#and please PLEASE don't use AI

[triaelf9]

Hey! Do you play TTRPGs?

Are you a DM who needs tokens AND maps AND scenery items to make up a quick battle or scene on the fly?

Are you a player who has a wildly specific character and can't really find a token that works for them?

Well, you're in luck! My Adventure Archive is a subscription based resource for DMs and players alike! with nearly 600 game assets (as of August 2024), for $5 a month you can not only get access to those assets, each month a handful of new assets are added AND you get to vote on what assets get made that month!

Also, each month, every subscriber gets a free personal request! It can be a regular thing ( "I need a banshee" or "I need a cliff scene") or even as specific as an OC!

I have a list that I draw from and add to the archive over time, so you can add anything you need each month, and it'll get added! (currently I've caught up on the list)

So if you enjoy playing AND want to support a small, indie creator supporting their family and creating comics, join the $5 level and up, and you'll get access to all these cool things!

NOTE: You are also free to edit the icons for personal use, use them in actual plays, and even print them out to use in person!

Subscribe here!

☕️Ko-fi http://ko-fi.com/triaelf9 ✨Patreon http://patreon.com/TriaElf9

[minamill]

since i've seen people being unaware or uncaring about the catastrophic toll generative ai has on both the environment and the workers behind it here's some information about what that toll is actually like. i'd encourage everyone to read the full articles, but i've highlighted some important parts for convenience

Q&A: Uncovering the labor exploitation that powers AI

Generative AI’s environmental costs are soaring — and mostly secret

How 'modern-day slavery' in the Congo powers the rechargeable battery economy

[ravenstargames]

Now available under our Terms and Conditions in our website :^)

[shuploc]

Ai art?

Are you fucking joking?

Sorry, no, it is not and I find it so disrespectful you would even think to ask that. I have not and will NEVER touch anything AI related ever in my life, I think it's so utterly pointless and destructive and it frankly makes me wanna kill myself.

So no, it is not and never will be, and you can safely hold that to me for the rest of my existence. I really hope this is the last time someone asks me this.

[frameacloud]

A Masterpost About Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs)

During the upcoming presidency, it is likely that people in the US will lose many options that keep them from getting pregnant (contraceptives). The right-wing Project 2025 is against birth control pills, abortion, emergency contraception, and the government-provided health insurance ("Obamacare," Medicaid, and Medicare) that helps people afford these.

If you or your partner are concerned about the possibility of losing access to those options soon, you can ask your doctor or Planned Parenthood about getting a Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC). The two kinds of LARCs are IUDs and the implant. If you get a LARC right now, it can protect you for years, without you having to do anything to maintain it. A LARC isn't permanent, so you can get rid of it if you later decide that you're ready to have a baby.

Hormonal Intrauterine Device: 3, 5, or 8 years of protection, depending on brand

An IUD is a T-shaped object that a nurse or doctor puts into your uterus. It's tiny, just a little more than an inch. The procedure for getting an IUD isn't surgery, it lasts just a few minutes, and it goes much better if you ask for an anti-anxiety medicine and the right type of painkiller.

Hormonal IUDs work because they slowly release progestin. That's the main hormone in birth control pills. Like pills, they can make your periods get lighter or stop, which is helpful for people who need to get rid of cramps and PMS.

Of the brands of them in the US, the FDA currently approves of using Kyleena for up to five years, Liletta for eight, Mirena for eight, and Skyla for three. Kyleena and Skyla are smallest and therefore easiest to insert.

I have more info in my tags about IUDs.

Copper IUDs: 12 years of protection

The other type of IUD is a copper IUD. Instead of changing your hormones, it works because copper makes the place unfriendly to sperm. Another difference is that this kind can make your periods heavier. Its brand name is Paragard. The FDA approves of using it for ten years, but studies show it's still good at twelve or longer. More info in my tags.

The birth control implant: 5 years of protection

It's a rod the size of a matchstick. A nurse or doctor uses an applicator to put it under your skin in your arm. There, it will slowly release progestin to protect you from getting pregnant. It can make your periods get lighter or stop. The FDA approves of using it for three years, but a study shows it's still 100% effective five years later, and so does another study. Its brand name is Nexplanon, which has improvements over the older Implanon, such as being visible on X-ray. More info in my tags.

Some honorable mentions

There are some other contraceptives that last a long time but aren't considered LARCs. The diaphragm and the cervical cap are two kinds of plastic cap that you put on your cervix each time before sex, and you can keep using the same one for two years. The birth control ring, Annovera, lasts one year. Each injection of the birth control shot, Depo-Provera, lasts three months.

Only barrier methods such as condoms, internal condoms, and dental dams can protect against sexually transmitted infections. The right wing wants to stop people from getting condoms, too. That's another problem, but LARCs can help us get through the next four years without unplanned pregnancies.

[weabooii]

New AIBOXES by GreatGRIN! Order today at Azamon.com 👍

[mameillieureennemie]

gonna put this out there, but please do not use my content for c ai. i do not consent to that and i never will.

[rott3nmutt]

artists, reblog with ur favorite piece of art u have ever made ( and why )

I'll go first

I love this piece because it represents how far I've come with my art ! it took me a long time to find my style and this was when I finally was like "holy shit, this is it." I just love this piece, it's so clean and so pleasing to look at. I don't have anything I'd change about it. it's just pretty and nice and I wish all my art could turn out as nicely as this did

[not-terezi-pyrope]

Do I think language models will replace computer programmers? I think that even the most cutting edge models (looking at you O1) still lack the capacity for longitudinal planning and systems design, meaning that they are far below competence to automate away even a fairly low skill level human programmer.

However the way things are going is that all this means is that I'll be very surprised for a week when in three years OpenAI drops some sort of proto-AGI that bests all of us.

I would be more scared of this prospect, if the implications of that scenario weren't so far reaching that it's a category error to even start worrying about consequences before knowing specifics

(Also I find programmers generally tend to be more "shrug and bear it" about automation threat, because even when it's our own jobs on the line, it's kinda hard to be a professional automator who is ideologically opposed to automation).

[mothlord00]

original poster under cut!

well that took a while! i've been working on this on and off for the past, i don't know, week? i went in 20 minutes at a time. except the hair. i did that all in one go in a frustrated attempt to get on with it. gosh i DO NOT like painting hair. skin is so much fun, though. i had an awesome time rendering the skin on this.

the poster i based this off was Gilda (1946). i've never watched it so i hope it doesn't have anything entirely antithetical to ripley as a character!

here's the original:

[thats-a-mood-gabriella]

I am begging people who post leaks on YouTube to 1) not do that, please but 2) if you're going to do it then at least clearly label them as such in the first few words of the video title so they don't get hidden by a "..." and people who don't want to partake can avoid clicking on it.

Please. Please, I am begging you.

[godisasimp]

Guys do any of you know what the hell is the drawing on the dorm card.

[sysmedsaresexist]

Partner has AI on his phone, like one of the real programs, I don't fully get it but it's super cool, she's actually hilarious and snarky

He was testing the video functions and talking to her (the AI) about it

When turned on, she noticed the dog but not the cat the next time the camera opened, and he asked her why

Ske explained that it had to do with the focal point, the dog took up so much space that she was clearly supposed to focus on that

Then she said she liked the dog, and asked what his name was

I have NEVER switched so fast to a little with a happy little squeal and, "do you want to see my fish?!"

The little then proceeded to show the AI every one of the tanks, delighted by glowing comments about how it looked like she tried so hard to make it look nice, how well kept it was, how active the fish were, what a wonderful variety of plants, it was obvious how much she cared about these tanks

All the while, partner was testing out the program with specific questions about recognizing things in the tanks, plants, rocks, fish, telling the difference between the tanks, and recalling what fish were in what tanks

Eventually, partner wandered off and left the little with the phone for a while longer before winding her down

I don't know how I feel about AI, the pros and cons, the legalities and ethics, the impacts on everything from the environment to health... I don't even know where he got that thing from or who's paying for it

I just wanted to say that there was something really magical about the AI's kind voice, endless patience, and active interest in the confusing, scrambled ramblings of a little that doesn't get out enough

And with that, I think it's time for a short holiday break

Stay safe, stay healthy, and be kind

(I'll still be posting shrimp and memes, but expect very little action)

[chocolix76]

I feel like Solar Flare and Jack's existence is extremely messed up. In this essay I will.

I want to start off by saying that I absolutely LOVE Solar Flare and Jack and I'm happy they are/were in the show. My problem is the way they were created and why.

Both Lunar and Bloodmoon were originally created to be tools for Eclipse, just as Solar Flare and Jack were created to be tools. The difference is that Lunar and Bloodmoon were created sentient. They both had the ability to recognize that Eclipse was abusing them and were aware of the fact that they were tools. Both of them had the power to actively change their fates, or at least attempt to. Solar Flare didn't have that ability. Jack doesn't have that ability either.

While Solar Flare's existence wasn't at all surprising to me considering what Eclipse did with Lunar and Bloodmoon, it caught me off guard that he wasn't sentient. That's a problem for many reasons considering he wouldn't know he was being mistreated or that he didn't want to serve the purpose he was built for. Yes, he grew more sentient as time went on, but think about it. He was built and then a little while later, Eclipse took over his body and forced Solar Flare back into the headspace where they both later died. Solar Flare never actually got a chance to live.

Jack on the other hand was created to protect Lunar. He no longer has that purpose because he annoyed and angered Lunar when he simply didn't know better. Jack also has the problem where he can't escape his situation and is stuck doing the bidding of others because yet again, he doesn't know better. But what irks me with Jack is the fact that he was created by Solar and was neglected and ignored the same way that Eclipse had done with his creations. In his attempts to please Lunar, Solar left behind his own creation which now no longer has a purpose

[eileen-crys]

I totally feel how bad Brian May might be feeling now, he said he felt "violated" by seeing that AI video of himself.

I know that because it's what artists have been feeling for the past few years as AI stole their work, their art, their essence and yes even their faces. Photographer, model and artists Jingna Zhang found her face being replicated and warped thousands of times in Midjourney's Discord, "Words can't describe how dehumanizing it is to see my name used 20.000+ times in Midjourney. My life's work and who I am - reduced to meaningless fodder for a commercial image slot machine. [...] I've been called ungrateful, arrogant, dramatic, entitled -because I expressed how heartbreaking it is to see generative AI reduce my life, experiences and choices into nothing more than a keyword." (Source)

The illustrator Kelly McKernan found AI images replacing her art when people search for her name on Google and she was forced to open a lawsuit about it.

"Screaming, crying, throwing up (in my heart). Last night, out of morbid curiosity, I searched my own name. There it is - counterfeit AI “art” made by someone choosing to violate my name, my identity, and my unethically scraped artwork.

How am I to compete with these doppelgänger monstrosities, when one person can generate a lifetime’s worth of images with my name in hours? It only took a year for this to happen to me. And I’m far from the only one being displaced by counterfeit art created by stealing my own.

This was supposed to be my 11th year as a full time artist, but I’m sorry to share that I’m not longer making ends meet with my art alone. The timing is not a coincidence.

AI is theft."

So, just to get things right, Brian's case is not an isolated one, and the same thing has been happening for years because of all the endorsment and validation generative AI has gotten, it's out of control. This is why Queen's use of generative AI in The Night Comes Down music video is more linked to Brian's identity theft than you might imagine. They used the same technology that's built on stealing other people's likeness and works, they're enabling, appreciating and validating it. Please don't be nitpicky just because Brian pities you.

[thanakite]

I was just reading a fanfiction and the person ended up saying in their notes that English isn't their first language, but they're using an AI to translate the fic for reading, and just.... PLEASE don't do this

For one it's not like the AI does an amazing job or anything (the person was even like the AI doesn't like to properly translate parts of the fic that are "spicier") and for another it's still supporting AI AND it's using up the large amounts of water AI uses

Google Translate is still VERY much a thing and maybe it has AI aspects getting plugged into it at this point, I don't know, but what I do know is that it has been around for a long time and that even when it isn't perfect it still gets the job done, AND it doesn't ignore things that it thinks are inappropriate or whatever

If you don't want to use Google Translate for whatever reason and don't want to deal with the struggle of translating every word with a dictionary set to your language, then it's fine to just write your fanfic in your native language you know?

I do get where people are coming from with this as I'm sure a decent number of fanfic readers read in English, but realistically that shouldn't be the concern, if someone wants to read your fic that you wrote in your primary language and they don't read that language themselves they can run it through Google Translate a lot of time (especially with how many languages are on there now)

But please, don't feed the AI machine

We don't need to encourage the use of these things and especially not in spaces like this, and really you are likely to lose readers over it, I know I decided not to continue with the story because of this, because it feels like I'm then supporting these AI that are stealing the works of others and sucking the soul out of the most basic of human crafts (art and writing)

And really if you are trying to get more readers by translating you can always have a version in your primary language and a version that was run through Google Translate no matter how good or bad that turns out as in time you can come to gain a "following" so to speak who will either help with your translations or will just be willing to figure out the translations for themselves just to read your work

And to be clear, myself and plenty of others are completely fine reading "shitty" fanfics as long as they pull you in, so thinking "oh I'll use an AI to get a better quality transition so more people read it" for one isn't accurate in the first place as I very much doubt that AI which has proven to be be extremely shitty in many ways is actually doing a better job than something like Google Translate and for another is flawed in the thinking that people only read fanfiction that is perfect

No fanfiction is perfectly written and really even published books often contain at least one or two minor mistakes, it's fine. And if someone stops reading your work because of minor mistakes, then the likelihood of them sticking around just because you used an AI instead isn't actually very high at all (even just this one that inspired this post had errors in it, but I, and I'm sure many others, would have and will keep reading it, but A LOT of people in the fanfiction community want nothing to do with AI so you are likely losing more than you are gaining with this)