emeraldmew

[emeraldmew]

What are you're techniques for drawing the Void effects? You made darkness glow and I don't understand how (also apparently my phone thinks void is a proper noun now)

Step one: block out the shape of the Void energy! I use a dark purple on a layer set to Multiply, but this also works with a solid black layer since it'll end up that dark in the final effect anyway.

Step two: the dark "glow." Duplicate the base Void layer and blur it.

Step three: the highlighting. I draw amorphous blobs in the center mass of the void energy, never touching the edges of the shape. Still purple, combine mode set to Add (Glow).

Step four: more highlighting. Usually do this by duplicating and blurring the glow layer, but I also tend to go in with a rough watercolor brush to blend it out.

Step five: more darkness. On top of everything, another copy of the base Multiply layer, blurred. I like to make sure the darkest parts of the Void energy effect are pretty much solid black.

Sometimes I'll also add "cinders", pale purple and black flecks outlined in purple glow, if the effect is intended to look less controlled.

This effect in the example panel is also being exacerbated by a Hard Light overlay of a purple gradient, but I don't usually do that and I'm pretty sure it was initially a masking accident and I just liked how it looked and kept it.

And when I really need to go ham on communicating the raw power involved, I'll add another layer of purple glow to the center mass of the attack, as well as some black "lightning" surrounded by purple glow. It helps communicate motion and break up the larger energy masses; the purple highlighting effect works best on thinner strands of energy, so for a giant ball or beam attack it helps if I can give it a little more going on in the center mass.

Not an exact science, but I'm working it out as I go!

[emeraldmew]

gotta be my favorite tai face

[emeraldmew]

absolutely flabbergasting to see people who have so enthusiastically succumbed to despair. like okay denethor, but some of us are gonna actually face the armies of mordor in battle nonetheless.

[emeraldmew]

i'm sorry but a lot of you guys need to be writing short stories.

[emeraldmew]

Aro/Ace/Aroace planet art things idk

[emeraldmew]

trying to not panic about *gestures to what's happening with texas politics rn*

[emeraldmew]

Mudbraaaay! I can’t believe I finished this I was so tired when I drew it. Used the Pokedex as a ref.

Reblogs are appreciated! Please don’t copy, trace, repost, etc. Thank you!

[emeraldmew]

Do you have any tips on how to design a skull based on a head? Like, "here's a design for a non-human creature; what would their skull look like?" I'm asking for my Shadow/Ímí, which are humanoid, but it can apply to anything with a skull. I guess I could just look at a human skull vs a human face and just tweak it accordingly, but that only works up to a point.

do a lot of studies on skulls and the anatomy around them. Try to trace a skull by itself and then draw the head overlayed on the skull. then try to draw the head and draw the skull as an overlayed image. figure out the differences between those two versions and see what you can tweak so the skull and flesh match up better.

here's some studies I've just done today to help illustrate what I'm talking about:

(image description: simple face sketches of people and animals, with the faces in blue and the skulls in red. the first image shows a human, a neanderthal, a boar, and a dog. these were all drawn by tracing skulls first and then adding the flesh. the second image shows a horse and a wolf. these two were drawn by tracing the the faces first and then drawing the skulls. end description)

(image description: two sketch [ages showing three fantasy people faces and skulls. there is a pig-like face, an elf-like face, and a bird-human face. the first image shows detailed faces as dark outlines and the skulls drawn as simple bright red overlays. the second image shows the skulls as detailed dark outlines and the faces as simple bright red overlays. end description.)

(image description: the same heads and skulls from before, now comparing the original more detailed versions in black with the overlayed secondary versions in red, all arranged to be fully visible next to their counterparts. There are slight differences in proportion between the more detailed versions and the ones that were traced over. end description.)

as you can see here, there are inconsistencies in the way I draw the faces on their own and the skulls on their own, which are then made more clear when I try to draw a skull over the face or the face over the skull. I'd want to correct those differences in order to present a skull and face that match each other better, but it's alright if they're not perfect.

I've also gotten better at this particular exercise since I started this blog lol. Those differences used to be a lot more obvious.

[emeraldmew]

GenAI v. not GenAI round up.

So you can avoid them stealing things from you, the artist/writer, etc.

Pro GenAI websites/Programs:

Facebook

Instagram

X/Twitter (Remember, Grok gives people cancer)

Threads

Pro Writing Aid

Grammarly

Duolingo

Google Docs

Microsoft Word/all Microsoft products Takes from and will feed their machine.

Youtube (taking advantage of people who are hearing impaired. ==;;)

Adobe Products. All of them. If you HAVE to use them (Some businesses require it), save offline because there is a film of at least some privacy protections there, so if you have to sue, you can say it violates US privacy law. Remember, contracts do not circumvent US law.

Corel won't feed the machines, but still uses AI stolen from other artists. Which sucks since Corel Draw is the second best overall for vector programs. (Plus I love Painter, but I bought the offline version to avoid AI). (Canadian company)

Canva Takes and feeds their machine.

Deviant Art Not only supports AI, but put a tool in and said they are going to steal your work if you like it or not for their machine.

Sketchup went Pro-GenAI. The thing is that you can do the same thing in Blender these days with precise measurements.

Autodesk has stated they are Pro-Gen AI here. It is not clear if they will use your models to feed their machine. But be on guard. They make Maya and 3Dmax. You can replace it with Blender.

Neutral ground:

Tumblr (there is a way to opt out [Link] and they don't have an active AI machine.) https://www.tumblr.com/dookins/743519550598987776/heres-how-to-disable-third-parties-like-ai

Etsy allows GenAI, but still has some (minor) restrictions. I'd still be cautious. (Also be cautious of drop shippers). Complaints about too much AI and AI images+patterns made by Ai still exist on the website. They lean slightly more pro-AI, but still won't let it run completely amok, say like Facebook. They won't feed your work into a machine, but also don't ban it through robots.txt.

Bluesky They don't use an AI algorithm except for in the "Discover" section of their website, but while they are anti-GenAI strongly, they don't seem to block the Gen AI bots from entry, so you'd still have to use Nightshade or Glaze (links below). There is no opt-out because they don't need an opt out. (Leaning towards strong position on AI, but I wish they would block GenAI bots).

Searxng- If you super want to screw over Google, in general, and have some tech savvy, you can set up your own search engine through searxng. It's easier on Windows and Linux than it is on a Mac. (Mac you need Docker), but if you're determined on privacy, Searxng adds a layer of privacy. Some of it sometimes uses bits of AI, but most of it doesn't and you can fuss with the settings so it doesn't spit out AI results. At sheer minimum Google will stop spitting out weird videos on Youtube at you because in your private browsing, you searched for the origin of ball bearings while not logged in for a book and Google likes to break privacy laws.

Strong positions against AI:

Scrivener (Creator vowed against AI) Writing program. There is an active forum, and versions for Mac, Linux and PC. It is paid, but at ~60 USD, it's cheaper than most programs. There is usually a holiday sale around Christmas. It has a learning curve, but with an active forum with the programmer of it there to ask obscure questions it's not a dead zone. They often take suggestions and implement them over time. (Especially if you rank the importance, applications, etc) US company.

LibreOffice Open source and free Spreadsheet and Word processor program that can replace Microsoft Word. Some people might have seen older versions where it was called Neo Office (now extinct) and Open Office. LibreOffice is still populated, plus the forums are super helpful if you get stuck. The UX is pretty intuitive if you've used Microsoft Word. Scrivener, BTW, supports exporting to odt (the native file) as well as .doc, and this can open both. The slight thing is that sometimes it doesn't export to .doc smoothly. And I DO wish more magazines, and agent (big clue here) supported .odt files since it is free. Part of the reason .odt isn't as supported is because Microsoft and Adobe have a deal with the devil with each other, so Adobe's Book formatting program InDesign doesn't support ODT. (BTW, if you have a good open source replacement for InDesign that supports ODT, let me know.)

Dabble (as suggested by SF stories, see reblog) is a writing program. Similar to Scrivener. Has vowed against AI and to resist it. 108 dollars a year for Basic. It is almost twice the price of Scrivener who lets you update for fairly cheap. 29 dollars a month, v. 59 dollars for the whole program (Scrivener) for the same features of Premium. You choose.

yWriter is a free Writing program and like Scrivener, and has vowed against AI Last I looked it had some UX issues, but some people swear by it. The learning curve is higher than Scrivener which is saying something.

Ellipsus is an online writing program and vowed against AI. The main feature I like (which Scrivener doesn't have) is the ability to change spellcheck based on region/language. It is a requested feature of Scrivener, but lower priority. So if you have a Brit, you can get the spelling for the character. They are a British-based company.

Cara.app (The creator of the website sued GenAI there is no chance they'll convert) is an artist website. Cara is trying to institute an auto Glaze/Nightshade into the website if given enough funds. People see it as a soft replacement for deviant art. (which went fully AI) If you believe in human art, please donate if you can. Zhang Jingna, the Creator,is Chinese-Singporean. She lives in Singapore.

Clip Studio Paint added AI, but saw the light and decided to protect artists instead because of protest and removed it. There are tutorials and a good forum if you get super stuck. Based in Japan, so the UI and UX is really clean.

Davinci Resolve Pro is a film editing software that's super good. There is a free version and a paid version. The forums are responsive. The programmers aren't always present. There is a healthy group of tutorials. US company. Clean UX. It does take a little bit of time to remember the shortcuts.

Tahoma2D is anti-AI and open source animation program. Takes a little getting used to, but is good for animations and doesn't crash as often as Animate. Programmers are in the forums and some bugs are fixed within hours. The forums are super responsive and helpful.

Krita open source and free, no AI. I'd rank it secondary to Clip Studio Paint (which is paid) I haven't tried the forums, but it's pretty intuitive and can stand for a lower level replacement for Painter, and do a lot of the basics of Photoshop. It's usually ranked higher than the equally open source Gimp.

Writer P AKA Writer+ (app for when you're on the go) is a simple word processor app for your phone that doesn't use AI. The original programmer stopped updating, so Writer+ person took over and isn't out to make a profit since it's free in the spirit of the original app. It has subfolders you can use. Since it was programmed before GenAI it doesn't have AI. Intuitive, easy to use. Fairly easy to upload the files through three dots->share. The files can save to your card or phone with some settings fussing. Simple word processor.

Inkscape is a free vector program and no AI. It is harder to use than illustrator and has less features. But if you're doing smaller vectors for one-offs with less complexity, it'll do you after some learning curve. Best of the lot. I hate Affinity Designer which is the same thing, only paid. (Neither Affinity program was worth the money paid)

Affinity (Designer, etc) swore to be AI-free and does Vector and Photos. The UX is messy, I dislike the program and regret paying for it. Inkscape and Krita are better UX and do the same thing. The forums aren't as friendly since there has been an onslaught of people seeing it's supposed to be a replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator, but the programmers aren't present. The people on the forums are often on edge about this assertion. And the capabilities of the program don't outshine basically Krita or Inkscape capabilities (both free). What is usually intuitive is not. UK company. If you're going to pay for a program, go for Clip Studio Paint which rivals Corel Painter.

Blender is a 3D art program and does not use GenAI. It can do 2D animation, but Tahoma is easier to use in this regard. It's open source and free. Plus there are plenty of tutorials. The forums can be touch and go sometimes, but there are plenty of sub Blender communities that might be responsive. It can also do animation.

Handmade vowed against AI and promised to never sell itself for stock prices to prevent AI (as a replacement for Etsy.)

Proton (to replace Google Suite) as suggested by SF Stories (see reblog) Vowed against AI. They are missing a spreadsheet, but have online and offline capabilities, plus a built-in VPN.

But you need a pro website...

Look up robots.txt and AI bots: https://www.cyberciti.biz/web-developer/block-openai-bard-bing-ai-crawler-bots-using-robots-txt-file/

Use cloudflare:

Use Nightshade:

https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/whatis.html

which will poison the algorithm

Use Glaze:

Take Away:

The thing is you think you doing it alone will do nothing, but the more AI feeds on itself, AI images, the worse they become, and the less detailed so, denying it the images, adding poison or not being able to read the human text is eventually going to lead to an AI collapse.

And why not help that along?

I don't want to give cancer to poor people [Link] or make the planet burn faster [Link]. So GenAI collapse is everything I dream of. GenAI apocalypse is not.

[emeraldmew]

Tags by @sarifel-corrisafid-ilxhel

#animorphs#david animorphs#I actually think book 20 David had promise#I wanted to write an AU where that got explored more#But I never figured out what to do with him#Or how to get past the fact the fandom genuinely hates him#Not like “Visser Three is the bad guy” hate but genuine hate#The only person hated more than David by Animorphs fans is JK Rowling#But he had moments he could've been a good Animorph

I wonder if the hate he gets (that Visser Three doesn't) is in part because he had promise when he was introduced. Like, he's introduced in a way that a reader could easily project a self-insert story onto. He's relatable. Then books 21 and 22 happen.

He causes more rage because he betrays the reader as much as he does the Animorphs, and reading it probably came at a formative time for readers who were kids at the time.

It's bits like this that show David's arc wasn't inevitable. He makes a lot of choices in these three books, but this is one of them - protecting his snake from a deadly alien battle in his bedroom.

[emeraldmew]

David and Andalite Chronicles Chapman really both just said:

Aliens

???

Profit

[emeraldmew]

Detective Harry is searching for Phasmid in the cane fields with great diligence

[emeraldmew]

When Marco and Ax are dealing with David's dad Marco deflects by pointing out David cut class. And his dad responds like this:

"I came home from work early," David's father said. "Hah! Got him! I'll ground him for a month!"

Yes, this is hilarious because an alien is shapeshifting in his son's bedroom right before his eyes and this is still a functional distraction. But is also shows us that David is not used to having to follow rules even from people he respects. His dad seems to have suspected this behavior already, it's just now that he has proof that there is a chance of consequence. David isn't used to facing consequences because he's able to avoid getting caught.

Being flung into a high-stakes mission immediately with that background was never going to go smoothly.

[emeraldmew]

I'm so sad in such a strange way to hear about the Corporation for Public Broadcasting officially shutting down. It's a weird feeling. Most of it is the intellectual level of "oh this is SO fucking bad and terrifying that we'll no longer have federally supported public information channels anymore, it will ALL be through the private market, not to mention the stark reminder of the US government's continued descent into anti-intellectualism and fascism," all of which makes my stomach sink.

But on a smaller level it is the disappearance of something that was so ubiquitous to American childhood. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of Americans can hear the exact intonation of this phrase in their head: "This program made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by viewers like you. Thank you."

There is a lot more that could be said about the likely repercussions of this. In addition to being sad, I am also exceedingly furious. I wish despair upon all the Republicans who helped kill the CBP just because it took its mission seriously and refused to broadcast overt right-wing propaganda as news.

[emeraldmew]

Lyfrassir Edda is one of the few characters in the mechanisms canon to actually form an opinion on the Mechanisms themselves. Sure Ashes interacted with a bunch of characters as Hades, but those characters didn't form an opinion on Ashes. They formed an opinion on Hades. Hades was integrated into how their world and society operates. Its the same with Brian during High Noon Over Camelot. Brian is just part of their world, in a way that the prison mechs are not during the Bifrost Incident.

Lyfrassir is very aware that the prison mechs are exceptionally weird and annoying, and basically states that to the audience. They get to see them as the weird, slightly voyeuristic freaks they are. Like this is the only album where the mechanisms do not actually get involved with the full plot. In OUATIS Jonny, Nastya, and Aurora are the reason the defense grid in New Constantinople goes down and the final battle can happen. In UDAD Ashes got both Heracles, and Orpheus on the job for Daedalus, helping cause the entire plot for the album. Then HNOC has Brian trying to stop the plot and failing miserably. In TBI Marius, Raphaella, and Ivy are in involved just to fix the Black Box which allows Lyfrassir to see the plot unfold (and then know to try to escape the oncoming apocalypse).

The prison mechs weren't around for the main plot events in TBI at all, they show up to Yggdrasil afterwards during all of the chaos post-Bifrost Incident. So Lyfrassir knows they're space pirates who know how to work tech that no one else does, but more importantly they find the trio incredibly annoying. Lyfrassir Edda got to interact with the mechanisms as they actually were, and made the opinion of "God, I hate them" and I love that for them.