#Skilled Occupation

[inkskinned]

the rise of AI art isn't surprising to us. for our entire lives, the attitude towards our skills has always been - that's not a real thing. it has been consistently, repeatedly devalued.

people treat art - all forms of it - as if it could exist by accident, by rote. they don't understand how much art is in the world. someone designed your home. someone designed the sign inside of your local grocery store. when you quote a character or line from something in media, that's a line a real person wrote.

"i could do that." sure, but you didn't. there's this joke where a plumber comes over to a house and twists a single knob. charges the guy 10k. the guy, furious, asks how the hell the bill is so high. the plumber says - "turning the knob was a dollar. the knowledge is the rest of the money."

the trouble is that nobody believes artists have knowledge. that we actively study. that we work hard, beyond doing our scales and occasionally writing a poem. the trouble is that unless you are already framed in a museum or have a book on a shelf or some kind of product, you aren't really an artist. hell, because of where i post my work, i'll never be considered a poet.

the thing that makes you an artist is choice. the thing that makes all art is choice. AI art is the fetid belief that art is instead an equation. that it must answer a specific question. Even with machine learning, AI cannot make a choice the way we can - because the choices we make have always been personal, complicated. our skills cannot be confined to "prompt and execution." what we are "solving" isn't just a system of numbers - it is how we process our entire existence. it isn't just "2 and 2 is 4", it's staring hard at the numbers and making the four into an alligator. it's rearranging the letters to say ow and it is the ugly drawing we make in the margin.

at some point, you will be able to write something by feeding my work into a machine. it will be perfectly legible and even might sound like me. but a machine doesn't understand why i do these things. it can be taught preferences, habits, statistical probability. it doesn't know why certain vowels sound good to me. it doesn't know the private rules i keep. it doesn't know how to keep evolving.

"but i want something to exist that doesn't exist yet." great. i'm glad you feel creative. go ahead and pay a fucking artist for it.

this is all saying something we all already knew. the sad fucking truth: we have to die to remind you. only when we're gone do we suddenly finally fucking mean something to you. artists are not replicable. we each genuinely have a skill, talent, and process that makes us unique. and there's actual quiet power in everything we do.

[cienie-isengardu]

MK 9 (2011)'s story mode & MK 1 (2023)'s story mode

[stuckinapril]

Literally annoying as shit *someone makes a good point about how big events like award shows are used to distract from a violent attack* *random person on the internet * “oh so you’re saying I shouldn’t SLEEP now?! I’m not allowed to eat and take CARE of myself? How DARE you!” I am banging my head against a brick wall as we speak, I can’t.

Betting my MONEY on that person being American bc the relatability factor always has been & continues to be such a major issue here. Americans do literally think in terms of “I’m not Palestinian so why should I care” “I’m not Arab so this isn’t really my concern” “ok but do you expect me to just STOP MY LIFE???” and this entitlement ends up breeding actual disbelief for the idea that others could care about other people despite not suffering the same problems or hailing from the same backgrounds. Their recourse is either to shame you for it or get defensive for their own indifference. Its such a tired pattern

(Also worthy to add that it’s not just rooted in relatability and hyperindividualism and a lot of these people are in fact simply anti Arab racist lmao)

[vigilskeep]

omg what if i solve the silly “how are outfits fitting on different companions” question by hcing that cyrion is a tailor and tabris knows her stuff...

[claptraprights]

playing a game that I like to call "spot the misogyny"

[hua-fei-hua]

at church reading the hymn lyrics like "hey i learned that word from genshin!" and "hey i learned that word from genshin!" and "hey i learned that word from translating song lyrics so that i could write genshin fic!" and "hey i learned that word from genshin!" and finally "omg i learned that word from the king's avatar"

[reiketsui]

What fantasy occupation do you have?

assassin

assassins can use magic to attack and curse their foes, and are skilled with a variety of weapons. they can fight gracefully up close, while unarmed or armed. they are also excellent at attacking enemies at a distance with guns, bows, and other ranged weapons. they can even create simple illusions and disappear into the shadows.

assassins are typically reserved and quiet, and try to avoid emotional attachments. most are cruel and apathetic, shy and untrusting, or hurt by the world and seeking revenge. they often take pay for killing specific targets, and have little to no value in human life.

ability list:

Never Noticed: Allows you to fade away into the shadows. Trained Fire: Increases your accuracy and enhances your eyesight when equipped with a throwing weapon, firearm, bow, or other ranged weapon. Manipulator of Combat: Allows you to see one-quarter a second into the future when equipped with a dagger or sword. Sense of Security: A spell that enables you to be unaffected by enemy magic when timed properly.

[ame-in-the-rain]

Ohhh man if i was brave enough i could write a damn good fanfiction

[cmweller]

Challenge #03977-J325: Out of the Frying Pan

"Well, that was stupid."

"Hey it worked didn't it? We're alive aren't we?"

"Yeah.... but still...."

"If it worked, and we got out, then it wasn't stupid."

"I guess....." -- Anon Guest

"It also depends how one defines 'out'," said Tordd as ze looked out the windows to their landing ground. "True, we have survived the crash, but we are also trapped in a lifepod on something of a Deathworld."

"Okay," said Human Raf, already rooting about in the compartments for whatever he could find. "It's not ideal, I grant. The pod's transmitting, we have some supplies... This thing has an airlock." He had a huge grin. "Once we're done with the scanners, I can probably venture out and get whatever's useful."

"You are not going to go full Minecraft on this world."

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[actuallyaj]

Having autism can be very difficult when your life gets stressful, relationships are hard to navigate, Healthcare and mental heal care is scarce, and sensory overload happens a lot more frequently when you're already struggling.

[tyrannuspitch]

there really is something(tm) about thor and loki (plus val, heimdall, sif) being literally all that's left of asgard's ruling class after ragnarok. no other warriors or politicians, just them. (i guess we don't actually know this to be true, but asgard gives off a very strong impression of being sharply stratified...)

like. kind of... stripping down to the truth of their society. the idea that the king rules absolutely and alone is a myth. he needs his warriors to maintain control. if the people decided they don't want to be ruled by the house of odin any more, practically speaking, they probably wouldn't be able to stop them.

but also just. beyond that. distillation. the royal family is now two people. the culture/society they know, what they think of as asgard(tm) and as home, is only a handful of individuals. hmmm.

and this would all have been fun to explore if we'd been given a chance. but before we get there, they take it even further. the house of odin is only thor, in the end.

[loser-female]

In my country we are debating over grading student's homework.

I'm asking myself if this would have made my school experience less miserable and i think it wouldn't have changed a thing.

I was never punished for bad grades - so I might be biased on this, but the thing schools need the most is to do psychological evaluations on teachers.

This is truly the only thing that would have saved me. Not even an early diagnosis - I'd just get ignored without learning anything. I was also too poor to afford any sort of treatment, really (psychologists are expensive. I still drop ~300€/month later to heal from the damage).

20 years later is surely different, I wouldn't be surprised to find a toilet roll coach to teach you how to correctly put a toilet roll in its holder. But back then there was little to nothing that could have helped me.

[tricoufamily]

btw i shared this on my personal blog before the assignment was done but i had to make personas in my web development class. copyright free beckett and connor in their final form

[knaivcs]

Presentation played a factor as much as flavor and odor, hallmarks of Spring obvious in symbolism as well as literal decoration. Slender young asparagus stalks mimicked that of freshly chopped bamboo beside two macedoine cuts of human flesh grilled a rich golden brown- meant to look like natural rock formations. Even the glistening skin of red bream had been expertly rendered from it’s carcass to decorate equally thin strips of smoked cheek and jowl.

Porcelain tea cups employed to house a rich umami-dense broth made from stewed kidneys and pan-seared spleen, delicate and fragile as a bird’s hollow bones. Steam building like puffs of cotton struggling to break free. The offerings serving as garnishes should go down easy. Softer and thinner bones built to crackle pleasantly beneath Legato's incisors like sizzling rice in a crystal clear pool of seafood fumet.

Blistered shishito peppers and scallions had speckled the thin sheets of thigh served raw, like new growth peeking through barren earth to search out the warmth of a midday sun. The gelatinous membranes of various eyes had been employed into a captivating dessert speckled with artful lines of blood and sugar syrup. His chilled prosecco was pure and unclouded enough to resemble gemstone as the firelight gleamed off of it’s surface.

Knives sat at the opposite end of the table, swirling wine the color of dark cherries within a wide-mouthed goblet aimlessly. His left arm is crooked, resting against the arm of a velvet lined chair while he leans his chin into his open palm, drumming long fingers against the angle of his jaw.

He isn't a cheerful host imploring his guest to relax and enjoy a meal in attitude nor words, but the gesture is clear.

Legato will eat, or he will starve.

It is his choice.

@bluesummxrs

[gophergal]

I desperately want a series that focuses on restaurant owners in historical settings

Restaurants are more important to civilized history than most folks realize. There have always been travelers tired of what they've been eating on the road, folks too busy to cook, and people living in homes that don't have a proper kitchen

[hsinliuvega]

hsin and ryan both failing to cope with their serious illnesses but its okay cuz they have their emotional support 22 yr old who took AP psych at 16