#Illusory Visions;Art

[abyssonance]

Me: Hey brain let’s not make an overcomplicated jackolantern design okay?

My brain:

[heleentje]

So there's a take that crops up every so often in the Breath of the Wild fandom, and it goes something like this:

Windblight Ganon is such a piece of cake! If Revali were as talented as he claimed to be, he wouldn't have been defeated by it, so clearly he's just an arrogant blowhard.

I disagree. Because while Windblight might have been relatively easy for the player to defeat, circumstances conspired against Revali in every possible way.

Strike 1: The Blight Ganons were tailor-made to defeat the Champions

While it's not stated outright, the Blights seem to be custom-made to put their respective opponents at the worst possible disadvantage. So while Link can avoid the whirlwinds on the ground, they would be very disruptive to Revali's Gale (something he's only been able to do consistently for a short while). Arrows, too, can easily get blown off course by the wind even when using a heavy bow (so can a Rito, who is presumably lighter than a Hylian).

If, on top of that, it was raining (implied by memories #16 and #17), then Revali's favoured bomb arrows would have been useless. Not a great recipe for a fight.

Strike 2: Rito don't see well in the dark

Botw is a game that doesn't tell you a lot upfront, but you can find a wealth of information in every little corner. Case in point, in Gerudo Town there's a Rito named Frita. And she has a very interesting tidbit to share if you talk to her at night.

[Image ID: A Rito named Frita in Gerudo Town says: "Us Rito... We haven't got the best night vision, to be honest."]

When the Calamity emerged, an unnatural darkness blanketed the land. A darkness that persists from its appearance all the way through Link and Zelda fleeing and their final stand at Fort Hateno, up until Zelda temporarily sealed the Calamity (memories #15, #16 and #17).

That’s without even mentioning the laser show Windblight Ganon puts on. Ever encountered a car with LED lights on a dark road? Now imagine how Revali felt.

Strike 3: Revali had to fly non-stop for hours to get to Medoh

After sinking some hours into playing botw, you probably get used to warping all across the map via the shrines. Going from Lurelin to Rito Village is a matter of seconds. And if the Sheikah had been able to unlock the Sheikah Slate fully in the past, that would have been a massive boon to the war effort.

Unfortunately, they didn't. Which means that, when Calamity Ganon emerged, all the Champions had to take the long road to their Divine Beasts.

Now what does that mean for Revali? We can hazard a pretty good guess, but we don't have to, because the art book tells us: Revali flew straight from Lanayru East Gate to Rito Village. It's hard to tell exactly how long that would have taken him, but I'm estimating that would be about 8-10 hours flying non-stop.

[Image ID: A map of Hyrule showing the presumed routes the Champions took to get to their Divine Beasts. Revali's is a straight line across Hyrule.]

Which means Revali (like the other Champions) was probably already exhausted by the time he got to Medoh.

Aaaaaand that's three strikes, he's out!

But if that's not enough for you yet, here's one more thing. Admittedly, this is less solidly canon than the previous parts, but it's conjecture that, in my opinion, is backed up by the Champions' Ballad DLC.

Strike 4: Revali lacked his best weapon and may have been injured

The artbook shows us another salient tidbit. Revali could have detoured if he wanted to, but he didn't: he flew in the straightest possible line across Hyrule Field.

Hyrule Field, better known as the center of the chaos at the time.

Can we really expect a Champion, especially a Champion who's so eager to prove himself, to not stop and at least try to help? And while trying to help, what might have happened to him?

When you fight the Blights in the illusory realm, you gain a set amount of equipment, implied to be what the Champions carried with them at the time. And with Revali, something's missing.

[Image ID: The bow inventory during the DLC fight against Windblight Ganon. It includes a Falcon Bow, Duplex Bow and Phrenic Bow.]

Where's the Great Eagle Bow?

Would Rito Champion Revali, greatest archer in known Rito history, really not be carrying his signature bow, when every other Champion carried their favoured weapon?

This, combined with his route straight across Hyrule Field, makes me suspect that he did engage the Guardians, lost his bow, and may even have gotten injured in the process.

So there you have it. Just about everything was against Revali in that fight. And while Link, and by extension the player, may have had an easy time of it, they went into it at full health and with all the advantages of the Sheikah Slate.

Meanwhile, Revali arrived at Vah Medoh after a frantic hours-long flight only to be thrown into a fight he didn't expect against an opponent tailor-made to counter his every move, while he was unable to see properly and lacked his best weapon. And he still managed to put up one hell of a fight.

[gaywizardemporium]

In the Wishverse, the Wishborn setting, wizard magic is categorized by function. There are eight major magical taxa represented by eight major Guilds:

Elementalism: the art of controlling nature itself - air, fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. The Association of Elementalists is really a dozen smaller Guilds in a united front.

Summoning: the art of beckoning spirits to your aid. The Coalition for the Summoning of Otherworldly Entities is similar several schools of magic working together.

Bardic casting: Expressive folk magic unified under the umbrella of Bardic working. The Society for Creative Spellcasting and Magical Self-Expression welcomes anyone whose magical expression is through a creative art.

Artificing: the art of physical spellcraft. The Guild of Artificers and Mystic Weavers makes magical items or embeds magic in physical things.

Necromancy: the art of speaking with the dead and mastery over memory. The Somber Order of Speakers with the Dead are all priests of Finality, the God of Death, and serve them personally.

Illusionism: crafters of beguilement and other spells that baffle the senses. One of the youngest major taxa, has a sudden swell of membership in The Sworn Kinship of the Beguiling Arts when there was a boom of children with an illusory affinity fifty years ago.

Potioning: the smallest of the major Guilds, but a major Guild no less. Potioning is a complex and difficult art, mastered only by the dedicated - but there are quite a few dedicated, as the membership of the Union of Arcane Chemists and Apothecaries attests.

Foresight: Future sight, clairvoyancy, prophesy and other oracular powers , the Seers membership only outranks the Potioners by the slimmest of margins. The Oracular Union of Foreseers and Clairvoyants supports anyone whose vision looks forward in time as well as ahead.

There are forty-eight recognized minor taxa, and countless others unrecognized by the Taxonomic Order. Wizards with uncategorized magic join the Freelancers Guild, if Guild life is for them, or must demonstrate a skill in one of the other taxa, so the wizard may serve them instead.

The Freelancers Guild has the membership to be counted as a major Guild, but has been barred from official entry on account of a philosophical disagreement among the highest wizard council: If the Taxonomic Order permits uncategorized magic, it would then no longer be taxonomic. But, is not the act of categorizing the uncategorized in and of itself taxonomic?

The subject is reopened for debate on the New Year and has since become a part of the festivities for the last fifteen years.

[shakesthewizard]

The Bad Kids as Knights Radiant

A while ago, I wrote this post assigning the main characters from Deltarune orders of Knights Radiant from Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive books. Now I'm gonna do the same with Fantasy High's Bad Kids!

Adaine O'Shaughnessey - "I will Seek Truth." The Order of Truthwatchers.

Do I need to elaborate on this one? The strongly opinionated youngest child of a rich and powerful family who has oracular visions thrust upon them without their asking and has to use their newfound power to save the world despite their pronounced lack of physical ability and the presence of neurological, emotional, and physical disabilities? Is anybody gonna fight me on this?

In all seriousness though - Adaine is defined by her desire to uncover lies and use the truth to set things right, no matter the cost. She so strongly values telling people what they need to hear, instead of what will make them feel better, and alongside Riz she's half of the team's mystery-solving power.

As a Truthwatcher, Adaine commands the surges of Progression and Illumination, and while powers-wise those feel a bit more geared towards Fig's spell list, Adaine is a master of handling the battlefield without drawing attention to herself, and as a Diviner she fills a much stronger support role than other Wizard subclasses.

Boggy the Froggy is Adaine's Lightspren.

Fabian Seacaster - "I will Reach my Potential." The Order of Elsecallers.

The Elsecallers are the consumate badasses of the Knights Radiant, and probably the most concerned with appearances, aside from the Lightweavers (who we'll get to, don't you worry). Fabian himself has huge potential for strength, grace, social aptitude, and academic success, that we see him fulfill over the course of the show. He's an excellent fighter who isn't afraid to utilize a nontraditional ability or tool in unique ways to give himself an upper hand. It reminds me a lot of Jasnah soulcasting on the battelfield.

As an Elsecaller, Fabian commands the surges of Transformation and Transportation. I think Transformation is the most apt thematically, as we see during his season 2 arc, learning to live as himself without abandoning his father's legacy. Although Transportation is also appropriate, given both that he's a very mobile combatant, and that he was the first among his party to gain access to a vehicle - one which he uses on the battlefield constantly.

I would say that the Hangman is his Inkspren, but I really think if he's anything he's a Dustspren.

Gorgug Thistlespring - "I will Seek Self-Mastery." The Order of Dustbringers.

While his personality doesn't match what we know of the Dustbringers in the series so far, Gorgug is otherwise an extremely good fit for this order. In season one, his arc centers on accepting his anger as a natural part of himself, and learning how to point it in useful and helpful directions, as well as reconnecting with his orcish heritage.

In seasons two and three, Gorgug dives into artificing; learning how to take things apart and put them back together, and pioneering ways to combine his skill with technology and his prodigious destructive power.

As a Dustbringer, Gorgug commands the surges of Division and Abrasion. These feel very appropriate for our curious barbarian, and I honestly don't feel like there's a lot I could say that wouldn't be plainly obvious. The kid rips stuff apart, what can I say?

Fig Faeth - "I will Speak My Truth." The Order of Lightweavers.

Performance. Art. Identity. Lies. Fig feels almost like an embodiment of this order. If you know anything about Lightweavers, I don't even know what to say that isn't already apparent. Fig disguises herself, invents new identities, lies constantly, and is the party's designated spy. She expresses these illusory powers by way of her artistic expression, and has a bad habit of running from her problems using those same powers. But of course, when the time comes, she shows an unmatched prowess for using those powers to completely dismantle the lies and schemes of ne'er do wells.

As a Lightweaver, Fig commands the surges of Illumination and Transportation. She uh. Makes illusions and turns into other people. Look, I don't know what else to say. She's a perfect fit.

Kristen Applebees - "I will Unite Instead of Divide." The Order of Bondsmiths.

Holy shit. This is why I wanted to make this post. Kristen, who with force of will and clarity of purpose brings a god back from the dead and forges a bond with her. Kristen, the most powerful Cleric of any god for the last century, who even at her most ignorant is the one to start treating the bad kids as a team before anyone else. Kristen, whose source of power is immense and strange, and who she conflicts with regularly, even as they share a purpose.

As a Bondsmith, Kristen commands the surges of Tension and Adhesion. Again, these are perfect for her. Kristen as a character feels at times to be made of tension; pulling at a deep and very serious love of ritual and spirituality that is at odds with her seeming inability to take things seriously the more dire they get. The girl who can create a new god, who can bring one back from nothingness, and who flunks out of her Cleric class the moment her teacher isn't 100% in her corner. Kristen's arcs also tend to be pretty central to the larger plots, what with the Harvestmen, The Nightmare King, and now Cassandra's spouse seeming to have a pretty pivotal role in whatever the Rat Grinders are up to. In short; Kristen Adheres the bad kids together.

Kristen's Bondsmith-spren is, obviously, Cassandra.

Riz Gukgak - "I will Protect." The Order of Windrunners.

I'm gonna be real with you, folks, I have never encountered a more Windrunner-ass motherfucker in my life. "I gotta do the right thing no matter what and be emo about it the whole time. What do you mean I have friends who love and support me?" Look me in the eyes and tell me if Riz got assigned to Bridge Four he wouldn't immediately dedicate himself to saving his whole crew and freeing them from slavery. You know I'm right.

As a Windrunner, Riz commands the surges of Adhesion and Gravitation. These aren't great fits for his real, very stealthy skillset - but if we're being honest Gravitation is the least thematically interesting surges anyway, and Adhesion is just the "cool nice guy" surge, which Riz already is.

lmk if this is the kind of content you're frothing at the mouth for and I can do more characters (I'm on my hands and knees give me characters to do this with it's so fun for me)

[the-whumpening]

Ash's Rescue [The Caged Tiger | Bonus Chapter]

Masterpost

CW: whump art, references to past whump, references to scars, mild mention of self harm, nudity in art (all the important stuff isn't visible)

Everything is below the cut!

(art by me!)

[Image ID: A drawing of a white man covered in tiger stripes and scars. He is fearfully huddled against a wall in a grungy horse stall-like room as a light shines on him from offscreen. He holds up his left hand to block the light from his eyes. He is nude except for a metal collar around his neck. /End ID]

-

Clamoring footsteps awaken Ash from his shallow sleep. He curls closer into the corner, wrapping the thin woolen blanket around himself and bracing for whatever horror Ozmund has conjured up. The deadbolt thunks out of place, and a tiny sliver of light creeps in through the cracked door.

As the light falls over him, he squeezes his eyes shut tighter. Just go away. Let me rest, he silently pleads. The footsteps approach his dismal cage. Amid the shuffling, the intruders begin to speak.

“Ash?”

No. It’s not real. Block it out.

He knows the voice. He knows the footsteps. He knows it simply can’t be possible.

“Ash!” The voice cracks. “It is—it’s him!”

I’m not falling for it. Not again. He jams his palms against his ears, fighting to keep his composure.

The other voices chime in as they work to unlock his cell door. He knows these, too; two of the same voices he’s heard screaming in his nightmares.

Light fully streams into his cell now, and he instinctively looks toward it. Squinting against the bright torches—brighter than he’s seen in days—his heart sinks into his stomach. He scuttles backwards against the wall, blocking the light with his hand.

No! Nonononononono . . .

“It’s okay,” Evius reassures him. Well, an illusion of Evius, at least. He seems younger than Ash remembered him, but every version Ozmund has conjured so far has been a little off. “It’s just us. Remember? Your friends. Evius. Mouse. Krumgus.”

Ash avoids “Evius’” eyes, his blurry vision settling on the other two. Mouse, a bit more skeletal than he remembered. Krumgus, nearly the same, but with a strange mark in his beard. It’s not the first time he’s imagined his own rescue, but he pleads it’s the last.

He slowly shifts his weight, kneeling on his hands and knees to protect his core, though he’s still held in place by the heavy collar and chain. It’ll go away soon . . . It has to. But as he tenses his muscles and ducks his head, he feels a weight fall from his neck, a metallic clang ringing against the stone floor. This has to be some kind of trick!

“Evius” kneels down in front of him; Ash is surprised to feel warmth from his illusory body. Although Ozmund’s illusions usually feel solid and realistic, they’re never warm like a living body. Did he force Owen to transform into Evius? None of the rings on Evius’ fingers look like the disguise ring he’d used before, but there could be other ways. A potion, a spell, disguising the ring itself maybe? His thoughts tumble over one another as his eyes flicker between the collar and the form before him.

“You’re free, Ash,” the Evius illusion says. “We’re gonna take you home.” He reaches out a hand to Ash’s face, and Ash pulls back, his eyes squeezed tightly against the prickling in his tear ducts. Evius’ hand halts at his neck. Ash holds his breath for a moment, paralyzed. “What did he do to you . . . ?”

His fingers barely brush against the scars encircling Ash’s neck, the muscles beneath quaking with fear.

Don’t . . . Don’t do this to me . . . Even so, Ash’s heart can’t help but ache at the touch. It’s been so long since he’s had such a gentle hand on his skin, so warm, so familiar—if he didn’t know better, he’d swear Evius had truly come to save him.

“Is he okay?” The false Mouse asks. She tiptoes closer to him, her pink curls bouncing the way they always have. But before she can reach him, Evius holds out his arm and blocks her path.

“Hang on, Mouse. Give him some space.” Evius, too, backs up from Ash, retreating past the threshold of the cell. Without them so close, Ash feels his breath return, albeit shaky and staggered. He clings to his thin blanket, cautiously crawling forward to inspect the illusions as they whisper amongst themselves.

His nose twitches, and he focuses on the scents emanating from their direction. Bergamot, metal, beer . . . It’s certainly closer than Ozmund has ever gotten to their distinctive smells. But it lacks the ozone-like burn in Ash’s nose typical of his illusion spells; is this perhaps some other kind of magic?

Within each body, he can hear a strong heartbeat. He can hear their shoes creak as they shift their weight, the rustle of their clothes and equipment, the brush of Evius’ tail against the stone floor. The detail is astonishing.

As he focuses on the sounds and smells, his head tucked low and staring at the ground, something slides into his field of vision.

“They might not fit,” Evius says, “but we’ll get yours back soon. I promise.”

Ash timidly places a hand on the pile of cloth. Soft. Warm. Real. He paws through the stack: a loose linen shirt, a pair of soft trousers, even socks. All in varying sizes, none he immediately recognizes. If they weren’t his, and they weren’t from his memory . . . Could they truly be the real thing?

He slips his hand through the sleeve of the shirt. It clings to his skin exactly as it should. As he carefully pulls it over his head, he takes in the scent of the cloth. A basic, bland soap and the faint leather of a traveling bag. Nothing like the heavily fragrant soap of the coarse clothes he'd been lent as Ozmund’s prisoner. Although it's a bit tight in the shoulders, the light fabric feels marvelous on his skin. The other clothes are much the same: clean-smelling and snug, but so much nicer than the little comfort he's had in what seems like months.

As he finally stands to his full height—or as much as he is able to from the endless days spent crouched—he wracks his brain for any explanation. He's never seen an illusion so realistic, able to carry real items and mimic a warm, breathing body. Unless he'd been drugged to imagine all of these things . . . There's simply no way this is just an illusion.

He grasps his own wrists. Still scarred, still tender. With one sharpened claw, he drags a painful line down his arm. This can't be a dream, right?

"Come on, Ash," Mouse encourages him with a beckoning arm. "You can do it."

Evius takes the smallest step forward, his hand outstretched. "Everything will be okay, love. Just take my hand."

Am I really going to trust this? Ash can't help but wonder. After all, the last time he fell for one of these tricks, it broke him completely. His soul shattered, and it still has yet to fully heal. But then . . . That's Evius, right in front of him. So close he can touch him. Does it matter if he's real or not? Does it matter if he's broken again and again, if he can just have one moment pretending everything is okay?

Shaking all the way to his core, Ash crosses the threshold and places his trembling hand in Evius'.

Immediately, a spark shoots from Evius' fingertips to his own. His heart pounds wildly in his chest, as if to leap out and join its other half. He grips tighter, his breath caught in his throat.

"It's . . . It's you," he whispers hoarsely. "It's really you!"

"Of course, Ash." Evius reaches to embrace him, and Ash collapses into his arms. "Let's get you home."

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Laughing Shadow Study (Pathfinder Second Edition Magus Hybrid Study)

(art by DjWelch on DeviantArt)

The hybrid studies of the Second Edition Magus contain references not just to the archetypes of the First Edition version of the class, but also to many classic ways to build the class as well. Last time we did one of these, it was the Inexorable Iron study, which revolved around hitting foes really hard with powerful buffed weapons. Today, however, we’ll be looking at a more agile and subtle choice.

The study of the Laughing Shadow is all about using magic to improve mobility and elusiveness, truly emulating it’s name by making the magus hard to hit and pin down, slipping away like a faint illusion only to return with lethal precision moments later. They always have a trick, and they’re always one step ahead.

To accomplish this, the study pays homage to the dimensional agility line of feats, which are a classic pick for agile magi in 1E. While the second edition version doesn’t quite let you jump around the battlefield striking foes across the battlefield, it does let them vanish in and out of combat with teleportation magic.

There’s even a little bit of the rogue in this study as well as they favor deception and striking from unexpected angles.

As you might imagine, these warrior-mages revel in the combat superiority that their magic gives them, and as we’ll soon see, they use that edge to full effect.

The arcane cascade of this path has two effects, the first bolstering the movement speed of the user, while the second enhances their precision and ability to target the vulnerable points of unaware foes, bolstering their damage output.

Meanwhile, their conflux spell gives them a short-range teleport that they can attack out of, striking from all sorts of angles.

The spells associated with the study include creating illusory doubles, warping perception to make others take the fall for their attacks (or alternatively, a very brief time stop), and of course, a short-range dimensional hop.

Of course, there are feats directly associated with this study as well. With a Distracting Spellstrike, they can use flashes and sparks of illusionary magic to cloud a foe’s vision before striking. With Dimensional Disappearance, they can turn invisible as they exit their dimensional assault, either to catch foes off guard with their attack or to slip away unnoticed.

Other feats they might find useful include Cantrip Expansion, Expansive Spellstrike, Force Fang, Spell Parry, Spirit Sheath, Steady Spellcasting, Attack of Opportunity, Cascade Countermeasure, Capture Magic, Runic Impression, Spell Swipe, Standby Spell, Cascading Ray, Rapid Recharge, Conflux Focus, Arcane Shroud, Hasted Assault, Preternatural Parry, Supreme Spellstrike, or Whirlwind Spell. Naturally, your build will likely vary.

This study is begging for a combination of defensive buffs, battlefield control, and lovely damage-dealing spells both for area effects and intimate single-target damage. Also consider illusion and stealth-buffing spells as well. Regardless, your battle strategy will likely revolve around vanishing and reappearing to strike foes from multiple angles, as well as debuffing foes to leave them open to your attacks as well.

With their focus on magic that makes them really annoying to pin down, it’s super tempting to play these characters as being truly insufferable to their foes (and potentially their allies), and that’s fine as long as you’re not being insufferable to the players themselves, but also consider that they may instead be more the “shadowy expert” sort that are totally in the zone and focused while fighting.

The party is being hunted, an assassin sent by one of their enemies in the form of a mistsoul undine sprite. Despite their unassuming form, they are an elusive killer that uses their mist and cold spells to open up their prey to their deadly strikes. Their only hope it to lure them into an ambush.

Though he has lost nearly all memory of those skills, the hunter wight known as Shadowfang was once a legendary magus who could disappear into shadow and strike from anywhere. Now as an undead, the only echo of his former skill lies in his short-range teleportation.

After their performance in a local fighting tournament, a young magus has decided to become the party’s rival, though his definition borders on nemesis, so eager to challenge and vex them that he has joined up with their other enemies repeatedly, always vanishing when things go south.

[glasshalftrue]

as both an artist and a programmer (though not one working in machine learning so i won't claim anything close to expertise), the anti-ai takes i see from artists are really frustrating to me. the two most common criticisms i see about it are that it's 1. stealing 2. not art regarding the first point, it's clear that most artists don't understand the general technology behind it at all. they constantly claim that it does stuff like just collage different parts of images together, when that's very much not what it's doing! the process that neural nets use is incredibly complex and it's much more about pattern matching than storing and replicating exact sets of pixels. i definitely don't like it when ai artists specifically target an artist who voices their discomfort with having their art being used that way, if only because it's simply mean and rude, but unfortunately, i can't say that i'd consider it plagiarism. and for the people who want stronger copyright laws to protect artists' rights: believe me, it will not at all be helpful to "the little guy" like you think it will. regarding the second point, it seems like there's a couple things going on. one part of the critique seems to come from the quality of the art itself, which is an obviously losing battle. remember a year ago, when people were making fun of how bad ai was at generating hands? they seem to have pretty much solved that now, and whatever little nitpick you might be able to point out next, it's almost certain they'll eventually figure out that one too. i see a lot of tips floating around about how to tell if a piece of art is ai-generated, and while the tips usually do work well, the fact that the people need to use these increasingly specialized perceptive skills makes it pretty clear that it's becoming more and more indistinguishable. i've seen plenty of cases at this point of real artists having their work being accused of being ai-generated, which to me seems like the logical conclusion of people's assumptions that they can always tell when something is real or not, and i think it's only going to get worse and worse. the other part of the critique is about the artist's intent, an appeal to some illusory idea of "the soul", which seem like transparently bad arguments to me, and are clearly motivated from an emotional-driven place. because it seems so obvious to me that prompters do, in fact, have an intent when they're generating ai art, some sort of vision of what they want to create. it doesn't matter that their idea is vaguely defined rather than fully-formed in their head; plenty of existing art forms involve a creation process that is similarly stochastic, from Jackson Pollock-style drip paintings to experimental generative digital music. hell, even when i draw i often don't know exactly what i want to the end product to look like and figure it out as i go along! now, the incredibly low-barrier to entry and the general motivations and sensibilities of a lot of typical ai art enthusiasts mean that, in practice, a lot of (maybe most) ai art is indeed dumb garbage. but just like how the reality that most mainstream superhero movies these days are boring and soulless doesn't mean that the superhero genre is inherently without merit, the existence of bad ai art isn't good evidence of the medium itself being creatively bankrupt.

ultimately, i do agree and sympathize with a lot of artists' concerns and criticisms about ai art and what its possible effects on the world will be. like i said, in practice a lot of ai art really is soulless trash, but the ease of creation means that i can very easily see a world where most of the art we see today in our everyday lives is replaced with bland, insipid ai generated shit that is just good enough for the general public, and i really don't want to live in that world. and for that same reason, it'll also likely have a very bad impact on the art industry and people's abilities to do art as a career, and while the disruption of industries due to technological innovation is a tale as old as time, the potentially rapid pace of this disruption will certainly lead to a lot of suffering along the way. i just wish that artists had a better idea of what they're actually fighting against.

[cosmicmote]

Rainy Day Sentience #'s 68 and 71

somewhere along the way Orwell wrote that all art is propaganda. he also wrote on auto-hypnosis, how people live their lives in a state and are brought to love it, big brother at least.

I've been pondering again lately on the passage from the larger sutra and how the human realm doesn't seem all that higher than the animal and lower realms, hells included. not that there is any higher or lower, better or worse, realistically, to be divided into here. this gets easier to see once one reaches a shore. on that note, one is an abominable and illusory concept as well, it would be better deprecated than clung to. but anyways, as it says, all is bent on doing evil and we as a species, in taken human forms get all the violence with a tall abundance of hubris added in, often at godly(or goddessly) levels. the middle path, it is called. the hubris is part of what makes for a bigger drop into hell realms once all is done, it's not just the pleasures and seekings with ostensibly fewer sufferings. fear gets to be its own form of glamor, also. we could say it all never ends, even when it's broken down. as an old soul who's ready to depart, lessons learned and unlearned, nembutsu has its appeals -- both as a get out of jail free card and an acknowledgement that we can do "better": but only with other power and conducive lands elsewhere, whatever the pre-arranged seating. it is often stated that love is all we have and need, but it gets so strangely defined -- fathoming itself into stupidity and back, without so much as an effort. hold on. there is no life here without conflict, or friction more precisely, that's part of how samsara works too. of course enlightenment is rare, countless lifetimes spent in what amount to garbled dream states. some people know they play their parts, without knowing. when vision is 360, their is no hindsight, is there.

[35] The Buddha said, "The first evil is this. Devas, humans and lesser beings, including even those that crawl, are bent on doing evil. There is no being that is not. The strong subdue the weak; all inflict serious injuries and kill each other, all devour their prey. Not knowing how to do good, they commit evil and do outrageous and unruly deeds. Later, they receive retribution, [276a] it is natural that they should be destined to evil realms. Demigods keep records of offenders' acts and make sure that they are punished. That is why some are poor and destitute, corrupt, beggarly, lonely, deaf, dumb, blind, stupid, wicked, physically handicapped, deranged, or subnormal. But others are honorable, noble, wealthy, intelligent, or clever. This is the result of good and meritorious acts of benevolence and the performance of their duties to their parents in past lives. ~ Larger Sutra: https://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/larger.html - Hisao Inagaki translation

the earth as a planet has its own karma it goes through as well, and cycles, and kali yuga has its own seasonal weathers. then there's the solar system too; so on and so forth it goes, cascading. in some ways things are looking up from here, but it's only because I know there are other shoes about to drop, if not this year then next. it's a repeating world war on the surface, but underneath and above it's a coming of age where you won't let go of the old. it won't lead to good times for many ahead, but I'm not heavily invested or even bought into it to start with, so.. and I wish we could speak more concisely but that's not how this all works here either, there are forces who make sure of that.

many words and sounds are empty shells and others are fertile seeds, growing various things - we can see which is which, more often than not. empty sea shells and the spirals that lead to them are their own little worlds, aren't they? Ezra Pound wrote of milkweed, the sustenance as to enter arcanum, and he wasn't wrong there either.

the painting above was created using Black Ink, G'mic, and Corel Painter, with additional photograph layered in. where do red bull and monster drinks fit? they don't, really.

graphic and words ©spacetree 2024

[loquaciousstrigidae]

No-Face

Spirited Away

Arguably one of the most iconic characters from the movie Spirited Away is the monstrous spirit, No Face, who enters the bathhouse one night after Chihiro opens the door for him. That very night he is seen slinking around the bathhouse where he learns how coveted money is among the workers. He lures a spirit using some illusory gold and devours him, gaining his voice! Come the next day, he astounds the bathhouse workers with his gold aplenty, taking expeditious control over the entire establishment. The frenzy that the workers devolve into encapsulates the tunnel vision of capitalist greed that can corrupt the workplace. The workers very literally bow down to “the rich man,” and serve him whatever it might take to earn more of his seemingly ceaseless mounds of riches.  

Notably, the gold itself is all but an illusion, turning to dirt before Yubaba’s eyes. This scene fortifies that things only have value when society endows them with it—even in the spirit world, money is only a construct of society.  

I have always loved this movie and will continue to do so. Ghibli films never fail to bring me to a state of awe—the music, the animation, the colors, and the story—all of it just brings me this beautiful joy. I always wonder where the ideas for these films sprout from. Spirited Away is such a unique piece of art with such whimsical imagery that it’s hard to imagine how anyone could have brought it to life—but it is so very alive and breathing. Oh goodness, what would I give to see that bathhouse in real life! 

I also wanted to mention a little rabbit hole that I went down from this particular rewatch... Apparently, in Japan, there is a common Mandela effect of a ‘phantom ending’ that occurs after Chihiro and her parents leave in their car. Most people who claim to remember this ending seem to recall Chihiro arriving at her new house and exploring for a while. She wanders to her backyard and sees a river with a bridge that extends across it. When she crosses the bridge to view the river she sees an image of Haku across the way looking at her from within the trees. The movie turns to black after that.

It’s absurd to me how many people swear this ending to be real! I certainly don’t remember anything like that, but some claim it to be a deleted scene. Upon searching the internet, I was unable to find anything that proved this to be true. Just some interesting fandom material for you then! Hahah. 

I adore this movie—it gets a 9/10. 

[windydrawallday]

Where do you find inspiration and motivation to make art? Is there a process to the whole mental prep for creating?

(Love your art so I thought I would ask :D)

You want me to make a TED Talk about art? Because that is what this will be coff

Inspiration comes from everywhere for me! I think it helps to have not only an open mind but also the spirit of an infant: get awestruck by what nature, science, history, culture, etc. offers. Even between my everyday activities, I find myself asking about how it felt for the first human to discover they could cook their food, or experimenting with so many shapes for pasta to get sauce stuck to it! I'm that silly.

Because most if not all things were already thought of if not invented by someone: we have so much heritage. We are blessed to have access to all this information and tools. Don't feel afraid to reference them! To dig critically into the work of someone else you feel it vibes with you and make it yours, too. Is healthy. Is good!

That ties in with one of the processes that helps me yank the abstract clay from my head to the canvas: making MOOD BOARDS!* I use them mostly to nail the visual style I want for illustrations (almost all my zine pics started with a mood board):

I use a similar method but call them MUSE BOARDS when working with character's archetypes, mannerisms, behaviors, etc I want to portray both accurately and with personal twists:

*Some prefer to call them aesthetic boards because of how the internet bastardized the use of the word for gif sets but ask a graphic or fashion designer, architect, etc; the term for a collage of visual references that are usually static IS mood board.

Tho, lately, during these weeks dealing with the burnout and gnawing art block, another thing became my motivation to keep doing art... and I'll put it under the cut because it can be quite dark for some (CW mention of death/mortality themes):

Probably I'll sound cynical and/or edgy for saying this but it's the truth:

One of these days, I could die (not by my own hand but this world is bigger and powerful than me, I can't control everything in it) and all those ideas and visions I never put on paper, will die with me.

And so, when I'm struggling with a part of the process during a piece and find myself wanting to quit, I say: If I give up now, I'm letting the idea die before I step into the graveyard.

When I'm killing my ideas, I'm killing myself, slowly. And I don't want that.

I go back to the canvas and try, TRY and T R Y. Until the idea comes out.

Probably incomplete. For sure imperfect. Still a work in progress.

But out of my mortal brain.

Flesh of paper, blood of ink. Colors of pixels, layers upon layer of illusory ligh and shadows.

Mine and at the same time, for the world. It's free now to be welcomed by other minds, to be wanted and played by other hearts.

It's immortal, it can inspire people beyond my reach. Even after I'm not here in constant presence.

Isn't that enough motivation?

I got overboard with this but I hope it doesn't sound too overdramatic orz I needed this out of my chest too haha

THANK YOU for your interest! Is always welcomed ✨✨✨✨✨

[fruityyamenrunner]

that last post reminds me that I don't think enough attention is given to the phenomenon of endogenous little dark age edits (ELDAE), a spontaneous vision of flickering, unrelated images, each filled with (probably illusory) detail that holds the attention

the locus classicus for eldae, in the exoteric literature anyway, is A Scanner Darkly

The scramble suit was an invention of the Bell Laboratories, conjured up by accident by an employee named S. A. Powers. He had, a few years ago, been experimenting with disinhibiting substances affecting neural tissue, and one night, having administered to himself an IV injection considered safe and mildly euphoric, had experienced a disastrous drop in the GABA fluid of his brain. Subjectively, he had then witnessed lurid phosphene activity projected on the far wall of his bedroom, a frantically progressing montage of what, at the time, he imagined to be modern-day abstract paintings.

      For about six hours, entranced, S. A. Powers had watched thousands of Picasso paintings replace one another at flashcut speed, and then he had been treated to Paul Klees, more than the painter had painted during his entire lifetime. S. A. Powers, now viewing Modigliani paintings replace themselves at furious velocity, had conjectured (one needs a theory for everything) that the Rosicrucians were telepathically beaming pictures at him, probably boosted by microrelay systems of an advanced order; but then, when Kandinsky paintings began to harass him, he recalled that the main art museum at Leningrad specialized in just such nonobjective moderns, and decided that the Soviets were attempting telepathically to contact him.

      In the morning he remembered that a drastic drop in the GABA fluid of the brain normally produced such phosphene activity; nobody was trying telepathically, with or without microwave boosting, to contact him. But it did give him the idea for the scramble suit.

i have experienced eldae myself a few times, usually hypnagogic, sometimes more abstract, sometimes more concrete (although it's part of the quality of the vision that you can't really tell), only lasting a few minutes, and not having the 'projected' open eye quality of Dick's vision. et contra Dick hypotheses non fingebam.

i think i vaguely recall some references to it in the esoteric literature, coded as the "storehouse of images" in yes🟣d or something, but nothing stands out.

what's remarkable to me is that it is exactly like other perihypnotic imagery i have experienced, and like other yesodic imagery expressed artistically by other people, presumably from eldae of their own, in that it is captured almost perfectly by early 2020s deep learning RRNs. i have seen montages produced by rrns, directed to interpret random vectors in latent space, with the exact sensibility of eldae, and of course the usual kind of ldae is drawing on that "schizo" sensibility too.

it must mean something significant that the faculty of the imagination is capable of carrying out, and has an (inducible? I don't really believe Dick's biochemobabble) tendency to fall into carrying out a similar random search of latent visual space.

[comparativetarot]

10 of Poetry. Art by Ed Buryn, from The William Blake Tarot of the Creative Imagination.

Prophecy This image illustrates Young's lines: Orb above orb ascending without End! Circle in circle, without end, inclos'd ...At once it quite ingulphs all human thought; 'Tis comprehension's absolute defeat. Likened to Ezekiel's prophetic biblical vision (see X—Whirlwind), these heavenly eye-studded gyres signify not just God's glory but everything that is beyond man's understanding. In response, man can only kneel and humbly acknowledge the divine workings of the universe. The angels stand behind two gyres forming the sign of infinity, and represent the four Zoas; in viewing them we see ourselves as a portion of the divine plan. Note that the nearest orb has parallel arcs that pass through the body of the kneeling worshipper. The orb with eyes signifies that man is part of the divine plan, even though he fails to comprehend his inclusion in the circuit of higher consciousness. The black orb without eyes means he is still impaled on Blake's "circle of destiny," the materialist round of cause and effect. Which orb he chooses is determined by his prophetic vision. This card is a vision of spiritual possibility, foreseeing a time when mankind rises to its full spiritual stature. In the meanwhile, everyman's task and the poet's responsibility is that of Prophecy, which means to speak the eternal truths — past, present, and future. This means 'telling it like it is' — not from the fallen and illusory perspectives of history, science, medicine, or religion, but according to the only eternal realities, which are those of imagination and the soul. In the window quotation, Blake prophesies that spiritual awareness will make the materialist desert of man's mind into an eternal garden of delights. Although he speaks of "futurity," in Blake's cosmology there is only the eternal now. The future is now, and this card depicts spiritual awareness in this present moment. There is an element of humility or penance in this card. Spiritual awareness and prophetic statements can be easily misunderstood, not only by the people around you, but by yourself as well. The true nature of things is ultimately incomprehensible, so humility and awe serve better than egoistic pretenses to knowledge and understanding. Speak the truth as you see it, but always remember that your truth can never be the only or complete truth. In the creative process, this reminds us to worship and humbly commune with the divine powers of the universe, in order to actively participate in the prophecy, which is the awakened consciousness of the greater organism we call Gaia. KEYWORDS: AWARENESS OF SPIRITUAL REALITY • HUMILITY IN THE FACE OF INFINITY • SPEAKING THE TRUTH AS YOU SEE IT • CHANNELING • BOWING TO THE WILL OF THE [the what?] • ACCEPTANCE OF YOUR LOT •

[pissmd]

literally how in the world is your art that good it literally makes my brain buffer!!

got any tips?

thank you so much mac! honestly a huge range of tips i could cover haha but i’ll see if i can give you some of my favourite tips that were the catalyst for my own improvement!

one of the biggest steps i made with painting realistically is after discovering a technique used to blend colours using gaussian blur. i dont use it as often but its still extremely useful for achieving a fast dreamy blended colour. but first i’ll explain how i use it. i’ll have my layer with my painting of say, my subjects face, duplicate the layer, set the upper layer to a lower percentage of opacity (around 50% at first but i often find that turns out too low of a %) and then i’ll go to the lower layer and add the filter gaussian blur and play around with the area to blur (often end up settling around the 20.00s) and after ive readjusted the upper layers opacity to maintain the structure of the painting the result ends up extremely dynamic with a nice blended look to it.

this was helpful for me when i started using a textured brush for quickly laying down colours without having to overly fuss about blending. because before using the textured brush i use now i used to use a soft brush to carefully blend while laying down colours and it was an Extremely slow and tedious way to paint. (oh and btw using my textured brush which is called ‘analog anabelle’ its a clip studio paint brush, adds a nice texture to just about everything, looks great for skin and for clothing, but has mixed effects for hair admittedly. i use a different textured brush i downloaded from the site called SU-Cream Pencil for fine details of hair).

it’s hard to explain in a way that doesnt reduce gaussian blur to a shortcut and a trick because the result of using the gaussian blur for the first time flicked a switch in my understanding of painting as well as speeding up my process an extreme amount. and now i dont rely on it to blend my colours anymore because its trained my eye and i can achieve a nicer blend by my own hand. i did use it recently on my house art as a finishing effect to his jacket though! a before and after image:

and it also helps for making lighting more dreamy, it came in handy for edges of wilsons face, making the rim lighting seem to bleed into the pinks of his face:

part of why this trained my eye was it helped me embrace trusting the process as well as using colours i deemed “ugly”, really it was about the idea of colours being contextual which ive known about for years but had been rejecting and winding up with paintings flooded with too many reds and pinks.

(picture of a page of hans p bacher & sanatan suryavanshis vision: color and composition for film)

the thing about thinking of colours contextually too is that it gave me a better understanding of achieving realistic effects with painting those trickier areas like eyes, which are a lot of subtle shifts in colour but sans eye makeup and/or deep wrinkles there arent really any hard lines. eyes and clothes wrinkles are all about the illusion of hard lines. (i only started really improving my art when i phased out line art which started with phasing out lines in clothes because the hard lines of the line art were competing with my subtly painted illusory hard lines) heres an example of when i was first phasing out of lines vs where i think my progress in understanding has taken effect in subtly painting illusory hard lines in clothing is most clear:

see how despite the fact i was still using line art in the left image the inside of the clothing has hardly any inner lines defining folds. but in the right image i have no line art at all and yet the folds look more structured and solid.

one more thing that was an important discovery to me is something i call overpainting. this may or may not help everyone but i keep different parts of my painting on separate layers, like a shirt layer, body layer, hair layer etc etc. and i used to have difficulties with the edges where the layers separated bc id be left with a lot of ugly sharp transitions between the body and the shirt.

an example:

but what helped me was creating a folder above all my layers and painting on an unlocked transparent pixel layer over the top and softening the transition between those layers. it also helps with making my subjects edges blend into the background heres what my edgar art looks like with and without the overpainting:

you can see the edge of his left sleeve is almost completely blurred into the colour of the stone bench, and you can see how i use the overpainting to blend hair into the background

these are all of my most recent discoveries that have helped me sorry if theyre of no use but i apply all of these in all my art to gain a more realistic effect! and if you have any further questions or need for clarification feel free to ask!

[arts-dance]

What do you see? How optical illusions work - examples including ‘running man’ and ‘afterimage’

This optical illusion has gone viral and has been playing tricks on people’s minds

The image shows the silhouette of a man who appears to be running, but is he? Some people look at this image and see him moving, and some do not.

Optical Illusions

What do you see? How optical illusions work - examples including ‘running man’ and ‘afterimage’ This optical illusion has gone viral and has been playing tricks on people’s minds The image shows the silhouette of a man who appears to be running, but is he? Some people look at this image and see him moving, and some do not.

Here is everything you need to know about the latest in a long series of optical illusions that play tricks with our mind. What is happening in the running man optical illusion?

The image shows the silhouette of a man behind some black bars. As the bars move, it looks like the man is running - but he is not. The black bars in the image are moving from left to right, creating the effect of a running man, but as the bars begin to disappear - the ‘running’ stops. When you reach the end of the animation, it is clear that the motion you thought you could see was all just a trick of the eyes and mind. This type of illusion works by presenting a series of static images one after the other in quick succession, making the brain think that the image is actually moving. This is known as the ‘persistence of vision’.

Afterimage optical illusion Another mind-boggling illusion is the colourful, or black and white, parrot. If you stare into the eye of the colourful parrot for 15 seconds, when the image turns black and white, you may still see some colour. Your eyes make it appear as though the blue parts of the image are pink, and the pink parts of the image are blue. Illusory motion

Another tricky illusion is the turning circles with an interesting pink, blue, black and yellow design.

If you stare at the image for a few seconds, circles within look like they are slowly turning.

However, this is a mind game called illusory motion.

Some scientists believe that the objects appear to be moving due to involuntary eye movements

Other scientists suggested that the changes in neurons, which give the illusion of movement, can confuse the motion detectors in your visual cortex.

However, there is no correct answer.

What is an optical illusion? Optical illusions can be seen within art, images, animations or pictures. Optical illusions occur when our eyes send information to our brains that gets mixed up, causing us to think we see something that does not match reality. These optical illusions are designed to trick you into seeing colour when there isn’t any, motion when things are still, and items disappearing from right in front of you. There are two main types of afterimage: positive and negative. In a positive afterimage, you are able to see the image in its original colours (even after the image colours have changed) because some cells on the retina continue to send signals to the brain.

Using the parrot as an example - in a negative afterimage, the colour you see may be inverted or reversed from the original picture.

[mild-secret-au]

°☆{༺ʏᴀꜱᴜʜɪʀᴏ༻}☆°

His Voice by Hou Yi

Name: Yasuhiro Hiraoka/Tadao

First Name Meaning: Calm and Leisurely. Most respectful. Peace And Honesty All Around. abundant honesty; widespread peace. Abundant tranquility.

Last Name Meaning: Peaceful hill/Loyal, complacent; satisfied.

Nicknames: purely kitsune, 8-tailed bodyguard, Gin, and Yasu or Hiro.

Birthday: September 17

Age: 169/24 (human disguise)

Species: a hybrid of Silver Fox, Red Fox, Grey Fox, and Zenko Kitsune (good fox & Japanese kitsune).

Gender: Male ♂

Relationship status: Single

Sexuality: Straight Ally & Asexual

Facts: Yasuhiro was raised by a human; a retired samurai father and a ninja mother after the death of his biological parents. When he was ready, he had a crush on Akane, but as time went on, he stopped developing feelings for her, he only saw Akane as a close friend and childhood friend.

Parents:

† Yukari Tadao (Deceased biological mother)

† Kitsu Tadao (Deseased biological father)

Akechi Hiraoka (Adopted father)

Haruka Hiraoka (Adopted mother)

Abilities:

Mythical Bestiary

Canine Physiology

Demon Physiology

Kitsune Physiology

Vulpes Physiology

Advantage Creation

Animal Imitation - only vulpine

Animal Morphing - only vulpine

Animalistic Vocalization

Artistic Intuition

Artistic Mastery

Battlefield Adaptation

Beast Mode

Beast Morphing

Calmness Empowerment

Camouflage

Claw Retraction

Club Proficiency

Combat Adaptation

Combat Specialism

Combat Specialist

Compass Sense

Decelerated Aging

Demon Mode

Demon Morphing

Determination Embodiment

Enhanced Agility

Enhanced Archery

Enhanced Combat

Enhanced Endurance

Enhanced Flailmanship

Enhanced Flexibility

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Leap

Enhanced Musicianship - flutes & biwa.

Enhanced Penmanship

Enhanced Preparedness

Enhanced Reflexes

Enhanced Saimanship

Enhanced Senses

Enhanced Smell

Enhanced Stealth

Enhanced Swordsmanship

Enhanced Wisdom

Enhanced Wits

Environmental Adaptation

Escape Artistry

Expressive Ears

Eye Color Shifting

Fur Generation

Glowing Eyes - only when the power is active or glow in the dark

Glowing Hands - only when the power is active

Human Disguise

Iaido Intuition

Iaido Mastery

Indomitable Determination

Invisibility

Katana Proficiency

Kendo Mastery

Knife Proficiency

Magnetoreception

Martial Arts Intuition

Martial Arts Mastery

Military Mastery

Multiple Tails

Night Vision

Ninja Magic

Ninjutsu Mastery

Ninpo Arts

Paw Protrusion

Peak Human Speed: Foxes can run at a speed of 50 km.

Pedagogy Mastery

Poetry Intuition - haiku.

Poetry Mastery - haiku.

Pointed Ears

Powerful Bite

Prehensile Tail

Spear Proficiency

Serenity Empowerment

Stealth Intuition

Strategy Adaptation

Tail Manifestation

Teaching Intuition

Temperature Regulation

Throwing Weapon Proficiency

Training Regimen

Tranquil State

Unique Eye Coloration

Vertical Pupils

Weapon Proficiency

Weapon Summoning

 Kyudo Mastery

Powers:

Fire Arts

Fire Aura - only purple fire

Fire Defense

Fire Empowerment

Firestorm Creation - only purple fire

Hypnotic Voice

Fox Magic

Fox-Fire Generation

Fox-Fire Manipulation

Illusion Awareness

Illusion Constructs

Illusion Empowerment

Illusion Generation

Illusion Interaction

Illusion Manipulation

Illusion Negation

Illusion Reflection

Illusion Solidification

Illusion Transformation

Illusionary Environment

Illusive Appearance

Illusionary Magic 

Illusive Power

Illusive Suggestion

Illusory Combat

Illusory Defense

Illusory Power Replication

Illusory Vision

Incineration

Layered Illusions

Living Illusion Creation

Purple Fire Attacks

Purple Fire Generation

Purple Fire Manipulation

Purple Fire Negation

Purple Fire Solidification

Pyro-Telekinesis - with purple fire

Pyrokinetic Constructs - only purple fire

Spirit Magic

Vocal Replication

Voice Masking

[therewasabrowncrow]

In my Eco Pedagogy Era

A friend of mine was kind enough to loan me their daughter for art lessons so here are some things we are doing in my nature printing class. First, we make nature bracelets!

Early Impressions: The earliest recorded form of nature printing was imprints taken with lead, gum, wax, charcoal.

Nature Print Art History-Benjamins: US born polymath and statesman Benjamin Franklin created nature print paper money to deter copying. This also included unusual printing inks, spelling mistakes. These currency notes were intended for use in American colonies. (source)

World Building: We are learning about negative spaces and filling them up with our imagination. We started with places that she knows of- her building

I am very inspired by the map game The Quiet Year which I played recently at the Glasgow Zine Library. It not only helps you define a landscape but also rebuild something good with a community. We started by making islands with seeds!

This is something I was making during the pandemic while reading the Earthsea series.

They are available free to download here:

Optical Toys: We made a thaumatrope! It is a 19th century optical toy that demonstrates the principle of persistence of vision, a disputed explanation for the cause of illusory motion in stroboscopic animation and film.

With my classes I aim to understand how nature printing- a practice developed in the Middle Ages by those gathering medicinal plants evolved into a serious scientific process and came to influence photography and film. I made a little video of our art so far: