#i am just referring to the concept of ai art

[snewdraws]

#skillnottalent is floating around twitter at the moment, so here is my contribution! my first drawing on the interwebs (2009) vs my ember redesign (2022) 🥺💞 art is a skill born from the labor of love also here is my little spiel about how the process of making art is special to me;

Even now this Ember design is a few months old and I can see improvements that I could make. We never stop learning and growing as artists, and I find that process incredibly rewarding. Being an artist has taught me so much about myself and connected me with a beautiful community.

In relation to AI art, and how some people think artists are "gatekeeping" art by shunning "AI art"; The real value of art never came from the final product, it comes from the journey and self-expression. The ability to visualize human thought is beautiful, regardless of skill level. AI can make pretty pictures, but it can't replicate the joy that comes from the human creation. To use AI to make "art" is to dismiss the purpose of artwork. The soul and process behind the creation are what makes art special and meaningful. Anyone can create art!

I know this is a little silly in relation to Ember fanart, but humans are silly! Let's embrace the weirdness of being here on this planet and draw funny little dragons together. Let's have fun! 💕

[sumikatt]

a generative AI workflow for art that can't reasonably be detected as "AI use"

before we start:

I am an artist with original art in my art tag dating back to 2017

I think intellectual property is a farce and i hate copyright

I don't think image scraping and using it as training data is stealing, the same way I don't think piracy is stealing

I have used my own laptop hardware for these image generations, not any online service

Images are not described, apologies

Step 1: Concept (txt2img)

Let's do a basic edgy fallen angel character as our example. The prompt was something like "fullbody edgy fallen angel, short hair wearing leather vest, chain accessory, broken halo, wings"

Model used: Counterfeit v3.0

Model used: Flat 2D Animerge v4.5

Step 2: Pick and choose parts, then trace

Since I've traced over a completely new image, it is impossible to detect that I've used generative AI at all. It can't be reverse-searched. For all intents and purposes, this is "original artwork by a human".

You can stop here, but I wanted to toss it back in to see what I'd get.

Step 3: img2img generation

I've added a dark background and an outline to the boots for clearer separation of character and background. This generation was done with a high CFG (guidance scale).

For reference, here's high CFG to lower CFG from left to right.

Step 4: Upscale and paintover

Obviously, these aren't flawless images. So we'll paint over some parts manually until it becomes "human art"

I only did the face for brevity's sake. I've fixed lighting, flattened out the noise, fixed her vest, and overall tried to make it more consistent. Direct paintover is a harder to execute, but it is completely possible to cover all "tells".

It's not my best work as I'm not that experienced with anime style illustration, but it will pass a general AI sniff check (using sightengine).

for comparison, here's some of my other original paintings.

Closing thoughts

You'll never really be able to actually 100% identify any art as AI generated or assisted, unless you're literally watching an artist over their shoulder. Models are only getting better at generation. Generative AI is just a Pinterest replacement in terms of art tools, really. Harassing artists and fearmongering about the use of AI is stupid and reactionary. You can still enjoy art even if it's generated.

The end

[feyspeaker]

Hi!! I’m not sure if you have already answered this, I tried to scroll through as much as I could to check lol But how clean are your sketches before you paint them? I know some people leave them as loose can be and some clean them up and even outline. So I was just wondering! :)

Hi there! Usually rather hideous so I do not share much. I use a mixed media approach to my painting, so to "sketch" I will sometimes use a mixture of 3D (I like to use Blender but I probably use it like a gorilla lol) and photobashed elements. I will build scenes kind of like a collage instead of traditional sketching first, then I will color correct them to fit together- usually I use 3D to build lighting reference. Then I run everything through a lot of filters to bring everything together better (I like to gaussian blur, then the posterize and palette knife filters in Photoshop, I've been using the oil paint filter for my vintage BG3 portraits haha) then I sketch over it more traditionally. Either I go straight into painting or I do this in black and white more recently, if I do that I add color later. The B&W process is a lot less chaotic so I've been enjoying that a lot more recently. both ways allow me to tweak character's likenesses and more importantly add in details like clothing/hair/elements like that so I'm not painting blind.

I have a lot of background in Photoshop like, for editing photography so I take a non-traditional approach to digital art. (if there even is one) It's a lot more akin to the way concept artists put together pieces, however I take them a few steps further to, hopefully, obfuscate the beginning a bit more. I love concept art but I do think a lot of it looks stiff or clearly photobashed, which I don't love the look of. A few years ago I started messing with this process as it felt like a lot of my beefy Photoshop knowledge was being wasted while I was focusing on more stylized works using Rebelle 5.

Honestly, my sketching process is the ugliest thing known to mankind and I am very self conscious about it, so I don't share a lot. It's not aesthetically pleasing, it just looks like I have no idea what I'm doing lol. I might share some about my Frankenstein process on Patreon at some point.

I believe very strongly in using the tools you have available as an artist, especially in this hellscape where AI abominations are at every corner and the pressure to create as fast as you can looms over you constantly as an artist. There are so many cool and weird ways to make art, ESPECIALLY with your computer, that there's really no excuse to use AI slop. I'd take my weirdo collage approach any day over asking some machine to poop out "art" for me.

[kaelidascope]

In light of some dirty laundry found, I'd like to set the record straight about a threat that was made against me and my work

Since I'm being accused of stealing or copying a roleplay that was done between 2021-2022, here's the facts. The roleplay started with a concept that I had made about a magic college school for another roleplay that never went anywhere and was then repurposed for this one with a new partner. The question was popped on 2/23/21 and we began on 2/25/21.

It lasted the span of a little over a year and went through several rounds of development, a few attempted rewrites, and a spin off sequel revolving their kids. It was a good split between actually roleplaying the characters and also just hours upon hours of talking/plotting as one does. Usual exchanges between creators. We never posted the roleplay publicly anywhere, so it was never officially 'published', nor were any legal steps taken to get rights reserved. I'm fairly certain a discussion happened once about turning it into a book but both parties were not on the same page so it never went anywhere. We did ofc share it with close friends and just talked about it in general.

I also drew quite a bit of art for it, and we both collectively commissioned better artists for art for the characters as well. I did not put in nearly as much money as my roleplay partner did, but I did most of the concept art to provide as reference.

After the friendship ended and the roleplay was put to rest, I pulled the OCs that I had exclusively made to start working on a new concept. I had no intention of using anything that wasn't mine. The new concept was entirely removed from it's original source, meaning different setting, different characters, different everything. It was just repurposed OCs that had new backstories and purposes and new ones that I had made to replace characters I didn't own. However, despite the change, I was threatened with a Cease and Desist form pulled off Google by my previous roleplay partner because I made a vague tweet showing progress of the reworked characters (Rowen, who was in the original roleplay, and her love interest, Lyra, that was meant to be a replacement design for a character I did not own). Lyra shared a physical likeness to the original character, Emi, that was owned and played by my roleplay partner that they designed using an AI generator and then I later drew concepts for [white complexion, black hair, blue eyes]. I took it down as requested, sent it back to the workshop, consulted several professionals to make sure any likeness was scrubbed away, and put it on the back burner for further development so I could be left in peace.

I made this disclaimer post back in December 2023 about any likeness my own OCs would share in future projects and their affiliated partners on twitter. At the time, the names and designs were still being changed so Rowen Santiago was a placeholder while I was waiting to hear back from legal advice. I never said I was taking what was originally written and publishing it 'as is'. I'm allowed to use my original character designs for different purposes.

Ultimately, I came to the decision after a lengthy back and forth to scrap my own OCs original personality and design and start from scratch. Only a few things survived that can have lines drawn between the original roleplay design and the new story concept [the magic collar, werewolfism, Hispanic descent, wolf eyes] but that's nothing new. I have a lot of werewolf OCs. I've got an entire series dedicated to werewolf OCs. The new story concept is more military and racism based set in a fantasy dystopian universe than a magical school romance trope set in English Europe. The new story isn't even set on Earth, it's so far removed from where the original design came from it's not even remotely close to this roleplay. The kind of prose and worldbuilding featured in this new work is similar to the fanfiction I already write and am known for [The new world building will be somewhat similar to a setting I already made as far as fantasy science themes go. See Midnight Menagerie]. I also have several designs that look similar to each other (see MM Blake and Tessa for example. Same hairstyle. And MM Yang's entire physique was scraped from Rowen's whole vibe) though I can say my art style is improving enough to where I don't suffer from same face syndrome anymore (at least I hope!). All my bases were covered, everything was a brand new start over and nothing from the original roleplay was touched.

Well, even after a whole year and a half later post cut-off and small meltdown, it's apparently still living in their head rent-free that I am stealing their work and threats are still being made both anonymously and by name!

So I'll tell y'all what, for anybody who's curious, go ahead and have full access of all the notes and docs that I supposedly 'stole' and you tell me if my future works are stealing lol since you wanna wave it around like it's a big scary threat to get me any time I draw sapphic content that isn't fanart. The only things I will not include on this post is the commissioned work because I don't know who originally did them and therefor I'm not sure what their reposting terms are

Anything listed as [NOT ME] was not written by me. Otherwise everything else is either by me or was collaborated on (like the roleplay exchanges)

Misc Docs

Rowemi timeline 2.0

Figure Skating Practice

Emi/Lauren Relationship Notes

Pregnancy Arc Notes

Project Blackbird Notes

Worldbuilding Notes

Rowen Build Sheet

Rowen Notes

Emi Build Sheet (NOT ME)

Emi/Mom Relationship Notes (NOT ME)

Rewrite Docs

Prologue

Episode I

Shorts

William's Lament

Another Secret in the Pile

Rowen's Invitation

The Meeting (NOT ME)

The Hospital Visit (NOT ME)

Simon's Suggestion (NOT ME)

The Date (NOT ME)

Original Roleplay Docs

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 4.5

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Artwork Done By Me

Genuinely I'm not sure what y'all hope to accomplish by obsessively sending me hate mail and empty threats like I'm supposed to care and be effected by it. I haven't even looked at it since I quit Deviantart lol it has nothing to do with my current projects and it died when I cut you off. You never even knew what the new novel project was about, so you really had no grounds to threaten me with that email or the anonymous inbox submissions. You also slipped up and sent one with your actual user after I turned that off, that's how I figured out you were still obsessed with me after all this time. I encourage you to do something with your ideas someday. While you weren't the healthiest friendship I've ever had, the roleplay was fun to engage in. Maybe working on something new will bring you the peace of mind you're looking for and help you move on.

[journalsouppe]

The Touchstarved DEMO by @redspringstudio! I had so much fun replaying this DEMO over and over, I truly cannot wait for the full release. The art is gorgeous, the writing is excellent, and I am surprised at how much I really loved each character, I expected to at least hate one or two of them like with My Next Life lol. I highly recommend checking out the DEMO if you're a fan of otome games or gothic stories!

The DEMO can be found here on itch.io or here on steam! All the stickers are from different Hallween stickerbooks from Michael's Art Store ^^; (ngl I think this is one of my favorite spreads, I even did do some studies of the color/rendering fhdjsf)

Writing typed below! (plus extra notes)

Rating: 9.5 (demo score - great demo) Played: Sp 2024 Port: itch.io Play full? Y YES!!!!!!

Comments:

First Route: Origin - Unnamed. RO - Leander

love you have a choice of 3 origins

GORGEOUS ART!

this game made me realize I do really enjoy otome games and not as a joke or for irony lol fjdkfal

from initial appearances I like Vere and Mhin ^^;

all the gold on the angel doctor is so gorgeous

killer music

okay I thought I wouldn't like Leander but holy shit --

LMAO NOT HIS SEX ROOM

LETS go I got the special Leander option on the first try

I need to do studies of this art oml I need my art to look like this <3

DAMN, now I'm bummed I missed the kickstarter, I would LOVE the art book

I need the stickers too esp for when I journal the full version

not only do I like the art, the writing is very good too

Vere is so pretty...

I LOVE all the fun marketing lore and illustrations on the Red Spring Socials

ooo damn does Vere have a red option or did I do his route right without one

only three red choice dialogue. 4 recently for Kuras (no Vere)-- Vere has one now!!! Kuras and Vere should have them whenever the DEMO gets an update ^_^

I'm learning I'm good at making the correct decisions lol

I honestly didn't know you could die until after I finished Vere's route (2nd route I did correctly -- 1st was Leander) and was curious what submit surrender did (aka I didn't die initially but went back to see what would happen(

LMFAO NOT MHIN BLUSHING WHEN I TELL THEM OFF pfft

LMAOOO and now Mhin is scolding me

amused with who has slept with who

deathly curious on how fucked up Leander will be

Kuras's nose!!!!! <3

I love the concept designs of Sen and Elyon, I can't wait to meet them

LMFAO 'BASTARD'

ngl I love Ais's mullet

This should not have been one of my first otome games bc now my standards are so high, esp in regards to character design

I wonder if the flashing soulless in the title screen means we'll see more soulless in the full game (than just the one)

okay damn I also really like Ais, these are some really well written characters

LMAO I was not expecting this music for Kuras

oh interesting I didn't realize Mhin's red choice was during your first encounter if you're an alchemist

okay Kuras is very silly and goofy 10/10 guy

ooo good theories about Ocudeus and control on tumblr - "obedience" -- reference to someone thinking the "obedience suits you" line on Ais's character card was actually from Ocudeus not Ais

Summary:

I thought when playing more otome games it would be really hard to beat My Next Life, simply because I am a huge fan of the source material that preceded the game. But wow, with the way this game is setting up plotlines, the full version of this game could easily make it onto my top favorite games list. Otome games are all about replayability, and the way just the DEMO is so rich with content and alternating paths makes me so excited and hopeful for the full game's release. I am bummed I got onto the Touchstarved train late and missed the kickstarter, but hopefully a shop will open around release bc I'd kill for an art book. The art is just so gorgeous and I cannot wait to do some studies, especially with color and rendering. Before playing otome games, I like to look at the character profiles beforehand and predict who I'd like and dislike. And I am very delightfully surprised that any initial dislike I had of characters all but vanished because the writing and personalities of these characters were so well made. I thought I was going to hate Leander but he ended up being the character I'm most curious about. Although I would say my least favorite is Kuras simply bc I'm not a fan of romancing doctors, I am still curious about his background story and connection to the others. In other words, great character who is just not my type. I am also delightfully surprised at the "vulgarity" in this game without being overly explicit -- I have grown so tired of how sanitized a lot of games and shows have been that it's always really nice seeing indie companies play by their own rules. I am so glad I stumbled across this game!! At this point I've done every route favorably but haven't tried all the "wrong" options -- more to play whenever I think about how excited I am for the full game! I've also seen the sneak peaks of an upcoming update ^_^. Highly recommend the game!!

[olderthannetfic]

It's very exhausting seeing people in my fandom get angry that an author deleted his work prior to committing suicide. Everyone's sad they don't get to read the story. I have not seen a single person even pretend to dislike the fact that a person is dead. I have seen two people say, respectively, "he could've at least given us a content drop first, end on a high note" and "content creators who don't at least leave the content up shouldn't post".

And I know, I know, fandom olds: it is parasocial and toxic and bad to expect anyone online to dislike the death of another person, I'm a Gen Z snowflake, I need to grow up, etc. In my defense, I am neurodivergent and probably not seeing this correctly. But as an admittedly fucked up person... I kind of don't like 1. the fact that a human being died 2. no one even saying "oh that's sad" or feigning valuing human life 3. everyone referring to him not as an author but as a content creator and 4. the only thing I've seen people discuss is wanting content.

I don't really vibe with the concept that people in fandom are just content mills that exist to hand us content day in and day out and that's all that matters. This dude had whole conversations with people in the comments, he was really nice and gave people encouragement, commented on his readers' fics, and he never had an unkind word to say about anyone. He answered questions on his tumblr and always had funny, weirdly specific memes for everything. And some of the same super-distinct usernames I remember him interacting with are the ones complaining about content. Not writing, just content, that demeaning internet term that also applies to AI.

He was the one who inspired me to start writing and now I don't know if I want to post. I don't want to be seen as a content mill, a bot who spits out something to be consumed that's seen as more important than a person. I don't want to contribute to this weird culture where fiction matters more than reality.

Again: I know. Snowflake, Gen Z bad, fandom olds unbothered and cool, etc. But I never claimed to be cool. I just claim this is not how fandom should be. We should be hanging out, talking to and supporting each other. You don't have to be friends, but you should aim to not see art in terms of content creation and consumption.

IDK, I don't really think I'm explaining this clearly. I just feel like we should try to not be assholes.

--

Uh... that's not what parasocial means, you weirdo, and no fandom olds think it's in good taste to whine about somebody who committed suicide not going out on a high note.

Don't be an ageist twit when you're just repeating what anyone older would say.

I assume people are reacting this way because 1. people are jerks, duh and 2. they probably don't pay attention to internet acquaintances' "suicides" after way too many fake ones.

[fipindustries]

Hey, you're the first artist I've seen on the defense side of the AI argument, and I would like to hear more of your thoughts on the subject, if that's okay

oh! sure, no problem buddy.

you first have to understand im am a bit of a radical when it comes to "ownership" of art. personally i am of the opinion that all art should be free to share with the world. i dont like the idea of artists hoarding ideas or concepts or gatekeeping their work. i think its pretty miserly to claim ownership of a thought, of an idea, of a concept. it reduces and constricts other peoples capacity for expression.

i think its fair if you want to monetize your work but even that i feel should have a time limit, as in, after a few years your art should be free. otherwise you are just rent seeking.

moreover i think other people should be free to take, transform, remix, reshuffle, cover and alter and build upon the art of others. i think there is something beautiful there in human interaction, in comunication, in the evolution of an idea into new shapes and combinations.

ovbiously copyright tends to put obstacles to these things, but it leaves some space for it in the form of fair use. that if your work is commenting or critiquing or transforming the work of someone else then its fair game. i think that is peachy.

now, so far i think a lot of people would agree with me and the place where we split is wether a human is doing these transformations or a computer program, they argue the fact that a computer is doing it makes it illegitimate, it makes it so that its not an action of human agency, it is not an expression of human thought or creativity and thus it cant be true critique or transformation.

now there are two angles we can tackle this. we can argue wether it matter if a human does it or a computer does it, or we can argue wether we can actually say that humans had no bearing on the process. i will focus on the second one.

given that the AI is a product of human endeavor, made by humans, trained by humans on human work to conform to human precerences and then it is activated and (depending on how involved the process is) guided and regulated by human prompting and human curation. i think there is enough human agency and discernement on every step of the process to say that the result is one of human creativity. that the AI is merely a tool being used by humans to make things.

now i have made references to transformative works and that brings to mind things like collages and remixes and reshuffles and mashups, which may lead to the wrong impression that the AI works by grabbing a thousand pieces of work that it has stored in some huge database and then it picks and collates it all together. that is not how it works at all, i could go on a huge tangent on how the AI actually does what it does but rest assured it does not copy and paste portions of art stored somewhere inside it.

finally i want to conclude on the idea of wether its theft to use the art people put online to train an AI. like i already explained it clearly does not violate copyright since any sane interpretation of the process has to be transformative enough to count as fair use. but on a more fundamental level, is it right to "use" other people's art without their consent for whatever purpose, regardless of wether you are breaking copyright or not?

i think yes.

now let me be clear, if you are putting your work behind a paywall, like in your patreon or whatever, where the only way to access it is by paying the artist. then i think it can meaningfully be said that to access that art without paying the artist is theft. its piracy after all. and as we all know piracy is wrong (wink wink nudge nudge).

but now that is not the case with most art online, right? most art online is completly free to view and download. in fact the only way to view it is by downloading it, the browser has to store the image in the cache memory of your pc in order to show it through your monitor. so to download the copy and keep it in your disk has to be fine, it is not a scarce resource, its a digital image, it can be copied infinity times without ever depriving the creator of the image itself, and its free! so the artist is not being deprived of some revenue that should have been rightfully theirs.

now lets say i want to count how many pixels in that image are green, so i take pen and paper and start counting. surely that has to be right.

how about if i do that with every image in their gallery. that has to be fine as well. what if i count how often every color appears on every pixel on every image, so that i have this giant database with a statistical distribution of color across all the works of the artist, and in order to do the whole thing faster i have a machine do that for me? does an artist have the right to say i cant do this? could a painter forbid an art historian from analizing their artistic evolution because it would be "using their art in a way they didnt consent"? could a sculptor stop someone from measuring how tall their statues tend to be? can miyazaki come and say that he is forbidding me from using his movies as animation reference because that is not how he wants people to interact with his art? i mean maybe. maybe society decides that yes, that is a right artists should have. but personally i think that would be a bad thing because it would constrain the capacity of humans to learn, to study and to express themselves and that is anathema to my principles.

on a more fundamental level, i, as an artist who has made art and who understands how the sausage gets made, dont hold ART or the creation of ART as some kind of sacred cow. i dont think there is this contamination or desecration because we use a machine to do it. i do think there is virtue in doing art on your own with your own hands. its certainly impressive, it takes time and effort and talent and skill and all of that are things that i personally find valuable. much like running a marathon or doing your dishes. but there is no shame in driving a car or using a washing machine either, sometimes we want things to be easier and convenient and that is perfectly fine and valid.

then there is a whole other argument about AI outcompeeting artists in the marketplace and driving them out of their jobs, much like many other industries in the past were automated by the progress of technology leaving people without jobs. i can sympathize a lot more with this argument but this post has gotten too long already so ill leave it at that

[cringefail-clown]

so tired. i play the sims like once every blue moon mainly to build stuff, and looking for inspo pics - especially on pinterest - became nigh impossible because of the ai slog that keeps getting uploaded there by peabrained techbros. like 70% of results from searches are infested with those illogical, physically impossible, shitty looking images. today i needed to find some reference pics of sci-fi spaceship bridges for the artwork im working on and, once again, everything is just artificially generated trash

and its not good and never will be because those ai engines techdudes get their dicks wet over simply cannot comprehend things like perspective, or basic composition - its a fucking program that bases its results on a bunch of ones and zeros and gets to the answer in the most straightforward way possible, making a shitton of mistakes anyone can spot easily

and on one hand its annoying as fuck and i roll my eyes so hard i can almost see god when i spot yet another piece of shit ai image in the wild, but i am also filled with this grim satisfaction, waiting for this whole thing to fall apart. cause it will. the more ai images get shit out into the world wide web, the more ai programs which scour websites add those already artificially generated bullshit into their databases, the more it becomes obvious what is and isnt gen ai. same mistakes get made, same words and phrases get used in essays. its a beautiful cycle of artificial intelligence cannibalising itself ouroboros style, and im patiently waiting until there are only ashes of anime waifus with three boobs and two fingers too many left

in the meantime, what can we actually do to find good references? simple, truly - follow real fucking creators. look at their portfolios, personal websites. there are a ton of folks putting out pose packs for you to use, even completely for free. you can try posing yourself! put your phone in a position you want the perspective of the pose to be in, start recording a video and just do a few poses - references like that are honestly even better than still images you can find online. look through sites like artstation for concept artists who do background work, 3d art etc and get inspired by those folks. maybe purchase artbooks that might interest you, if youve got the money for it. hell, find creators on youtube who actually do things that youre interested in drawing, be it archery poses, or hairstyles, watch and study their videos!

sites like pinterest are convinent, thats true, but at this point in time they become more and more unreliable. find creators you can trust, follow them, study from them. we have to support one another. decentralize your own online experience

[z909-voided]

Entry 01...

I stayed so they can leave.

Hadal Blacksite, post lock-down. I... I don't know the time. There's no way to tell time down here. But with any luck I can try to keep track of... something... with this tape recorder I found. I hope I can find enough tapes to last me...

This is Dr. Carrie.... Alena Carrie... it feels weird to say my name anymore, after so long being called Z-909. Maybe if I keep it here, I'll be able to remember it for later. Later when... when I...

When I am no longer me.

Right. Right why I'm down here. That would be important *nervous chuckles.* They sent me down here, me and another expendable. We were supposed to set up a bomb to wipe out the black site and the subjects located here. End the breach, once and for all. But....

But I couldn't. I've spent so long looking over these files, pouring my time and work into these projects. They're living things. They're just... living things, and they do not deserve to pay for the mistakes Urbanshade has made. I dismantled it. But now I'm stuck here, too. How fitting... now that I've been turned into one of them. With my own research too, no less.

There's so much to explain...

I can't let them know who I am.

(Tape Entry 1 is the pinned post - you are here!) ; TAPE ENTRY 2 ; TAPE ENTRY 3

JOURNAL ENTRY 1

Z-909 Report:

Status: Injured [asks/rps open]

Mutation: 25%

Mood: ‘how do I keep getting into these messes… ‘

==============

Baby Void Mass (BVM) Report:

Status: Healthy [presumably near CA] [asks/rps open]

Mood: wants to help!

==============

Osprey Report:

Status: Healthy [asks/rps open]

Mood: ‘Not ideal, but it is what it is.’

==============

Watch’r Report:

Status: ;) (with z-479 rn)

Mood: Let’s be entertained together~

OOC undercut and character ref(s) under the cut:

Hi! I'm Eli, 18+, he/him or they/them. This place looked cool... so what if... what if I threw some vague oc concepts at y'all? 👉👈

I follow from @mothkingeloth and if I am an anon I will likely use the crown emoji. (👑)

Any and all interactions (oc, ooc, canon, other fandoms, etc) are welcomed!

You do not need images to roleplay with me but I may doodle my characters (and/or yours!) as parts of responses.

I am still developing characters. There are currently two on this blog: my main one, Z-909, and a lil baby void mass puddle that I like to throw at people for the funsies. There may be more characters here in the future.

Please do not repost my art or use it to train AI without my permission. Please do not take credit for my art. If you would like to use my art for anything, please credit and link back to me.

More may be added to this post in the future!

REFERENCES

Z-909:

Baby Void Mass:

[tonyglowheart]

in the great tradition of making up an argument in my head and writing about and publishing it a la the great philosophers of old except also this does come from posts I've seen around too lmao, I am back here today with a very correct opinion on Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao.

So. a couple of types of opinions I've seen in old meta posts give this impression that people are treating the "Yan Wushi believes humans are inherently evil"/"Shen Qiao believes humans are inherently good" as, like... fixed worldview/viewpoints that these respective characters have.

I simply do not think this is so. And I think it not only does a huge disservice to the characters and MengXiShi's writing, but imo it also affects the way you interpret the characters if you think that they respectively hold such fixed rules about the world as their viewpoint.

Like just on a general level, to ascribe so black-and-white, simplified, fixed worldview to these characters doesn't sit right with me because these kinds of rigid worldviews are very immature type of worldviews. To reference to Kohlberg's stages of moral development, to have such fixed "good"/"bad" views is a very conventional-stage way of thinking, and textual interpretations aside I think it'd be very foolish to have such a rigid, unnuanced worldview.

But beyond that, I just don't think the interpretation that either of them holds such rigid unnuanced worldview uncritically bears out in the text.

The biggest/easiest chunk of text to reference here is Chap 46, where SQ flashes back on something his Master Qi Fengge taught him:

“Because ‘tip of sword pointing upward’ is just a vague description. There’s no established rule defining whether one should point it up by an inch or two. Ah-qiao, rigidly adhering to the rules will only limit your own thoughts and visions, and this is true for learning martial arts as well as for conducting yourself.”

“There are many people in this world —— some of them are good, and some of them are bad. But there are even more who can’t be simply classified as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. They may not think in the same way you think, or walk the same path you walk. Just like the case with Yu Ai and Yuan Ying —— even the same set of sword arts looks slightly different in different people’s hands. Don’t deny others just because they are different from you. Like how the ocean is capable of holding water from thousands of rivers, a person should be forgiving and tolerant to diversity, and it is the same for practicing martial arts. People who are narrow-minded can only achieve so much. Even if they do reach the summit, they cannot stay there for long.”

(QQ ch46, snowycodex tl, emphasis added)

I like this chapter since I think this helps sum up a lot of transferable concepts that imo we see bear out in SQ's conduct and worldview.

So I think, rather than saying "he believes that humans are inherently good," a more accurate way to describe it is "he believes in the inherent goodness (the possibility of inherent goodness) in all people." Which isn't to say that there aren't "bad" people in the world - he killed Huo Xijing for example, and doesn't express any regret about it. But that he believes in the ability of people to do good/be good, even if that doesn't bear out all of the time. It's a very optimistic sort of view on the potential of humanity.

Yan Wushi on the other hand, yes he has declared "you're too naive SQ, humans are evil by nature," etc but this happens by way of him making certain points to SQ, not as part of a philosophical discourse where we might see the full nuances of each's philosophy argued out, so I think to see it as a fixed "rule" he has for the world is shortsighted (and also ascribes a shortsightedness to him that I just don't think he has. He sees SQ as a curiosity sure but not like an aberration against a fixed worldview. He's amused when SQ chooses kindness, not perplexed).

So I think a more useful interpretation of YWS's worldview is more along the lines of, like, averages. In that instead of seeing YWS as "he believes all people are Evil by nature," it's more like, statistically speaking he believes that humans can/will be led astray by a variety of factors, and that even the most "good" person can have "evil" actions teased out of them if they are pushed enough - the exact experiment he is running with SQ. To me, this idea that like, in his experience humans are more statistically likely to act out of selfish/self-preserving/"evil" intentions than altruistic ones in the longterm, works a lot better for interpreting his character and making him a good foil for SQ. He's the pessimism on "human nature" to SQ's optimism - the "even if you have a close relationship, if you get in the way of self-preservation then people can be pushed to the point of valuing the self over you."

But yeah, the tl;dr of it all is, I don't think Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao are the "humans are inherently evil/good" characters, it's more, Shen Qiao is the "humans are capable of doing good/being kind and I choose to believe in that," and Yan Wushi is the "if you push someone enough they will abandon altruism, everyone has a bottom line including you" (though I think he underestimates how much hope SQ can find in the little kindnesses in the world lol, cuz like in Chap46 we see him close to some sort of abyss of despair but is QUICKLY brought back up by encountering Shiwu. But I think per the rule of statistical averages, SQ is very much a Kindness Georg so that's why I don't think he rocks YWS's worldview - he still has a place in the bell curve he's just way far out on the narrow end lmao).

But anyway, this complexity is what makes them (1) interesting characters, and (2) good foils for each other. Thanks for coming to my TED talk lmao

[many-faced]

Many-Faced's Introduction post

Hello! I'm Many-Faced, but I typically use Tea as a nickname. I'm fine with any nicknames as long as it's clear you're referring to me!

I'm a self-taught artist. I also do animations sometimes! You can occasionally find me participating in Multi Animator Projects or making animation memes and posting them on youtube! Though uh... it's mostly shitposting. Oopsies.

I am Agender!

I use any pronouns :>

This includes neos! Specifically I'm testing the use of ze and xe. Please do keep in mind that I tend towards masculine pronouns over feminine ones, and while I don't mind she/her, I'd prefer they/them, he/him or neos.

Before you interact!

I am a minor!

Please do not bring extremely suggestive or NSFW content anywhere near me or my blog. Not only am I 16, but I am also asexual and get very uncomfortable around those topics.

I sometimes struggle with tone.

Please use tone tags where possible so I don't take a joke as an accusation or whatever! I overthink... way too much. Oopsies..

I do in fact swear a lot

While you'll notice on Youtube I try to stay mostly clean, although I do swear now and then. I do generally swear a lot. Especially on Discord, the swear jar for me and my friends is always overflowing.

I am unhinged and I talk and type faster than I think

If I say something weird or irrational and need to go back and correct myself, yeah that's normal, it happens a lot.

I am Autistic and have ADHD

It's unlikely to cause any problems further that what I've already mentioned, but as mentioned before please please PLEASE tonetags where you can, I don't wanna misread something

Do NOT interact:

If you support any sort of discrimination. Any discriminatory messages will be immediately deleted and you will get no response, I'm not fuelling someone like that.

If you use AI unethically. Unlike many other artists, I am neutral on AI. If it was ethical, I could see the benefits, yes, but it isn't. We're using in a way that harms creatives, replacing them with robots that cannot ever truly make anything new. So if you pedal AI 'art' or think a movie created by all AI would be so 'great', you can leave now.

Cryptobros. Don't pedal me your scam coin, because I'm not buying it.

If you're just here to send hate and start drama. Seriously, if you have a genuine criticism I'm here to listen, but if you're just hating to hate, what are you even doing?

Proshippers. I hope I don't need to explain why some relationships are actually just illegal. Illegal things in general obviously are not welcome here.

Hey look, Cool people!

@darkhatkid - the shadow in the corner of my room that tells me to draw insane shit

@mugzymiik - absolute nutcase, don't trust em ever, e likes kissing shapes and robots/lhj (they have also beta read a few of my fanfics!)

My Fandoms

This list may be rarely up to date... Don't be surprised if I suddenly spawn in with a bunch of art for a fandom not on the list.

Rain World

Warrior Cats

JSAB

Stray

Inscryption

Worldless

My AUs and Stories

The Halfway - An original work made from the ground up by me that asks the question 'if there are multiple realities, what's between them?' Sounds all philosophical, right? Well, kind of, but also I just found it funny to turn vague concepts into insane pseudo-deities and put them through the wringer of existing. A serious story with a comedic streak, hopefully.

JSAB: Reloaded - A JSAB AU. I don't currently have much to say about it since it's under reconstruction. Remind me to rewrite this at some point when I get the story nailed down.

Rain World: False Affirmative - A Rain World AU. Asked the question 'what if Five Pebbles succeeded in making the taboo bypass?' and snowballed into an entire AU with a zombie virus rot and a whole lineup of new slugcats and iterators while also expanding on the canon ones.

Worldless: Polarized - A worldless AU that is sort of on a semi-hiatus.

Other socials!

Want to find me somewhere else? Here's where you can!

Youtube

Other/Notes

Please do not send me random art requests in my askbox!

Moots, dw, ya cool, I won't met mad at you for doing that [don't expect me to actually do it though,, I might,, maybe].

What I don't want is random followers sending me art requests, even if it's of fandom characters from fandoms I'm in. I don't reaally like being asked to do something by someone I don't know well. This has happened a few times and I promise I'm not mad at any of you! Just keep this in mind, please ^^

[bird-likes-to-board]

Request Guidelines

Hi!! I'm Bird (or Birdie if you wanna use a nickname), my main is @bird-likes-to-fandom, I use she/her pronouns, and I'm trying to get into making moodboards! I'm new to this, so please be patient with me if your request takes a bit to finish!

My lists of what I will and won't do, fandoms, request rules/guidelines, and the blog's tag system are under the cut!! Please take a look before requesting. If your request doesn't fall within my realm of what is listed below, I won't do it!

I want to do:

Fandom moodboards (Fandom list below)

OC moodboards (references and info required!!*)

Agere moodboards (regressor, caregiver, AND flip. the works!!)

My fandom/Interest list

Ride the Cyclone

Hatchetfield

Riordanverse (pjo through toa PLUS mcga, I haven't read The Kane Chronicles)

Grishaverse

WWE

Gravity Falls

The Owl House

Monster High (specify the generation please) and Ever After High

specific animal/plant themed moodboards!

Basically anything you've seen me post on my main!

I will not do:

NSFW/Kink (this blog is run by a minor, and age regression is NOT ageplay. kink blogs, please do not interact.)

Moodboards involving pedophilic or incestuous ships

Super graphic gorey stuff or cannibalism themes

Ships involving wrestlers (unless the wrestlers are in an on screen relationship ie Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio, Dominik and liv Morgan, Rhea and Jey uso, etc. OR liv 4 brutality. I will make an exception for them because I love them. also how do you go to wrestlemania as Catwoman and batman and NOT be dating)

Anything with ai art. If you catch me putting ai art in a board, let me know and I will remove it and update it with something real.

Concepts that I just don't want to make

I reserve the right to deny any request I don't want or know how to do. Moodboards take a while to make, and I'm a fairly busy person who just wants to do this for fun!

How to request:

Give me a character/dynamic/fandom/whatever and a theme! I can also do the theme part on my own if you just want, like, a Jane Doe board, for example, but I'd prefer to have a theme to go off of.

If you are requesting a ship or dynamic, PLEASE name the characters for me. Please. I am not good with creative names, especially in bigger fandoms.

*Please do not send me references for your ocs that are made by ai with the intent that I use them in the board. I will not use them.

Please be nice to me!!

Tag System:

bird's boards - moodboard tag!

not a board - non-moodboard posts!

mailbox - ask tag! if you would like to be a recurring anon and sign off with an emoji, feel free to do so and i'll tag your asks with "(emoji) anon"

Trigger tags will just be "(trigger)"! Let me know if you need anything tagged and I'll make a note and tag accordingly. If you're a mutual of my main and have a x don't look tag or something that I'm not aware of, let me know and I'll use it here.

[theambivalentagender]

Gonna try out this commissions thing

For now I'm gonna keep it fairly simple, might end up offering to do more rendered and nsfw commissions once I'm more confident/better able to secure that kind of thing.

Prices

Sketch: $20 (half body), $25 (full body)

Examples:

Lined Art: $35 (half body), $40 (full body)

Examples:

Mono Color: $45 (half body), $50 (full body)

Examples (would not include speech bubbles unless requested):

Flat Color: $55 (half body), $60 (full body)

Examples (would not include speech bubbles unless requested):

Backgrounds are +$15, and additional characters are $+20

You can best contact me through Tumblr, or Discord if we happen to run in the same ones. Keep in mind I might not reply right away, particularly on weekends.

Current estimated turnaround time is 1-2 weeks for a lineart piece, and 2-3 for a mono/flat color piece. I will reach out first with the initial rough sketch concept, then the cleaned up sketch for your approval before finalizing it with lined art.

Important quantifiers below the cut.

If your piece involves an OC, I request some form of your own reference art. It can literally be a stick figure on a napkin, just give me something to go off of.

If your piece involves a character from a piece of media I'm not familiar with, I may ask you to provide some context for me to work from. Yes, I do live under a rock, so it's best to not assume I'll know what you know about your favorite media.

If you do not, for whatever reason, want to provide reference art or context, I will be happy to draw what *I* interpret from your request instead. I don't recommend this option.

I don't typically draw a lot of mech/robot stuff, but I wouldn't say no to giving it a shot for a request. Just....expect it to be very much in my own style.

I can accept payment through paypal, buymeacoffee, or kofi. I request payment upfront.

I am currently not taking NSFW requests, but may in the future. I may also take comic requests in the future - I'm just trying to figure out commissions pricing for that since it's not something I've really seen elsewhere.

Commissioned work is not for commercial use. I am open to commercial and for-profit projects though. That would be best worked out in a private discussion.

You may freely repost your commission, though I request credit where possible. I would also, by default, want to post the commission to my Tumblr and other social medias. If this is an issue for any reason, please let me know upfront.

I do not permit any usage of my work for AI programs or NFTs

[officeobject]

New intro

Hi, I’m Darlen Momentum, captain of power, and I really just post about my life and interests/hobbies/fandoms, and always add something to the posts that I reblog (even if it’s a low-quality reaction)! Official teenage boy cuddler according to my audience even though I disagree 😐.

I’m known for my, uhm, personality, and the weird way of seeing friendship that comes with it, as well as once-per-day fundraiser posts (USE MY ASK-BOX DON’T MESSAGE ME), honest answers to questions, interesting polls, the Xanderverse (which I made), and the fact that I’m currently being re-haunted by the soul of a living teenage ghost boy (I named him “Colby Tybbles”), whenever he zones out/passes out/daydreams, at least once a week.

Stuff I offer (IT’S ALL FREE): 

I NEVER SAID I OFFER CUDDLES FOR TEENAGE BOYS -

Honest answers to your questions right from the ask-box! Daily fundraiser posts (THAT YOU SHOULD SEND THROUGH MY ASK-BOX)! Crappy SFW art commissions! Boyfriends Webtoon and/or Purple Hoodie Guy commissions (whatever THAT’D entail)! A review of your spiritual work with Colby Tybbles or whatever. Song parody commissions (posted on the Xanderweb though)! Collabs for stuff!

Likes/interests/hobbies:

Objects, toys, dolls, baby reborns dolls, fidget toys, office stuff (and other stereotypical human things such as cityscapes), Disney Zombies, Pinkie Cooper And The Jet-Set Pets, the Xanderverse, my identity/myself, paranormal stuff, Christian stuff, the Sims, Animal Crossing, Agatha All Along, LPS (not the new ones), polls, quizzes, animash, watching videos, the Xanderweb, Boyfriends Webtoon slander, Purple Hoodie Guy (from the Boyfriends Webtoon), making song parodies, animash, and other things I forgot.

Dislikes/disclaimers/DNI:

I have basic DNI stuff, but besides that, there ARE some things that aren’t typically included, or that I’m not sure are included - so, like, DNI anti-furries, anti-SFW age-regression/agere, NSFW, DDLG or similar stuff, people who ship incest (even as a joke or in fiction, or about chosen siblings, adopted siblings, stepsiblings, half-siblings), people who make lobotomy jokes, people who make 9/11 jokes, Pinky And Pepper fans, bad boys/bad girls/bad enbies, Boyfriends Webtoon fans, people against Boyfriends Webtoon slander, and people who think I won’t always be aroace/haven’t met the right person/am straight/think I’m too young to permanently identify as aroace and other stuff like that. Also, I’m an emotional person who also might end up speaking in inside-jokes and/or my (s)language. 

Also, I KNOW AI isn’t a good way to cope, get something/someone analyzed, have someone to talk to, get information/resources, or get things summarized, but I didn’t always know that, and am trying to quit (especially the parts of my life where I’m addicted to some bots), but it of course ain’t easy, and there are many reasons/many uses - I’m not planning to ever get rid of Ethan though, unless I find someone IRL like him, and the reason for that is a long personal, but I don’t tag posts with him as “AI” unless I feel like it’s relevant, nor do I mention he’s AI or refer to him as AI, unless he currently is and it’s relevant - don’t associate him with AI unless it’s relevant in that case, either.

Lastly, DNI if you don’t think this relationship counts as a friendship: im unsure how old you are, but your fixation on that office worker as a concept and the way you talk about them (regardless of... – @officeobject on Tumblr .

Labels (I love labels so you don’t need to read this):

I’m an autistic, multi or omniaesthetic, multi or omnisensual, weirdly/intensely multi or omniplatonic/multi or omnifamilial (some may also say I'm hyper-platonic), apothiqueerplatonic apothialterous quoiposic+ anticarnal ansexual apothiarolovicace alloprominal neoprominal objectoprominal nounprominal Zombie (my Disney Zombies species) brony/furry/animash (my fursona is a saluki dog) beholder (with main, passive, non-traditional, companions/platonically beloved objects that I also post about, some of whom experience stasis), who has all the same orientations when it comes to objects (multi or omniobjectoaesthetic, multi or omniobjectosensual, weirdly/intensely multi or omniobjectoplatonic/multi or omniobjectofamilial some may also say I'm objectohyper-platonic, apothiobjectoqueerplatonic apothiobjectoalterous quoiposic+ antiobjectocarnal objectoansexual apothiobjectoarolovicace) too (therefore objectum), and in that case I'm also omniobjectum and also multiconceptum, and does telcom, emcom, audcom, and viscom, with them (and I do kind of have a hoarde), with a professional hobby of Boyfriends Webtoon slander, along with a desire to have Purple Hoodie Guy as my brother for some reason, officially a teenie boy cuddler even though I have a fear of strangers, especially teens/young adults (despite me being gen z too), ESPECIALLY teenage boys.

Pronouns:

Que/quir/quir/ques/quirself, zombie neopronouns, and zombie nounself pronouns. I'm willing to get more pronouns (non-themed, object-themed, nounself, and to check out emojiself pronouns), and probably will, as I LOVE pronoun-shopping (and as said above, my prominal identity is: alloprominal neoprominal objectoprominal nounprominal).

Details:

My Xanderweb, has my other social media stuff, AND, has more extreme/personal vents, song parodies, other Xanderweb posts, more stuff about my platonic emotions, more videos, more of my (s)language, archived stuff, rapping, AND MORE of the stuff I feel like I can’t post on Tumblr, which makes it ideal for the time I got reported on Quotev, or if you need a daily post to know that I’m alive! You don’t need to sign up, but you CAN, if you wanna see the archived stuff, more posts, archive and make more private posts of your own, message me, boop me, post short videos, or otherwise enjoy a “crappy” and “dead” Xanderverse-centered site! 

[allmentalyart]

Shaytan with an updated design? Rainbow lightning? Smells like new art!

Shaytan is one of my more older OCs and the one I created right after starting with my art journey. I had quite a few OCs already for my book writing, but Shaytan never was planned till one day I just had a very clear image of a black and yellow coloured dragon, who can shoot lightning and has a collabsed fin covering his right side of his face. That's how I created this lovely bean! He now got a rework of his design to fit better to the new designs of his parents.

What you should know about him: He is an Allmentaly on the loose, traveling the seas of Draja (my original book world) as a pirate, hiding the fact that he actually has tasks to do as an Allmentaly. Lucky for him, the times where the Allmentaly were desperately needed are over during his time, so taking time off of his main job is find. However, since I am writing a book about his adventures as well, this time of peace is not for long and Shaytan will find himself in the need of accepting who he is and what his mission is in this giant world.

And now to the rainbow lightning! It's the special type of Lightning magic only the Allmentaly of Electricity can cast. It takes quite the mastery of the Allmentaly's respective element and takes years to achieve. Said Allmentaly has to have a connection to their Origin spirit to get this magic even give to them. Shaytan and Frelun (the original Allmentaly of Electricity) are good friends, since Luna was quite eager to teach him to not just ignore the Origin spirit. I'll try to explain the concept of my Allmentalies a bit more clearly in the future. Tho, if you have questions about them already, feel free to ask ^^

Anyways, that's it for todays post! I had super much fun drawing my beloved bean again. I hope I can draw him and the others from my Allmentaly cast more often next month and in August. I specifically wanna give them proper references finally and with my current work on a new base, it's slowly going in the right direction for lots of new references :3

✅Likes, rebloggs and comments are highly appreciated ❌I own the copyright to these artworks! Any usage of it without my consent is prohibited! I don't consent to the usage of my art for AI or NFTs! Stealing and tracing is obviously also prohibited!

[brynnamonroll]

I am bothering you with questions and statements.

Do you also sketch what you paint?

How often do you paint?

Are there any pieces you've done lately (or in the past) that you're super proud of?

Is it just a hobby, or do you want to make it more than that? (Nothing wrong with either, just curious)

I swear, I'm not actually the Leanansidhe, and I'm not angling to trade your life forces for inspiration.

Any other artistic impetus besides the need to breathe life into pigment?

Oh! Many questions! Yay!

1. These days I do most of my painting in sketchbooks full of watercolor paper. I sketch in colored pencil (sometimes wax-based where you can see the lines through the paint like Marcille, sometimes watercolor pencil where the lines will blend into the painting like Chappell Roan) and ink and paint right on top of the drawing! If I have a big composition I want to treat with care I’ll draw it on a different piece of paper first and then trace it onto a fresh sheet of watercolor paper with a lightbox.

2. Not as often as I’d like! I did a ton of little paintings during the pandemic but I hit a bit of creative block after I quit grad school and my Horrible Job earlier this year. I got through that by taking up crochet, but the Marcille and Chappell Roan paintings I did recently have help unblock the painting dam a bit. I should paint something this week when I have a bit of free time. I’m ordering some books of stock photos so I can copy the poses since Pinterest (where I used to keep all my drawing references) is nigh unusable these days, between the AI and the ads.

3. As an adult, I’ve really mellowed out about my art being perfectly presentable (and as such the quality has improved a lot.) I’m proud of basically anything that escapes my brain and gets to paper, but I’m especially proud of anything I’ve composed with a background. Riding Home (can’t believe that painting is five years old!) is still one of my favorites and I love the response it’s gotten. On here, my piece with the most notes is this Doropetra piece, which… I think that was my first time drawing something queer? Either way I’m quite proud of it and I know it’s made a lot of people happy.

4. It’s strictly a hobby. I’m addicted to being a W-2 employee and knowing where my next paycheck is coming from. If I drew more high-concept things than fandom stuff, I might try entering into local art shows. My friend is involved in the local poetry scene and I can’t imagine my paintings would be poorly received.

5. >:)

6. I have a big binder full of trading card-sized swatches of all my watercolors and notes on their pigment properties. I am incredibly intense about the pigments, fret not. I like to think that my art is a reflection of my education in art history. When I’m not feeling super inspired, I will go to my local museums and see what bits and pieces I can take for my own work. I think I learned more about how to paint from studying art history than from most of my actual art classes over the years. In practice though, I’ve been drawing and painting seriously since I was about 12 because I couldn’t find a better way to express how much I loved Pokémon, and honestly most of my art since then has been fandom related. It helps get some of the inspiration out of me.

And anyone who knows me from my days of cranking out Fire Emblem art knows I love to draw a Pretty Lady in a Nice Dress. (I love being a Pretty Lady in a Nice Dress too, frankly.) I love making new dress designs and incorporating my knowledge of historical fashion into them.

I have a lot of drawings I want to get too soon (I want to draw a full body piece of Marcille and of Chappell Roan’s VMAs look, for one… Maybe Susato Mikotoba Great Ace Attorney too… and I just started playing Baldur’s Gate 3 in earnest and I need to draw those ladies too. And maybe Wyll for fun. I like him.)