#if ai art lets you create what you want then great that’s cool. but like in the words of my friend dan ‘your ability to create art comes

[drasticdoodling]

hang on. where’d this idea that artists are elitists who look down on others who don’t have the same skillset come from?

i just got a blazed post where op was talking about the merits they see in ai art, and it included a bit saying artists “are afraid of the unwashed masses having the power to create” and that is just. insulting and not accurate? artists concerned about ai art or talking about how it’s not the same as art made by people are responding to the rampant theft of art in ai databases and the people who tout ai art as a replacement for artists rather than another way to make art- i haven’t seen one artist upset at the idea that someone without technical artistic skill could create something. and it’s like, anyone can create art too- even if you don’t have technical skills or good supplies you CAN create. not to mention that a lot of the people and companies dumping tons of time into ai art are probably a lot more wealthy than artists doing commissions, concept art, etc

[bellanoche-oxo]

I'm sorry this isn't a commission, but I just have a question about your art. Feel free to ignore this, of course. I was really amazed by your Miku drawing from December 16th. Seeing such a high-level piece, I wanted to achieve something similar, but no matter how much I try, I can't replicate your shading and highlights. I was so genuinely curious that I couldn't sleep. Could you possibly give me any hints or advice?

Hey, sorry for making you wait so much for this answer, i've been finishing some projects and i barely had free time. Anyways i'll try to do my best on explaing my coloring and lighting methos and you also asked me to explain how i create the folings of the clothes. Please take in consideration that 1 i am not native in english so it's a bit difficult for me to explain myself sometimes in this language and i may have some misspelings, sorry about that, and also 2 i am not great at explaing my drawing process bc i kind of turn off my brain when i draw lol, but i can explain the fundamentals that i know and help me create! Last thing i want to let you know is that i've started glazing my art, this is a metho to protect the images for AI images generators and it leaves a kind of pattern /effect on the image that i did not put there during the drawing process.

with all of this said let me start explaining things!

Learn the basics:

This may come as a cliche i guess, but yes my first ever advise to anyone is learn the basic theory on lighting and colors (on anything related to art tbh). You don't really need to spend a lot of money on books and such as there are lots of resources online like videos and documents you can read for free. It's not necesary to be an expert and even the smallest mount of knoledge is enought to inpruve your art a lot! , i find it very interesting to learn the way things work too so don't think you'll get bored of it!

To be frank, i am actually not very good at lighting lol. My lights and shadows are not very correct, but since i do have a lot o control over my colors and i know very well how to used them it kind of compensates and creates a very recognisable (i think) style.

just u know basic shitty advise that everyone is going to give you but it works! if you have free time try watching some videos or reading some documents about color theory shadow and lighting!

Your working space:

So this is something that works FOR ME not everyone likes it, you can try it see if you like it and if you do, cool! if you don't … that's cool too! When drawing on digital i prefer it when my base layer is grey instead of white. It helps with my headaches too but it's more about the fact that starting in a middle tone when coloring (in my opinion) makes the process of briging out both shadows and lights easier, let me give you an example:

Drawing from complete light (white) to compplete darkness (black) may condicion you to actually lose control in the contrast betwen these areas, i prefer staring in a middle place (grey) and that way is i want to show darkness i'll use a darkr color and if i want to show light i'll use a lighter color, but if i start on white i can't use anything lighter. I think i did a HORRIBLE job explaing myself there, but yeah it just helps me control my color valius a bit more lol.

this is the color that i used:

Another inportant thing about your woking space is you brushes, in my case i prefer using textured brushes that mix well, and i prefer using very thick strokes, if it's too think i'll just color pick the transparent color and ease it! I work in CSP i don't know what you use, but just in case i'll give you the setiings of the brushes i use the most with their codes so you can find them

Sculpting with lights and shadows

As i said before, i am not very good with light yet, so this is something that i do to help me with the process. When you think about it, lighting is used in art to give volume to the piece, not in every case bc rules in art are not there to be followed but to asist us when we need to take a creative decision. The way that we can start with our Sculpting is by creating a very easy first guide othe the shadows and lights and to do it with very big block, so that we get the general shape first,we don't neet to get lost in the detailds yet

The actual coloring

When drawing my process is divided in three stages. I first create the doodle/lineart, that doesn't neet to be super neat as i will fix it during the rendering. The basic colors, and the rendering.

During the preparation for the rendering when doing the base colors i recomend that you give special atention to the focal points of your illustration, in this case for example that's her face and the top of the hair, that's why i gave so much more atention for this part in comparation to the shirt, that it's literally not shadowed yet. Then another step that i use normally before rendering and that i can NOT RECOMEND ENOUGHT!!!! GO WILD WITH THE COLOR CURVES!!!! OMG!!!! THAT STUPID LITTLE TOOL IS SO FUCKING COOL!!!!!!!!! like for real, it gives effects that i have not been able to achive in any other way and omggggggg use the fucking color curves pleaaaaaaseeeeee

ok i'm notmal again , lets continue.

For the rendering i usually convine all the layers of the drawing on one layer, then use a textured brush that has low opacity of mixes very well fot the actual work. Tbh here is very i can't really help you a lot, bc i have no idea what i'm doing when i render i just don't know, the only thing i recognise is that i try to esare or clean the lines from the doodle/lineart, and i focus a lot on creating volume in the places that are more important.

Skins

An specific thing that i do a lot when it comes to coloring skin is using an undertone in red (literally) I will put the basi color, use the brush to mark where i want shadows to be in a very vibrant red and then use a blue / green / pruple (depends on the skin) to finish the shadowing. Thios metho is nice for lots of occasions, but take in consideration that it doesnt work for example for very dark scenarios where the character is suppoused to be in the shadows, as that red tone works as a outline for the light. It just depends on the situation.

Clothes foldings:

Ok so here the only thing i can give you an advise with is to remember that the way that clothes fold dependes on gravity and that gravity works in curves most of the time that have two (or more) attachment points that are going to determinate theit trajectory. Example:

And remeber that this creates (again) a volume, that there is an inside part, that it's probably going to be draker, and an outside part, that it's going to be lightter. With this info you can start practicing with images of clothes.

this is as much information as i am able to recolect on my coloring process bc i am horrible explaining , spacially on text and in english, and i am also not very much aware when i draw, i kind of disconect. I still hope this is enough to help you a bit on your learning journy.

I may try doing a video at some point if i ever have the time so i can explain my coloring while i actually do it bc if not in that situation i'm not sure i'll be able to remeber what it is that i did.

My last piece of advise is to watch speedpaints and livestreams of artists you like during their drawing process and maybe even tray to imitate them while they are drawing to see what it is that they do exccly.

hope you have a good day and lot of lucks ! be proud of being able to create and be proud of being an artist!

[secretmellowblog]

I hope tumblr doesn’t die because No other social media site is as good for long, thoughtful, nuanced analyses of media. Yeah tumblr is also full of dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts, but you can make dumb shallow hot takes and shitposts anywhere —-there are no other popular social media sites that let you easily format and share long essays on the media you enjoy, and then have conversations around those long essays.

Fandom on all the other big social websites just seems so utterly …shallow. And it’s not because people on other websites aren’t thoughtful or don’t have deep things to say, but because these sites’ formats do not allow for any kind of long nuanced conversations.

Tiktok? Things have to be crammed into a super short video with an attention grabbing headline, and you can’t hyperlink sources. Instagram? Everything has to be in an image format with strict limits on length, and nothing will be shown to your followers anyway because of how Instagram’s algorithm works, and also no hyperlinks. Twitter? Strict character limits, and if you split it into threads it means someone can retweet a part of your essay completely out of context, and also very little freedom with formatting.

It frustrates me so much. If I go into the Tumblr Les Mis fandom I’ll find really compelling long essays on the original novel (including essays being written for the ongoing book club) on the story’s historical context, or the parallels between different characters and their narrative foils, or the way the politics were defanged for certain adaptations, or the way Victor Hugo’s personal life and failings affected the novel. But on tiktok I’ll get the same five shallow stale jokes from 2013 over and over, or maybe the same “DID U KNO THAT IN THE MUSICAL JAVERT AND VALJEAN SING THE SAME LEITMOTIF” style of basic Intro To Les Mis 101 For Babies media analysis (which is what Tiktok considers deep media analysis), or stale “LOL JAVERT ACTS GAY” style jokes as if we’re living in the early 2000s and calling a character gay is still a funny punchline. And it’s impossible to have any kind of deeper thoughtful discussions than “DID U KNOW <x Kool Fact>” or “lol <shallow observational joke>” on tiktok because the platform just isn’t built for building niche communities around in depth conversations. it’s built to churn out bland generic content for as wide an audience as possible, which means pointing out a small detail like an Easter egg and calling it “cool” is deep media analysis, because you cant have longer more in depth conversations without alienating people. And I hate it. Bc like, it’s not because there aren’t smart clever thoughtful people on Tiktok— there are—it’s because Tiktok isn’t built for these conversations, and anyone who wants to have them has to really fight against the things the website encourages or prioritizes!

Or like, if I go into the LOTR fandom on Tumblr, I’ll find tons of extremely long analysis and fanfic, and analysis of queer readings of the story. On Instagram people will still shriek in terror if you suggest the characters are gay, and most of the popular lotr posts are stale memes recycled from like 2007. There’s really no room for thoughtful media analysis, and even if you did create it, instagram’s algorithm would make sure no one saw your post anyway.

And everyone’s going to say “the algorithm shows you what you’ve seen before so maybe it’s your fault ~” or whatever but i do look for things I want! I do! “The algorithm” doesn’t know me or what I want or value or care about beyond this meaningless surface level.

The only thing that was worthwhile about these sites was the great visual art people were creating, but now the websites are overwhelmed with meaningless soulless machine-generated AI glurge, and it sucks. It just really, really sucks.

I’m honestly confused about why people don’t use tumblr….There’s no character limits! You have freedom with post formatting, and can insert images throughout textposts to illustrate specific points you’re making beneath the paragraphs where they’re necessary! You can add hyperlinks, linking to your sources! People can reblog your entire essay and share it, and then add on with commentary that then becomes part of a larger conversation! People can find your stuff through the tagging system! Reblogging means posts stay in circulation for years instead of being dead 30 minutes after they’re uploaded! If you want to have genuinely interesting text conversations about a piece of media, there really isn’t a better social media website for it anywhere.

To be clear, I’m definitely not saying Tumblr media analysis is *always* clever and thoughtful or etc etc. there are shitposts and nonsense here too (plenty of which I’ve created lol.) I’m saying that Tumblr gives people the tools for in-depth insightful analysis to happen. Whether people choose to do it or not is their own decision XD. But the reason lengthy in-depth conversations and book clubs are even possible here is because Tumblr is built for allowing these conversations to happen, in a way other sites simply aren’t.

It’d really suck if it died, because it’d be a huge blow to…being able to easily find long insightful in-depth media analysis written by fans. I currently don’t think there’s anything that could replace it.

[dumb-phone-diaries]

So Friday morning my phone shit itself. I'd been considering moving to a dumb phone but wasn't really expecting to have to make a decision quite so quickly, but here we are. Since I'm still chronically online though, I've made this blog to document my experiences and see how I go and how long I hold out before I cave and just get another smartphone I guess.

I've just been becoming more and more tired of finding myself scrolling mindlessly down apps I don't care about, that are feeding me content I don't want to see, and more adverts than posts by people I care about. I've become tired of constant software updates, planned obsolescence, and my battery running flat by 3pm every day. And now the introduction of AI generated content. If no one can be bothered to create it why would I bother to look at it, y'know?

So yesterday I went and bought this beauty. She's a Nokia 325 4G in "Future Dusk" (that's dark purple) and she cost $89.

This was the most up-spec phone I could find that didn't run android (or ios). She has a 2mp camera! I'm thrilled with how grainy and creepy the photos look, but i am going to need to get a proper camera, which is not a bad thing. I've been sussing out some options and I think I've found a cool Canon compact on Marketplace.

I've gotta tell you though, this feels like it has less personalisation options than my old 3315. It probably doesn't though. although what ever happened to a little hook on the corner so i could attach a wrist strap or a little flashing hello kitty charm or whatever? rude.

The predictive text feels very clunky, there doesn't appear to be a way to save custom words in the dictionary, which i definitely feel like the old T9 did. There's no emojis so we're back to texting ascii art, which is fun tbh.

Ring tones are limited but you can set MP3's as ring tones so that's fine. The standard text tone I've set is actually very cute, it sounds very magical, and receiving text messages is suddenly very exciting. especially since I've become so used to messenger.

Oh wait! I've just figured out how to add words. Great. So like, even as someone who's used this kind of tech before, there's still a little bit of a learning curve as I reacquaint myself with it.

There's no way to move menu options around to suit my preference as far as I can tell but there aren't that many of them so it's not that much of an issue.

The big challenge I'm facing is how to listen to audiobooks. I've become rather reliant on listening to audiobooks in order to get tedious tasks done. It's honestly something I dreamed about as a kid and audible basically saved my life, I'm not even exaggerating (much). This little phone can play mp3s, and there are ways to convert audible files to mp3 but having a 30 hour long mp3 with no way to skip back and forth on the track is not especially useful, and there's also no way that i've found so far to change the play speed.

There are MP3 players capable of running audible, but that also means they're capable of running all the other apps that I don't want to be able to have access to. I don't feel that I'm addicted to my phone precisely but I also don't have a lot of self control as regards the bad habit I've developed of reaching for my phone any time my hands are not otherwise engaged. If anyone out there knows of some ways around that please let me know!

Anyway

Please appreciate these grainy-ass photos I took with the phone's camera of my dog Tillie, and some Daffodils growing in my garden.

[see-arcane]

I Am Livid.

Bile below

Well, in a fit of paranoia, I’ve gone through all my Ao3 stories and set them to Viewable by Registered Ao3 Users Only. Not because of the Musk blurb. I looked into the ‘Elon Musk using bots to mine Ao3 for writing’ thing and didn’t find anything but a lot of repeat accusations without any examples. 

But you know what I did find?

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/2/23435258/google-ai-writing-wordcraft-lamda

https://www.metastellar.com/nonfiction/on-writing/12-artificial-intelligence-tools-to-write-your-novel-for-you/

https://www.bkacontent.com/everything-about-ai-writing/

In all of these, there’s this struggling, sweating assurance that AI writing is meant to be a collaborative tool. An assisting tool. Used in tandem with human writers. To anyone who sincerely believes this, I admire your optimism and I apologize.

Because this is some next level bullshit.

Just like the immediate leap of AI art from ‘ooh look at this cool-silly trick we can get this program to do!’ to Let’s Use This to Steal From Hardworking Talented Artists and Pretend the End Product is Original Because the Program (and the Person Who Did the Hard Work of Pushing a Button!) Put It Through Their Filter and Slapped Their Name On It! is bullshit.

“AI writing saves time for you!” 

You who? The person whose whole background and career is in writing? No, of course not. Actual writers know what they’re doing. They practiced out of passion. Maybe they got degrees in it, maybe they just worked at it, maybe they aren’t even doing it for a profit (nice as it’d be!), and decide to put what they scribble out in the world for free. No, no, AI writing programs aren’t for them. The suckers.

You’re the person who would normally have to pay someone else to write something for them. 

You’re the person who’d like to hit a button, put other authors’ work through the AI blender, and vomit up another cookie cutter book series in their flavor and get a check for it.

Which is the exact same way it’s going with the people getting screwed and robbed by AI art programs. We all know this example by now:

 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html

But even beyond the competitive sphere, we have the more worrisome reality of professional artists getting gutted out of their careers, on top of hobby artists--artists who do what they do and share what they share With No Guarantee of Getting Paid--having their creations harvested and then turned around for someone else’s profit.

https://nanpa.org/2022/09/20/the-wild-west-of-ai-images-and-artists-rights/

And it enrages me past the point of words--maybe I could use an AI program to do that for me!!!--that anyone. 

Any fucking one. 

Is in favor of this load of thieving, art-killing, utterly inexcusable horseshit. Don’t come out here with your Asimov daydreams and your fucking I, Robot GIFs. This isn’t a movie. This isn’t the heartwarming rise of the Artistically Creative Robot.

The people behind this shit are people. People who want all the accolades and money with none of the work. Sorry, none of their own work. 

Actual creatives, already a demographic living on an economic edge, are in more and more danger of losing either their livelihoods or--aren’t these artists and writers sooo dramatic?--their passion for sharing what they create with the world, simply for the craft and joy of it, when they see someone use a predatory program to steal their hard work, stamp their label on it, and sell it back to an audience who never even gets to know the robbed party’s name.

I hate AI writing. I hate AI art. I. Hate. It.

And I personally want to slap every bullshitting thinkpiecer and salesman who tries to pitch it as anything other than an as-yet-not-illegalized ‘get out of effort/paying creatives machine’ with a hardcover copy of Marx until their teeth fly out.

Are these programs perfected yet? No. 

But the potential in them is too great for people with deep pockets who want them even deeper not to be investing to make them better* (*at stealing, blending, and puking up actual people’s work.) This is just where it starts. 

I genuinely hope the legal brakes get hit on these things. I hope there are actual consequences going forward. I hope all this shit gets banned back and back and back until it’s made defunct by the inescapable fact that NO ARTIST OR WRITER IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD CONSENT TO THESE THINGS STEALING OUR SHIT and the right kind of lawyers make a case for us that unfucks the whole mess.

I really do.

But I won’t hold my breath. 

[o-avosetta]

Torn about a project I'm attached to because of AI art.

I got invited onto the project mostly because it's about my country. They need someone from my country to be on the project so it's not all a bunch of white people making the decisions. But mostly, I'm a consultant who sits in on long meetings and says, Yes, that sounds right, or Uh, how about we try something else?

I said yes to this project because I'm inexperienced, so I need projects to get experience and exposure and all that, because I need permanent status at my work because I need stability, because a lot of the the world still thinks 30-something is late to be starting a new career and still living with the family you didn't start. Plus the nature of the project makes it one of those foot-in-the-door things — if my name is on a cool project like this, people will ask me to join other cool projects like this.

At the very start of the project, the project head said we'd just generate the art we needed with AI. I said I wasn't comfortable with that.

Wouldn't it be great to have someone, maybe a student artist or two from the place where I work, to join the team for that? That way we can also have more representation from my country on the team, it would be a nice opportunity for a young artist, and it would help make the project feel more authentic to your audience, which is mostly people in my country.

The project head said, more or less, That sounds good. But I have artists I've had more experience working with, so maybe you can just advise them when the time comes. And since I don't make any of the money/hiring decisions, I said okay.

Now we're getting to the point where we'll soon need art for the project, and the project head as well as the head designer are both saying, Yeah, let's go with AI.

I said, Well, we have a sister school that has actually created a major specifically to produce artists for the kind of project we're working on. What if we offered some of the students over there some kind of internship?

The project head essentially said, Sure.

I'll ask them to train the AI.

I mean, they gotta know what they're up against in today's industry, right?

What the fucking fuck.

I teach fucking media ethics.

Maybe I don't want my name on this. Maybe I don't need this project at all.

[mousegard]

so i had some thoughts about ai art a while back on twitter, based on my experience with music, and i decided to write a bit more about those thoughts:

i first got into making music in 7th grade or so with a trial version of fl studio (back then, i think, it was still called “fruity loops”), though in hindsight i couldn’t really call what i was initially making “music.” all i was doing was taking midis from vgmusic.com that other people had made, applying fl studio preset synth patches and soundfonts to each channel, and exporting them as mp3s to upload onto the newgrounds audio portal.

back then, fourteen years old and drunk on my own power, i really thought that made me a music producer. i just thought to myself, "wow! technology is so cool! i can make masterpieces (that sounded like utter crap because i had no experience in actually creating music) without putting in any effort, all by myself (by stealing someone else's hard work with zero credit)!"

this practice was colloquially referred to as “midi-ripping” and it was something the actual creators in the newgrounds audio community would get pretty peeved about, partly because it was ripping off the people who had actually put hard work into sequencing and arranging midis of their favorite video game songs, partly because it was disrespectful to people who actually put effort into their own vgm remixes and arrangements and tarnished their work in comparison, and partly because it was flooding the audio portal with unlistenable garbage.

needless to say i felt very hurt by these (entirely true) gripes and felt very aggrieved and persecuted, as fourteen-year-olds are wont to do. but eventually i realized that the actual music artists on newgrounds who had real talent and made their own amazing songs, whether original or vg remixes, had a point and that if i wanted to be a part of the community that would be tolerated, let alone respected, i had to set midi-ripping behind me and start actually learning the craft and making my own stuff. i had a great time on the audio portal then. i had even more fun than before because i was actually participating in the artistic community now! even if i wasn’t really all that good! and i was getting better and better every day!

but i could have gone down a different path. i could have doubled down and refused to grow. and if i’d done that, i’d have ended up like the people today who are doing the same thing with ai art that i was once doing with midis from vgmusic.

because it isn’t about art for them, actually. it’s about instant gratification. midi-ripping excited me because i could create music with almost zero effort, skill, or personal investment. i didn’t know enough about the medium or the craft to discern why my output was bad and soulless, i just wanted to take “the easy route” to creating things. and because i was midi-ripping, i wasn’t actually learning anything about composing music, so i wasn’t actually gaining much skill at all. i was stagnating.

this is somewhat related to a type of person that shows up a lot in creative communities (or rather kramers into them and gets promptly laughed out of them), commonly called the “ideas guy.” they have all these ideas but none of the skills to execute on them, so they look for people or software tools that can do all the work for them for free. they don’t want to write, they just want to “have written.” they don’t want to make a video game, they want to “have made a video game.” these people typically either grow up and realize that there’s no magic button to press that can make your creation for you and they can’t get people to slavishly recreate their grand vision for free, or they go on to become incompetent project managers so they can live out their dream of telling people to do things for them.

and similarly, fourteen-year-old me didn’t want to make music, i wanted to “have made music,” without learning how to actually create something and express myself through it—which requires a lot of practicing and learning and other things that take time and effort. this is the same thing i see with ai art aficionados who cling to the title of “artist.” they want to “have made” art without actually going through the training and soul-searching that it takes to actually express their ideas or the frustration that often comes with trying to bring those ideas to life. that leads to bad art.

if you want to write, you have to learn how to write. you have to keep writing stuff. if you want to make music or mod a video game or any other artistic pursuit, you have to learn how to do those things and you have to practice them. you don’t have to be good at any of these things, you don’t even have to be competent, but you still have to do it. that’s how you learn how to really express yourself and what’s in your heart, and how you learn to refine your creativity and create better and better things.

that’s not to say that the technology, in a vacuum, is entirely useless. at some point in the future, ai could be a useful tool for helping artists augment their works and push their vision even farther. there are a lot of tools like that already for all kinds of artistic expression. going back to music, i can’t play guitar and i don’t have an orchestra at my beck and call, but i have sample libraries that can make reasonable facsimiles of those things, and although they do a lot of work for me, they also demand their own unique skill sets to use effectively, and i’ve put a lot of work into learning how to use them as well as i can even though i'm still nowhere near as good as a professional.

and on the topic of video games, rpg maker helped me make my own video game without knowing how to code, and sure it wasn’t a big video game and it was a bit janky, but it was hard work, i was satisfied with it once i’d finished, and it gave me a lot of insight into what making video games feels like (i.e. frustrating) and taught me to have more appreciation for my favorite video games when i play them.

maybe someday ai can be that sort of tool, but i feel extremely pessimistic about it at this point in time. for a lot of reasons. but especially because its biggest proponents right now tend to sound like people who were like me once and just never grew up.

i know it’s hard. i know it’s embarrassing to start out at something and be bad at it, especially if you’re older. i know that making stuff is frustrating and every creator has wished they could pull what’s in their imagination right out of their head and put it out there without putting in any effort at least once.

but there’s no shortcut that can take you right from the starting line to the finish line. there are things you can do that can help you run faster or farther or make running easier, but you still have to run.

[zamanahmed]

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Supermachine is GDPR-compliant, which means it follows strict rules to protect your personal data. You can use it without worrying about your privacy.

Who Can Benefit From Supermachine?

Almost anyone can benefit from using Supermachine:

Students: Create cool images for school projects.

Teachers: Make engaging visuals for lessons.

Businesses: Generate marketing images quickly.

Artists: Experiment with new types of art.

Social Media Influencers: Stand out with unique images.

Real-Life Examples

Let’s look at some real-life examples of how people are using Supermachine:

Bloggers: They use Supermachine to create unique images for their blog posts, making their blogs look more professional and engaging.

Content Creators: They make eye-catching visuals for Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, helping them get more likes and followers.

Copywriters: They generate relevant images to go along with their text, making their work more appealing and easier to read.

Plan & Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Supermachine Appsumo Lifetime Deal?

Supermachine Appsumo Lifetime Deal offers a one-time purchase for unlimited access to Supermachine's AI-powered image generation tools.

How Does Supermachine Generate Stock Photos?

Supermachine uses advanced AI algorithms to create high-quality stock photos from text prompts in under 15 seconds.

Can Supermachine Create Youtube Thumbnails?

Yes, Supermachine can generate custom YouTube thumbnails tailored to your requirements using AI.

Is Supermachine Gdpr-compliant?

Yes, Supermachine adheres to GDPR regulations to ensure user data privacy and security.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Supermachine Appsumo Lifetime Deal is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who needs high-quality images. Whether you are a blogger, content creator, copywriter, or just someone who loves making art, Supermachine has something for you. With its easy-to-use interface, fast image generation, and a wide variety of models, it is the best tool for generating stock photos using AI technology.

Don’t miss out on this amazing deal! Click here to get the Supermachine Appsumo Lifetime Deal now and start creating awesome images today!

[divorce]

why i like AI art as an artist

i get to say words [incantation] and see an approximation its helped me "see" 1,000 variations on ideas that were floating around in my head i'm able to discard those thoughts, after seeing, i can be like, "oh yeah that would turn out shitty" rather than pacing around in my mind all day, "I >HAVE< to make this! what a cool idea?!" its value for me is 'discard OK' it allows me to move on and refine aesthetics

also LLMs, like most computing concepts are misunderstood (with good reason - "AI" has been an 'intelligence' wetdream for over half a century) the way to use a computer is -- it is a feedback loop. my dad used to scold me when I said the computer was 'stupid', it only executes the command of the user. that is the esoteric aspect of cybernetics, the machine can be a feedback loop for YOUR mind, that has its own feedback (control) loop mechanisms... mobius strip. now with these, GPTs, its a language calculator, which is offensive to those attached to their 'thinks', their ruminations (won't say thoughts) we don't want to let go and let the computer automate thought, because our egos are so wrapped up in the thoughts we have attached to ourselves i say, i daresay, its a process unfolding -- it started with The Chariot and now we're in Death. [Look at the cards, Look at the armor -> the armor that was achieved in the chariot was the control of the 9 muscles of the Larynx to communicate symbol systems. Now the rider is a skeleton but the armor remains. Think on it.] The communication we're heading towards is not with words but with colors (Kalas, Kali, Mahaakaal the Great Time), there is no lag, it is even non-local because it is "information". Anyway, similarly I've been able to hash out >my own< ideas using the ML tools as a soundboard. I've gotten to places and answered questions that I knew would've taken me 7 years alone in a desolate shack of hard thinking. To have an answer, any answer, allows one to move on, move forward. My main point I guess is that its worth something to be able to get an approximation, I don't value generated works as complete, I value them as suppliment, frivolous though they may be -- they're just fragments that can help you advance.

thats not to say that the technology is ethical, no a xanalogical system would be the working solution to copyright issues -- transcopyright would allow the bytes borrowed from artists to be monetized -- instead of the ripoff-pocalypse what you have to understand is that its not the ML algo's fault per se, its the structure of internet client-server model the way the internet is set up -- whoever has the most money to purchase more computing power or server infrastucture wins: that is why the "random" board from 4chan was/is/will always be the best example of what the internet is and why we're not getting any closer to those 2004 forum days we're all nostalgic about... necessarily, randomness, because no one is paid rather than monetizing people's data (which would create a middle class) that data is mined and ripped off for free so it can be sold back to you in the form of ads even this expression -- is at the behest of the Yahoo corporation i'm doing free labor for them by typing my thoughts, because labor was taken out of the factory and retail was taken out of the mall and placed into the virtual plaza without most of us realizing it

[sexypunk-a-sexy-cyberpunk-mmo]

Will SEXYPUNK 2088 change everything?

Is SEXYPUNK 2088 The Future Of Gaming?

By Alan West

Welcome to the world of SEXYPUNK 2088, the latest addition to the dystopian cyberpunk RPG genre. This highly-anticipated MMO is being created by gamers, for gamers, and promises to revolutionize the way we play games. With cutting-edge AI technology and groundbreaking innovations, SEXYPUNK 2088 will provide players with an immersive experience unlike any other.

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

One of the most exciting features of this game is its use of artificial intelligence. The NPC characters in SEXYPUNK 2088 will be able to recognize and address players by their names, creating a more personalized and engaging experience. They'll also be able to dynamically interact and converse with players, making every encounter feel unique and unpredictable.

sexypunk.online

There are four main gameplay modes in SEXYPUNK 2088: Missions, Quests, Open Discovery, and Killing Fields and Campaigns.  Missions offer structured storylines that guide players through key events in the game's narrative. Quests allow players to explore various locations and complete objectives on their own terms. Open Discovery mode lets players roam freely throughout the virtual cityscape, discovering hidden secrets and side stories. Killing Fields is for those who love to grind it up and mash out cool items and gear!  For those who crave PVP combat, Campaigns allows players to team up together and fight to the death against each other, and npcs and unlock great gear and player house upgrading.

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

SEXYPUNK 2088 will have a full massive customizable player housing apparatus of a variety of cyberpunk apartments and dystopian homes at release.  The game however will launch into a special early acess for people who supported the crowdfunding by buying an EXOPAKK on the official crowd funder!

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

After a few years of early access the game will launch not only to steam and other platforms on pc, but to some consoles as well.

After initial funding and development of the game has reached a certain point, there will be the option, after the Funders Special Access period, for other to purchase the game as well, and the final release will bring together all parts of the game into a full and complete bundle with player housing, several pvp and many pve game modes, ground, sky, and space vehicles and combat, and a free to play option.

sexypunk.online

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

It seems the developers hate loot boxes and battle pass systems, and so have suggested a whole new system of after-launch monetization that will allow gamers to unlock everything in the store for free or purchase things FOMO free if they like!  As FOMO is the main driving force behind most big hames these days, we are unsure how they will accomplish this, perhaps though they will have price drops and sales like steam and other platforms do, instead of exclusive timed quasi-random rotations.

SEXYPUNK 2088 launched on Crowdfundr earlier this year, and already has picked up a cult following over at its official crowd funder.

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

sexypunk.online

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

The character creation system in SEXYPUNK 2088 is nothing short of extraordinary. It allows players to customize their avatars down to the finest detail, from body types and facial structures to clothing and accessories. Whether you want to create a sleek cyborg assassin or a rugged hacker with a rebellious streak, there are virtually limitless possibilities.

More about the game, including exclusive concept art and mote can be found also at SEXYPUNK 's official site @

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

Both PVE (Player vs Environment) and PVP (Player vs Player) options will be available in SEXYPUNK 2088. Players can choose to team up with friends and battle fierce bosses together, or compete against one another in fast-paced arena matches. No matter what kind of gameplay you prefer, there's something for everyone in SEXYPUNK 2088.

More about the game, including exclusive concept art and mote can be found also at SEXYPUNK 's official site @

sexypunk.online

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

If all of these features and exciting gameplay sound interesting to you, make sure you go to www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088 and check out the studio crowdfunder.  There you can support the project by sharing and pre-ordering your Exclusive Access to SEXYPUNK 2088, and create your own sub-campaigns to add your own flair and mark on what seems to be the future if gaming!

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

"Join the Resistance of EXISTENCE!  Pick up an EXOPAKK TODAY" reads the crowd funder.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to online gaming, cyberpunk games, or the future of A.I. in games, then SEXYPUNK 2088 should definitely be on your radar. 

I sm looking forward to playing the game some time BEFORE release by picking up my very own city!

Find out more:

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

sexypunk.online

Maybe you want to wait until all the EXOPAKKs are gone and buy the game during early access, or maybe you will consider picking up your own EXOPAKK NOW and join me, and reserve your exclusive access to the future of gaming and by doing so, not only get early access to exclusive content before anyone else but also o help contribute towards further development and growth of this SEXY new game!

Anyway, I look forward to shooting your spacecraft and crushing your bones in PVP in the-one-of-kind Massive Multiplayer Co-Op Singleplayer CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIAN MMORPG!

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

SEXYPUNK 2088 himts it will also have an adult only option like recent crowd funded acess games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Consn Exiles, two titles that this game seems to be developing  AKIIN to, see what A.I. did?  (several puns to figure out fo you!)

Feel free to watch their 2, yes TWO NEW CGI GAME TRAILERS

www.rumble.com/WJDGames and youtube?

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

sexypunk.online

This looks like not only the future of gaming but also game development, in my very own biased opinion, and looks to pick up even more momentum as the slow burning hype of crowdfunding begins.

SEXYPUNK 2088 Appears to be something very special in the making, maybe even a cult classic like Blade Runner or the original Baldur's Gate.

Find out more @ sexypunk.online

Join the Resistance of EXISTENCE.

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

What a community driven, masterpiece!

Sinserely,

Alan West

@AlanWestOfficial

#SEXYPUNK2088 #MMORPG #CyberpunkRPGs #sexypunk #AI #thefutureofgaming #mmo #newgames #gaming #onlinegaming #COOP #aidevelopment #dystopia #cyberpunkgames

Official Site

sexypunk.online

Crowdfunder

www.crowdfundr.com/SEXYPUNK2088

We Just Did. Games!

www.JARVemail.wixsite.com/WJDGAMES

We Just Did. Games Social

www.rumble.com/WJDGames

www.minds.com/WJDGames

www.x.com/WeJustDidgames

www.gettr.com/WJDGames

[pwhiteheadarts102-03]

All long journeys begin with a first step. As I begin this blog, I respectfully remind myself of a few of my own ‘self-imposed’ Tumbler rules:

Don’t be a blog-hog

No cursing or inappropriate verbiage

Be mindful of reflections in pictures

Follow instructions to the best of my ability

Pablo Picasso said ‘Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.’ You can absolutely expect me to break my own rules here, and probably some rules of the school and general humanity. So here we go -

My first response to this assignment - a semester long blog - is that it might be pretty cool to see a process in action, a record of growth and improvement. My second response was “What a pain in the a** it’s going to be to create a record of my growth on demand (ie. according to schedule).” Whatever.

Anyway, I’m kind of excited to be in the presence of some incredibly talented artists and students. Hopefully some of that will stick with me as we collectively work towards improvement and growth. As I said in class, I REALLY appreciated the anonymity of looking at the art that was submitted and not having the benefit (or liability) of knowing the creator.

Working with text in Photoshop wasn’t a dreadful chore for me, in fact, I like it better than working in Illustrator. I don’t know Illustrator well at all. I would like to be better at it because, as I heard a couple of times in class, paraphrased, I have ideas that I can’t translate to the computer. Perhaps having an extra tool like Illustrator would allow me to broaden my expression.

I REALLY liked the more realistic images presented in class, especially ‘See me in all my colors’ and ‘BeAuty lies deep beneath the surface’. Killer! (Included below for clarification) As far as realism in art goes, it fits in well with my marketing mentality. It’s no secret that I have a commercial bent, and I appreciate art in marketing as well as in museums. The human form in art is much more enticing than a cup of coffee, but for me, I’ve been going through a phase of deep colors - chocolates, off-whites and eggshells to name a few - and of course I do appreciate a good cup of coffee.

Off topic - if you’d like to try the best Turkish coffee in Columbia, it’s right off campus up Devine st. at The Mediterranean Tea Room. Great Med food and a relaxed atmosphere off hours. Not as cozy when they’re busy.

After re-reading the instructions, apparently I’m not supposed to get on here and gab away. I’m supposed to respond to reading pages 16-77 in my red book, so…

It’s a hard read for me, I don’t like reading interviews necessarily, but these were interesting and insightful. It reminds me of reading ‘Ad Age’. Or Playboy. Playboy always has interviews. And just like this book, the photos around it had more appeal than the reading - but required reading is required reading.

My favorite designer in the book had a firm called ‘Kiss Me I’m Polish’. That doesn’t really fit the norm, but what is norm anyway? A lot of these companies have (had) funky names, probably a byproduct of the artsy set. I looked a few up. It sure makes it easy to remember. The two things I related to most were that she was willing to work long days and nights, and it didn’t really seem to affect her. I know that that’s a reality as a commercial designer. She also stated that she felt that most of her clients didn’t really know what they wanted. How true. She recommended listening to them and letting them arrive at what they want. I have experienced this commercially and found that one or two hours of communication (the listening kind - with gentle prodding of course) saves DAYS of creation and proofing.

So, these past two weeks have been critiques with friends, AI assisted design, Photoshop editing (and purchase dammit), and reading interviews from designers and agency owners. Overall, not a bad way to get the feet wet.

I can only hope that the next weeks, months and years will be as exciting and rewarding.

Oh yeah, and we did this thing:

[em-dash-press]

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

---

Hope this helps when you need a hand during your next writing session 💛

[0poole]

I LOVE No Straight Roads

Honestly it’s hard to keep me away from a game with great visuals and even greater character design. I knew from the INSTANT I saw these characters that I was going to love it. I just finished it because it’s (unfortunately) pretty short, and even though I cheesed the final boss through it’s very lenient death mechanics (Instant respawn at the cost of a good rank) I actually appreciated that it wasn’t a pure cake walk. I’ve yet to rematch all of the bosses, but since I had genuine trouble with the later ones I’ll hold off on that.

But who cares about gameplay, am I right? I sure as hell don’t. I would’ve bought the game no matter what the hell it was. I wanted the characters (and the music, although I realized that second) and that was it. 

First of all, I love any world that is super fantastical but cheesy in its concept, ala a city powered by music, and battles between artists using music. Ideas like this only spawn from a mind that wants to create a fun atmosphere, if nothing else, and it was sure as hell fun. I genuinely love when someone goes so far into a crazy idea and doesn’t waste your time explaining it with real world logic. Wanna know how a city can be powered by music? Shut up and look at the cute virtual mermaid. Lord knows I did. Every once in a while, it does you good to just let the player/reader/viewer just revel in the idea without having to go out of your way to make things seem realistic. It’s not about “turning your brain off” or whatever, it’s picking your battles.

Also, I can seriously love a world with great background characters to it. Any game with the right situation to insert the random nobodies you find onto the streets into the art in the credits really played into the greatness of the world’s less important characters, and that’s always a good thing. It’s technically world building. But, since I always love to pick favorites, I’d have to say my favorite background character is easily Mia, the NSR infodesk assistant. It’s funny, because you can literally search “nsr characters” into Google and she’s the third image result. I love how jumpy she is when you first interact with her, since NSR probably spread the word about B2J suggesting they’re rock thugs who’d beat up anyone, so for all she knows she could die right then and there with a guitar lodged in her skull. She’s probably just some intern trying to pay for college. She don’t want trouble.

Also, I just realized that 90% of the characters in this game have the same body structure that I always love, that being having arms/legs that sort of fan out in width into relatively large hands/feet. It’s a kind of limb structure I fall into so much because it just really hits me right for some reason. I really can’t explain why.

Anyways, I gotta talk about the big boys individually:

Mayday and Zuke are an amazing duo. I’m always a sucker for a cute and crazy girl, but honestly Zuke hit so many of the right notes too. I will say it’s weird to pair the martian Zuke with the humanly-skinned Mayday, but honestly it doesn’t even matter because he looks so cool on his own. I love his weird blocky blue dreadlocks, and his weirdly shaped shirt which bares his chest in the weirdest way... And, oh my god, Mayday’s weird Spongebob background flower eyes? It’s little tidbits like that that really make me jealous. How could I have ever thought of that? It looks so perfect, and I don’t know why. And her little booty jig she does in her idle animation? Adorable. I played as her as much as was reasonable not only because I’m a filthy button masher with little strategy but also because she’s so damn cute. I can also appreciate how she has a tough-as-nails persona while still keeping a semi-girly attitude, like with her falling for 1010 and Sayu. Characters are so much better when they’re a perfect blend of characteristics, instead of being all one-note, like how Zuke is the quiet one but gets heated against DK West, and all. 

Honestly the voice acting for every character is great, but I love when Mayday’s VA’s accent shows through. It’s a perfect twang to accent (consider this the only acknowledgement of a pun in this post) her snarkiness. 

DJ Subatomic Supernova was going to be an easy favorite since he’s all space-themed. Also, I don’t know why I always end up liking the egotistic characters. Not in the sense that I like their egotistic-ness, but in the sense that I like everything else about them and they just so happen to also be egotistic. The same applied with Empoleon (maybe like my 2nd favorite Pokemon) and Rarity from MLP, probably among others. Either way, I’ll never not love space themes. Not to mention he’s got a funky disco theme, and I’m slowly starting to realize that I am in extreme love with techno-funk styles of music. The instant I heard his music he cemented his place into my playlists. 

As for design, I still have no idea what the fuck he is. Clearly AI is at human levels in this world, but if he’s a robot why does he still have hairy legs? But, if he’s a human, is that weird orb his head? Is it just some sort of puppet which he controls from inside his giant jacket? I know I dissed explaining things realistically but I actually want to know with this guy. Even the wiki doesn’t say. Either way, he’s clearly the logical extreme of “being at the center of your own universe.” Even his jacket depicts a solar system, with his hood being the sun. Didn’t see that until I tried to draw him. I really wish this guy wasn’t so tied to his DJ stand so I could reasonably draw him without it. I don’t want to draw his hairy ass legs. It is a great touch for his design though (although I prefer his beta look with pants and long boots, another design trait I tend to gravitate to) since DJs could reasonably not wear pants, since they’re always behind a table.

Sayu is my favorite. It’s so plainly obvious. It’s weird to say that sometimes, because some characters like Sayu are so clearly engineered to be as adorable as possible, to the point where they’re basically a parody of whatever they’re supposed to be emulating, but then they do that so well that they are still likable for what they’re trying to parody. Also, even though I’ve never looked into any vocaloid superstars myself, the fact that they exist and are loved in real life is absolutely perfect to be used as a character design in a world like this. It’s so weird conceptually, but we all know it’s normal and realistic. But yeah, she’s a giga-cutie whom I’ve already drawn and I’ve listened to her theme on loop on many different occasions. Favorite character, favorite track, favorite weapon of choice (What did I say about Empoleon?), which, and I wouldn’t have noticed this myself, looks like the USB symbol you see above USB ports on computers. How crazy perfect is that?

Even apart from my unbridled love for cute monster robot(?) girls, her boss fight is probably the 2nd greatest of them all, at least conceptually. She’s just a hologram, so you can’t touch her, but you CAN disconnect the artists which control her in order to defeat her. It’s the kind of concept for a boss fight that could only work for this type of character. I’m a sucker for the cute girl that provides her voice, but I love how the animator (video editor? the yellow one) actually attacks you with a mouse and lowers the brightness of the setting once he appears. Also, the mocap guy being the deeply-voiced type but still providing the adorable movements of her body. It’s such a great combo of characters, and their little extra art in the credits makes me like them even more. I just wish we could interact with them individually.

DK West was probably one of the most interesting characters visually, especially since I knew of every other NSR member long before the game came out, but I only just heard of him closer to the release. I wasn’t sure where he was placed, but I definitely assumed his gig was the weird shadow demon we saw in the trailers. When I finally saw him in game, I was shocked to hear him speak an entirely different language most of the time, which was really cool. Also, finding out he was tied to Zuke and wasn’t strictly an NSR artist really made him more interesting. You know, if his fucking shadow clone magic didn’t make him crazy cool enough. Even though I suck at his game and am not especially fond of his raps, the visual of him rapping with this giant monster behind him and dozens of weird shadow wingmen by his side hyping him up was probably one of the coolest in the entire game. The dark way they were hyping him up too gave such a bizarre atmosphere, especially since it parallels his seemingly chill and smiley demeanor. 

I definitely hope they’ll introduce new bosses as DLC in the future, and make them sort of in the same vein as DK West, where they aren’t the biggest artists ever, but they want to pick a fight with B2J. I’d kill for any extra content this game can provide.

Yinu is obviously special since she was the subject of the demo they put out for the game. Even though I knew all her bells and whistles, she and her mom still beat me a few times in the full game. Considering she’s semi-tied to story-ish spoilers I kinda want to go more into her in a separate section. It is worth considering playing the game first since it’s not hard (with the easy going deaths) and it’s short length.

1010 seriously grew on me as I learned more about them and interacted with them. I got their shtick when I first looked at them, but after seeing that animation of them touring the city on Youtube I was kinda falling for them. Then, I learned that they’re apparently repurposed navy war robots? I mean, maybe not them specifically, but it seems to heavily point in that direction, with the warship cars and “attention!”s and all. It took me a bit to get into their music too, but once I actually fought them and put their actions to the music I fell in love with it. I swear, Neon J’s weird dancing can has some of the smoothest moves in all of gaming. I don’t know whether they mocapped out those movements or got one of the greatest animators ever, but it looks so impossibly clean his part of the song gets me like 30x more hype than it would normally. 

Also, their little art piece of them looking at fan mail in the credits is probably one of the most adorable things ever. Even if they’re just Neon J’s puppets, that piece of art really makes it seem like they love every one of their fans. I’m not gonna lie, I might swoon a bit too if they picked me out and gave me some special attention.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Mayday was super sad in her showstopper against them was adorable and hilarious at the same time. The little tweaks they made to the showstopper for each fight were great.

Eve just has to be Lady Gaga, right? Like, an even crazier Lady Gaga. DJSS is Daft Punk (or any artist with a helmet persona, you know what I’m talking about), Sayu is Hatsune Miku, DK West is Kanye West, Yinu is a generic child protege, 1010 is a KPop boyband (just pick one) and Eve is Lady Gaga. That’s just how things are. But, again, this is the kind of boss fight that only this type of character could provide. It’s not just surreal imagery, it’s ARTISTIC surreal imagery. The fight is so mesmerizing in every way, especially by how it starts off so slow and calm and progresses to insanity, as well as the increased emotional investment in the fight making you feel so much more into it than just “That’s the boy band. Let’s fight.” Not only does it get you more invested, but it makes her artistic persona go deeper than just “she looks weird.” She is genuinely conflicted about her relationship with Zuke, and naturally that leads her to literally split him and Mayday apart. That mechanic specifically was the coolest, although I do wish they made it more obvious when you needed to switch over to a different side. I was getting pulverized by her fight too, since there were so many things to pay attention to. Her fight was definitely the best one. 

Tatiana and Spoilers:

Let’s be real with ourselves, the twist was so obvious. I do also think, though, that obvious twists aren’t bad if they’re just good reveals. At some point, a person just has experienced so many stories that “only pretty good” twists are easy to spot. It doesn’t mean that the twists are bad, it just means you yourself experienced.

I feel like her transition from rock to EDM was pretty understandable, even as a non-musician. She was so caught up in what she assumed was popular that it basically consumed her. It’s easy as an artist to want to forgo what you truly want to make in favor of what makes you popular, and clearly since her transition to EDM made her the CEO of the biggest company in the city (world?) that probably made her think she truly needed to change her outlook. Then, when she saw B2J try to bring it back, she sort of coined them as being as misguided as she was and knocked them down a peg. Plus, they were kinda being jerks about it.

It’s kinda like the Trolls sequel, where everyone pegs rock music fanatics as being too stuck up in their own heads to appreciate other types of music, which honestly seems more like the case than the alternative. When I first heard of the story of the game, I was seriously hoping they did put an asterisk on B2J’s ambitions because they were a bit sketchy from the start. 

That’s kinda where I want to talk about Yinu, because she was the true turning point in what they were doing. She’s literally 9 and yet she’s getting dragged into all this BS. When she said “I hate you all” at the end of her fight, and played a somber tune on her broken piano after the fight destroyed it, you kinda got a kick in the face to realize you’re kinda being an asshole to some of them. Sure, they fight back, but they wouldn’t fight in the first place if they didn’t have to. They are just people who play music under a joint name that B2J just so happened to get in hot water with. 

Then, of course, there’s Kliff, who also reeked of surprise villain, and who’s basically the embodiment of the bad side of B2J, where he just wanted to destroy for his own sake and not for the actual greater good. Once B2J realized their mistake, they backed off, but Kliff was so hard pressed to do what he planned on in the first place he wouldn’t stop. I kinda wish he got a bigger fight to his own since he’s clearly a big enough tech genius to divert a whole satellite into one specific building. Maybe the Elliecopter chase bit was his thing, but I do kind of wish he was there to fight against them too.

Even though Tatiana did kind of reform a bit quick, It’s still not too crazy to assume she could see that B2J was just misguided and the fact that they worked to revert their wrongdoings for her sake would make a pretty strong impressions. They clearly can hold their own, so it’s not like she wouldn’t want them to join NSR too. 

Oh yeah, and her boss fight was clock/time themed. If there’s a theme under space that I love, it’s clocks/time. 

And If I am to be respected by the internet, I must provide a negative opinion to balance out my positive one. I will say that the character model physics (like Mayday’s braids, DK West’s vest thing, Neon J’s fluffy neck thing, etc) got kinda funky at times. Especially DK West’s vest, which was completely messed up for every scene he was in... Also, even though the voices are mostly great, some lines felt a bit off. Just a bit. That good enough? Good.

But yeah anyway that’s another favorite game to add to the pile. Eventually I’m gonna have to compile a true list of my all-time favorite games/movies because I do kind of want to have a solid idea of what my all-time favorites are.

[ardyns-corner]

Beginner Neurodivergent Writer’s Masterpost

I usually use these when I feel as if I've hit a wall in creativity and I need something to keep me going. These also are really helpful for more detailed writing. This includes: Character Creation, Personality & Name generators, and writing prompt generators that I use. Also go to the end for healthy ways to combat writer’s block. (Neurodivergent and mental illness friendly!)

Character Creation

Need inspiration for an original character? Or do you want to bring that character to life but don't have enough money to pay an artist? Art Breeder is the website for you. I support the local artist community and I believe that they are crucial to our writing process. However, a lot of us cannot afford it. This website allows you to create characters, landscapes, portraits, and more for your process using an AI. You can make humans, nonhumans, androgynous characters, and whatever you desire once you figure out how to truly use it. It is free, and once you make your desired character, you can screenshot, and use it.

Here are a few characters I made using the website.

You can choose how realistic and stylistic you want them to be. There are many pros to this site, however, it can be very hard to use sometimes due to lack of direction. If you want me to make a tutorial, let me know!

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Name & Personality Generators

Due to the fact that I, like a lot of freelance artists, are kinda out of touch with human society, I usually get stumped when it comes to the type of characters I want to write. Here are some personality & name generators that help.

RanGen

RanGen is a really good website when it comes to anything writing-related. I mostly use their personality generator as it will not only give you normal, quick, undetailed options, but if you use the detailed option, it'll give you a personalty type, their current state, and all associated with it. Want original characters that are actually original? Use Rangen (and support their Patreon They deserve it. their website is amazing! Or whitelist them on AdBlocker if you don't have money to give them.). They also host straw polls for their users. 

Character Generator

Already have an idea for your character? This character generator will give you full personalities (and even characters if you aren't sure yet). All you have to do is put in character information like their name, education, social class, etc. The thing about this one is if you need a character, and you aren't sure what you want your character to be, they will give you a randomly generated character. Though, this is something I would use towards my realistic fiction or fiction that involves this earth.

Fantasy Names Generator

Already have a personality, but need a few quick character traits? This is the site for you. I actually use this site the most. You can generate both positive and negative traits with just a click of your mouse. It’s very convenient. Also the creator is using their site to help plant trees to combat Climate Change. Learn more here.  Another cool thing about this website, is that its very fanfiction friendly. You can literally choose what universe you want your OC to be from and get a name that is realistic to said universe. I also use this when I play Skyrim and want a realistic ethnic name for my elven, imperial, or redguard characters. 

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Writing Prompts

Need a good writing prompt? Finding a writing prompt is super easy, In fact, you could just as easily find a writing prompt on Tumblr! My favorite blog is @writing-prompt-s . Usually they post both serious and humorous writing prompts and are where most of Tumblr’s iconic memes and posts come from. But if you want to look elsewhere, here are some great places to look:

Self Publisher (This one is very complex, and if you are writing bigger stories, sometimes complexity is just what you need. This sight altogether is great for Indie Writers, as it not only shows you tools to write a great book, but also to publish them)

Writing Exercises (This is great for professors and teachers who want to promote free-writing. But also amazing for us authors who need something to write to keep the bad feelings away). 

Reedsy (A simple website that shows two main characters and a plot. Sometimes big things can confuse me. Start simple. 

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Healthy Ways To Combat Writer’s Block

If you are neurodivergent or struggle with mental illnesses or disabilities, here are some ways to help. (They are not guaranteed to help everyone. Neuroscience is vast and not everything works for everyone. Find what works for you and stick to it!) This is spaced out a bit to help for better reading. 

CW: Mentions of Mental illness, Tics, Neurodivergent conditions like Autism, OCD, Tourettes, ADHD, And Mentions of food,  and more. 

If you have autism, or you are a sucker for routine, set a time for writing. Make sure that it isn’t entirely to ridiculous or physically draining. For example, say you will write 5 days out of the week for 4-5 hours each day. If you plan on writing for more than 8 hours a day, make sure you set up breaks for things like, eating, drinking, resting so you don’t experience burn out, going outside, interacting with friends or family. I can get so fixated on my work, I sometimes go hours without eating or drinking water, that my body can shut down before I do. Writing is one of my special interests so therefore it can take a lot more out of me than I want to. Set alarms and make sure to take care of yourself. Or if you struggle with things like self control, have someone else remind you to take care of yourself. 

Make Promises to yourself. This is a method that I would use if you have depression, ADHD, or are already going through writer’s block. For example, if you need to finish a deadline, try to make a promise that is achievable to trick your brain. Like “If I finish this paragraph, I will eat a snickers bar” or “If I finish this one page, I will go watch one episode of my favorite TV show or anime”. Know your limits. Do not set them more often than you need to, or less often than you need to. Take it one step at a time, and make sure you know how big of a step you can handle. 

Free-writing helps a lot for me. Go on the writer prompt blog I mentioned or any of the websites and write a short story based on a given prompt as a warm up, or if you felt like you weren’t productive enough that day. 

Writers with OCD, remember that productivity is not everything. If you feel as if something bad may happen if you don’t write enough that day, then start small. In my experience, you guys experience burnout a lot more often than the rest of us due to overexertion. Use the tip mentioned in the previous bulletin, if you don’t want to write that day, yet feel as if you must, just do something small, like a short bit of free-writing. But also, set an alarm for a certain time. Do not overdo yourself. Re read what you wrote, but slowly, and it will seem like you did a lot. Also if you are writing on paper with a pen or pencil, Use a smaller page, with bigger font. If you are writing digitally, use google docs, and zoom in to make it seem like you made more than usual.  (This may not work for everyone with OCD, because OCD, like autism, is like a spectrum. But I've found that if you trick your brain into making it believe that you did more than you did, then it really helps).  

[MENTIONS OF TOURETTES AND TICS] For a lot of people who struggle with constant tics or tourettes syndrome, being in a calmer state, seems to turn down the intensity of said tics. Before writing, try any form of meditation. Whether that be something you enjoy more than writing, yoga, drawing, playing minecraft, or any activity that slows your heart rate. And while you’re writing, play a song that calms you or a playlist. I also suggest that if you have more self destructive tics, write digitally, instead of with a sharp writing utensil. If you have more outwardly destructive tics, make sure you use some sort of padding or protection under and around whatever you’re using to write. 

Writers with Dyslexia or any other learning disorder, I suggest you try all of the tips above. Difficulty with reading and writing, yet having the desire to do so is, I imagine, very torturous. Take breaks when it feels too much. Set a routine. Free write. Try to calm your mind so that focusing may be better. Also, I would get an automatic spell checker or chrome extension like Grammarly  if you struggle with spelling. Google Docs is an absolute life saver, as you can zoom in as much as you need to, and write however you need to. A text to speech reader is also gonna save you a lot of time and effort when reading. This is the one that I personally use when it comes to school, or reading pieces that are harder for me to understand. (Click Here) 

As you can see, it not only reads it aloud, but it also shows the text in the corner of your browser with font you can increase and decrease the size of and the sentence being read and highlighted. 

Support me on Patreon for exclusive writing content of mine and tips! (If you join, now you get access to a special offer in which I will write a custom one shot fanfic of you and a character of choice <3)

Ardyn

[sparrowhawkdev]

Using Canva

Art as always been a stumbling block for me in game development. It has stopped all of my motivation for bringing Grimfel to life. I could befriend an artist but then I had to rely on their schedule and was let down a lot. Then there is compensation which I couldn’t afford. So as someone who lacks incredible illustration skills I have found Canva to be a great resource when creating art for my game. 

I have several other methods that incorporate AI which I will go into detail in future posts. However, now I will show you how I create art in Canva, anything from UI to in-game art. 

First thing is that I recommend you getting Canva Pro. They give you a free month trial. Otherwise you will end up having to pay to remove watermarks and for Creative Commons license use.  

So here’s how I created the ‘Create Character’ button that you will see on the first few passages of Grimfel. Here is what the finished product looks like.

I’m quite proud of it to be honest. So to prepare the image I decided I wanted to have a forest with a woman holding a masquerade mask. So I created the image using filters from a royalty free image. 

First I searched on the elements section of Canva for borders, I found those lovely lines that you see placed at the side of the finished gif above. 

I also looked for a raven silhouette to go above my text. Manually placed all those in the right positions of the banner template. I uploaded a custom font from dafonts. 

I needed a forest background. Something similar to the one that I use for my UI background. So I looked and found one that stood out!

Using a Nordic colour filter, I placed my ‘Forest’ on an empty banner template. Getting the hang of Canva. It seemed a piece of cake. Especially with importing images. 

This photo was created from a stock photo and sketch filters. I used Pixlr to do this one. But you’ll see why this image is important. 

Using the same Nordic colour filter I placed the image to the right side of my banner. You then turn down the opacity so that it ghosts the image and blends into the Forest. The only issue with that is there’s an ugly line in the middle from the opacity. 

So to correct this I used a blank black background on the left side and turned down the opacity. This removed the ugly line. 

And then for the finishing touches I went into text animation to bring it to life! There’s so many great options you can choose from, I quite liked the typewriter animation but I chose ‘Breathe’. 

Canva hides the ‘save image’ section into its ‘Share’ box in the upper right corner. It also likes to make animated images into MP4 video files so instead I specify I want to save it as a ‘Gif’. 

And that’s how I created my ‘Create Your Character’ Menu button that you will see at the beginning of the game! Simple ey? Canva is so cool and you can do a lot of things with it. I would recommend to use it in conjunction with other apps but you can get some great royalty free commercial use graphics and pictures from there without having to sweat if you are infringing on anyone’s rights.  

[icipersona5-pricefamily]

Who are your Top 5 fave Phantom Thieves of Hearts?

It could be just one or two, but sometimes you can't help it, but to love all of them. But there's always a fave or two and sadly a dislike. But let's focus on the top faves. Honestly for me... it's hard to chose. I mean I have my two faves, but do I have my top 5 faves? 🤔 Hmm... well, most do share the same spots... And please don't be mad at choices! 🙏 We all can't like the same the thing or person after all. Anyway! I will expose my top 5 and be warn, there are spoilers, so I advise you not to look at the list until you played the games or seen the walk through. If you like to spoil yourself, go ahead....

5. Sophia/Sophie. Why her? Well, she's adorable and an AI who has a Persona. She's not the first technology thing to have one, of course. But I like her plot and how she's trying to learn what a heart is. She has YoYo as her weapon which is cool and despite many let downs, she had learn from her teammates and understand what it means to be a Phantom Thief of Hearts. As the story goes, she was slowly losing her robot like voice and to find out how she was created! I like it! I'm gonna miss her...

4. Futaba Sakura/Oracle (Navi in Japan). Why? I just like her personalities and how she's a great hacker while trying to be outgoing. (You can do it, Futaba!). She's funny and I love her siblings relationship with Ren/MC and Yusuke. Her past was so sad and I just wanna hug her. I am glad she has an adopted dad like Sojiro and how she was willing to change her heart to save him. I'm really glad in Royal she has her victory pose after the all out attack. I just wish she'd had one in Strikers when things are looking bad, she actives her showtime to fully heal the HP and SP. PS, I love her UFO like Persona!!

3. Yusuke Kitagawa/Fox. I love this dork! He is beautiful, such a soul of an artist and kinda gullible in most things. He's a sweetie and never miss an opportunity to art. What happened to him in the past and in P5, I wanna protect him. I'm glad the Phantom Thieves came in to help and he becomes one. His relationship with Futaba is funny. They're like siblings to each other (Sorry to those who shipped them!). And he's sort of the first for Futaba to interact with. I do worry about his money situation, but he seems to be doing okay. I really wish Atlus added that you could date guys, I mean they made you date older women, but not a guy at close age to? O.o Anyway, Yusuke is a funny and sweet guy, kinda naive but a good guy. Kudos to the voice actors, both English and Japanese.

2. Morgana/Mona & Ryuji Sakamoto/Skull. Eh? Two?! Hey, it's hard to chose, okay? =3= Now why? Let's start with Morgana... He's a talking cat and he's adorable! (Morgana: I'm NOT a cat) Hehe... Anyway! He's like a mascot yet he's strong and wise in most situations. Despite being a cat in the real world, he still hangouts with the team to join in the fun. I love how he's smitten over Ann yet acts like a gentleman (sometimes) towards her and the fact he can become a bus (and helicopter in Royal) is awesome! I feel bad about when Morgana started to feel useless to the team and no one notice it until Haru appears as a thief. But I am glad he'd came back and to learn his past, wow! I nearly cried at the end of P5. I kinda wish he a human form like Teddie, but at least he kinda did in Royal. And I really wish his cat sprite has more reactions and stuff. The fact his Persona is Zorro... pfft X3c It's like Puss in Boots in Shrek! Now, Ryuji... He's such a good boy with a temper, but he has reasons why. Despite that, he's a good friend and never abandons his friends. Thanks to the MC, he slowly becomes who he should be and I'd a funny guy. I feel bad that his track team treated badly because of what happened and I kinda get it, but still... Anyway! He's like the loyal friend who got your back and is willing to stand up for his friends, even his life to save them. He even didn't judge the MC and becomes his first friend of Shujin Academy. Now, why both on the top fave 2? Well, they always bicker at each other yet they kinda get along sometimes. They both are close to the MC and they're funny like Yosuke and Teddie in P4. Glad their relationship had grew in Strikers and the fact that they are not afraid to blunt insults to each other. At least they're good friends.

Now, the top most fave(s), drum roll please........................

1. Ren Amamiya/Akira Kurusu/Joker & Zenkichi Hasegawa/Wolf. Again another spot is share! And before Strikers, Joker is still my top fave then Zenkichi came in, it's a tied. Let's start with Ren. Ren is handsome! He's cool and mysterious! The plot for him is perfect and how his Persona is Arsene is even more perfect. The background of his shows how hard life is, despite doing something good, he get punish in the end? That's bull crap and everyone treated him like he's a bad boy when he's not. Thankfully, he made friends and people around soon learns he's not a bad boy at all. Ren is charmer and he's still the guy who is willing to help those in need, of course that's up to the player. I do wish in Strikers that it kinda shown his distrust and trauma of the police. I would protect him and make any cops stay a safe distance from him. (Sorry Zenkichi) At least he kinda got his life back thanks to his friends and allies. Did I mention I like him? Seriously I do! 🥰 He's handsome and his smile... Sorry! Now, Zenkichi... This guy is a goof ball, the only adult of Phantom Thieves of Hearts and is a cop! Well, PubSec. He's like Dojima and Sojiro in one, sort of. At first, I did distrust due to he's a cop and all, plus you know in P4 and with Goro. I wasn't sure about him until I had watch the walk through and when first seeing him and when he'd laughed, I thought 'I might like this guy, but let's wait and see'. Now, I thought he would be a comic relief which he sort of is while still not trusting him until we learn he's a dad and how he'd lost his wife which 'Wait! He's a dad and had a wife who was killed in hit and run? Dojima 2?!' OwO I was surprised. Of course, not exactly the same, but similar plot. We get to learn about his past, his relationship with his daughter and why he was using the Phantom Thieves for such case. I start to feel bad for him and his daughter, heck even the Phantom Thieves felt bad. At some point, I did started to like him and Zenkichi was starting to bond with them and they even started to think as him part of the team. Once Zenkichi reveals why he'd hadn't caught the killer, I truly feel bad and understand why he let the killer go. Then boom! He has a Persona that fits him perfectly and such a cool Phantom Thief attire! 😳 That's when I fallen for him 'Dang it! First Joker now him!' He became like a dad of the team, always reminded them that despite what happened to the Monarch, it's still wrong what they're doing now. Despite how old he is (He's in his 40s) he can still fight and is cool! Still a goof ball good looking guy. Now, why both on the same spot? .....I love both them equally! 😍 They're both cool, good looking and those smirks... How dare Atlus did this to me?! I love their Personas. I wish we could see them having bonding moments though. *clears throat* Anyway. Because how I like them, as always I had created OCs to be with them. Hehe 😅

Now, for the rest of Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I do love them all, truly. Makoto is cool and she's the mom of the group. Ann is good friend to hangout, plus she's caring about others who had suffered. Haru is a sweetie who has scary side to her (Do not let her drive). Goro is someone that you wish he had saved sooner and yes I did hate him but I feel bad for what happened to him. Sumire, I wasn't sure about we had learn her background and wow! What a twist. I did call her a hypocrite while I can see why she thought that the people don't help themselves when reality the thieves gives courage and they done something to move on with some help, unlike what she did but I get it and I do like her persona.

Who would I want to be part of the team? Hmm... Hifumi since she was gonna be part of the team, but sadly that was cut off. She would've been better as a thief. Maybe Mishima, maybe! Sojiro... What?! It would've been cool, although he isn't young as he use to be, still. Lastly Maruki. I am surprised he doesn't count to be part of the team, but I guess it's because his Persona was kinda controlling him (I can't remember 😅) and didn't join the team. He would've been a neat addition to team, being a dad/uncle of the group. I feel bad for the guy and I get why did all that yet what about him? Doesn't he deserve to be happy to? Also... what happened to his girlfriend after the Metaverse vanishes in Royal? Anyway, he still like a sweet guy to me and I kinda wish Royal was mentioned in Strikers, but Strikers is technically a sequel/spin off to P5 since Strikers was part of P5, but it was too long and got cut. Hence of no mentioning of Royal.

Whew! Anyway! No hate on this, not everyone agrees with my choices and it's different from everyone opinions. But what about you guys? Got top faves and wish who would've been part of the team??