#this is about a myriad of things

[khalixvitae]

I’m filled with hate and desperation btw

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[kings-highway]

Okay I've seen enough AI discourse discussion today but there's one thing I absolutely have not seen anyone else talking about and I simply need to get my 2 cents in here

Writing is not about the end product. And no, I'm not going to say some philosophical nonsense about the passion or heart or humanity put into it, I'm sure most of you are already aware of the philosophical difference between AI and real writers. What I'm talking about is what, about storytelling and writing, makes a writer a writer.

If, theoretically, being a writer was JUST about conveying an idea, plot, or set of themes to the reader, AI wouldn't be that big of a deal. Because it truly would be just about the quickest way to get your idea into someone elses' head. But it's not that.

It's not that at all.

When I was 14 my father (a screenwriter) told me that his favourite part of writing was editing, and that, if I continued to be a writer, one day I'd probably feel the same way.

The amateur is enamoured with the creative process - the writer is enamoured with the craft.

Writing doesn't stop when the words are on the page.

My father was right.

Nowadays, a first draft is a tedious first step I need to climb the mountain of to get on with things. And, of course, I love this step! It's the creative heart of being a storyteller, playing with characters, exploring themes. And, yes, most of my fanfiction is a first draft, but thats because fanfiction is a different kind of craft to me. Also not something AI can replicate but that's a different story and not what this is about.

I've never let anyone read my first draft of original work. Ever. Because I hate my first drafts. I finish it, and immediately start thinking: "i need more scenes that make the twist villain sympathetic early on to increase the impact of the reveal" or "i should make sure that the main character is shown reaching for chocolate flavoured treats more often to tighten the character persona" or "i think the middle is too short, there's not enough time to build drama."

I start crafting the story. Picking apart how I want my readers to feel, adjusting minute details - or massive, large details - and playing with the rhythm of the story. Maybe a villain gets redeemed instead of killing them, maybe I switch up the order that characters meet in to change their dynamics, maybe I change their names to have greater symbolism and more cohesive identities. Editing is a difficult skill, but the process of getting my hands on each paragraph is intoxicating. Of being able to turn this story into the best version of itself.

I spent 4 minutes on one line, yesterday, changing the word "terrible" to "horrible," removing a comma and switching up the word choice in the dialogue. I played and I fiddled and I made sure that this one sentence had the exact right melody to it, the exact right feeling to it to make sure that my reader could feel it like goddamn music in their bones, the precise reading experience that I, the writer, wanted them to have. These 4 minutes are the most fun I ever have writing. These moments are my favourite part of being a writer, they're what makes me a writer. Not simply that I have put words on a page, but that I have put these words on a page, exactly as I want them.

So AI art is not art. Because art is not the end product. People who use AI to write are not writers, because writers are not merely idea generators. If you're satisfied using AI to generate your ideas, go ahead, but you were never a writer to begin with. I don't want my work to exist on the page if I don't get to enjoy the craft. If I don't get to sit and play with my words, adjust character details into oblivion, stare at the screen until the words are music, then I simply don't want it. If everything in the world becomes AI generated, I will still be sitting at my desk with my computer glowing and keyboard clicking away, writing stories, because that is what I love to do. The act of it, the physical act, not the end product.

"I'm just using AI to bring my ideas to life, I can edit and adjust it afterwards if I want!"

You've already missed the point.

I'll just be over here wasting hours upon hours deciding on the name of a fake city, because it is the most fun I could ever have.

[mattastr0phic]

[pine-rhyme]

Today we thinking what if Anastasia knew Māori. Do you think maybe she had a moko and John freted awkwardly around her the first days before he gathered his courage to finally salute her in Māori? Surprised but very kind she salutes back. John instantly becomes a puppy when around her and often attempts to speak his rusty Māori around her, like a secret they are both partakers into, immensely pleased that there are families out there that kept their traditions and languages even if it would have happened outside his control. But the she kindly stops him, forgiving herself that her knowledge of the language only goes as far as a few phrases. Her mother only knew very few words, she can speak even less than her.

This momentarily sets John aback but he offers to teach her (from the little he knows himself), so she could teach it to her children (gesturing towards her already visible stomach).

She laughs bitterly. She wouldn't want to keep him from more important business. But he still finds time to teach her. He desperately wants to reconnect with his coulture. He obsessively latches to Anastasia.

We don't know for sure what happens next. She becomes a sewn tongue? Takes the silent vow? Retreats into the tomb before her children come of age?

Thousands years later John with almost the same emotion and apprehension salutes Harrow with a very akward "kia ora". She doesn't understand. The language was lost entirely in time. He cannot manage to connect to her in any meaningful way.

He could have done better for her. He could have passed down the generational knowledge. He could have been her parent.

Except she wouldn't accept his teachings.

He renames his daughter Kiriona.

[deliriousblue]

there's so much in bison's reaction to kant in the caddie scene. we don't see kant explain his plan in detail before putting it into action — there isn't time — but it becomes clear very quickly, and really how many options were there anyway?

but seeing kant perform a point for point mimicry of the way he hit on bison that first night at the bowling alley — if not quite as overtly sexualized, of course explainable by any number of contextual distinctions — what is even going through bison’s mind there. i think the amount of jealousy probably is not literally zero but i don’t think that’s really the center of it.

especially when the show’s literal opening scene was bison on a honeypot mission, which he later tells fadel explicitly he doesn’t want to repeat. bison watching kant flirt with someone else the exact same way he flirted with bison, bison watching kant do a honeypot (adjacent?) mission same as bison has been ordered to, bison watching kant do all of this for bison…..so much wrapped up in there all at once.

and then the scene in the pool. bison opening with a comment on kant always being charming and kant teasingly asking if he’s jealous (always going for deflection!). again i do think there’s any jealousy involved there but it isn't about just that. it's about bison knowing exactly what these kinds of missions are like, knowing exactly what lilly is asking, realizing that this cannot be the first time kant has done this. and kant saying ‘our next job will be easy’ in light of all that….

thinking too about how this time it isn't just kant pushing his own desires and preferences to the side but explicitly lilly as well. (i am once again asking. does bison even know that that night in the bowling alley happened before kant had his marching orders? does it matter?)

and so bison gives kant an out; says he and fadel can manage from there. and i think kant's answer is in some sense just as predetermined as anything else he's done (he's already told bison that as far as he's concerned whatever happens to them they'll do together) but it matters that this time it's his choice and it matters that bison cares about giving it to him.

[tangledinourstrings]

i think doll lines have a bad habit of giving up and quitting when they have so much room to improve and grow.

[spaceshipkat]

.

[guayabana]

elden ring attracting so much attention from audiences that usually wouldn't touch a fromsoft game has been so annoying when it comes to discussions about its story.

like maybe ironic considering grrm was involved in the writing this time, but the response to elden ring & specifically SOTE feels very similar to what happened with game of thrones, where the story is pretty explicitly about the dangers & violence & cruelty inherent in certain systems of power, and 95% of the audience response is to look at that & be like "wow i hope my fave character gets to be the good ruler who fixes everything because they're so cool & nice :D"

[astradyke]

can't tell what i miss more, terrible influence tour summer/autumn or amazingphil channel. surely there will be nothing of an emotional nature happening in the tags of this post at all

[necromycologist]

anyway 🫵 go read the hands of the emperor right naow

[yuugamu-omokage]

If there are going to be romance routes, who do you think would be possible candidates for them?

I'm thinking Eito, Tsubasa, Kurara and maybe Nozomi.

I would love a Yugamu one but I feel like having one guy being romanceable is already a miracle, having two would be pushing it and even then, out of all of the dudes he seems the least likely cause Takumi is already so put off by this dude.

[mattastr0phic]

I went on the 963 wiki thing and hit random and the first one I got was Myr!!!!

Congrats on the roll! You received a 5 star Myriad!

[pheasant-lvr]

its so funny to me that like two months ago i was just like "huh whats this nerdy prudes stuff, that one animatic looked cool i guess ill watch it" and now in the past liek two weeks ive fallen so down the starkid rabbit hole that im spending almost every day just wathcing these stupid musicals over and over again. literally watching nerdy prudes as we speak. watched working boys in class earlier. finished black friday again just earlier today. i keep drawing these stupid guys when i cant listen to it. sigh

[prince-liest]

PRINCE is that a HEATHERS reference in once bitten or am I projecting my myriad of obsessions

Jesus suffering christ I can't get away with ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you heard it in the exact fucking tone of voice that Heather Duke says it in.

[crofter]

001: a (visual) study into lara croft.