#Teaching Artists Run Art Programs

[itgetsbetter]

Applications are OPEN for LGBTQ+ youth who want to take back their power! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

If you're thinking it's time to join a program like this, you'reee right.

Since 2020, we've run the Youth Voices program - cohorts of amazing LGBTQ+ students, artists, and activists ages 14-18 who team up with our org to share their stories and words of advice to fellow LGBTQ+ youth around the world.

As an It Gets Better Youth Voice, you'd have opportunities like:

Leading workshops and telling your story at conferences like SXSW Edu, Time to Thrive: Deep South, Teach for America, and New York Pride’s Human Rights Conference

Interviews with countless news outlets, streams, and podcasts including Seventeen, Freeform, Teen Vogue, and USA Today

Conversations with celebrities and iconic LGBTQ+ activists, taking part in impactful social media campaigns, creating zines and art, writing blog articles, and more!

See some of the other badass things past classes have done here

Fall-winter cohort runs from August - December 2025, and stipends are offered for accepted Youth Voices!

Ages 14-18 based in the U.S. can apply now by June 27, 2025 at itgetsbetter.org/YVApplication.

[zaebeecee]

I see so much RadioStatic backstory of “they were friends but Alastor broke Vox’s heart” but I would like you to consider:

Vox, soon after his death and feeling lost and disconnected, seeking out other sinners with an interest in the only connecting point he has to others, media.

And, in doing so, he goes out of his way to make the acquaintance of the Radio Demon, the only overlord who seems to have the same passion for entertainment that Vox does himself.

And Alastor does not get approached by anyone, because everyone is terrified of him; his only real connection since his own death has been Rosie, and they bonded over cannibalism, not the art of entertainment.

But Vox wants to make his acquaintance, Vox wants to talk shop with him, and Alastor finally has someone with whom he can discuss storytelling and evolutions in broadcasting technology, someone he can stay up with all night who appreciates rye as much as he does and who listens to his infodumping with real rapt attention and who does his own infodumping in a way that Alastor finds compelling.

Alastor tells Vox all about what it was like during the birth and rise of radio and what it was like to run a radio program back during a time when it was the hot new thing.

And Vox teaches Alastor about television, and about writing serialized scripts meant to be seen and heard, and about filming and audio recording and costuming and set design.

And Alastor is subversive and forward-thinking, and he loves television; he loves seeing what beautiful and visual things can be done with the serialized stories he always loved writing for his radio program.

Vox is someone Alastor readily calls his friend.

But Vox is a capitalist, above all else, willing to throw away his artistic integrity and smother his own creativity in his eagerness to chase whatever is new because it is new, and Alastor watches that bright spark that had drawn him to Vox become buried under the weight of corporate greed.

And when Vox asks Alastor to join him, Alastor says no, because the Vox who asked for his partnership was not the same man that Alastor sat up all night with so many years, he was not the same man that Alastor wrote ridiculous scripts with, he was not the same man who approached Alastor without a hint of fear flickering on his screen and introduced himself with a cautious smile and a sincere compliment for his last broadcast.

Alastor says no, because this man is not his Vox; this man, instead, murdered his Vox and is wearing his skin like a grotesque costume.

Alastor says he hates television, because television reminds him of a time he almost permitted himself vulnerability, and can’t admit that it destroyed him.

What if, instead, Vox was the one who broke Alastor’s heart?

[mpreglover225]

Meet the Dads of River Glen Community College

River Glen Community College has become well-known in recent years for its supportive programs assisting expecting dads under 25. With flexible class schedules, academic counseling tailored to their needs, and an on-campus child-care center in the works, it’s no wonder young fathers feel at home there. Lets meet some students here at the college!

Andrew Carter, 19 Andrew is a quiet History major who discovered his passion for teaching after volunteering at a local museum. River Glen’s lenient attendance policies and free tutoring sessions have allowed him to thrive academically—even while managing morning sickness and evening study sessions. He is 7 months pregnant with his boyfriends baby. The pregnancy was unplanned but taken well from family and friends.

Kai Simmons, 20 We meet Kai who is an arts major who doodles tattoo designs in the margins of his lecture notes. The school’s open-minded faculty and frequent mental health workshops have helped him stay focused through the ups and downs of pregnancy. He attributes his newfound confidence to the supportive campus culture that lets him be both an artist and an expectant father.

Julian Park, 23 Julian a computer science student eyeing a future in software development, he navigates back-to-back coding labs while planning for parenthood. With River Glen’s flexible online courses, he can write code from home on days when exhaustion or prenatal checkups demand a lighter schedule. His professors, well-versed in the college’s pro-family policies, always accommodate him with extended deadlines when needed.

Devin Brooks, 21 We meet Devin who is studying business administration, he’s spearheading a new student-run fundraiser for the upcoming child-care center. River Glen’s scholarship system—which awards aid based on student-led community initiatives—has helped him stay financially stable and on track to finish his degree before the baby arrives.

Each of these four future dads credits River Glen Community College’s unique approach—offering flexible class times, easy re-enrollment for those who pause their studies, and a judgment-free atmosphere—for helping them balance classes with prenatal appointments and occasional bouts of morning fatigue

[plant-acts]

Linked Universe College Theater AU

The amount of crazy stuff that goes on in my college theater program deserves to be immortalized with my favorite characters!

So here is what I think they would be like if they were Theater Majors with Time and Malon being their professors (plus some other fun characters at the end)!

--

Time: 46 | Technical Theater Director for the college | In the beginning, he was a simple high school theater teacher, but after seeing an opening at a small college he and his wife decided to apply! He has been teaching at the college for the past 6 years and essentially saved the program. He loves his job, but if he gets one more student named Link, he might burn the place down. His wife is the Artistic Director, Malon, and their son Twilight is his student.

Twilight: 22 | Technical Theater | His parents had him introduced to theater at a young age and he quickly learned that he enjoyed the technical aspect more than the acting side (like father like son). Even though Time insisted he could apply to any college, Twi chose to go to his parent's program. Within the theater, he leads the set-building crew. The man is crazy strong (a platform almost fell on Wild while he was working underneath it and with one hand, Twi caught the set, and with the other; he dragged Wild out). He is living with his parents until he graduates. After that, he hopes to open a summer stock theater in a nearby town.

Warriors: 21 |Performance Theater | Originally, after graduating high school he was going to go into the military, but plans changed after his grandmother passed. Now he is one of the newest performance majors! To be honest, he never saw himself on the stage until he was forced to go to a summer musical audition at the college with his younger stepbrother, Wind. To his surprise, he got a part and has been in love with it ever since! He can often be found helping with the costume department (everyone begs him to please stop trying to put them in scarves; the stage lights are too hot for it). He and his younger stepbrothers live in an apartment together.

Legend: 21 | Performance Theater | He has probably been doing theater longer than everyone else (besides Twilight, but they don’t count him because his parents are theater teachers). As a kid, his family signed him up for summer classes. Quickly, they found he had genuine talent, and he performed throughout high school. At one point, he was in an official production of Matilda, but he refuses to tell which it was. Expressing emotions has always been hard for him and theater is an outlet he can use to be anyone he wants (although sometimes he regrets the performance major choice, especially when he has to dye his hair pink for a role, and it stains). Although he's a performance major, he could give tech students a run for their money. He somehow knows everything (years of experience)! He lives in an apartment near campus with his roommates Ravio and Hyrule.

Sky: 20 | Performance Theater | The Dude was born for the stage. His first performance was in high school, and he has led in every show since. He just seems to shine and embody the character. His high school theater program was small, so it was a culture shock to see so many talented people at the college. Because of that, he struggles with self-doubt. He sometimes doesn’t believe he is good enough to be there. His girlfriend, Sun, is also a performance major at the college and does what she can to assure him he is crazy talented, just like the rest of them. He has the best singing voice out of everyone and is not afraid to do karaoke at the worst time. They live together in an apartment right next to Legend and Hyrule (all the apartments just happen to be in the same building on the same floor).

Hyrule: 20 | Technical Theater | Growing up, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to be. That was until he needed an art credit and joined the tech theater class! He has been in love with it ever since! He loves seeing a show come together and how everyone works as a team to make it happen. Usually, he is in charge of finding props in the maze that is the prop loft (seriously; it is a mess; they have lost Four back there a few times). If no one steps up to be a stage manager or assistant director for a show, he will gladly fill that spot. He lives with his roommates Legend and Ravio.

Wild: 20 | Technical Theater | Originally, he was going to be a performance major, but an accident in his first semester of college changed that. Now he has a cool scar on his face and the memory of a goldfish (to be honest it had always been comically bad, so nothing much changed there). He wasn’t going to let some bad luck stop his love of theater, so he changed majors and has been a menace to Time ever since (maybe he will go back to acting one day, who knows ;)). Whether it’s helping in any way possible, specifically building sets with Twilight, or assisting with costumes, he is always lending a hand. He is convinced OSHA does not apply to him (when does it ever apply in theater). One time, he put a ladder on an electric lift so he could fix a sign. The sign still ended up crooked. No one knows why, but he somehow has everything anyone could ever need in his tool belt. Nails? Check. Bobby Pins? Check. The secrets of the universe? Maybe? He lives with his partner Flora and support dog, Wolfie.

Four: 19 | Four is actually 4 different people. The quadruplets all applied to the same college and didn’t realize until they got their acceptance letters! For the longest time, everyone thought they were the same person (somehow the brothers never noticed that people believed this and just thought everyone was being weird when they said a second ago, they watched him leave through the opposite door). After everyone figured it out, they started wearing colored headbands so people could tell them apart (they absolutely have switched colors to mess with people or get out of doing a job). Everyone calls them Four as a joke, and because it is easier than trying to catch sight of the colored headbands. They live with their older brother Shadow, who is a technical theater major, but he works nights, and they don’t see each other on campus much.

Blue: Technical Theater | Hides on the catwalk after hanging lights and you won't know about it until he is screaming "HEADS" because he dropped his phone.

Green: Performance Theater | He has just kinda accepted the fact that if there is a young character, he will be typecast as them. It doesn't help that he looks androgynous and can play a man or woman.

Red: Performance Theater | If there was a most dramatic award he would get it. One time he got a paper cut and screamed so loud that Hyrule swears he felt the loft shake.

Vio: Technical Theater | He is the resident painter of the program, which means he is in charge of doing the shading for every. single. set. More than once he has stayed the night to finish painting a flat.

Wind: 18 | Technical/Performing Theater | He couldn't decide which he wanted to major in, so he dual majors (Malon and Time have a small fun competition to see if they can convince him to favor one over the other)! He lived in a small coastal town until his grandmother died. After that, he and his twin brother Spirit moved in with their stepbrother Warriors since they already planned to go to the same college. More than once, he has to be told to slow down his lines (totally not projecting here). He's absolutely convinced that the theater is haunted after he was locked in and heard crying from the loft. His favorite part of tech is drawing up a design for the set. He is the head of marketing and takes it very seriously. Although he is the youngest, he hates being treated like he doesn't know what is going on and people not letting him help on important projects. He's been doing theater since middle school and just wants to be a part of the team!

Other Characters!

Hylia: ??? | Head of Performing Arts | She has been working at the college for as long as anyone can remember. Kind, but can be quite strict with her employees and their students if they get out of line.

Gannon: ??? | College President | Not much to say about him, he never leaves his office. But before Time and Malon started teaching, he tried to shut down the theater department because there weren't enough students.

Malon: 47 | Artistic Director | She, Time, and Twilight live on a few acres of land given to her by her father. She loves to invite The Chain (the name she gave the group of Links who joined the program and became friends) over for game nights. More than once she has walked into her office to see one of the boys asleep in the corner, where she has a stack of pillows.

Beetle: 23 | ??? | Legit just some dude who really likes the college productions and goes to every show to support the program.

Shadow: 22 | Technical Theater | No one is quite sure if he even exists. Every time a prop breaks, they call his name, and in the blink of an eye; it is either fixed or gone. He runs the lights, but the glass of the tech booth is so dirty you can't see what he looks like (hence the nickname Shadow). Four insists that he is their older brother, but the believability of that differs from person to person.

Ravio: 21 | Business Sales | Legend and Hyrule's roommate. More than once, he has tried to sell things he "borrowed" from people back to their owners. It never works and he just plays it off as practice for his business class.

Flora: 20 | Mechanical Engineer | She lives with Wild and is half of his impulse control. She can get super focused on her studies and Wild will drag her to the theatre to get her out of the house (and prove that yes he does have a girlfriend, and no she is not made up)

Sun: 20 | Performance Theatre | In high school, she and Sky were cast as Audrey and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. She was so nervous about the Suddenly Seymour kiss that she was almost sick. Her and Sky laugh about it now because he was also super scared to kiss his crush.

Tetra:19 | Navy | Wind’s best friend from his hometown. They kept in touch even after he moved away. She is joining the Navy and the last summer before she left and he started college; they met up in person for the first time in months. They just hung out at the beach and talked like old times. They miss each other, so she tries to surprise him at his shows as much as she can.

Phantom: 18 | Psychology | Spirits best friend. She can and will talk your ear off about whatever new thing she is learning in class. She lives in an apartment with a few of her friends and invites Spirit to every girl's night (he has crush privileges and loves to gossip just as much as any of the gals)

Spirit: 18 | Civil Engineering | Wind's twin brother. He wants to work on building transportation routes between different cities (although the amount of work he has to do makes him wish he just went into fast food instead). He might not talk much, but his facial expressions can rival any of the actors.

Aryll: 13 | Middle School | Wind and Spirits younger sister. She moved in with her dad and stepmom after their grandma's death. She misses the beach but is happy to be making friends and learning about the city.

--

If you made it this far, please do not be afraid to ask questions in my ask box. I am dying to talk and write about this AU.

Please.

I beg.

(Also, I am pretty new to the loz and LU fandoms so if something feels off, or I missed some characters, tell me and I'll fix/talk about them!)

[dross-the-fish]

Have you ever run into issues with AI keeping you from finding work? I'm seeing a lot of artist complain about AI stealing their jobs, does that affect you?

I haven't run into this problem yet. The people making AI avatars and such weren't going to buy from me anyway and the people who hire me to illustrate for them can't use AI because it can't be relied upon to get consistent results in terms of style and quality.

Also AI falls into a weird legal grey area. Some programs like Midjourny will only let you copyright a generated image if you use their subscription plan. So you still have to pay for the generator and then probably pay someone to put in the time it takes to get it to generate the image you want by "prompt engineering" or whatever they call it. It is not, at this time, practical for commercial use. It is becoming an issue with my regular day job where they're starting to use AI prompts to handle chats as a way to hire fewer workers and downsize on labor. So that's my main concern with how AI is going to affect me. Except even there the AI bot doesn't always know what the fuck it's talking about and we still have to come in and take over for complex or multi-faceted issues. I also just generally don't think AI artists and writers are as much a threat as people make them out to be. Most of what is produced by AI is very derivative and lacks stylistic integrity, even when the "quality" seems decent. I don't think I've seen an AI image yet that wasn't made for quick consumption and most people who consistently use gen AI go for quantity over quality anyway. It's content to be quickly consumed and discarded and unfortunately we live in consumerist climate where that's everyone and their grandma's hustle for now. Even so, In it's current state, AI is not a good tool to learn art or writing and someone who wants to be an artist or writer isn't going to be able to accomplish that with AI. Between the legal grey area of being able to copyright their work and the inconsistent quality of output it's not a practical or sustainable way to make a living and it's not going to teach you how to draw or write for yourself. I've seen some attempts made at producing iterative work with gen AI and the machine can't do it. It takes more time, money and effort to try and get images that look consistent without weird glitches than it does to just hire an artist. Half the time anyone I've seen try that they've still had to have an artist anyway go in and paint over the AI images to make them look cohesive.

[mcromwell]

i hope i can be a professional artist like you one day. i just.. dunno where to start, since i'll never be able to handle college.

Don't sweat the college thing. If no one's paying for it, it's not worth it to go to college for art. Especially fine art, what I do. Hot take for someone who did, in fact, go to college. I only went because my folks pre-paid for state college credits with an installment plan state program. (Look, my middle class privilege!) But honestly, you don't need to go to art school to do the type of stuff I do. I don't even think I got as much out of my education as I could have (due to being socially anxious I made 0 connections and overworked myself taking care of too many pets/working retail/going to school/living away from home/dating someone who sucked). I learned a lot, sure, but I squandered the most important thing a fine art degree gets you: art world connections. (And college didn't teach me fuck-all about how to run an art business by yourself, only how to do it the traditional, rub-elbows-with-gallery-owners way, which is morally fucked imo).

If you want to make art, sell it to private collectors for a living, or do commissions, that type of thing, the only thing you gotta do is

draw all the time

get better at it (on purpose or by the natural consequence of just doing it a lot)

learn how to speak kindly and encouragingly to yourself so you don't lose momentum

Start with drawing what makes you happy. When you get bored, challenge yourself. Take a class. Buy a good instructional book. Network with other artists in similar situations as you. Try new things, even things that you don't think will pan out. Always keep your eye on getting better, but don't put yourself down for not being there yet.

If I can do it, you can, too! It's a long journey! I'm 33, in the lowest tax bracket, but happy and making as much art as I want, which is how I like to structure my life for myself the organism to thrive.

[tobiasdrake]

What are your thoughts on Ultra Instinct? I've seen stuff talking about how it's an extension of a lot of the concepts and ideas mentioned by Goku's various masters - do you agree?

Ultra Instinct is cool but also kind of weird, in that it's. Like. Okay.

Like, the premise behind Ultra Instinct is being able to move your body instinctively in reaction to incoming attacks. You don't even think about it; You just move reflexively to block, parry, or counter your foe.

This is a highly advanced martial arts technique in the real world that we call. Um. "Practicing martial arts".

Like. This is the thing that's always been missing (and still is) from Dragon Ball's martial arts: The part where the characters practice martial arts. A lot of martial arts is spent drilling down technique. Learning specific motions and specific ways of standing and such, then drilling them again and again so that, in the heat of the moment, your body will reflexively make those motions.

It's training your body to instinctively react in certain ways, because you won't have time to stop and think about where you should place your hand when a fist is coming at your nose. While there is some amount of thought that goes into where you should throw your next punch, you also have to be able to just move in the ways that your art teaches.

Ultra Instinct is just. That. But presented as a brand new super-ability that only the greatest martial artists have ever heard of. So to a certain extent, it's presenting basic information as if it were a brand new revelation. It's not entirely that, but there is a degree of that to it.

DBS has a problem with "Meet the NEW THING, it's something we were already doing but NOW IT'S NEW." DBS: Super Hero has a moment where Vegeta discovers the true nature of Jiren's power and receives praise for his superior understanding of martial arts.

You know. Because this is something Goku needed to hear. He's just a dumb brute who's only ever worked out his muscles and has no understanding of the spiritual and mental side of martial arts.

This concept, this brand new concept of releasing your energy only at the precise moment of attack, is something that Goku has never--

--absolutely never even tried to comprehend before. This is definitely a brand new ability that only Jiren's capable of, and that Vegeta understands and is able to analyze while Goku's big, stupid brute brain just can't work out.

You know how Goku is; The way he just does push-ups all day in a Gravity Chamber while Vegeta's out there masterfully honing his art and figuring out new ways of getting more versatility out of the same old techniques. Yep, that's Goku and Vegeta, alright.

But I digress. This isn't about DBS's writing quality, it's about Ultra Instinct. And. Yeah. While the way the series portrays "moving on instinct" like it's some brand new thing that these highly experienced martial artists have never comprehended before... there is some genuine super-ness to the technique.

Because it's not just drilling your body to move reflexively. It's. It's basically the Ultimate Eye.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, the character Wrath has the Ultimate Eye as his signature power. It instantly absorbs all sensory data available to him and programs his body to react optimally to whatever situation he happens to be in.

Wrath has a supremely aggressive fighting style where he is always on the attack. He's able to manage this because the Ultimate Eye is taking care of his defense; His body auto-dodges and auto-blocks all incoming attacks with only the smallest and subtlest motions necessary, allowing him to focus purely on aggression. It also lets him pull off insane moves like escaping an exploding train by running along the debris or splitting a bullet in half with his sword.

As long as he has his Ultimate Eye, Wrath is basically invincible. Not completely, and they do come up with clever ways to beat him in the end. It's possible to outfight the Ultimate Eye. It's just. It's very, very hard. A lot of people die trying.

Ultra Instinct is basically that, but as a Dragon Ball technique.

From a narrative perspective, this is a hell of a thing to give to Son Goku. It has the opposite problem from Ultra Ego, which sounds stupid and also has to lose fights so it never gets a chance to shine. Utlra Instinct, the ability to perfectly dodge all attacks forever with no limits, honestly sounds too powerful. How would Goku ever lose a fight if he could fight like Wrath?

Fullmetal Alchemist had some clever answers to that, because it wasn't a battle shonen. Wrath was a puzzle to be solved.

Son Goku is not a puzzle to be solved. And, like Vegeta, he's not allowed to win fights anymore. So his Ultra Instinct has to lose. A lot. He loses to just sorta running out of UI mana I guess.

He loses to Power Levels.

He loses to stamina.

In fact, stamina becomes its biggest drawback. It's an established feature of the form that Ultra Instinct just. Sort of. Gets shittier, the longer Goku uses it.

Oh wow, that's really convenient. That saves you from having to come up with plausible ways for the opponent to defeat UI. The form is now, by design, meant to go off and look really cool for the first bit of the fight but then fizzle out and stop being effective so the villain can win. That's not just Goku being bad at it anymore; It's baked into the concept. Even the mastered silver-hair form works like that.

Though, unlike Vegeta's Ultra Ego, Goku does get to score a cool-looking victory with the silver-haired form to show off how amazing it is when it works as intended.

I genuinely don't know why it turns his hair silver. This is not a transformation, it's a technique. I think it's supposed to signify that he's like a quasi-Angel when he's doing this. All of the Angels have white hair. But Beerus uses the technique too and his fur doesn't turn white when he's doing it.'

So I kinda get it but it also just feels like "IN STORES NOW". We haven't had a new Super Saiyan form since Blue so here ya go, a vanilla-flavored Super Saiyan.

But, point is, Ultra Instinct actually gets the big win to show off how cool it us. Uh. Before Goku immediately takes it back because he's now allowed to solve plots by being a great fighter anymore.

In fairness, this is not a Dumb DBS Goku moment. This is consistent behavior for Goku. He did this for Piccolo too. He didn't give Vegeta a Senzu but he did let him go in the hopes of fighting him again some day.

Moro's just the first villain ever to go "Hahaha sucker! Forget 'some day'. I'll get stronger and we'll fight again now!"

Which is a fun twist on Goku's favorite way of ending a fight. It's about time this bit him in the ass.

Overall, Ultra Instinct is... complicated. It's a cool idea if a bit overly proud of itself; A concept that's pretty super, but not as super as DBS thinks it is. And also a way-overpowered ability to give to Goku, resulting in it needing to be nerfed in-universe in order to preserve his ability to keep getting shitstomped by his opponent in every fight.

[kanguin]

Hi, idk who's going to see this post or whatnot, but I had a lot of thoughts on a post I reblogged about AI that started to veer off the specific topic of the post, so I wanted to make my own.

Some background on me: I studied Psychology and Computer Science in college several years ago, with an interdisciplinary minor called Cognitive Science that joined the two with philosophy, linguistics, and multiple other fields. The core concept was to study human thinking and learning and its similarities to computer logic, and thus the courses I took touched frequently on learning algorithms, or "AI". This was of course before it became the successor to bitcoin as the next energy hungry grift, to be clear. Since then I've kept up on the topic, and coincidentally, my partner has gone into freelance data model training and correction. So while I'm not an expert, I have a LOT of thoughts on the current issue of AI.

I'll start off by saying that AI isn't a brand new technology, it, more properly known as learning algorithms, has been around in the linguistics, stats, biotech, and computer science worlds for over a decade or two. However, pre-ChatGPT learning algorithms were ground-up designed tools specialized for individual purposes, trained on a very specific data set, to make it as accurate to one thing as possible. Some time ago, data scientists found out that if you have a large enough data set on one specific kind of information, you can get a learning algorithm to become REALLY good at that one thing by giving it lots of feedback on right vs wrong answers. Right and wrong answers are nearly binary, which is exactly how computers are coded, so by implementing the psychological method of operant conditioning, reward and punishment, you can teach a program how to identify and replicate things with incredible accuracy. That's what makes it a good tool.

And a good tool it was and still is. Reverse image search? Learning algorithm based. Complex relationship analysis between words used in the study of language? Often uses learning algorithms to model relationships. Simulations of extinct animal movements and behaviors? Learning algorithms trained on anatomy and physics. So many features of modern technology and science either implement learning algorithms directly into the function or utilize information obtained with the help of complex computer algorithms.

But a tool in the hand of a craftsman can be a weapon in the hand of a murderer. Facial recognition software, drone targeting systems, multiple features of advanced surveillance tech in the world are learning algorithm trained. And even outside of authoritarian violence, learning algorithms in the hands of get-rich-quick minded Silicon Valley tech bro business majors can be used extremely unethically. All AI art programs that exist right now are trained from illegally sourced art scraped from the web, and ChatGPT (and similar derived models) is trained on millions of unconsenting authors' works, be they professional, academic, or personal writing. To people in countries targeted by the US War Machine and artists the world over, these unethical uses of this technology are a major threat.

Further, it's well known now that AI art and especially ChatGPT are MAJOR power-hogs. This, however, is not inherent to learning algorithms / AI, but is rather a product of the size, runtime, and inefficiency of these models. While I don't know much about the efficiency issues of AI "art" programs, as I haven't used any since the days of "imaginary horses" trended and the software was contained to a university server room with a limited training set, I do know that ChatGPT is internally bloated to all hell. Remember what I said about specialization earlier? ChatGPT throws that out the window. Because they want to market ChatGPT as being able to do anything, the people running the model just cram it with as much as they can get their hands on, and yes, much of that is just scraped from the web without the knowledge or consent of those who have published it. So rather than being really good at one thing, the owners of ChatGPT want it to be infinitely good, infinitely knowledgeable, and infinitely running. So the algorithm is never shut off, it's constantly taking inputs and processing outputs with a neural network of unnecessary size.

Now this part is probably going to be controversial, but I genuinely do not care if you use ChatGPT, in specific use cases. I'll get to why in a moment, but first let me clarify what use cases. It is never ethical to use ChatGPT to write papers or published fiction (be it for profit or not); this is why I also fullstop oppose the use of publicly available gen AI in making "art". I say publicly available because, going back to my statement on specific models made for single project use, lighting, shading, and special effects in many 3D animated productions use specially trained learning algorithms to achieve the complex results seen in the finished production. Famously, the Spider-verse films use a specially trained in-house AI to replicate the exact look of comic book shading, using ethically sources examples to build a training set from the ground up, the unfortunately-now-old-fashioned way. The issue with gen AI in written and visual art is that the publicly available, always online algorithms are unethically designed and unethically run, because the decision makers behind them are not restricted enough by laws in place.

So that actually leads into why I don't give a shit if you use ChatGPT if you're not using it as a plagiarism machine. Fact of the matter is, there is no way ChatGPT is going to crumble until legislation comes into effect that illegalizes and cracks down on its practices. The public, free userbase worldwide is such a drop in the bucket of its serverload compared to the real way ChatGPT stays afloat: licensing its models to businesses with monthly subscriptions. I mean this sincerely, based on what little I can find about ChatGPT's corporate subscription model, THAT is the actual lifeline keeping it running the way it is. Individual visitor traffic worldwide could suddenly stop overnight and wouldn't affect ChatGPT's bottom line. So I don't care if you, I, or anyone else uses the website because until the US or EU governments act to explicitly ban ChatGPT and other gen AI business' shady practices, they are all only going to continue to stick around profit from big business contracts. So long as you do not give them money or sing their praises, you aren't doing any actual harm.

If you do insist on using ChatGPT after everything I've said, here's some advice I've gathered from testing the algorithm to avoid misinformation:

If you feel you must use it as a sounding board for figuring out personal mental or physical health problems like I've seen some people doing when they can't afford actual help, do not approach it conversationally in the first person. Speak in the third person as if you are talking about someone else entirely, and exclusively note factual information on observations, symptoms, and diagnoses. This is because where ChatGPT draws its information from depends on the style of writing provided. If you try to be as dry and clinical as possible, and request links to studies, you should get dry and clinical information in return. This approach also serves to divorce yourself mentally from the information discussed, making it less likely you'll latch onto anything. Speaking casually will likely target unprofessional sources.

Do not ask for citations, ask for links to relevant articles. ChatGPT is capable of generating links to actual websites in its database, but if asked to provide citations, it will replicate the structure of academic citations, and will very likely hallucinate at least one piece of information. It also does not help that these citations also will often be for papers not publicly available and will not include links.

ChatGPT is at its core a language association and logical analysis software, so naturally its best purposes are for analyzing written works for tone, summarizing information, and providing examples of programming. It's partially coded in python, so examples of Python and Java code I've tested come out 100% accurate. Complex Google Sheets formulas however are often finicky, as it often struggles with proper nesting orders of formulas.

Expanding off of that, if you think of the software as an input-output machine, you will get best results. Problems that do not have clear input information or clear solutions, such as open ended questions, will often net inconsistent and errant results.

Commands are better than questions when it comes to asking it to do something. If you think of it like programming, then it will respond like programming most of the time.

Most of all, do not engage it as a person. It's not a person, it's just an algorithm that is trained to mimic speech and is coded to respond in courteous, subservient responses. The less you try and get social interaction out of ChatGPT, the less likely it will be to just make shit up because it sounds right.

Anyway, TL;DR:

AI is just a tool and nothing more at its core. It is not synonymous with its worse uses, and is not going to disappear. Its worst offenders will not fold or change until legislation cracks down on it, and we, the majority users of the internet, are not its primary consumer. Use of AI to substitute art (written and visual) with blended up art of others is abhorrent, but use of a freely available algorithm for personal analyticsl use is relatively harmless so long as you aren't paying them.

We need to urge legislators the world over to crack down on the methods these companies are using to obtain their training data, but at the same time people need to understand that this technology IS useful and both can and has been used for good. I urge people to understand that learning algorithms are not one and the same with theft just because the biggest ones available to the public have widely used theft to cut corners. So long as computers continue to exist, algorithmic problem-solving and generative algorithms are going to continue to exist as they are the logical conclusion of increasingly complex computer systems. Let's just make sure the future of the technology is not defined by the way things are now.

[rustyironskillet]

Ninjago Character Headcanons

Cole Brookstone

Age: 18

Height: 5’11

Where are they from: A small town full of performance artists.

Fun facts:

Since he grew up in a town full of performers, he is very critical of others' fashion, unconsciously judging everyone's hair and clothing choices.

He mentally categorizes fighting moves with dance moves, and when doing the obstacle course in the monastery, he realized there was a rhythm to the obstacles movements and used this to finish the obstacle course before Sensei Wu finished his tea.

He also uses this rhythm technique in battle, and his attacks are very reminiscent of dance moves.

He has eaten dirt and will do it again.

As many issues as Cole has with his dad, he still is the reason that Cole loves music, especially quartets.

He is a mama's boy.

He was Sensei Wu’s first student.

Hobbies: rock climbing, playing video games, cooking, fashion, and sometimes dancing.

Backstory: Mostly the same as in the show, his dad is a dancer, and his mother died of illness when he was younger. After her death, his relationship with his father worsened as his coping mechanism was to hide away in his work, dancing, which he also dragged Cole into. Cole met Sensei Wu while rock climbing to get away from his father after another fight. After talking for a bit, he decided to lie to his father that he was going to Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts and then became Sensei Wu’s student.

Jay Walker

Age: 17

Height: 5’7

Where are they from: A junkyard

Fun Facts:

He has put a fork in a socket, just to see what would happen.

He is dyslexic and has ADHD.

He has Naruto run around the junkyard.

Has broken all of his bones more than once.

Hobbies: Inventing/mechanics, coding/programming, engineering, playing video games, simping, and watching anime.

Backstory: Even though Jay grew up in a junkyard and was homeschooled there, his parents often made multiple trips to Ninjago City to either pick up stuff for the junkyard or show off their invention. But whenever they went there, Jay never could play with the kids from Ninjago City because they all thought that he and his parents were weird. This caused Jay to lie about who his parents were and where he lived. However, he has a good relationship with his parents, and they love him dearly. He met Sensei Wu after crashing into a billboard.

Kai Smith

Age: 18

Height: 5’10

Where are they from: Ignacia, a small village in the countryside of Ninjago.

Fun Facts:

Too spicy is not a phrase that Kai knows.

Kai is ambidextrous (originally left-handed but learned to use his right).

He is hydrophobic and cannot swim.

Ever since his parents disappeared, he was in charge of cooking, and he is decent at it but puts in way too many spices, so only his sister is able to stomach it.

He styled and cut Nya’s hair until she was old enough to do it herself, and he was pretty good at it.

He cannot haggle for the life of him; this is why he isn’t allowed shopping on his own.

Hobbies: metalworking, woodworking, glassblowing, sword fighting, singing, hairstyling, practicing one-liners in the mirror, and playing soccer.

Backstory: Ever since his parents went missing when he was 7, Kai had to take care of Nya and himself. His neighbors chipped in now and then to help them out, but it was he who had to work the smithy and sell armor and weapons to make sure Nya and he had food on the table. After a few years of doing it, Kai managed to teach himself how to make good-quality armor and weapons—never as good as his parents, but better than most. This and Nya's own accomplishments made the Smiths considered the most gifted kids in the village. Thanks to this, Kai and Nya have a big ego, and they both are pretty independent.

Nya Smith

Age: 16

Height: 5’8

Where are they from: Ignacia, a small village in the countryside of Ninjago.

Fun facts:

Nya is typically naturally good at everything, but when she does struggle getting something, she drops it and moves on to something else. That's why she doesn’t do metalworking, woodworking, or glass blowing because those crafts require a lot of trial and error, and why focus on something she isn’t good at immediately when she can do something she is good at?

She is really good at negotiations because she is in charge of both buying and selling, and she will not pay more than she has to nor will she sell for less than she deserves.

The only one of three people who know that about Zane’s secret garden.

Hobbies: gardening, sewing/knitting/crocheting, reading, mechanics, coding/programming, Taekwondo, swimming, cooking, playing instruments (guitar, violin, flute, bass, piano, and drums), sword fighting, and archery.

Backstory: When Nya’s parents went missing when she was 5, Kai did his best to take care of her. At first, she was terrified to be without them. Nya thought Kai wasn’t scared, but soon she realized he was; he just didn’t want to show her so she wouldn't be as scared. Nya decided that since Kai was putting all this effort into being there for her, she would return the favor, and she began to be more independent and try to make him proud. This is what encouraged her to pick up so many hobbies, and since she had a natural talent for so many of them, she quickly became considered the most talented person in the village.

Lloyd Garmadon

Age: 10 (apparently his voice actor said this, I can't find it but if someone else can either conform or deny that would be great)

Height: 4’7

Where are they from: Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys

Fun fact:

Lloyd can quickly learn to drive or pilot any vehicle after only being in it for a bit. He uses this to get getaway vehicles for when he needs it.

He has a reverse green thumb; he kills every plant he tries to take care of.

This caused him to be banned from Zane’s secret garden.

Get overstimulated easily.

Hobbies: playing video games, prank calling, and driving/piloting vehicles.

Backstory: Lloyd doesn’t remember either of his parents before arriving at Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys. The only reason he knows his name is because of the letter that was left with him when he arrived, reading Lloyd Montgumary Garmadon, which is a bit more than some other kids at Darkley’s got. In Darkley’s, Lloyd had 2 friends, Brad and Gene, and to them, everyone else were their enemies. Darkley kids often would leave the school to mess with nearby villages, and Lloyd would typically be the getaway driver. During one of these escapades, Lloyd tries to trick an old man, but the man outsmarts him, and Lloyd himself gets tricked. This old man is Sensei Wu, and after learning Lloyd's full name, he finds out the boy is his nephew. After Wu tells Lloyd a few life lessons and tells him who his father is, he tells Lloyd that he is his uncle, and if he wants, instead of living at Darkley's, he can live with him. Lloyd says he wants to stay at Darkley’s (partially because he likes hanging out with Brad and Gene and partially because he thinks everyone will think he is a traitor and weak if he leaves), and Senesi Wu leaves him be. He researches who his dad is, Lord Garmadon, and since he is the evilest guy Lloyd has ever heard of, he won’t stop telling everyone about it. Eventually he gets kicked out of Darkley's, so he is homeless and wandering the streets for about a month before the first episode of season 1.

Zane Juilien

Age: 19

Height: 6’2

Where are they from: A forest (not the Birchwood Forest since he doesn’t recognize the place)

Fun Fact:

Zane moved around from town to town for money but also just in case someone would recognize him.

Zane loves nature a lot.

He has the biggest green thumb, so much so that he is even able to bring back plants on their dying breaths.

He made a garden around the back of the monastery that only Nya, Lloyd, and Sensei Wu know about, but Lloyd almost killed all the plants the first time he was there, so he’s banned.

The reason he is so autistic-coded is because Dr. Julien gave him some of his own habits and traits while building him.

Zane can’t use technology; he is like an old person with it.

Hobbies: Cleaning, growing bonsai trees, cooking and baking, swimming, and gardening

Backstory: Zane’s life before the memory wipe is the exact same. After waking up in the forest with little to no memory, he traveled from town to town, doing tricks for money. During one of his tricks, where he stayed underwater for 5 minutes, he met Sensei Wu underwater with him and freaked out, causing him to surface before the 5 minutes were up. Afterwards, they talked for a bit, and Zane decided to become Sensei Wu’s student.

Ninjago Masterpost

[oetscop]

hey! absolutely love your art and your rainer interpretation- can you talk about your headcanons lore-wise involving rainer and mike? honestly you can talk about more than just those two as well i'm very curious about your interpretations honestly.

YOOO I LOVE UR RAINER ALSO thank u.....

this will hopefully not be complete word salad. bc my brains fried already, but my views on petscop characters are esoteric and best and downright incomprehensible at worst. so idk how legible this will be JDKSHSKSBSK

uhh ill start with like. jill is significantly older than anna and lina. rainers actually fairly close in age to anna.

rainers biological dad isnt in the picture and actually went missing a few years after him and jill divorced. it runs in the family i guess. but since tom was there longer hes only ever called him dad, and both jill and him took the last name hammond when they got married. and mike was actually an accident! a welcome one tho. jill and tom were in their 40s and rainer was like 16 or so.

they were very close tho! he was very close with his immediate family. for the brief time he was in college he still lived at home despite the commute.

mike would sit and watch him work on the game all the time. he wanted him to teach him how to code (thats why he created the "petscop kids" after school program! at first anyway...) but 5-6 year olds dont exactly have the attention span for explaining how the dev kit console works. unless theyre belle i guess. but he did get into art! and considering rainers also an artist he encouraged it. mike would sometimes draw his own pets to be put in the game, but since it never went past evencare they never showed up. he did sorta base toneth on mike, and that was before he based any of the other pets on other family members.

mike went missing shortly after rainers mental health was declining. he ran away after some argument with his mom, and nobody remembers what the argument was even about. since this was after marvin hit the dog with the car, and he was beginning to experience psychosis, he immediately made the connection and believed marvin had something to do with it. the cops found it a little suspicious that rainer somehow just knew he had been struck by a car, and he was the only suspect for quite a while. tom had to vouch for him pretty hard and get him a lawyer.

as for vaguer things. the newmaker plane was started in an attempt to find out where mike wouldve run to. he was already recording movements in game, so he put all of mikes in game behaviors into a to scale version of their town, trying to train it to show him where he couldve gone. this obviously didnt work. didnt help that it was completely flat terrain and like had only their house, the marks house, the school and like a couple roads. it actually lead him to the opposite side of the town than where his body was located.

marvin is ALSO severely mentally ill and was convinced that care was lina reborn before any of this happened. obviously anna didnt believe that since shes still. yknow. alive. but rainer introduced the A/B/NLM concept to him, and they both began to believe care was just lina A reborn. pre traumatic event lina. they were both trying to see if they could somehow force something like that to occur, in an attempt to bring mike A back. when belle didnt work, they figured she was too old, so they moved to care. part of this whole "changing your past" thing involved plucking out her eyebrows (lina A had trich) and essentially trying to reenact aforementioned traumatic event. thats why marvin kidnapped her to keep her in the school. and it didnt work! just traumatized the fuck outta the kid. they never had the chance to do anything to "bring mike back" by the end of it, which lead to Bathroom Tomb Event. however, last belle heard, he was pretty certain paul was actually mike A. she tried her best to keep that from paul before they became distant.

i feel like the core of a lot of this is that i really dont believe that the rebirthing process does anything at all. with enough manipulation you may start developing false memories, sure, but its not actually working. in retrospect it makes rainers character a lot sadder. just a terrified kid trying in vain to bring his baby brother back. its not easy losing someone so young in such a horrible way without knowing who took his life.

BUT UUHHH YEAH ^}^ can you tell ive been thinking abt petscop pretty much nonstop since the end of 2022 i bet you cant

[misslavenderlady]

My Baby Bats 💜🦇

This post is in honor of @hypocriticaltypwriter and her own baby bats. This part is about The Lost Boys themselves. There will be a part two with Michael and Star!

So some of you know I love the Sims 4. Back in 2022 I made The Lost Boys in the game because ya girl is obsessed. I also made:

The Emersons

Star and Laddie

Max

Thorn and Nanook

The Frog Brothers

The cave

Grandpa's House

The comic book store

The boardwalk

And....I just so happened to put myself in the game with them. There was no official "story" at first. I just wanted to smooch my boys so bad, and seeing as I don't have any digital art programs (I used to draw but I'm sooooo rusty), the Sims was the perfect way to go about it. 🥰

My sim self had a daughter with each of the boys (because I too wanted to have a gang of Lost Girls lol). I named each girl after the actor their fathers play.

Pictures and story below~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David's Daughter - Kira (the closest I could get to Kiefer)

She admires her father more than anything in the world. She wants to be a good leader and an even better protector of her sisters. Kira never backs down from a fight, often having moments in childhood where she beat up bullies that were harassing her sisters. But she doesn't use her brawn though. She's as smart as a whip, using patience and strategy to navigate life. Always studying her surroundings and knowing what to say or do for her next step. She's a mysterious girl and never reveals what she's thinking or feeling. As far as Kira is concerned, she needs to be on her guard should something happen to her father and she needs to take over as head vampire. That being said, she's very sensitive deep down, and is incredibly close to her parents, never wanting to be away from them for too long. The anxiety overwhelms her. David worries about the pressure she puts on herself.

Dwayne's Daughter - Billie

Billie is a gentle and kind girl. She's quite shy, often keeping to herself whenever she's around someone outside of the family. As a little girl, she would often hide behind her father, too scared to even say hi to new people. Dwayne was incredibly patient with her, and eventually found a way for her to socialize without getting out of her comfort zone. He introduced her to animals and wildlife in the Santa Carla mountains, showing her the hidden beauties of the world. She loves animals so much, and likes to spend time caring for stray cats and dogs she sees on the streets. Billie also inherited her mother's love of writing, and enjoys poetry most. It helps her navigate life and the feelings she has.

Marko's Daughter - Alex

A little artist like her father, Alex has an eye for the most fascinating curiosities around her. She's a jack of all trades, enjoying everything from photography, to sketching, to painting, to jewelry making. She has so many ideas, and her dad is more than happy to support her vision. She's also a little troublemaker like Marko, often going out to spray graffiti on the walls of various Santa Carla buildings. She's not afraid of causing some mischief if it means expressing herself. Alex also has a fondness of spooky stuff. She has a crystal ball, a collection of candles, tarot cards, and has a planchet earring that she uses whenever she wants to break out the ouija board. She's loves playing fun, witchy games with her sisters during sleepovers. Stuff like Bloody Mary and Light as a Feather, Stuff as a board.

Paul's Daughter - Brooke

Oh she's definitely her father's daughter. Brooke is a little wild child, always eager for an adventure. She's got plenty of energy to burn, dancing and running and jumping off furniture. She loves to stay up late and play video games or have dance parties with her sisters. Above all, her biggest passion is music. Growing up she listened to her father play guitar a lot, and immediately got inspired. He was more than happy to teach her, and ever since then, she's had a dream of becoming a rock star. She's got the energy and the beautiful singing voice for it after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some pics of the baby bats:

I'm gonna reblog this post with more baby bat pics from when the girls were little. Stay tuned!

[thatlifebloodvessel]

ABOUT ME

Who Am I?

Names/Nicknames: Most people refer to me as Lifeblood, but I'm okay with being called Ves or Mothy as well!

Pronouns: I'm okay with any pronouns!! (Though I have a slight preference for She/Her)

What Do I Do?

I have been teaching myself pixel art for four years ever since June 2020! I mainly draw bugs of sorts, mostly moths! I have also gotten a bit in to game programing, I love exploring the ins and outs of what makes a game truly shine! Other than that, I have been working up to one day start a small webcomic that uses a pixel art style, I've rarely seen this done, and would love to see it more!!

What Are My Current Interests?

In Stars and Time

Hollow Knight

Bug Fables

Bugs in general (Mostly moths)

Sky: Children of the Light

Your Only Move is Hustle

Rain World

(More under the cut :3 )

What Do I Use?

Aseprite: for pixel art. (With most of my plugins made by CarbsCode, Aseprite Record Plugin for timelapses by Sprngr, and Wild Night Theme by WildLeoKnight)

Krita: For non-pixel related digital art!

Commonly used color palettes: Rosy42 and Journey by pinetreepizza, and the NES Palette.

Fonts: m3x6 by Daniel Linssen, and VCR OSD Mono by Riciery Leal.

Godot Game Engine: for programming.

Common Tags?

#lifeblood rebugs: Reblog tag

#lifeblood arts: Art tag

#lifeblood rambles: Basically any post of mine that isn't art

#oc:[NAME] : tag for any of my OCs (e.g #oc:rose)

#strawpage saturday: I post any gimmicks I get on my Strawpage every saturday

Who Are My OCs?

Rose (She/Her): Anxious little rosy maple moth wearing a sunhat

The Lamplighter (They/Them): A quiet moth entrusted with responsibility of being 'the chosen one' and having to bring back light to a world shrouded in darkness. They hate it.

Chimere (She/Her): A luna moth who is visited by a strange, mysterious teacher from the depths of her dreams.

Loam (They/Them, Refers to themselves as We/Us): Hollow Knight OC, A collective of lifeseeds piloting the discarded mask and cloak of a vessel.

Maria (She/They): Bug Fables OC, cheeky merchant who steals from others to stock her own shelves

Maggie (She/They): Sky: CoTL OC, a stubborn, bird-like skykid who travels the world in search of their siblings who were split apart when the Eye of Eden first shattered.

Do I Take Commissions?

Not yet! But it's something that I do plan on doing some time in the future! Feel free to let me know if that's something you would be interested in! In the meantime, feel free to send in requests in my askbox! I may or may not do them.

Where Else Can You Find Me?

thatlifebloodvessel on Discord (Im mostly in the ISAT Server)

My Steam profile

My ArtFight profile

My Strawpage site

... More to come???

Other Blogs That I Run.

@where-is-odile-isat: Where I put Odile from In Stars and Time in random ass places.

Cool People You Should Check Out!!

WhiteVault: The pixel artist and game dev who helped to shape me in to the artist I am today, and a gosh darn charmer!

CupOhJoe: Another great pixel artist that I watch!

Iridaze: Cozy Sky: CoTL streamer, I am often lurking in her streams when I have the chance to.

[februaryfangfest]

There are just a few days left until Sign-ups end for Fangfest, so go read the deets and fill out the sign up sheet!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming: Each week in the run-up to February Fangfest, we’ll be spotlighting different sub-pairings/groups within the Fanged Four, because your works (and our love) can be for those individual relationships too! We’ll be sharing some fic and art that we adore which depict them, and hope you’ll enjoy and go shower the creators in comments and kudos/likes!! And oh, hey, if it serves as propaganda for you to go create your own things? Win-win.

This week, we're doubling up. We're spotlighting both Dangel and Sprusilla. First up, the elders - Dangel. The first two members of the famous Fanged Four, Darla and Angel have the longest canon romance of any recurring characters in the Buffyverse. They are the only two characters who each get to meet the other in all three states of transformation: human, vampire, and vampire with a soul. They kill each other, save each other, betray each other, betray OTHERS for each other, and love each other in a story that reaches truly epic scale, along the way becoming the only pairing that produces biological offspring together as well as delivering the very first and very last lines of dialogue in the televised shows. They are the foundation of the most fearsome foursome in canon history and the literal definition of found family. While Angel is repeatedly forced to witness Darla's death over the course of both series and their relationship ends in tragedy, we can always hold out hope that Darla will be resurrected (again) and these two will finally get their fair shot at happily ever after.

In this post, we'll be sharing the delightful Dangel works from 2024's February Fangfest and Fanged Four Family Bingo. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a comment and kudos :D

Fanart

Title: Control Artist: Girlpire Rating: Explicit (Fucking Machines, Femdom, Bottom!Angel, An abundance of onomatopoeia) Medium: Digital Art Summary: [Girlpire] might have been wrong. THIS is the dirtiest thing [she's] ever drawn. :D

Title: Darla and Angel Through the Years Artist: Ifer Rating: Gen Audiences (Self-Described Eye Strain Art, Blood and Romance, Bloody Handholding) Medium: Digital Art Summary: Illustration for February Fangfest 2024

Fanfiction

Title: Adult Material Author: Vampbrat Rating: Explicit (Bloody Great Reconnections, Choking, Porn and Popcorn ) Length: 1,040 words Setting: Post-Series Summary: The most divorced vamps in California tentatively attempt to reestablish a connection.

Title: His Proper Place Author: Harlow Rating: Explicit (Pegging, Punishment, Season's Beatings) Length: 671 words Setting: Ambiguous, Pre-Series Summary: Darla is displeased that her lover has spent Valentine's day committing atrocities without her. She decides to teach him a lesson.

Title: Still Life in the Deserts of the World Author: Girlpire Rating: Explicit (Existential Crises and Nude Modelling, Slaughterhouse Things, Zoo Life, Mental Health Issues, Sex, OCs Who Will Steal Your Heart) Length: 20,064 words Setting: 1977 Summary: It's February of 1977. The first Star Wars movie hasn't hit theaters, Elvis is alive, and a lonely vampire with a soul is working two part-time jobs in Bridgeport, Connecticut, still teaching himself how to survive. This is a snapshot of Angel's life in the days leading up to the tragic encounter in the donut shop in Orpheus.

This next fic features various combinations of the Fanged Four (and a few other Aurelians), but it is very much Dangel-centric throughout:

Title: A Divine Comedy in the House of Flies Author: QueennHalloween Rating:Explicit (An Assortment of Kinks, Dubcon, Pregnancy, Family Orgy, Angst and Feels, Contains Fanart) Length: 38,270 words Setting: The Afterlife, Various Parts of Darla's Memory Summary: Darla is dead… again. It's the only thing she's actually sure of.

[zinepavilion]

Visit the 2024 @americanlibraryassoc Zine Pavilion in San Diego, CA #ALAAC24, booth 2742 in the Exhibit Hall, to meet zine makers tabling in person THIS Friday, June 28th at 5:30pm -Monday, July 1st at 2pm! See the full list here: https://zinepavilion.tumblr.com/zinemakers

Meet zine maker Sybil “Mouna” Touré / BLSP

Mouna is a Black+Queer+AuDHD artist, musician, and youth librarian. She has a passion for zines, fighting censorship, synthesizing visual media with music, and using art to bring communities together!

As a librarian, Mouna runs programs teaching zine-making to teens, and recently a co-writer/artist of Manga Goes To School, published by ALA Editions.

Mouna is the founder/head of BlackLight Sugar Press, (BLS for short). Shoujo manga, otome games, and idol-singer anime are the driving inspirations for BLS, where Mouna moderates and directs collaborative creative projects such as fanzines, anthologies, music collaborations, and multimedia projects.

Social media:

Twitter/X

@MounaMoonBat

@BlackLightSugar

Tumblr:

@Mouna-Bat

@BlacklightSugarPress

Bluesky:

Mouna: https://bsky.app/profile/mounabat.bsky.social

Blacklight Sugar: https://bsky.app/profile/blacklightsugar.bsky.social

Threads:

Mouna: https://www.threads.net/@moonbatmouna

Blacklight Sugar: https://www.threads.net/@blacklightsugar

Insta:

Mouna: moonbatmouna

Blacklight Sugar: https://www.instagram.com/blacklightsugar/

[musicandetc]

Want to start music as a career?🤔

Absolutely you can pursue a career in music, and there are numerous paths to gainful employment once you've honed your skills. Music, like any art form, offers a wide range of opportunities across different sectors, from performance to education, production, composition, and more. The key is to identify the area of music that most excites you and to build a skill set that aligns with it. Here are a few potential career avenues:  Performance: You could perform as a solo artist, in a band, orchestra, or ensemble, whether in live settings, recording studios, or on tour. This could include classical, jazz, pop, or any genre that resonates with you.  Music Education: Teaching music at various levels (from private lessons to school or university settings) is a stable and rewarding career. Many music teachers also supplement their income through performances or private tutoring.  Music Production and Sound Engineering: Working behind the scenes, you could produce music, mix and master tracks, or work in sound engineering for film, television, or live events. The digital age has opened up even more opportunities in music production, where many people work remotely or as freelancers.  Composition and Songwriting: If you have a flair for creating original music, composing for films, video games, commercials, or even writing songs for other artists is a viable career. Composers often have multiple income streams from licensing and royalties.  Music Therapy: This is an emerging field where you can use music to support mental health, rehabilitation, and emotional well-being. It’s a rewarding way to blend music with a desire to help others.  Music Business and Management: If you're interested in the industry side, you could manage artists, work in music marketing, music publishing, or help run record labels or music venues.

 Session Musician or Producer: Many musicians find work as session artists, contributing to recording projects for other musicians or film soundtracks.  Music Technology: With the rise of music software and apps, there are growing opportunities in developing new tools for musicians, working in audio programming, or creating virtual instruments. While a career in music may not always follow a traditional 9-to-5 path, it can definitely be financially sustainable and creatively fulfilling. Success often comes with dedication, networking, a strong portfolio, and an entrepreneurial mindset. The music industry is diverse, and many musicians build hybrid careers—performing, teaching, composing, and producing at the same time. In short, yes, you can absolutely make a living in music, but it often requires passion, persistence, and versatility. You may also note that music not only provides financial stability but also provides peace of mind and comfort that is the most important requirement in one’s life.

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[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 789

One of the fun things about doing new things with other people is learning new shit. For example, @wereah is a very large advocate for using drawing references. Which makes sense, even the great classical artists used drawing references, they’re called live models.

However, I never considered what counted as a drawing reference, until I started working on Chimera Academy.

Or until I met Were-Ah, because one of her great talents is teaching herself how to use other computer design programs… such as Blender, which is where a lot of video game models get ported to by hobbyists. She also taught herself how to pull models from video games, which then can be used as a drawing reference. 

In fact, if you know how to use Blender, it can make for a much better drawing reference because you can move the object or model around. What’s even more interesting is that realistic graphics aren’t necessarily better, and not just because the moving parts and textures can make it a nightmare to port to Blender. A semi-realistic but stylized 3D model, especially for backgrounds can make it easier for the artist to parse the visual information needed to use the reference for their own art. 

Learning about this has allowed me to take part in some interesting conversations. For example, Were-Ah and I have talked before about the merits of a game like Tiny Glade for environmental design. Tiny Glade is a toybox building game, where the player can design little cottages, towns and even large complex castles. Despite the random generation of the building parts, you have enough control that if you have an idea for a town, you could design it in the game. While you can’t pull the models for that game (because of the game engine it uses) the game allows for very good picture taking, and you could make a town and then take pictures in the game as reference. 

It’s become such a part of how I think that I even sometimes suggest games to her as a reference point, which is hilarious because I am just the person who writes.

And sometimes run around Infinity Nikki getting sitting portraits for references.