at my Ko-Fi!

#caltrop core #system overview #tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #indie ttrpg

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fatehbaz · 1 year ago

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[A]nti-homeless laws [...] rooted in European anti-vagrancy laws were adapted across parts of the Japanese empire [...] at the turn of the 20th century. [...] [C]riminalising ideas transferred from anti-vagrancy statutes into [contemporary] welfare systems. [...] [W]elfare and border control systems - substantively shaped by imperial aversions to racialised ideas of uncivilised vagrants - mutually served as a transnational legal architecture [...] [leading to] [t]oday's modern divides between homeless persons, migrants, and refugees [...].

---

By the Boer Wars (1880–1902), Euro-American powers and settler-colonial governments professed anxieties about White degeneration and the so-called “Yellow Peril” alongside other existential threats to White supremacy [...]. Japan [...] validated the creation of transnational racial hierarchies as it sought to elevate its own global standing [...]. [O]ne key legal instrument for achieving such racialised orders was the vagrancy concept, rooted in vagrancy laws that originated in Europe and proliferated globally through imperial-colonial conquest [...].

[A]nti-vagrancy regulation [...] shaped public thinking around homelessness [...]. Such laws were applied as a “criminal making device” (Kimber 2013:544) and "catch-all detention rationale" (Agee 2018:1659) targeting persons deemed threats for their supposedly transgressive or "wayward interiority" (Nicolazzo 2014:339) measured against raced, gendered, ableist, and classed norms [...]. Through the mid-20th century, vagrancy laws were aggressively used to control migration [and] encourage labour [...]. As vagrancy laws fell out of favour, [...] a "vagrancy concept" nonetheless thrived in welfare systems that similarly meted out punishment for ostensible vagrant-like qualities [...], [which] helps explain why particular discourses about the mobile poor have persisted to date [...].

---

During high imperialism (1870–1914), European, American, and Japanese empires expanded rapidly, aided by technologies like steam and electricity. The Boer Wars and Japan's ascent to Great Power status each profoundly influenced trans-imperial dynamics, hardening Euro-American concerns regarding a perceived deterioration of the White race. [...] Through the 1870s [...] the [Japanese] government introduced modern police forces and a centralised koseki register to monitor spatial movement. The koseki register, which recorded geographic origins, also served as a tool for marking racialised groups including Ainu, Burakumin, Chinese, [...] and Korean subjects across Japan's empire [...]. The 1880 Penal Code contained Japan's first anti-vagrancy statute, based on French models [...]. Tokyo's Governor Matsuda, known for introducing geographic segregation of the rich and poor, expressed concern around 1882 for kichinyado (daily lodgings), which he identified as “den[s] for people without fixed employment or [koseki] registration” [...].

Attention to “vagrant foreigners” (furō-gaikokujin) emerged in Japanese media and politics in the mid-1890s. It stemmed directly from contemporary British debates over immigration restrictions targeting predominantly Jewish “destitute aliens” [...].

The 1896 Landing Regulation for Qing Nationals barred entry of “people without fixed employment” and “Chinese labourers” [...], justified as essential "for maintaining public peace and morals" in legal documents [...]. Notably, prohibitions against Chinese labourers were repeatedly modified at the British consulate's behest through 1899 to ensure more workers for [the British-affiliated plantation] tea industry. [...]

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Simultaneously, new welfaristic measures emerged alongside such punitive anti-vagrancy statutes. [...] Such border control regulations were eventually standardised in Japan's first immigration law, the 1918 Foreigners’ Entry Order. [...] This turn towards instituting racialised territorial boundaries should be understood in light of empire's concurrent welfarist turn [...]. Japanese administration established a quasi-carceral workhouse system in 1906 [in colonized territory of East Asia] [...] which sentenced [...] vagrants to years in workhouses. This law still treated vagrancy as illegal, but touted its remedy of compulsory labour as welfaristic. [...] This welfarist tum led to a proliferation of state-run programmes [...] connecting [lower classes] to employment. Therein, the vagrancy concept became operative in sorting between subjects deemed deserving, or undeserving, of aid. Effectively, surveillance practices in welfare systems mobilised the vagrancy concept to, firstly, justify supportive assistance and labour protections centring able-bodied, and especially married, Japanese men deemed “willing to work” and, secondly, withhold protections from racialised persons for their perceived waywardness [...] as contemporaneous Burakumin, Korean, and Ainu movements frequently protested [...]. [D]uring the American occupation (1945–1952), not only were anti-vagrancy statutes reinstituted in Japan's 1948 Minor Offences Act, but [...] the 1946 Livelihood Protection Act (Article 2) excluded “people unwilling to work or lazy” from social insurance coverage [...].

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Imperial expansion relied on not only claiming new markets and territories, but also using borders as places for negotiating legal powers and personhood [...]. Japan [...] integrated Euro-American ideas and practices attached to extraterritorial governance, like exceptionalism and legal immunity, into its legal systems. [...] (Importantly, because supportive systems [welfare], like punitive ones, were racialised to differentially regulate mobilities according to racial-ethic hierarchies, they were not universally beneficial to all eligible subjects.) [...]

At the turn of the century, imperialism and industrial capitalism had co-produced new transnational mobilities [which induced mass movements of poor and newly displaced people seeking income] [...]. These mobilities - unlike those celebrated in imperial travel writing - conflicted with racist imaginaries of who should possess freedom of movement, thereby triggering racialised concerns over vagrancy [...]. In both Euro-American and Japanese contexts, [...] racialised “lawless” Others (readily associated with vagrancy) were treated as threats to “public order” and “public peace and morals”. [...] Early 20th century discourse about vagrants, undesirable aliens, and “vagrant foreigners” [...] produced [...] "new categories of [illegal] people" [...] that cast particular people outside of systems of state aid and protection. [...] [P]ractices of illegalisation impress upon people, “the constant threat of removal, of being coercively forced out and physically removed [...] … an expulsion from life and living itself”.

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All text above by: Rayna Rusenko. "The Vagrancy Concept, Border Control, and Legal Architectures of Human In/Security". Antipode [A Radical Journal of Geography] Volume 56, Issue 2, pages 628-650. First published 24 October 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Text within brackets added by me for clarity. Presented here for criticism, teaching, commentary purposes.]

#abolition

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changingplumbob · 8 months ago

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A Party To Die For Templates: SFS

So I may have got a tad overexcited about the Halloween CAS Challenge created by @la-llama-sims, and I made templates for every prompt. I wanted to share them on the off chance someone wanted to also do the challenge but maybe didn't have time to do much other than screenshots.

Tutorial below on how to make your own cards using the templates if you are unfamiliar with photo software, all you need is the template and a screenshot of your sim! Very little technical skill required to so feel free to jump in for Simblreen (the month of October on simblr). Remember to go to the original creator post to check out the prompts and the hashtag given for creations is #LLPTDF. Hope to see some of your creations next month, keep them for the spooky season 🎃👻🦇

Strap in and follow along as I make Glenn here (he won't do the spellcaster prompt for Simblreen, it's dress up after all, but it makes sense for a demo)

Step one: Grab the zipped folder of templates on SFS HERE. Unzip the folder and put it somewhere easy to find in your documents, I have a tumblr specific folder my templates are normally sorted in.

Step two: Open your photo editing program of choice. I use paint.net which is old but for this demonstration I will use Photopea, the online free alternative to adobe. You will see the screen below

Step three: Click "Open From Computer" right in the middle under the main title. Find the screenshot you have taken that you would like to use and open it. Now the hole in my template is 744x991 but you can make it slightly bigger if you don't want to fuss as much with lining things up exactly. To resize image from the top bar (Image -> Image Size) We're going to use the crop tool when we have our picture.

Step four: Pull on the squares at the edges to change the size. If you need click View in the top bar and you can zoom in to allow finer selecting. When you have the right size click the tick and copy the image. Keyboard shortcuts are Ctrl+A to select all, then Ctrl+C to copy.

Step five: Open the template you want to use (File -> Open, from the top bar). Add a new layer using either the top bar (Layer -> New -> Layer) or the icons on the bottom right.

Step six: With the new layer selected paste the image, Ctrl+V.

Step seven: On the right of the screen you'll be able to see layer order. Drag the layer with your sim underneath the background layer. This is what will let you slot in your picture.

Step eight: Finishing touches! Unless you are super duper lucky your sim won't appear in the exact right place, you'll have to move them around using the move tool. For precision you'll need to zoom in and move your field of vision using the hand tool.

You'll know it's in the right place when you can no longer see any of the negative space behind it. I like to check both corners to make sure I've got it. This is where having a sim image slightly larger will make it easier.

If you like you can finish now. From the top bar File -> Export as -> PNG or JPG. The picture will save to your downloads folder. If you want to add your own text, keep reading, as I've left space at the bottom for your username, the sim name, and a profile pic or other logo. Or go ahead and crop it out, who needs extra hassle when there are cute CAS looks to be made?

Step nine: From the bar on the right select the large T to add some text, it will automatically spawn in a new layer. Scroll through text options and find one you like (the text style I used isn't in photopea so we will find another). Depending on the type of text you will likely need to play around with the size as well.

Step ten: Start typing. When you're done you can highlight what you have written and use that size box to adjust how big the text is. Select the move tool from the right to move your text where you want it. Repeat step nine if you want text on the other side. I've chosen to put my username on one side, and my sim's name on the other.

Step eleven: Logo time. Open a pre shrunk logo (I scaled my pride plumbobs down to 125x125) and copy. Back on the template add a new layer then paste your image (for some reason I had to copy twice before it would do the right thing, I don't have an explanation sorry). Then using the move tool and the hand tool get your image where you want it.

From the top bar File -> Export as -> PNG or JPG. Again it will have saved to your downloads folder.

Voila, we have a Glenn card! Hopefully you have a your sim card. I spent hours doing up all the templates so feel free to fill them with your sims for the challenge. All I ask is that you don't claim templates as your own work or shove them behind a paywall because rude and the whole premise of Simblreen is free treats! Obviously you do NOT need the templates to participate in the challenge, the cards are just how I'll be presenting mine. Like CAS challenges the possibilities are most often only limited by your imagination.

#sims 4 #the sims #simblr #my sims #ts4 #active simblr #Enjoy my friends #I wanted all of us to be able to do Simblreen #Even if we don't have prior skills

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damned-punk · 1 year ago

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Staring Contest (Captain Kidd x Reader)

⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆˚｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆

Content Warning: nsfw, oral sex, light spanking, language, penetrative sex

Content Description: gn!reader eyes Kidd at a bar and the Captain eyes them right back ♡

⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆˚｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆｡°✩ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙⋆

You’d seen him from across the bar and certainly knew you’d caught his attention when you held his gaze for significantly longer than what would be considered a casual glance. His painted lips turned up into a smirk and the other men at his table added to the ambiance of his devastating aura. You’d certainly heard all the stories and rumors about the Kidd Pirates, you should’ve been doing everything in your power to escape his interest but that just wasn’t going to happen. You were captivated by his stature, he radiated unadulterated power.

This wasn’t just a simple fatal attraction either, you’d caught yourself wanting to know his story. What were his hobbies? What was his childhood like? What had his life as a pirate entailed? Just by looking at him, you could tell he wasn’t just a pretty face. As fate would have it, he was thinking the same about you. One by one, he dismissed his men in order to create the space to introduce himself. He didn’t want to overwhelm you outright, but this little staring contest had riled him up quite a bit.

Your puffy lips were postured on your glass in a way that was surely meant to provoke him and it had not gone unnoticed. Your eyes sat low and you could’ve almost sworn you saw him chuckle a bit as he eyed your purposeful actions. You couldn’t make out his words but the remaining members of his crew departed when he stopped speaking. He tipped his own glass back for a final time and carried himself to where you sat.

“What’s your name?”, he questioned as he loomed over you, his cologne wafting through the air.

“(Y/N)… What can I help you with?”, you did your best to stand your ground.

This game of back and forth was far from over. You wanted to jump into conversation with him but you had to establish your position against his own. This couldn’t result in a single night of debauchery, it wouldn’t satisfy either of you.

“It was pretty obvious that something had caught your eye…”, he slid a few berries on the table to cover your tab, “Walk with me.”

You weren’t sure what to expect from his offer, but you trailed after him nonetheless. The bartender and servers were sharing silent prayers for you, the situation had made Kidd look like a wolf cornering its prey. Your most rational thoughts ran through the things you’d heard about him, but you didn’t feel like you were in any immediate danger. He was rather accommodating, ensuring that he was walking at your pace and leaving enough room between you to let you know that you could change your mind. As you neared closer to a ship that most certainly adorned his jolly roger, you knew where this endeavor was headed. Once you stepped aboard, there would be no turning back. The small talk that the two of you shared had become suffocating, especially as you followed him up the gangplank and onto the desolate upper deck.

“Most of the crew is still in the town. I’m sure they’ll start filing in over the next few hours.”, he could sense your unease at the fact that you’d essentially be alone on his ship with him.

Admittedly, it did ease your nerves. He seemed trustworthy enough but he was undeniably intimidating. All the same, he led you to his cabin and allowed you to take in your surroundings. The room was clean but somewhat cluttered. An array of documents, blueprints, and manuals littered the desk. Various tools and an assortment of creations were placed here and there. Given the context clues, you could tell he must’ve had a tinkering hobby. It all only made sense, you knew he’d eaten a magnetic devil fruit.

You heard a bit of shuffling to your left and watched as Kidd removed both his coat and boots. He took a seat on the bed and smiled up at you cockily. This was your invitation, he wanted you to initiate the rendezvous. Slipping your own shoes off, you walked over to him and laid soft hands on his rugged shoulders. Even in his position on the bed, his height allowed you to be face to face. His sharp eyes gazed into your own but held firm on the decision to let you command the first point of contact. You leant forward and gently brushed your lips against his own. From the minimal contact, your lips were already wearing smears of his favorite shade.

This riled him up quite a bit more, urging him to bring his hand to meet your back. You pressed your lips to his with more purpose and kept up these ministrations until he nipped at your bottom lip. The sudden change in sensation caused you to part your mouth, giving him the opportunity to slip his tongue inside. He was certainly skilled in this area and didn’t dare to break contact as he effortlessly lifted you to place down on the plush bed. He trailed himself down your clothed chest and stopped at the hem of your bottoms. Kidd lifted his upper half and promptly removed his top and belts. You slid off your own in tandem, his attention returning to your waistband.

“May I?”, he asked as he littered your exposed skin in a deep red.

“O-Of course…”, you trailed off with a flushed face, surprised at how courteous the pirate was proving to be.

He hooked his thick fingers on the fabric and pulled, taking your underwear with it. He wasted no time parting your legs and positioning his mouth on your sex. He was eager to bring you to orgasm, knowing that you couldn’t possibly accommodate his size otherwise. The erotic, wet sounds of slurping and sucking were further intensifying the experience for the both of you. Your whimpers and moans resulting from his actions caused his cock to throb against the thin fabric of his boxers. When he deemed you to be sufficiently prepped, he coaxed his digits into your entrance. Seeing stars and feeling a heat build in your lower stomach, you knew you were close. The rapid squeezing around his fingers allowed Kidd to recognize your impending climax. He hummed in delight as you came undone against his lips. Licking his fingers clean, he stripped himself of his own bottoms and hovered over you. He leant down and pressed sweet kisses to your lips, lifting your legs to rest atop his own.

“You ready sweetheart?”, his gruff voice spoke softly against your ear.

“Yes Captain, I’m ready.”, the sudden use of his title obliterated his foundation in the moment.

He loved the play in power dynamic, damn right he was Captain and of course he’d give you the fuck of a lifetime. He rubbed his swollen tip against you and slowly eased himself inside. You mewled at his size, gripping his forearms for support as he found purchase against your walls. His initial thrusts were short and slow, holding himself back in order to not break you. This kept up for a solid few moments. He buried his head in your neck, grounding himself to allow for your adjustment. Regardless of experience, he was massive and knew you’d need some time.

“Oh fuck, you’re just a sweet little thing aren’t you?”, he groaned in pleasure as he slightly picked up the pace, “You’re taking my cock so well… feels so fucking good.”

“Captain Kidd… Please, faster.”, your coaxing was all he needed to snap his gaze back to your own and begin pistoning his hips into yours at a much deeper, faster pace.

Your legs lifted to meet his waist, your hands scratching at the pale skin of his back. His forehead was pressed to yours and as you stared into his eyes, you felt like this was somehow more than a spur-of-the-moment hookup. This was passionate, intimate even. He seemed to care about how you felt and made sure that you were catered to in order to take him in a way that was enjoyable. He’d lay playful smacks to your ass and thighs, squeezing your body just to feel as much of you as possible. Every so often, he’d press kisses to your shoulders and neck. The whole experience was just so secure and he was such a gentleman about it all.

“Shit, you feel so good (Y/N)… I’m close… I’m so fucking close…”, Kidd muttered out, gripping your hip and holding himself against you as his thrusts became sloppy, “I’m gonna fill you up…”

You could feel your second climax building and just as your clenches began fluttering around him, he plunged into you for a final time. You met your orgasms in tandem, deepening your already growing attachment to him. You felt so warm, you didn’t want this feeling to end. He sat himself up and grinned down at you with red locks plastered unceremoniously across his dampened forehead.

“I’ll be right back.”, he stood off the bed and entered the bathroom that was attached to the cabin.

In the faint light of the room you could make out the scratches you’d left behind on his shoulders. Your own legs and sides tinged with a very light ache, surely to be adorned with bruises in the shape of his hands in the morning. He returned with two clean pairs of his underwear and a warm washcloth of which he provided you for clean up. He tossed you one of his own boxers and the gesture made you a bit teary-eyed. This was not at all what you’d expected of the beastly man sat across from you in the bar just hours ago. This was far better than anything your imagination could’ve afforded. After you’d slipped on your bottoms, Kidd flopped beside you in bed and looked a bit perplexed when you leant to start putting on the rest of your attire. He grabbed you and pulled your head to rest on his chest. This wasn’t over, at least not for the rest of the night as far as he was concerned.

“Eager to leave my ass already?”, he teased, obviously looking to break any tension you’d felt.

“I just thought you might’ve wanted me to go after…”, you trailed off, situating yourself against him as he pulled up the blanket.

“We’ll talk in the morning… Just get some sleep.”, you remained comfortable on top of him, listening to the slowing of his breaths and the subsequent snores that followed.

Something told you that when morning came, neither of you would be eager for your departure and that this ship would likely become akin to home in the very near future.

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