#can you tell how much i hate ai art yet

[smol-bean-of-the-smols]

love it (sarcasm) when artists who utilize ai art generators don't tag their posts with anything relating to ai art therefore it gets through the filtered tags and so i have to scroll through their blog for confirmation that it is indeed ai art stuff because i recognized the style of that specific ai art gen but it wasn't in the tags and then blocking that individual blog.

this is about a post i saw on the Radar thing and immediately recognized it as from an ai art gen but got through my filtered tags because it WASNT TAGGED PROPERLY

i don't care if you made changes to it with your artistic skills, it NEEDS to be tagged because that is not an original work made completely by a person. it's still from an ai art gen. and therefore i don't want to see it.

[unbotheredalwyn]

So obviously after the Joe breakup shit changed we had that ratty twatty and then suddenly travis. Like ratty twatty first of all made it seem like you know this person is like horrible yet you choose to be with him? Everyone called her (rightfully) out I feel like cause he is really a twat of a person and the whole ice spice collab to basically "save" Matty twattys image. I also felt like it was unfair of her fans to force her to break up with him I mean it's her life. And Joe during this time went through so much shit after the break up I remember he was papped and everyone made fun of how skinny he is and how horrible he looks (he had bags under his eyes on the photo) which is actually sad cause he lost his grandmother I think during that time and people were genuinely saying disgusting things and saying mother is looking so much better etc etc while Joe was having a downwards spiral. Again I understand no one knew his depression was that bad but fuck swifties can be more kind.

Exit ratty twatty enter travesty lord this man gives me the ick.

Swifties are blinded by their relationship but he is really not a good dude. I mean that video live of him pushing his coach and yelling? Videos online of him being openly racist, being a trump supporter (and also swifties are dumb they think bc he got vaccinated and bent the knee for black lives matter he is somehow Democrat?) honey trump is vaccinated as well. And just because he supported blm does not make him a good person. He was PAID to do all that performative shit.

I mean she has millions of fans, thousands of young girls thinking the blatant red flags of travesty is hot and shit. Tells me he can push her around too. (not to mention he supported his abusive friend that literally hit his wife.)

And it feels like she's forcing travesty tbh? Like girlie you wanted the art to be about you yet you let some man overshadow it. Because truly that's what's happening like swifties are more into him at this point and the relationship they made up in their head as Taylor.

This is where I got annoyed and took a step back. Each time they were seen Joe got thousands and thousands of hate just for what being introverted?

Then they attacked Emma (Joe's Co worker) for a cheating rumor THEY MADE UP and the shit they said were so genuinely disgusting she had to switch off her comments.

Then Ai audio dropped about Joe abusing Taylor and Ai videos circled making it seem like Joe is a cheater when he is NOT. fuck they even trended a sex scene with that Alison chick he worked with saying he said Alison (her real name) and not her character's name when he DID NOT. It was in the fucking series! This woman got slut shamed so bad she turned off comments too for literally WORKING with Joe. Swifties literally spread shit around that he cheated on Taylor with Emma and Alison when he didn't! And the fucking best of all Taylor was on the set while filming conversations with friends. She most likely saw it IN PERSON and they chose to say all this genuinely disgusting shit about Alison who I've learned is actually a pretty good person.

Here I got genuinely disgusted.

So okay again I understand that Taylor can't control all her fans but her silence while her cult mass harrases people?

Whats insane to me is Joe. Like the guy got so much hate because SHE CHOSE to lead fans on. When she announced ttpd everyone thought the title relates to Joe and Paul mescal

Joe got mass hate

Then the secret songs at eras being about cheating

Joe got death threats

ALL TO BE AN ALBUM ABOUT THE FUCKING SEWER RAT SHE CAN'T GET OVER?!

she literally took ALL the hate against Joe *knowing* she's releasing an album dissing her 6 weeks situationship is genuinely disgusting. I cannot fathom it.

And AND the only thing she could say about Joe is dude did not want to marry her bc he was severely depressed WHICH IS NOT HER PLACE TO TALK ABOUT HIS STRUGGLES?

like I am SORRY this man wants to d word next to her and she just didn't care and wanted to fuck Matty?

Her partner, that got her through her darkest times BTW, did not deserve this.

She let all this mass harrasment just happen to market ttpd. Like genuinely what the actual fuck. 2 innocent women Emma and Alison were attacked and called sluts for genuinely existing and breathing the same air as Joe. And the proof he did not cheat is in her OWN lyrics. (which swifties cannot seem to fucking read bc they'd rather attack Joe than admit this album is about a sewer nazi rat)

The hate Joe got made me cry. The disgusting things they said about him. Swifties literally threatening to bash his head in with a hammer or that he needs to hang himself and they'd enjoy seeing his body swinging from the roof.

Genuinely why would any person say this to anyone at any time?

And they made fun of depression like. What. The. Fuck. Just because Joe might not see it does not mean other people with crippling depression won't.

Oh and a side note she's still bringing up Kim on albums? Not just Kim Kim's CHILD?! leave the kid alone.

Genuinely feel like the most honest Taylor we got was during lover (a time which Joe helped her voice her political opinions and shit) and idk I just feel cheated on?

My whole life I've defended Taylor against everyone and I genuinely feel like she's showing her true colors now being with travesty and ratty and I cannot fathom how this is the same Taylor I'm seeing now as she was like a few years ago.

And it's not just Joe that got death threats BTW. When midnights came out and everyone gave honest reviews cause that evil Jack antonof little gay man ruined the production there were journalists literally getting so much death threats its insane.

Taylor gets (rightfully) called out and fans can't handle it.

She needs to address them ASAP. All these parasocial freaks. The people harrasing Joe. The people literally only seeing Taylor as a breeder for travestys children.

I can't genuinely I can't this is not how I want to feel about Taylor I mean I gave her my youth I looked up to her so much I feel so disappointed in the way she's acting yk?

Yes maybe she can't do jack shit about swifties but she can try.

And her staying quiet over Palestine? Her voice her one post about a ceasefire could change EVERYTHING.

idk at this point I can't stand to be around Taylor.

[linni-3]

ai rant

one of the pains of being an artist on the internet is knowing that ai is currently plagiarizing you

and yet I don't want to stop sharing my work because my voice feels quiet enough already and I want people who can relate to these things to have a space to FEEL it as totally as I do

ai can never write with as much emotion and real experience that a human can, yes, but it can mimick it and it is stealing right from under you

and every time someone uses it they train it further and then are shocked when ai is better a few months after it became so popular businesses have started using it to do their work

i have genuinely seen people on the internet talk about how they use character ai and other stuff as a therapist and that it 'works'. do you know how upsetting this is?? arguably the most human required job is being slowly replaced already

and the urge to erase myself from the internet and go write my poems in some off the grid cabin in the woods like a madman is so appealing but I am still human and I want my work to be looked at as most artists do because art is performing

even if I only shared it in physical form like a book or something it would still end up on the internet and I can't help but feel a little crushed at the idea that a year from now ai poems will definitely be widespread and most people won't be able to tell the difference

and all the great poets of our past and the undiscovered ones of our future will be having their words stolen from them to be strung together by an emotionless robot that uses up water and non renewable resources to create lifeless life

anyways pointless rant. i hate ai and I hate people who defend it more

[funkii-fox]

Should I block the French Guy?

This mf has the audacity to pretend to agree that AI “art” is wrong, then STILL is using AI to generate images of his ocs. I posted the quote of Araki condemning AI “art” and this fucking guy has the audacity to like it, even tho I had him in mind while posting it.

I was like “yk, I havent seen this guy’s story in a while because it’s 100% hateful, maybe I should check to see if he still does.” The most recent one I could find was from September 8th in a highlight abt ocs, but that’s not to say he hasn’t used it since and just didn’t save it to highlight. Make of that what you will, but I choose to believe he’s still using AI. I remember once I even had a convo telling him to stop using AI, but bro just went “ok” and still used AI BRUH🗿

But guess what else I saw: he likes Jimmy 😭😭😭 this was 100% expected tho. He once changed his pfp to Curly and i was like “your ass is NOT Curly ur Jimmy bro.” He posted 3 whole stories abt the community judging ppl that like Jimmy. He compared it to how ppl like DIO and said its bc he has pretty privilege and not Jimmy and thats why ppl judge them. I won’t lie; yes, most ppl like DIO bc hes pretty and charming, but at least he has some types of redeeming qualities. Jimmy is just 100% asshole. Every scene you see of him is he’s being a jerk or a fuck up that says “i can fix this” but actually can’t. Mouthwashing is SO un-nuanced in the way you’re supposed to hate Jimmy, it’s amazing rlly. We’re not even shown much of his personal life or other aspects of his personality; unlike other antagonists like Kira or Diavolo.

Now, am I gonna throw rocks at your window for liking Jimmy? No. Do what you want. But, i will psychoanalyze you and conclude that you like him either for the abusive dynamic or you like him bc he’s like you. This guy 110% likes Jimmy bc he’s relatable.

Simply looking at it face value right now, the way this guy is so OBSESSED with other people is insane. 90% of my conversations w this guy has been bruja arianna, snerufu, antis, women who make self insert ocs, or his arch nemesis Fay that he just can’t stop stalking. It reminds me of how Jimmy was obsessed and jealous of Curly’s success. He is also negative all the time. Even when making a joke, the punchline is always someone else or a cheap horny joke that comes across as a 7th grader. It reminds me of how Jimmy HAD to take Curly saying “i want more in life” the wrong way. It even manifests in the way bro had Curly as his pfp; because he wants to be like Curly.

We met from me shitting on bruja arianna. My criticism came from logic and a want to make change in the community, but it’s clear now that his criticism comes from hate and insecurity. He’s so passionate about hate, i think it’s the only thing he’s passionate about. He’s not even passionate enough about his own ocs to draw them himself. He’s so hateful he makes fun of women in the fandom for damn near anything they do, as if millions of ppl don’t also see him as a woman and as if he never lived as a woman. Then he hides all of his edginess as “im French lol we’re just angry :p” be so serious

His only other characteristic is being hypocritical. This guy “doesn’t deserve hate” but is constantly negative all the time. This guys gets upset at shit on a screen just to search it up more. This guy HATES bruja arianna for mocking trans men, yet all his male ocs are “androgynous” no mf they look like girls.

Chat, I don’t care anymore about being stalked. I’m stronger now. I have better things to worry about now that I have a life. I don’t care if he talks a lot of shit nor do I care if he “exposes” me for some made up bs. He can have a tantrum all he wants; i have better things to care about

Poll whether I should block him under the cut.

[flightyquinn]

AI Haters, Please Read to the End

I see people celebrating every time something bad happens in the AI art world, and that makes me very sad. Because I am partially colorblind, and have ADHD, clinical depression, and other health issues that I'm less comfortable talking about. Because I can't work, and rely on family for housing and government assistance to afford essentials. For someone like me, the barrier to entry on art is high. I'm never going to own a drawing tablet, I can't get professional lessons, my focus sucks to the point where it's hard to follow tutorials no matter how much I want to, and even if all of that could be sorted, my own eyes are against me.

But I still have ideas. I still have pictures in my head that want to get out. Characters that want faces, scenes that want to be expressed, and the like. I'm still creative. I just can't properly express that creativity. Nor can I pay someone else to express it for me. However, I can tell an AI what I'm trying to depict. I can tweak the settings, make small changes, spend hours on end generating and re-generating, tweaking and re-tweaking, and making small edits that are within my power to do, until I have a picture that satisfies my need to bring the thing in my head to life. That's not "stealing". It's not pushing a button and letting the computer do the work for me. That's me having my own ideas, and trying to use the tools at my disposal to turn them into something that other people can see.

Plus, there's one other thing I can do. This is a picture I generated with AI that I'm actually quite proud of.

And do you know why? Because it started as this.

I fed my terrible MSPaint rough as hell doodle into an AI, and told it what the picture was supposed to be. And I tried again, and again, and again, until I was able to refine the result into something that I was happy with - which took a whole lot more than just pressing the button again, let me tell you.

This is my idea, from start to finish, and my shitty art became something that actually looks halfway decent. Yeah, I'm aware of the wonkiness and AI jank. I know the jawline's weird, his eyes don't match, and there's something up with his ear. It's not perfect, but it's a whole lot better than what I could do on my own.

Look, when it comes to stopping the commercialization of AI art, I'm right there with you guys. Fuck corporations that want to replace their whole art department. Fuck people who want to impersonate other artists, or take commissions to turn someone's description of what they want into a prompt. Hell, fuck the people who take the first result they're given without trying to refine it at all!

However, I don't want AI to die. AI is an accessibility option. AI is a tool that lets me go from saying for years, "I wish I could have art of my first D&D character, I have so many fond memories of him." to having that one picture. It lets me stop stealing every time I want a character portrait for a new TTRPG that I'm starting up. Because you know what? I don't have the ability to be a "real artist", and I never will. There's too many barriers for entry.

...and my situation is mild compared to what some people have to deal with. Sure, there are people who find ways to make traditional art despite disabilities, but that's an exception. It could be the rule. Why shouldn't it be?

As far as "theft" goes, I have yet to hear one explanation of why it's okay to use references, but not AI, that didn't boil down to "it's different when we do it". And what about collage? Is a collage art, or is it "theft?" What about sculptural works that use reclaimed objects? They didn't create that. They just decided how it would be arranged. Hell, what about pieces like "The Fountain" for that matter? That's a big problem I have with all this hate. If you applied the same standards to other things as to AI, then there's a lot of things that currently are art we'd have to say aren't any more.

If you have a problem with AI, why not work to make it better, instead of trying to deprive people who rely on it for self-expression of a creative outlet?

[radon-the-opossom]

I was watching a Vaush video from about a year ago talking about why they don't like AI art. Now this was from the time when AI could barely generate a man eating a piece of toast and man I hate how much it has improved. the two main things that got me thinking were 1 now we live in a world where it is possible to surround yourself with fake facsimiles of people (truly a worst Truman show) and two what makes art meaningful when it comes from a human hand.

the reason for me is pretty simple if the piece had human care, effort, and deliberate intent it has a bit of them in it. that's why for me the worst thing i can call a piece of art is soulless for instance the infamous Grubhub ad was so horribly soulless that it made the internet cringe for a year. you can see this soulless art mostly because of corporate sanitization (modern Marvel/Star Wars, the classic corporate art style mobile games ect.)but now AI has made it worse. fully taking the soul out of the making of art.

this is why I hate AI so much. there is no intent, there is no care, there is nothing to say, there is no love or soul. it is truly as inhuman as cold iron but companies want to make the most of the art we consume this. all to save money

it made me think about the Chauvet Cave painting again. Despite being around 30000 years old I can tell the paintings have love and intent put into them. this artist who was so old that they might not have had the word artist yet put love and soul into their art and probably felt fulfillment from that just as I do today. the greed that corporations and tecbros have would take that away

wow this is like my first long post cool

[thetonethetollandthethunder]

Scythe chapter 16-20!!

Ayy we’re backk!! Let’s just get started shall we?

Chapter 16!!

-oh god the elegy—

-“Could you imagine me as a teenager?” OH YES I CAN OHOHO

-This also shows how much power scythes and especially Goddard has

-And also shows how bad of a scythe Goddard is as well

-Scythe Curie makes a good point that also relates to the toll, in which it doesn’t matter if they kill Goddard or anyone like him because another with the same ideology will always come along without fail

-this chapter didn’t have much but it IS good so ykyk

Chapter 17!!

-OHHH ITS THE MOMENT THAT EVERYONE LOSES THEIR MINDS OVER!! SCYTHE FARADAY IS D-D-DEAD or is he? :) :)

-Rowan instinctively trying to protect Citra!!!

-it makes sense for most disabilities to be nonexistent but that doesn’t mean I have to like it :/ like idk why the way it’s done is just :// especially as a disabled person myself

-The way the describe Faraday’d death is already suspicious if you already know he isn’t dead but when you’re first reading it, it does make sense!

-OH AND THE SEPARATE TRAININGS BEGINS!!!

-“If I ever take on an apprentice it will be for a different reason entirely.” OHOHO I KNOW I KNOWWWW

-Again not much to say BUT still rlly good!!

Chapter 18!!!

-Part 3 begins!!

-SCYTHE CURIE!!

-Again I always forget the names of these places, falling water is a very pretty name!!

-Citra being angry about Faraday’s death OUGH, she’s rlly going through 5 stages of grieve style

-Could you imagine ppl in the future calling our decor and shit old fashioned? Bizarre

-I love how they make Curie instantly charming and likable with only a few scenes, good writing man!!

-What hobbies would other scythes have? I wonder…

-Fun fact, i cannot drive, tried to learn and crashed the car, oh how I wish driving wasn’t necessary like in scythe

-Giving us little notes about the comfort scythes can give

-We hear a lot about being stagnant in the Scythe universe, and like, yeah, if you were in this utopia wouldn’t you grow stagnant even quicker than most? You have nothing to do literally

-You can really feel how observant Curie is, she noticed the small details

-Jesus even Curie’s yelling scared ME and I already knew what was gonna happen! She’s rlly intimidating—

-Gotta uphold your image!!

-“Another Scythe might have exacted a punishment far worse.” *COUGH COUGH GODDARD*

-Again shit names!! Barton Breen??? What??

-20 kids,, Jesus,,

-You can Curie’s own version of compassion, it’s different from Faradays yet still wonderful

-She did find her own way of gleaning!!

-Again FUCK Goddard!!

-I do wonder what would happen if Citra was trained by Goddard instead of Rowan…

-“Immortality has turned us all into cartoons.” GOD THAT LINEE

-Amazing chapter!! Told a LOT abt Curie!!!

CHAPTER 19!!!!

-Oo!! I thought this moment happened in Thunderhead but I misremembered!!

-Tho I THINK something similar happens??? Idk maybe my memory is fuckin with me ushejdj

-ALSO DAMN CITRA!! Pushin girls in front of TRUCKS holy fuck!!!

-Hate the eating descriptions!!

-TELL THE MOTHER YOU TWO!!! LIKE CMON??

-Cindy lmaoo, whenever someone whitewashes Citra im gonna call it Cindy instead <3 spite

-“err on the side of respect.” LMAO love that line

-RONDA ROADKILL IM DYINGGGGGG and so did she! (Temporarily but yk)

-“Can i throw you under a truck some other time?” She’s a busy person! I’d totally throw Citra under a truck! Would be fun!

-Morals change when theres little consequences, Citra would never even CONSIDER pushing Ronda in the mortal age, but since people can just come back it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, it also shows how the concept of empathy and morality has changed in this society

-“the cloud” like icloud! Guess apple won in this world!

-“The machine had a purer soul than any human” NO IT DOESNT IVE SEEN AI ART YOU CANT FOOL ME!!!

-FUCK YOU SCYTHE GODDARD!!!

-OO TIME FOR CITRA TO INVESTIGATE!! I remember LOVING this plot so!!!!

Chapter 20!!

-Rowan finally!!! I missed you!!!!!

-He doesn’t wanna kill Citra!!! The beginning of his devotion to her UGHHH

-god hes only 17, I think we forgot how young these characters are, they really are just kids being pushed into this horrible situation god,,,

-“His was a life without substance, and now it would end.” God and here we see Rowan’s iconic self deprecating “emo” moments, people make fun of these scenes a lot but I fucking love em, it really contrasts Rowan and Citra. Citra has people who love and care about her, Rowan doesn’t, he knows that (in this moment) if he died no one would really care or remember him, so when he finds Citra, someone who does care about him and would care if he died, he clings to it. I mean when you’re that neglected and want SOMEONE to care even a little about you, wouldn’t you do the same thing?

-He already wants to change things!! And he will!! He will change a lot, though not as much as his girlfriend!!

-VOLTA!!

-“So is there a reason why you choose your robes to be the color of piss?” HA one of my favorite lines!!

-“the Change” god their ideology—, the fact they’re all thinking that they’re changing things for the better really shows how convincing of a man Goddard is, GOD i hate him!!!

-Ans here we have Goddard’s MANY parties

-my sensory issues would hate this

-I accidentally spelled Goddard’s name as Goodard which…Isn’t that so Ironic?

-“Bimbotech” Neal I’m BEGGING you to stop

-“Rowan wondered if the man had a diamond-studded bathing suit in his waredrobe as well.” He would because he’s a vain prick!!

-HES UNDERAGE STOP GIVING HIM ALCOHOL!! *Looking at you RAND especially ya creep—*

-“He was lucky if they even remembered to get him a gift” rowans parents man,,, He was really fucking neglected man it’s so awful, and the fact he still cares about them despite that GODDD

-See how goddard bend the rules? See how he twists them to make them fit what HE wants? Yeah, he’s gonna do that a lot; again, fuck you Goddard

-ESME!!! Shes backk!! And he’s right! She’ll be important!!

-GOD this is a good chapter, rowan my beloved!!

And that’s it!!! Next time will be chapters 21-25!! We’re going so fast aren’t we?

[thebarontheabyss]

I am ashamed to say my taste hasn't changed since I was a teenager. I would have loved this if it was a paperback. But what I love about Interactive fiction is that I can control the narrative after sobbing for hours over stupid MCs in books who pissed me off so I actually really like this.

I simply wanted to say I hope you take care of yourself during the writing process. I noticed you are quite fast with updates and fixing errors and that's great but please don't overwork yourself. Such great books get canceled because talented people take on too much. Remember you are only human (which made me giggle writing because of the premise of this game)

I have questions:

1. Will you in future be making mood boards or maybe just more detailed descriptions of the ROs such as likes/dislikes or personality traits/esthetics?

2. You mentioned there will be sexual and romantic/poly options aswell. Is MCs sexual orientation gonna be an issue or talk point in any of the routes? I'm following a IF where if you are a same gender MC the topic comes up if it's new to a certain RO. which I think is cool if it's done well without all the hate and pitchforks from simple minded people.

3. As for asks is there anything you are uncomfortable answering? I know alot of pages do NSFW asks or prohibit them or do certain scenario asks (the what if/ reactions from RO asks)

I hope none of my questions are too much if it is just feel free to skip them please I don't want you to spoil too much if you would rather not.

My perspective on the romance options are that you are spoiling us. In the end it comes down to romancing:

1. Death which is like wtf I doubt it's in his usual routine to date.

2. Doing a devilish fboy route who you will try to fix and teach emotions. God knows we've all tried that in high school.

Or

My personal hell 3. A forbidden angsty make you want to tell your MC to get it tf together route aka try not to fall for someone with a pulse when you lack one.

I'm very invested in this. Seriously I adore fantasy games usually ones with a darker take but I love slice of life anime so this is the best of both worlds for me.

Thank you for sharing it with us.

First of all - THANK YOU for taking the time with this detailed response. I can't say how much i appreciate it! Before diving into your points I'll note on my quick progress with the story so far, I really get it! This story came to me after 6 years of being in writer's block, so it kind of feels like a dam has broken and this is the result lol. But I'm definitely taking care of myself - just that instead of playing Baldur's Gate 3 all day this is what I'm doing lol. Now to some answers! 1. I'll definitely will come up with a RO board in the near future, i was also wondering if I should use AI art for it but I am kind of new to this scene and really don't want the pitchforks my way so I haven't decided yet 2. As of now, instead of picking an actual orientation the player can just pick the genders of the romance options and then decide to themselves how they feel about them (with 3 romance options and 1 for friendship) i think that's the best way to include everyone. Also, want to add that each romance option will have 2-3 endings so romance or friendship paths can go in different ways. 3. Fine with answering everything! This story is currently not going to have explicit sexual content (but also not fade-to-black. I guess when I cross the bridge I'll decide) I will say that I'm going to update here often BUT don't want the tumblering to take over the actual writing process (as I see some of the creators here do lol) Happy to hear you are excited about the romances like i do! I also have thought of adding more, maybe even with the staff (although that's a minefield to navigate when you consider the power imbalances) I guess it will depend on the feedback. Again, thank you for this response. It made me smile like an idiot!

[shadowmaat]

You just don't understaaand

I've vented about this before, but hey, it's Pride Month, so I'm gonna vent some more.

The way that fandom tends to approach Murderbot and its relationships is frankly revolting.

I understand the weird human compulsion to ship all the things all the time, but here you have a character who has expressed numerous times that it is repulsed by "human bits" and disgusted by the idea of sex. You could have no clearer rendering of someone who is a sex-repulsed ace. AND YET.

Fandom seems to be hellbent on giving it a romantic sexual/sex-adjacent relationship. Oh, it can't have sex sex, of course, because it doesn't have the parts for that, but hey, we can come up with something that is exactly like sex, but different! How else can two individuals show they care deeply for each other if they can't even cyberfuck?

I need y'all to listen to yourselves. I need you to step back and actually THINK about the things you're doing. Yes yes, it's "just fiction" and none of these characters actually exist. But do you know how often aces have to deal with people telling them that they "just haven't met the right person yet" or that "if you had GOOD sex, you'd understand" and so on and so forth. Do you know how gutting it is to see a great and unapologetically ace character grabbed up by fandom and immediately sexualized?

It's a gross and creepy feeling to watch people try to loophole past "sex-repulsed" to give it a sexual relationship without the actual sex part. "Ooo, connecting to ART like this maxes out its pleasure centers!" "Sure, it says it hates sex, but if they did it like THIS it would realize how great it is!" Just... stop. Please. For the sake of all sex-repulsed aces, stop trying to act as if we're somehow "missing" something, or that our relationships are less valid because we don't copulate. Let Murderbot be Murderbot. No fucking. No metaphors for fucking. Just Murderbot.

The fact that there are so many people out there who can't comprehend a healthy, loving (or lovingly antagonistic) relationship that doesn't involve physical intimacy is disheartening. How do the rest of us stand a chance at being accepted if you can't even accept a fictional representation?

Sex isn't the only possible way to "prove" you love someone. And if you think it's necessary then you really need to expand your education because that ain't healthy. Sex as a way of expressing love? Sure. Sex as necessary proof of love? Try reading more diverse material. Or talking to people outside whatever circle you're trapped in that's reinforcing that message.

Watching the developing relationship between Murderbot and ART has been a lot of fun. They care about each other to a significant degree, so much so that even the humans and augmented humans can see it. Their relationship is a thing that already exists, and sure, there are ways for it to keep deepening, but they don't need to have the secunit/AI equivalent of sex in order for it to be real. If that's the direction Martha Wells wants to take it in, more power to her, but it doesn't need to go there in order for them to show they love each other. I don't understand why this is so hard for certain people to accept.

[sciencesara]

The Palworld Discourse

Why is it so bad…

I actually have a nuanced take but seeing the two sides is just irritating.

One side is mad and saying it’s a cheap ripoff of pokemon and that it used AI (how??? unsure) and the other side is just like, loll who cares, bad look defending the biggest IP by Nintendo, what’s wrong playing a parody that a smaller company has made, looks fun!!

Alright, I’m breaking this down into some overarching problems I see, and why everyone is having a weird knee jerk reaction one way or the other.

Gameplay and why it is (or is not) the pokemon game you are looking for

The company model is not anything to write home about

As an artist who loves Pokemon, I’m not mad that they ripped off Pokemon, I’m just mad that they did it in the laziest way possible

AI and the artists in the current climate

I love media analysis, let’s goooooo

Gameplay and why it is (or is not) the pokemon game you are looking for

Okay yes, the images below are pretty great, definitely selling the edgy dark “this is an adult parody of pokemon – with guns!” complete with animal abuse and exploitation vibes. Funny to see, but that’s not my kinda game, and even if it were…

That’s not what you are going to see most of the time. It’s definitely a more basic looking open world game/survival/base building/automation with menus and lists that you will be staring at, grinding and leveling up. The Pokepals are just a part of the game as a whole. It’s also early access, so the game is still not completely done yet. I can definitely see why it’s such a hit – it’s a genre crossover we haven’t seen before, even though it’s not…a great game, it still will be enjoyable for its audience. Presumably people who liked South Park growing up, idk

Syntac on Youtube

The company model is not anything to write home about

Y’all thinking I’m defending Nintendo by criticizing another game company can know I can hold hate for both simultaneously, thank you very much. The developer/publisher Pocketpair has done other games that are on Steam – one is called Art Imposter, a game similar to drawful that uses AI to generate the art (I will touch on AI later) and Craftopia. Craftopia is also an early access multiplayer survival action game by them, maybe you can tell what other game is mentioned when talking about this game…

How about an upcoming game they have in the works, in addition to the two early access games?

If you can’t tell where I am going with this, their whole premise is making riffs off of popular works, and in my eyes, do not make them out of love, or make them in a transformative way.

As an artist who loves Pokemon, I’m not mad that they ripped off Pokemon, I’m mad that they did it in the laziest way possible

The fan game Pokemon infinite fusion uses an AI to generate a mash-up of two different pokemon, but a large fan base has been making unique pixel art to replace favorite fusions, and has some amazing takes! There are rules and peer review of the submitted artwork, and a guide of how to make these look like pokemon – complexity of the design, color scheme, shading, etc. There are some hilarious deep cuts, and sometimes multiple versions of the same fusion, so you can pick your favorite.

SnooDrawings7091 on r/PokemonInfiniteFusion

Next, we have r/fakemon, a subreddit for fans to post their own designs, and they are amazing! They range from reimaginings and regional redesigns to original creatures, see below

Expert-Discount-3311 on r/fakemon

And here are some pal to pokemon comparisons

If you notice, all of these match the color scheme and body proportions of the one or two pokemon shown – all of them. There are original pals, but that is not the point. If you want a knock off pokemon game, go ahead, but in my book, even a few of these absolute fake prada bags are lazy. I love the creation of new, original designs that look like pokemon but are not. Look at the below image for an original pal that I love the design of -

Give me more of this!!! These look like new pokemon, because they use the same basic shapes, colors, and eye shapes of the pokemon style.

But others can just shrug and won’t care that much, and find it kinda funny that the company is so blatant about it (and find it weird that I have such strong feelings on the subject)

And that brings me to                                   

       

AI and the artists in the current climate

As you might know, AI has been a nightmare for digital artists, sending them into a survivalist defensive against the rise of generative art.

AI, that takes existing good art, puts it through a blender and makes something derivative with the same-wait a minute-no, I shan’t say-

If there were weird vibes of people throwing AI accusations against Palworld, this is probably why – they are so primed to be defensive right now against the use of AI that stuff like this hits that same spot in just the right way.

I have a whole other rant about how I do not like AI, but suffice it to say I feel kinda depressed that I have to scan digital photos and digital artwork now to make sure it is not AI generated before I can rely on my immediate gut instinct of liking or disliking a photo or artwork. The problem with AI generation is one of use – it makes so much chaff that the wheat of actual human work gets lost in the noise. Good luck for any new digital artist to join the market when AI can do it better off of stolen work for free. Something something the rise of derivative works overshadow smaller original ones

Anyways Palworld is meh to me and I’ll sit this one out and eye Slime Rancher 2 instead

[josiebelladonna]

okay, i officially hate art contests.

you know how yesterday i was saying that ai has cheapened art on pretty much every level possible? well, art contests play a role in that, too. probably a bigger role, tbh, and ai is merely writing its obituary.

i just think of all the contests i’ve ever entered, starting with the science fair in elementary school where my dad and i built a trebuchet together and we all thought that was going to be a slam dunk. our catapult lost out to your stereotypical volcano eruption of cola and mentos. A CATAPULT!

then there was an art contest in middle school, when i entered a cartoon in—i don’t remember what it was exactly but i had drawn a picture full of people in my cartoon style, fresh off the press from the winter before. i lost to the crappiest drawing you’ve ever seen, and i knew there was some favoritism going on there.

then there was soundgarden’s fan art contest in 2016. i entered a drawing of soundgarden themselves into it and i had absolutely no hope for it just from my past experiences. get this: it actually won… but no one on my facebook cared. i think one person liked it, but that was it (this was 2016, too, way before ai came about and ruined everything). the other girl who won got support out the nose. i also hated the prize, too, so figure i distanced myself from the whole thing. what, we put our hard work into this shit and you can’t even be bothered to do better than vinyl records?

then there was chalk on the walk the year before and in 2018. i drew a koi pond in 2015. got bupkis, not even a “thank you”. i drew chris with my heavy metal flowers in 2018. got a bunch of people stopping and taking pictures and asking me questions, but i didn’t even get an honorable mention. i don’t even know who won either year, i don’t even remember them.

i entered my beatles drawings into the state fair in 2018, all four of which i spent hours on. got nothing: i lost to the shittiest drawing of edgar allen poe i had ever seen in my entire life, and i wish i took a picture to show you guys because it really was that godawful.

now here we are with mermay. did all my stuff this year by hand and i’m starting to wonder what the hell is even the point now when it’s obvious they like the clean, digital, disney-ish stuff better. the month isn’t even done yet and i’m starting to feel like a complete idiot for even bothering with it. really, i feel genuinely embarrassed for even attempting it in the first place. i’m just gonna post the remaining ones and then just be done with it, i’m not gonna give a shit about the winners (plus, i’ve been on ig four years now and you’d think, logically, my account has grown by now. fuck me, right?)

i’m thinking of participating in a fashion one for edward gorey’s foundation later this year just to try something different but… now that i write this out, i really, really don’t know and i’m starting to regret even considering it. i have the worst track record with these things and my so-called family and so-called friends wouldn’t give a shit if my life depended on it. i can just see their reactions towards it, too, like “oh, great, here we go again… another contest, another forgone conclusion… get a real job, sweetie”. the people who claim to care about me don’t care at this point. they didn’t care in 2016, and they really don’t care now.

I don’t win contests. i never can, either, simply because of the whole unspoken act of favoritism. you put your heart and soul into a portrait of your dead friend or into four of the four lads from liverpool and you fucking lose to cheapness and amateurness in the worst way possible taken to its dumbest conclusion. they also shortchange artists, too, like the prizes for the chalk on the walk competitions were like gift cards. the soundgarden one had fucking vinyl, not meeting the guys or having a say in the art for the next album or anything awesome like that. just: “here. vinyl”. (worse, they didn’t even tell us what it was until after the fact, so yeah, figure i totally felt used and it left a bad taste in my mouth). because of this, they are very limiting. you can only get away with so much for the sake of the dumbest conclusion you can possibly think of.

art contests are complete bullshit. don’t bother with them if you respect yourself.

[katyspersonal]

Hello, I just want to say that your art is amazing and not to worry because fandoms are made more fun and tolerable by people like you who really care about the source material and not using it to spread hate. I hope you keep making art.

Heeeeeey! Don't do me so dirty - I DO spread hate..... towards people that don't care for the source material and just want to hate. XD Aren't we all just hunters vs beasts loop, not realizing we are ALL beasts with the only difference in time passage?...

Ffgfuhhjv okay but seriously, thank you very much for the nice words, anon. It just sometimes feel like there is little to no point because not many other people are deep dive fans learning every single detail. Randos that do not even like the source material all that much come in a fandom to use the stories and characters that we hold dear to sell their products and their ideas.

And don't get me wrong - we love products! Keychains with Henryk and Gascoigne? Hell yes I'll take both! Doll plushie? I'm buying the entire stock! Like, good, THANK YOU for the products! Official merch is so often underperforming in quality or missing characters we really want to hold. But like... won't it be nicer coming from someone who loves the source material for what it is and is willing to listen to the actual fans when they correct them about wrong take or design error? I remember there was a newbie that started doing STONKS very soon thanks to their skill but I could tell they were dramatically lacking source material knowledge and just checked what takes were popular in the fandom to deliver them (leading to missing important characters, doing wrong lore assumptions and even drawing strongly wrong colors of characters). But they proven that they respect the hardcore fans and listened on being corrected, and it was so refreshing!

That's why no gatekeeping should be absolute, because any other person that is not well-versed might be willing to learn more and gives us credit. But reverse happens too - us 99 lvl autism fans get mocked for "having no life" or "being obssessive" or "having no girlfriend", and this is just... bad. Fandoms should be safe space for loosers, geeks, autists and alike first. The normies got the whole world yet they choose to come to one place where we can obssess over a thing and bully us FOR obsessing because... why? Right, because this is a good grinding ground for audience. Endless loop of 'but no one cares about original universes!' vs 'but we want people who care about the source!' that I don't know how to break either. Right, nobody should feel obligated to dive into [insert a fictional univerce] just to get enough people to hear out what they ACTUALLY wanted to say, but also there is a good reason WHY this or that fandom is so popular - because source material spoke with people's very hearts!

In grand scheme of things, of course, the true problem is that nowadays EVERY single person is looking for their purpose in creative field specifically, because alternative jobs are just so terrible and soul-crashing for the same low income. So as far as it goes on, fandoms ARE threated as grinding area for "platform" for those creative jobs to go swell. The big problem is that not everyone's very ESSENCE is to create, yet everyone has the potential and skill (if they study enough). And creative work is the last resort where peoples souls do not get destroyed. That's why I hate AI "art" so much - it is destroying the last place where a SOUL can exist and grow and heal. But really, the true issue is that alternative jobs should be less soul-crashing - so people who are not built to be creators can work at factories, in offices, malls, stores, transport, etc without feeling like such pitiful existance is not even worthy of this low ass paycheck. And that... well, not getting fixed anytime soon, if at all. I am speaking as someone who used to work a normal job but capitalism disease rotted it TOO, and now it is not about being useful but about doing the sales plans and too many jobs for one person, and it IS soul-crashing. -_-

Alright, sorry for the rant, I just have a lot to say on the matters of fandoms! I think the most ironic thing is how fandoms also often attract the opposite; so very dark, fucked up fictional universes that teach you how to just give up and die tend to attract nice and level-headed individuals, but wholesome, bright and lovely ones that teach kindness attract the most toxic people ever, but I don't have theory on why is that. I just know one thing - whatever will be my new fictional special interest, I am not touching any E or PG-13 rated universe with a ten yards stick. Only 16+ and darker, babyyyy!

[dittanyinbloom]

I can finally (sort of) show you guys what my MC looks like!!!

My first time using AI art was thirty minutes ago, and this was the second result and the one that I think looks the most like her. I don’t know how to make hair look right yet ???? Send help ?? She had loose curls, sort of frizzy, but more defined than Hermione’s in the first couple of movies. It keeps giving her braids! And she is meant to have dark green eyes, but I don’t know how to achieve that either!!

Lyra Lovegood

-about fourteen in the image above

House: Gryffindor

Traits:

There are two sides to Lyra, the first is the person she presents to the world. She needs to be the funniest person in the room or else she is quiet and insecure. Her laugh is loud and contagious. People who don’t know her well would describe her as ditsy. If she shows up to class at all, it’s just to talk with another student that she needed to discuss something with. She hasn’t turned in a homework assignment since the start of term, and reading deeply frustrates her. Her hair always looks a bit out of place, and she usually has a bit of dirt on her face somewhere.

Then there is the more outgoing side her companions know. The more one gets to know Lyra, the louder she gets around them. She’s stubborn, but not because she is angry, she just likes to see how others react to being challenged. During meal times, she moves from one table to the next to catch up with everyone. Savory food makes her melt. She’ll stay seated for a longer amount of time if the food is good enough, and she is not shy about eating. What?! She’s a growing girl with a million quests to fulfill! Is she supposed to not dig into the feast presented to her for the sake of being ladylike?! She lies for fun, but she immediately gives herself away by laughing. Her poker fake is rubbish. Most times she laughs while telling jokes and can’t follow through with it.

Features: green eyes, her hair is reddish in the winter and a bit blonder in the summer months, she’s thick- she eats good, alright! Her thighs could crush you, but she wouldn’t even think to do such a thing because deep down she is embarrassed a little by her size, even though boys find her curves very attractive in later years, they are a bit mean about it when she is younger.

Family: She’s halfblood from her father’s side. They live on a farm in Ireland and all work on it. Her older brother is stocky as well, but he is much calmer with a heart of gold. Her three younger siblings are rambunctious. Their mum has always had to play “bad cop” to their father’s jovial nature, but she knows how to have fun as well. They have two herding dogs and a stray orange tabby that lives in the barn and chases the chickens. Their mum can’t figure out why the damned cat keeps coming back. Everyone is feeding it behind her back, even their dad. Wrestling was how the kids used to pass the time. There was five kids in their three bedroom farmhouse. It was a tight squeeze growing up, but that made her accustomed to physical contact, a trait her friends at school were alarmed by at first. Especially Ominis who is touch starved and doesn’t know it.

Friendships:

Sebastian and Lyra do not get along, but only because Lyra feeds into Sebastian’s competitive side. She hasn’t shut up about that one time she beat him in a duel during class. Sebastian regrets complimenting her about it afterward. Even if they agree on a topic, Lyra will play devil’s advocate for hours to piss him off. He hates that she doesn’t have to try at all in class for the professors to like her. Her stance against dark magic is rather serious though, and she ends up crying while shouting during those arguments. Does she show up to the classes they share just to stare at him, maybe. But she just does it to bother him! No really! She isn’t like other girls! She doesn’t care that he is pretty! That’s a lie.

“Bet you only hang around the library so much because you fancy Ravenclaw girls.”

“Careful now, you’re sounding jealous, Lovegood.”

Ominis loves to listen to Lyra and Sebastian bicker, but he can not stand handling Lyra alone. In his opinion, Lyra is like if Sebastian was on cocaine and was suffering from rabies. She’s abrasive. She grabs Ominis’s hand and drags him places without warning or consent. The way she has to say hello to everyone is overwhelming. Ominis can’t keep up with all the people she stops to talk to and he hates being confused about who is speaking. When Sebastian showed Lyra the Undercroft, Ominis seriously debated switching schools. During the Into the Shadows arc, Lyra was on his side and really defensive against Sebastian for Ominis’s sake. She sent a howler to his older brother once during winter holiday, and Ominis still laughs every time he thinks about Marvolo opening up the letter at the dinner table with their parents present. She had sent it as a Christmas present to Ominis. So, there are benefits to knowing her.

“I just wanted a peaceful nap in the sun, is that too much to ask?”

“Stop playing hard to get or else I will have to carry you again. I’m not above it.”

Poppy is terrified but also in awe during every conversation she had with Lyra. Her willingness to take down a dragon fighting ring with her was impressive, but the fire in her eyes when she was battling the poachers was alarming. She might be the only one who ever gets to see Lyra’s soft side because shockingly, she’s kind with animals. Lyra grew up on a farm, so she knows how to be respectful. Beasts love her. Poppy finds it endearing. Absolutely no one believes her when Poppy tells people that she and Lyra care for a hippogriff together and have ridden it. Poppy canonically doesn’t have many friends, and when students made a comment about her finally making one, Lyra tackled one of them. Sebastian had company in detention that week.

“-It might be a bit dangerous because Centaurs can be-“

“I’m in.”

“But, you didn’t even hear me explain why-“

“You had me at dangerous.”

Natsai and Lyra are roommates and practically sisters at this point. She supports Natty in all her incessant endeavors to track down dark wizards. Professor Onai is very wary of Lyra, but she is the closest friend Natty has made since moving to Scotland, so her mother allows the friendship, though she doesn’t encourage it. Natty is the only person that can convince Lyra to go to class, and Lyra is the only one to convince Natty to skip class. Natty is teaching Lyra wandless magic, and every time Sebastian teaches Lyra a new spell, Lyra races to the dorm room and will even wake Natty up if it’s the middle of the night. They had to share a bed for a few weeks after Lyra taught Natty Confringo.

“I know where Harlow is.”

“Are we going to strategize first?”

The girls stare each other down and then burst out in laughter. They flew straight there and kicked down the door, excited to use Confringo in a real battle.

Garreth sees how Lyra is with others and thinks they would be perfect partners in crime. His personality is big like her own, and Lyra finds that unsettling. How dare he tell a funnier joke after she told one! Garreth’s charm and easygoing personality are natural to him. Lyra puts on that persona to get people at school to like her, so she envies him a bit for being about to have such a calm vibe. She’s quiet around him which makes Garreth think Lyra is nervous. He assumes she has a crush on him. One day he smugly tries asking her out. Lyra assumes he is joking around and trying to get a rise out of her. She casts a trip jinx on him in the halls. After that, she feels horrible and they talk it out. They become atrocious to sit behind in class. Professors simply can not lecture if they sit together.

“A troll walks into a bar…”

“Not this one again, Garreth, please. Last time we both got detention.”

Amit has been stuck in a whirlpool ever since Lyra arrived. After he gave her his old telescope, Lyra seemed to make it her mission to take him to every Astronomy Table she finds in the Highlands. At first, he is excited to have a new friend and go on mini adventures. But then she starts tapping on the window of his dorm in the middle of the night and insisting he climb on the back of her broom. What is he supposed to do? Say no to studying constellations just because he has an early start the next day? They have fun together. He doesn’t understand why Ominis and Sebastian complain about her. Lyra has never once been disagreeable with him, she has only ever been a joy to be around.

“How are you on a broom?”

“Terrible.”

“How are you on the back of someone else’s broom?”

“Terrified… When do we leave?”

Lyra in First year and Fifth year!

[abbulark]

TLDR: AI "creativity" takes food out of artists and writers' mouths, costs tons of electricity and power in a way just using a brush or pen does not, and is built on exploiting the third world for menial labor. The only thing that makes creative people special is CREATING. If the point between your idea and the art being created costs money and lives, you are not the artist, you are being used as the tool. YOU DO NOT NEED SOMEONE ELSE'S STOLEN FANCY ALGORITHM TO MAKE ART. JUST MAKE IT.

Fundamentally, it's not about the technology, it's about how it is being used. We didn't come up with calculators and suddenly go OH OK GUESS WE DONT NEED TAX AUDITORS ANYMORE NOW ANYONE CAN DO IT. Sure, many people can do much more math than they could before because of calculators, and computers do take care of a lot of work that certain auditors used to do. But we still need people.

The reason the luddites destroyed looms isn't because they hate technology and convenience, it was literally because that tech was being used as an excuse to no longer care about them. Their bosses were saying thank god we got these mechanical looms so we don't need to pay your asses anymore. Artists are not fighting against AI because they think they're special, they're fighting because people are literally saying to them (LITERALLY IN SO MANY WORDS) thank god we have computers that can do everything you can do.

WE DO NOT HAVE THAT. The problem with thinking of AI as labor-saving technology is that it's not saving labor because it is not yet at the level where it can do that. If nobody gives a shit about the image you're using, sure you can post an AI image. But that's not how it's mostly going to be used.

I work as a translator, another job that people have been saying will be obsolete for the last twenty years. Literally my dad who died 16 years ago told me that it would not be a moneymaking endeavor. And he was right, but not because the tech is up to the job. He's right because the more I've worked in the industry, the more "Correct x amount of MTL for less money than it would take to translate it" job postings I see. And every time I ask people who have worked those jobs they tell me that it's MORE WORK. It's more work for a skilled translator to correct MTL than it is for them to just translate it. Why? Because you have to check it and then when you find a mistake YOU JUST HAVE TO TRANSLATE IT OVER AGAIN! And you're trying to work with a larger text that is not accurately translated and not written with the intent to express anything. Because algorithms cannot write or draw with intent and it takes specialized skills to make what comes out of them actually representative of anything. The specialized skills that ARTISTS HAVE.

We KNOW because they tell us that the algorithmic models in so-called AI are sourced from "publically available internet text and images" which is basically the equivalent of xeroxing a bunch of books to make a cool uberbook and then selling it to everyone. The labor that made the source images AND the labor that categorizes them isn't paid consummate to what it is worth,

It's literally the Mechanical Turk all over again. A wonder of technology that is actually crammed full of tiny artists, writers, and chess players that are not being paid their due.

FINALLY, and this is the most important part so I'm gonna move it up top, too. This all comes with a price. The price of the industrial revolution was all the toxins in the air in industrialized cities that killed and disabled people, on top of all of the poisonous scams and grifts that popped up in that environment. The reason artists don't want algorithmic art to take over is not because they oppose the democratization of art. ART IS ALREADY FREE FOR ANYONE TO DO WITH WHATEVER TOOLS THEY LIKE. But just like two hundred years ago, creating one piece of AI art has a human and environmental cost. The people who create the source, the people who categorize it, and the electricity that makes it possible. Generating one piece of AI imagery costs as much power as running a fridge for a half-hour. People are playing with AI just like they played with crypto, and the costs are trickling down to normal people who are being asked to make sure to turn lights off, when it costs less in energy to keep artists alive and fed than it does to create AI art.

anti-ai people need to understand that the opposition communists have to luddism and reactionary sentiment isn't like, a moral one. the main problem with luddism is that it doesn't actually work. like when we say 'we mustn't try to fight against technology itself, we need to fight against the social system that makes it so that advancement in technology and labour-saving devices lead to layoffs' the reason we're saying it is because, if you try fighting the technology, you're going to lose, and you're still going to lose your job too. when you say 'yeah i understand your criticism but I'm still going to fight against AI' you very clearly did not understand the criticism, because the point is that it isn't even in your own self-interest, because it will not work. the fact that, even if it did work, it would only mean maintaining a privileged strata of 'skilled labour' above other workers is secondary -- because, again, flatly resisting technological advancement has never worked in history.

[mylesobando]

Ethics of social media

In the online space it has become a trend to be snarky with your responses. They are often tweets from brands that end up going viral as you would not expect for a large company to respond like a moody teen. This was made very popular by Wendys, they seem to have moved away from this strategy but do sometimes respond to things in a more silly or childish way like this response to twitter user @objecti_5 saying “Mhm” to a tweet that just reads “Chicken Sandwich”. This is a trend we can see a lot from airline brand Ryanair. For example responding to popular Youtuber @RyanTrahan when they quote retweeted him saying “so needy” when asking for a compliment on twitter. Another example of them doing this is yet another quote retweet response to user @Chris_nonumbers telling him “dream bigger, Chris” in response to a photo of them being in a row by themselves and saying “Today, I lived the impossible dream”. 

There have been cases of poor ethics as in the Dr.DisRespect situation where he was canceled due to claims he was a predator and was also cheating on his wife. He had responded to these claims on twitter but this tweet has since been deleted. There were numerous tweets made about the situation such as that made by user @chrissyxchi posting about her opinions about the situation and some of her own personal findings. There have also been rather blatant cases of manipulation with the use of AI images/deep fakes. There have been images and videos of political leaders of them doing unsavory things and spreading misinformation. There are even laws being put into place in the state of California to force social media to take action against it. 

If I was to join a social media team I would like to be a part of the social media team for the game Omega Strikers. I think they seem like a good team to be a part of and exhibit ethical behavior. I believe this because they seem very genuine and kind as well as grateful for their community. They repost fanart of their characters on twitter or posting it with credit on their instagram. They also do not speak on things outside of their expertise or on topics not pertaining to their game, thus not stirring up controversy in their community. They also run the account in an often silly way making it not seem like tweets from a corporation but rather a real person like anyone else and they take real note of what their community wants and enjoys.

Another brand that I believe shows off good social media ethics is GamerSupps. They don’t just support themselves but they work with many different content creators big and small and from many different kinds of content creation. They retweet posts from their partners mentioning their brand, potentially bringing more eyes to those creators. There was also a controversy involving the release of one of their flavors, specifically the art on the tub. Normally when there is any art involved with their products they link to the artists social media account in the product description but for this product there was no such link. There were also many who believed the art to be AI generated. Reddit user u/countrybumpkincospla even posts a photo outline every spot where they think the AI claim would make sense. In response to the backlash, the company said the flavor would never be restocked and made a public apology about how much they hate AI generated art and will work to be better in working with artists and publicly crediting them. 

In the case of influencers being ethical two good examples would be MBT and Mista GG. MBT is a very positive voice not just for the Yu-Gi-Oh community but also for the LGBTQ+ community as well as he is openly bisexual. He also is someone who talks about politics quite often, even having a video posted where he plays Yu-Gi-Oh and speaks with a member of congress. Often speaking on politics is the downfall of many online but for MBT on his many platforms of Youtube, Twitch, Twitter, and even his podcast he shows a level of understanding and competency in the space to not spread misinformation or disinformation while also being able to continue being humorous without running the risk of spreading anything through misunderstood satire. Mista GG is a Youtuber and Twitch streamer who I also find very ethical. He navigates tough topics like his thoughts on a trend of simply beating up predators for views in a video on his second channel Mista G Dubs while making it clear it is just his take, not trying to put an agenda trough his position even respectfully saying he is not the target audience for that kind of content. He also watches and reviews movies and notes every video that he is not a professional thus to not mislead viewers who may be unfamiliar with him into thinking he is a professional movie reviewer and that he is just giving his personal opinion on the film.

For my own personal conduct I feel it is important for me to maintain trust with the people who follow me, I post more amateur edits of gameplay clips and when I say I am going to post soon I plan to adhere to that even is others say it does not matter if it am true to my word or not. I also feel it is important for me to not post about topics I would be more ignorant on as I personally do not like to spread lies online but also for potential employers to see me posting my opinion on current events and for me to maybe have a stance built on lies or misunderstandings that reflects poorly on myself. In the same vein I want to avoid Misappropriation. I can try and avoid this by doing sufficient research when big events happen and choosing if and when I post about them so as not to cause conflict with peers, family, or potential employers. I can also continue to refrain from dealing in unsavory activities. I also want to avoid having negative ripple effects. This means I have to be mindful that others may see my work and to not post things online that may, even if not offensive or hurtful to me, may be hurtful to others. 

Transparency, when a project is not on tract making sure I communicate this with my community.

Avoid Monotony, keeping my ideas fresh and improving my work and innovation with help me be a better social media user

Do not engage with narcissism, I will avoid hyper fixating on engagement on my page like follows and likes and will avoid pushing my name to a point where it is bothersome for those who engage with me. 

I will acknowledge that when entering a conversation under a post or about a topic online that I am not the star of the show and that we are all there to converse about something we had an interest in.

I will maintain proper etiquette and treat others as I would want to be treated.

Links for sources mentioned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqVtF_YfXho&rco=1   timestamp 6:20

[thetonethetollandthethunder]

Scythe chapter 16-20!!

Ayy we’re backk!! Let’s just get started shall we?

Chapter 16!!

-oh god the elegy—

-“Could you imagine me as a teenager?” OH YES I CAN OHOHO

-This also shows how much power scythes and especially Goddard has

-And also shows how bad of a scythe Goddard is as well

-Scythe Curie makes a good point that also relates to the toll, in which it doesn’t matter if they kill Goddard or anyone like him because another with the same ideology will always come along without fail

-this chapter didn’t have much but it IS good so ykyk

Chapter 17!!

-OHHH ITS THE MOMENT THAT EVERYONE LOSES THEIR MINDS OVER!! SCYTHE FARADAY IS D-D-DEAD or is he? :) :)

-Rowan instinctively trying to protect Citra!!!

-it makes sense for most disabilities to be nonexistent but that doesn’t mean I have to like it :/ like idk why the way it’s done is just :// especially as a disabled person myself

-The way the describe Faraday’d death is already suspicious if you already know he isn’t dead but when you’re first reading it, it does make sense!

-OH AND THE SEPARATE TRAININGS BEGINS!!!

-“If I ever take on an apprentice it will be for a different reason entirely.” OHOHO I KNOW I KNOWWWW

-Again not much to say BUT still rlly good!!

Chapter 18!!!

-Part 3 begins!!

-SCYTHE CURIE!!

-Again I always forget the names of these places, falling water is a very pretty name!!

-Citra being angry about Faraday’s death OUGH, she’s rlly going through 5 stages of grieve style

-Could you imagine ppl in the future calling our decor and shit old fashioned? Bizarre

-I love how they make Curie instantly charming and likable with only a few scenes, good writing man!!

-What hobbies would other scythes have? I wonder…

-Fun fact, i cannot drive, tried to learn and crashed the car, oh how I wish driving wasn’t necessary like in scythe

-Giving us little notes about the comfort scythes can give

-We hear a lot about being stagnant in the Scythe universe, and like, yeah, if you were in this utopia wouldn’t you grow stagnant even quicker than most? You have nothing to do literally

-You can really feel how observant Curie is, she noticed the small details

-Jesus even Curie’s yelling scared ME and I already knew what was gonna happen! She’s rlly intimidating—

-Gotta uphold your image!!

-“Another Scythe might have exacted a punishment far worse.” *COUGH COUGH GODDARD*

-Again shit names!! Barton Breen??? What??

-20 kids,, Jesus,,

-You can Curie’s own version of compassion, it’s different from Faradays yet still wonderful

-She did find her own way of gleaning!!

-Again FUCK Goddard!!

-I do wonder what would happen if Citra was trained by Goddard instead of Rowan…

-“Immortality has turned us all into cartoons.” GOD THAT LINEE

-Amazing chapter!! Told a LOT abt Curie!!!

CHAPTER 19!!!!

-Oo!! I thought this moment happened in Thunderhead but I misremembered!!

-Tho I THINK something similar happens??? Idk maybe my memory is fuckin with me ushejdj

-ALSO DAMN CITRA!! Pushin girls in front of TRUCKS holy fuck!!!

-Hate the eating descriptions!!

-TELL THE MOTHER YOU TWO!!! LIKE CMON??

-Cindy lmaoo, whenever someone whitewashes Citra im gonna call it Cindy instead <3 spite

-“err on the side of respect.” LMAO love that line

-RONDA ROADKILL IM DYINGGGGGG and so did she! (Temporarily but yk)

-“Can i throw you under a truck some other time?” She’s a busy person! I’d totally throw Citra under a truck! Would be fun!

-Morals change when theres little consequences, Citra would never even CONSIDER pushing Ronda in the mortal age, but since people can just come back it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, it also shows how the concept of empathy and morality has changed in this society

-“the cloud” like icloud! Guess apple won in this world!

-“The machine had a purer soul than any human” NO IT DOESNT IVE SEEN AI ART YOU CANT FOOL ME!!!

-FUCK YOU SCYTHE GODDARD!!!

-OO TIME FOR CITRA TO INVESTIGATE!! I remember LOVING this plot so!!!!

Chapter 20!!

-Rowan finally!!! I missed you!!!!!

-He doesn’t wanna kill Citra!!! The beginning of his devotion to her UGHHH

-god hes only 17, I think we forgot how young these characters are, they really are just kids being pushed into this horrible situation god,,,

-“His was a life without substance, and now it would end.” God and here we see Rowan’s iconic self deprecating “emo” moments, people make fun of these scenes a lot but I fucking love em, it really contrasts Rowan and Citra. Citra has people who love and care about her, Rowan doesn’t, he knows that (in this moment) if he died no one would really care or remember him, so when he finds Citra, someone who does care about him and would care if he died, he clings to it. I mean when you’re that neglected and want SOMEONE to care even a little about you, wouldn’t you do the same thing?

-He already wants to change things!! And he will!! He will change a lot, though not as much as his girlfriend!!

-VOLTA!!

-“So is there a reason why you choose your robes to be the color of piss?” HA one of my favorite lines!!

-“the Change” god their ideology—, the fact they’re all thinking that they’re changing things for the better really shows how convincing of a man Goddard is, GOD i hate him!!!

-Ans here we have Goddard’s MANY parties

-my sensory issues would hate this

-I accidentally spelled Goddard’s name as Goodard which…Isn’t that so Ironic?

-“Bimbotech” Neal I’m BEGGING you to stop

-“Rowan wondered if the man had a diamond-studded bathing suit in his waredrobe as well.” He would because he’s a vain prick!!

-HES UNDERAGE STOP GIVING HIM ALCOHOL!! *Looking at you RAND especially ya creep—*

-“He was lucky if they even remembered to get him a gift” rowans parents man,,, He was really fucking neglected man it’s so awful, and the fact he still cares about them despite that GODDD

-See how goddard bend the rules? See how he twists them to make them fit what HE wants? Yeah, he’s gonna do that a lot; again, fuck you Goddard

-ESME!!! Shes backk!! And he’s right! She’ll be important!!

-GOD this is a good chapter, rowan my beloved!!

And that’s it!!! Next time will be chapters 21-25!! We’re going so fast aren’t we?