portal stamp dump

Completed the Shenkuu Stamp collection some time ago, so it was only fair to draw my girl Mirsha

so sheezy is back in a closed beta and I am having the time of my life over there

the fact we've gone so long without any art community sites like it is so terrible no wonder most of us have depression

any thoughts on the new post that staff went scorched earth on which is now making the rounds abt tumblr live? it basically screenshots all the tos and claims if you've ever opened the app (or in some rbs, unsnoozed live) tumblr has gotten your data. on the one hand i feel like this is fearmongering, but on the other its true that MOST sites have your data as is so its pretty standard. you seem pretty knowledgeable abt data gathering so i was wondering abt your take

This is going to be pretty unkind but watching tumblr users interact with staff and live is a great primer on how conspiracy theories happen.

Nobody on this fucking website knows how to read a ToS, nobody on this website knows how anything fucking works (sorry, this is not a dig at you but how would tumblr "get" your data from you clicking or unclicking live; the only data that tumblr has on you is the data that you have put on tumblr what data do people think that clicking the "new" button is scooping up that is anything beyond interactions or posts or IP addresses which are the things that tumblr already has information about like you do not introduce new information into the tumblr ecosystem by clicking a button you haven't installed anything you haven't changed permissions on your browser if everyone is so goddamned scared about live stealing their data i strongly recommend they stop using anything but public internet through an anonymizer and making sure location data is shut off on all of their devices and anyone who is flipping their shit about the type of data that live is collecting but who is using chrome on any device needs to chill the fuck out about live and flip the fuck out about google)

this is like that post about twitter's content policy that circulated the other day or that post about deviantart's content policy that circulated ten fucking years ago nobody knows how to read legal documents and nobody knows how to read technical documentation and this comes together into unholy matrimony on the no reading comprehension at all moral panic website

live never violated the GDPR it was just rolled out in the US first but the entire userbase decided that because it hadn't been rolled out simultaneously in the EU and the US that it was SO UNSPEAKABLY PRIVACY VIOLATEY THAT THE EU HAD BANNED IT FOR ITS CRIMES with, like, nothing whatsoever backing that up because, again, even at its most intrusive Live collects about as much data as Twitter or Yelp, both of which are *capable* of meeting GDPR standards with that level of data collection (even if musk sometimes makes decisions that violate GDPR).

Live is significantly less intrusive than any facebook product, than Amazon, and than any Google product. If you use youtube logged in, don't worry about live, the horse is out of the barn and tumblr is the least of your worries *regardless* of live. If you regularly use Google as a search engine please god learn how to evaluate and compare risks across platforms because Live is like a coughing baby compared to about a dozen things that most highly online people interact with every single day.

If you don't want to use live don't use live. Clicking the button doesn't magically transfer your secret FBI file to tumblr and even agreeing to the ToS doesn't share anything that tumblr doesn't already have if you don't continue to interact - if you don't interact with live after agreeing to the ToS it's not collecting any data except your non-interaction.

For everyone who is losing it over Live just turn off your goddamned location on your fucking cellphone and turn off your location on your goddamned computers and that's it, you're good, you're fine, relax. If your response to "turn off your location" is "but I need it for _____" then don't worry about Live, whatever "_____" is was already collecting and selling your data.

Do you use an activity tracker? Congrats, you have much, much bigger privacy issues to worry about than tumblr live.

Okay but also I yelled about that post and the very many ways in which it was incorrect in January.

And I happened to take an archive of the page at that time because I'm a paranoid motherfucker.

And if you want my guess as to why staff went "scorched earth" on that post it's probably because if you scroll down to the bottom of the page on the archive, OP calls on everyone looking at the post to send a kind fuck you to the CEO then tagged his tumblr.

If you look at the other posts that went scorched earth in relation to tumblr staff they were also posts that very pointedly directed a lot of ire at a single staff member.

I don't think that any individual tumblr staff members are above criticism and I don't think that staff as a whole is above criticism but part of learning to read a ToS is understanding that someone can be shitty and vague and use TERF talking points and skirt the line and be technically okay under the ToS while someone can have a legitimate gripe about another user being horrible and manage to violate the ToS by accidentally spinning up a harassment campaign or suicide baiting someone.

Shitty people like nazis and terfs thrive on being edge cases. They are very good at finding a boundary and standing juuuuuuuuust on this side of it and going "la la la I'm not violating the ToS, you can't stop me!" and that blows and it leads to a lot of people encountering a lot of shitty stuff on a lot of websites but personally I'm pretty glad that there's a lot of gray area because when you cut out gray area that's when you see things like It's Going Down getting banned as extremist content alongside white supremacists. Please continue to report nazis and terfs, and when possible go deep into their pages to report because a pattern of behavior is more likely to get recognized as hate speech than a single post that gets reported a hundred times. Please block as many people who it's harmful for you to interact with as possible because it's clear that staff is not going to do the kind of work protecting users that users would like staff to do.

However I just can't get angry on behalf of a blogger who got nuked for saying "Hey everyone who hates this feature that we all hate please go tell the CEO to fuck himself at this URL specifically" - that is an extremely clear violation of the ToS because it is absolutely targeted harassment.

So now tumblr-the-userbase is going off on its merry conspiracy way skipping through fields and lacking reading comprehension and saying "users are getting banned for reporting the crimes of tumblr live and its gdpr violations" and ignoring the fact that the post was nuked because the last line was saying "hey everyone, let's all individually tell the CEO to fuck off in messages sent directly to him that are certainly not going to include any threats, exaggerations, gore, etc. etc. etc."

If I were to make a post that had 50k notes and the last line was "and while you're at it, please send tumblr-user-ms-demeanor a personalized message telling them why they're a terrible person so they know what we think of them" it would absolutely be reasonable to say that was harassing that user. And that post did it with the CEO. Who is not above criticism (and I have my criticisms! I don't think he really gets tumblr and that's a problem!), but jesus fucking christ don't tag the goddamned CEO or any other staff member in a call to action asking users to send them messages saying "fuck off" this is literally the stupidest thing I've ever seen a tumblr conspiracy theory coalesce around.

Anyway thank you for giving me a place to vent i've been getting more and more pissed about this for three days. Everyone feel free to kindly tell tumblr user ms demeanor to fuck off.

How did you study about military gear? I'm currently trying & searching sources and looking for some tips.

I really like your work btw. Keep going✨️

Hi! Thank you so much, I'm excited to share some knowledge with someone. <3 I tried summing up methods that have helped me the most: 1. lots of research (vids, blogs, magazines, loadout lists,...) 2. store/product photos 3. military photos (not airsoft!) 4. damtoy loadout showcase vids I first started off with doing extensive research on cod operators. Cosplay guides by shadeops21 (DeviantArt) are a huge help with the most accurate loadout lists.

Next step was looking up product photos & studying the functions, shapes, different angles. Store/product photos are my most used refs, they're in high resolution & you'll see every detail thanks to a well lit environment. I also collect military pics in one huge folder, not only for pose refs & inspo, but also as refs on how the gear is used. Product photos will lay flat, worn gear will always look different!

Make sure to learn how to differentiate airsoft from real military pics, airsofters (except for dedicated reenactors/milsimers) tend to have wacky tastes (ugly, black amazon gear and fake, glowing NVGs,...).

The gear of Damtoys is incredibly accurate & precise, watching videos of the dolls being dressed will also give you an idea on how accs (pouches, glow sticks, radio systems, ...) are attached to the equipment.

My strongest interests lay in SOF, so I'll also collect magazines with expert info, insights & loadout descriptions (K-ISOM (German) SPECIAL OPS (Polish)). To my advantage, I do have friends who are either huge military nerds or in active duty, I'll sometimes ask them questions and learn about the features and (dis)advantages of various pieces of gear. It's a life hack, but you'll achieve your goal either way if you're determined!

After you got a feel for the basics, you can start accommodating knowledge. Study drawing/recognizing the most used equipment first, western modern kits are very repetitive (as the products are so good, they don't need to be replaced). Headsets: 3M Peltor ComTac, Sordin, Ops-Core AMP Helmets: Ops-Core, Crye AirFrame, Team Wendy, MICH 2000 Plate carriers: Crye JPC, Crye AVS, First Spear, Lindnerhof, AGILITE, LBT Slick & 6094 Gloves: Oakleys, PIG FDT Alpha, Mechanix, Petzl, Nomex flight gloves, Outdoor Research Ironsight After that you can start looking up more niche or less iconic brands and gear, you'll be a nerd in no time. I hope this is helpful and I'm sorry for the late reply. If you ever need help or info on something, feel free to dm me on Twitter or Tumblr!

How did you get so good at drawing? And do you have any tips??? (Pls I'm a beginner help)

Honestly dude you never get good at art. It's sweet that people like my stuff but I still feel like most of it sucks and I think that's sort of an inherent part of drawing lmao. You've just gotta decide to keep doing it anyway because it matters to you

I do have a few tips for improving your technical drawing though:

Do figure sketching. If you can go to in-person life drawing classes that's great, and there'll usually be at least a few running if you live in a city/big town, but you can do it online too. Here are some websites I use: Line of Action / SketchDaily / Quick Poses. Try drawing with different lengths of time (so start with poses appearing for 30 seconds, then move up to 1 minute, then 2, then 5, then 10). Also don't feel too bad if the first few times you try it and the sketches don't turn out quite right or the proportions get messed up or you run out of time. It's part of the process & you'll improve the longer you keep at it. Just try to use longer & messier lines and don't focus on the details until you have basic shapes blocked out. (This is literally what I tell anyone who asks me for art advice because it's about the only drawing exercise I ever deliberately do lmao)

Draw real life subjects and not just from photos- it's more challenging but helps you develop your observation & sketching skills. This includes still life and landscapes/architecture as well as living things btw

Use references as much as you can. I suck at this but it'll genuinely make you improve faster if you do lmao. You can find loads of references on Google or DeviantArt but I also have some specific places I get them from: JookpubStock / Fat Photo Ref (requires registering but I can verify they're legit) / AdorkaStock / Teamwarchicken (actually my blog that I use for collecting images)

When you're learning to shade remember that you're shading a 3 dimensional object, and try to avoid just doing shading around the very edges of things. Same goes for highlights.

Try drawing in different styles and subjects you don't usually draw. If you can afford it try out different physical art materials too. It helps keep the art block at bay if nothing else lmao

Don't be a perfectionist. Learn to just say "good enough" and not obsess over mistakes. It's better to draw lots of slightly wonky things than one thing that you freaked out about getting perfect.

If anyone else has any other advice/resources then please add them! I do not know as much about art as people think I do hjfgjkhdf

okay halo people new question: what do you think chief actually looks like??? i LOVE masked characters (cough miraak) because i love the chance to sort of invent them physically below the mask. for that reason i hope to never actually see a canon john face in the games (despite being the literal greenest newbie to play halo on the planet rn) BUT i really enjoy trying to think of it myself??? some ideas i got browsing:

from the halo: escalation comic so the site said. i LOVE his baby blues i love how deep and colorful they are. i cant tell if he looks a little tan under there or it's just the shadow? i've seen somewhere the games or books describe him as too pale bc he rots in his armor all the time lmao. BUT i really really enjoy the oceanic eyes. idk if this comic ever shows his full face, i saw others did, but i would be SO interested to see what they do with the rest of him bc he'd probs look sick as fuck in the dark horse style

THIS ONE to me is gorgeous. i 100% love his hair here, it's exactly how i imagined it. brown and short, but like, military short but NOT a buzz (sorry i hate him w a buzzcut. its most probable but i cant😭) big fan of the widow's peak/hairline and tbh i really like his scars? im all for him being fucked up. part of me also wonders if his face would possibly be more protected??? but also all i know about spartans is that becoming a spartan Hurts so maybe they're like,,,, GMO scars

(ik i legit haven't touched deviantart for like....a decade) THIS was a cool collection. OP points out some similarities that are interesting (mainly his short brown hair, straight nose, and SCRUFF🥰🥰🥰). my favorite favorite favorite is probably second column from left, three down, the one where he has 117 buzzed into his undercut. that shit goes fuckin HARRRRRRRDDDDDDD. i tried to reverse search it but i couldn't rly find the OG of that one, which is sad 😔

that's all!!! i just thought it'd be cool to get ppl's thoughts. i saw a lot of comments that were basically like "chief has no face to me, he's the helmet" and tbh it makes a lot of sense, esp since that's legit how he was designed for the express purpose of first person feeling/relatability. feel free to reply or dm me your ideas!!!

So, a new anti-AI-art post is making the rounds because of course it is, and while I have not breached the paywall to read the paper, I do think the summarized version of it the author provides has some holes worth poking.

Past the break, because this gets long.

Anyhoo, their core argument is that AI art people are just capitalists who see art as a profitable object and do not exhibit those four fundamental values of But like... this is just casual observation, but I have seen a lot of those values in the AI art community amongst itself.

They share models and tips on how they use the tool! I rarely see them doing it for lucre! I see creators who've used AI art to integrate into other mediums they've worked with! I've seen people with major motor disabilities welcomed. I have seen authenticity in garbage AI art; in aggregate from singular creators.

There is a reason I say that to make good AI art, you need to approach it like an artist.

And like, AI art has genuine logistical issues that make it uniquely difficult to integrate into communities, the "flooding" that turbofucked Deviantart and the harassment problem that is "spite models,"

But beyond that I think it is not just, as they blithely dismiss, "AI art can be used for good" but I think it is even possible to integrate AI artists into communities that share those values. Because I have seen those values at work in AI art communities.

There are simple things that can be done, like normalizing charging as much for AI art commissions as traditional ones, or normalizing showing one's prompts when possible or observing DNP (Do not prompt) lists and so on!

But there's a desire to put up a wall there, specifically because of the fear of original sin, because of the unique nature of the process and the dubious origins of the programs; even if you didn't pay a dime to use them.

Which like... even if the privacy issues side of things is relevant and one I see validity in, in terms of the issue of "they didn't get permission," as friend of the blog @o-hybridity pointed out when we were discussing this, the assumption of the need for permission to adapt (Which is also what annoyed me in this post) is basically a cargo cult for how IP law treats art, attempting to integrate the framework of IP law into a system of communal production that IP law is more or less designed to kill.

Like, the idea that permission is required for derivative works (A notion also in this post I am very annoyed by) resembles none of how art has actually worked in-practice for all but the tiniest sliver of our species' existence, it's tunnel visioned in a way that ignores; say; the history of things like the blues, or jazz, or sampling, or folklore, or hell even fanfic.

Most art has historically been built on top of other art, without permission, because requiring a contract for every derivative work (Especially those "orphan works" without known originators) would make it unworkable.

IP rights becoming essentially inherent to art at the moment of creation and making those contracts almost entirely mandatory have basically killed a lot of models of how art is made within the commons via that sort of unauthorized-adaptation, and IDK about you, but this is an abomination, and the loss of those modes of production wouldn't be fixed by making it a tier system as the article proposes.

The notion of eternal tiered permission ignores that history of art by way of trying to shove the means of communal production into an ideological framework it can't exist in, due to the collective failure to produce better ways of helping creators make a living.

I would also say the idea of tiers system obfuscates the real issue; which is power not permission; and the need for collective organization of labor-power as well; by way of trying to hybridize it with that folk politics system of contracts that dilutes it, but that's its own digression.

But beyond that very long digression, inherent in that fear of the powerful working without permission, I feel there's a conflation of "small-scale creators shitposting or integrating AI art into their work" and "megacorps that want to replace you with an intern on Fiverr and a copy of Stablediffusion," which I think is best evidenced by the insistence on calling all AI art supporters techbros, conflating the small-scale users of the technology with the makers even though we don't do that with; say; artists who use fucking Adobe and the way they normalized walled gardens in their field.

I am not saying the techbro assholes don't exist or even that they aren't prominent, I probably don't run into them because I hate Twitter, but I am saying there are AI art communities and users that are not Like That, and that it is possible for AI art to exist within those norms.

It is not No True Scotsman because, even if it is not the norm (Which I am doubtful on) it is simply a demonstration that is possible and; with some effort and outreach akin to groups like @are-we-art-yet, doable.

But there's a further problem, that their argument heavily relies on the idea of moral rights, as evidenced by their image morally quantifying re-using art. But moral rights are not usually how we enforce most of these issues in a legal sense, in the US they do not even exist in a legal sense.

So their communal rules, drawing from moral rights, have no real material power. At least, aside from strikes, but the small online artisan community is not protected by them in a lot of ways I think are a part of the problem, but that's its own tangent so moving on.

Their argument on operating procedure, if it were to be truly materially effective by legal means, would be implemented by the mechanisms of copyright, which would be merrily smash those communal rules with a hammer, because those rules are scrublord shit in the world of raw power.

And if they don't... well, a wall can only hold for so long, and I think keeping workers within AI art away from the solidarity that is extremely doable is going to bite people in the long run. For an example of that, see how CGI's disrespect as an artform lead to it being wildly undercosted and used to drive out the union-run practical effects folks.

And they have no tools against it because, again, power does not give a shit about your communal rules, and conflating small creators with the assholes in power isn't helping.

Like, you're making the same argument artisans in things like the Arts and Crafts movement or the Luddites made back during the rise of factories, while forgetting that they fucking lost.

And Karl Marx had some ideas why wrt how mechanization uses raw power to make the displacement of individual artisans inevitable, even if I think the way people use them in response to this issue is... wildly unhelpful and cruel.

Like, it's still shitty to say "You're destined to lose your livelihood unless the revolution (Which we are bad at convincing you will happen) happens, no we won't help lol," as I've seen from those in my community.

I think the solution to traditional/digital art surviving if AI art is the existential threat it says it is (Which I have my doubts about) is unite or die, which dovetails into my ideas on the Creative Commons in a way I need to write on further one of these days.

But like... what I'm trying to say is, in all my experience, the way they describe the values of the art community are fundametally not opposed to the practice of AI art, not the people I have seen, and I think the efforts to treat that as untrue is unhelpful at best.

The Skeppsrå [Swedish mythology]

In Swedish folklore, the term ‘Rå’ is used to refer to a specific class of spirits. These beings are each tied to one specific habitat or domain, which they rule and protect. There is the Bergrå, the spirit of the mountains, who inhabits tall mountaintops. The Skogsrå is the guardian spirit of the forest, the Sjörå rules over a lake or other body of water, etc. But not all of the Rå spirits are tied to a natural habitat: some have become the spirit of man-made locations or buildings. There are guardian ‘Rå’ spirits of churches, stables, mine tunnels, etc. And then there is the Skeppsrå: the ship spirit. These beings are usually depicted as small, bearded men, often dressed in a sailor’s outfit. Some depictions give them some supernatural characteristics, such as elf-like pointed ears. 

True to their nature as protective spirits of a ship, a Skeppsrå warns the crew of a boat of storms, bad weather and disasters that will hit the ship. Each Skeppsrå is bound to one specific vessel. As the subject of folktales, they aren’t as common as their more powerful cousins which rule over a specific biome. As such, information about them is quite scarce. The most complete account that I could find is that of Johan Egerkrans in his book ‘Nordiska Väsen’, however this work was intended as entertainment rather than a historically accurate collection of old folktales, but he does cite his sources, which is more than I can say for most authors in that genre. In any case, he describes the creatures as follows:

The Skeppsrå, also sometimes called Skeppsnisse, maintains the woodwork of a ship, exterminating pests like woodworm and preventing the wood from rotting or deteriorating. It keeps the order on a boat and will therefore punish sailors and crewmembers who are drunk or careless. Still, having a Skeppsrå on board is an enormous boon.

A Skeppsrå does not choose an existing boat to inhabit, rather it will oversee the creation of a vessel while it is still in the shipyard. There is an old story that the Skeppsrå was originally a wood spirit bound to a tree. If a tree inhabited by such a being is chopped down and used as lumber to make a ship’s keel, the spirit will become a Skeppsrå and is usually bound to the ship for the rest of its existence. In rare cases, the lumber used to build a boat comes from two spirit-inhabited trees. When that happens, both of the spirits become Skeppsrå and will fight among themselves for the right to oversee the ship. If they are particularly violent spirit, their squabbles might even damage the boat. In one old folktale, two such spirits were careless and their argument was so loud that a sailor discovered them. The man questioned the two strange little men and patiently overheard their arguments. He resolved the argument by appointing one of the two spirits to become the ship’s Skeppsrå, and promised to build another vessel so that the other spirit could become the Skeppsrå of that ship.

Curiously, this last story is virtually identical to an old German myth about a similar spirit called a Klabautermann. When a child died unbaptized and a tree grew on top of its grave, the ghost of the infant would inhabit the tree. Sometimes, the lumber of such a tree would be used to build a ship, and the ghost would become a Klabautermann: a protective spirit bound to that ship. Much like the Skeppsrå, these beings would appear as small, bearded men. Thus, I believe that these two folktales differentiated from the same original story.

Sources: Klintberg, B. A., 2014, Svenska Folksägner, Norstedts, 529 pp. Egerkrans, J., 2013, Nordiska Väsen, B.Wahlströms, 126 pp. Lecouteux, C., 2016, Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic. (image source 1: Johan Egerkrans, illustration for Nordiska Väsen) (image source 2: a Klabautermann, by Hetman80 on Deviantart)

The cold winter hindered us But now the wheel is turning I saw you in old dreams When I lay beneath the moon

So from the deepest dream I woke up by your word Along with you are woods and trees proceeding to the final fight

Fernir, Iri'thiel, and Aknidae from our Revenants campaign. Those who deceived fate and were sent back in time to rewrite history's pages and prevent the mistakes of the old world from happening all over again. We've been playing this story on and off for three years now and honestly I don't know if we'll finish it anytime soon, there's still so much to do. I may play and hyperfixate only on one long campaign, but damn it's a valuable one.

I want to make such compositions with them every once in a while to see how we improve (my skills, their looks and abilities). The characters are at level 9 currently (close to 10 I think??). The last thing we did was explore a piece of a flying city to find a book where we could learn the name of a devil we've been tracking. It came at a price, but we have it. As well as several cool artefacts and weapons taken from their conservatory that was incidentally a room-sized mimic.

For a bit of context for those new here: all three died a few months ago and were resurrected with dragon heart shards - powerful artefacts. They've been trying to collect their lost memories (like, 90% there I hope), retrace their steps, and get back to the mission at hand. Fern got to deal with the death goddess herself and gained an ability to turn into a half skeletal necrotic hellhound (beginning of transformation here). Iri I wanted to draw like she was just coming out of her misty step and finally picture her bladedancer sword. And Aki is just naruto-running about to stab someone from behind. At first she was supposed to be half-invisible, but I didn't want to lose a chance to draw most of the character.

Lyrics on the top: Faun & Eluveitie - Gwydion

deviantART // Instagram

How AI Kills Creatives

Human beings love to express themselves in many unique ways. From dance, to singing, to creative writing and of course, by art. Artists wrestle everyday to stay relevant to the masses while doing their favorite hobbies to earn a living.

This however may become null and void as the art community is facing another difficult challenge that could put them into jeopardy. The answer as to what can pose a danger to our beloved creative types is the hot topic for this Wednesday's piece. Let's discuss the complex situation of AI Art.

- Being a Creative Online -

For as long as I can remember, Creative work is either something industrial for advertisements or for entertainment, like comic books or animated shows. Often times, it involves expressive and also very dead people of influence like [Van Gogh], [Picasso] and [Da Vinci]

This however changed when the world was introduced to the internet. Allowing creative work to be presented to the masses, pass the borders and beyond. A timeless time capsule of creativity that can reach places traditional methods failed to do at rapid speeds.

Places like [Artstation], [DeviantArt], [Behance] and [Pixvi] are some of the most popular websites where aspiring artists can produce and express their craft to be shared and may potentially, give them the confidence to do commissions. These sites laid out a platform that can attract beginners and professionals alike for a chance to find an audience and develop themselves. This however, doesn’t mean an easy climb.

Creators need to combat against the algorithm and the occasional critics of these respective sites to be recognized. Creators need to claw their way out of the crowds to be graced by algorithm which means, they probably need to churn out backlogs of content to be seen and favored.

- Rise of The AIs -

A few years ago, I stumbled across a program called [Artbreeder]

Its a free to use program that allows you to create close to realistic portraits or stylized artworks by using a base picture and some photo manipulation for the desired effect. 

I myself have also used Artbreeder to create a version of my character; Sadie mac Lir based on the game version of her in HPHM.

Around that time, there was also the discovery of the mix and match dress up site by the name of [Picrew] which I too have used on more than one occasion. As time went on, better and smarter programs start appearing. Thus, allowing the masses to create scuffed or impressive images of whatever they so wish. From OCs to potential future babies to fiction turned real characters. 

At frightening speeds, AI programs created by intelligent software and application builders have grown to observe and steal from artists in various parts of the world to produce excellent works of art within seconds. Thus, threatening the very livelihoods of those who produce art as a job.

Enter the most controversial AI Art program [Lensa AI by Prisma Labs] Who is accused by multiple professional artists for committing art theft. Using the styles, compositions and signatures of said artists to reproduce works under the program's watermark.

- This is Art Theft! -

First, let's make a few things clear. I am not an expert to the subject of AI Art Theft but I highly recommend reading these few posts by better experts who can explain things better than me.

You can read [Megrae's Post] and [Jonlamart's Post] to gain a better understanding of the situation. From here on out however, I will be using my own words to breakdown how this can potentially kill the Creative community at large in the long run. Including us little guys.

To loosely summarize, the application takes a massive data collection of posts created by professional artists to be learned and recreated. Infamously, the application uses works of art by the late [Kim Jung Gi US] and others without the respective artist's permission to gain traffic and profit.

The disturbing factor in question, is that the developers of Lensa AI created this application with data that is NOT CONSENTED for such use. The program blatantly steals the artistic skills and styles of the Creative, allowing instant results via prompts which puts Creatives into obscurity. And, this is just the beginning.

Heaven knows, if the big guys in this industry are not safe from this AI. The time will come, where even small time artists will suffer such a fate.

Worst still, it places the general world view that the art community is an irrelevant industry. It takes away the trouble and cost of doing commissions and requests be a lot more to the AI's favor.

Looking into it further, a video essay by [Ana Isabel] (Which I highly recommend you watch as well) showed several other AI programs that has gotten better into writing articles via processing a database of samples and a few keywords. Thus, removing the need for a creative writer. (Like I am right now) 

What we are looking at right now is, for the first time in history. We are at odds of replacing Creatives from job opportunities. With these programs available, the phrase "Any Tom, Dick and Harry can do it" has gotten too close for comfort.

- Arguments Against AI Art -

Of course, the application can't work without us Creatives feeding the program samples and data. In some way, it still requires some form of human creativity to feed it data and develop and it also requires a little bit of luck to trigger the right prompt.

As stated in Ana Isabel’s video, some artists welcome the AI as an additional tool to help lay some groundwork for the artist to improve and build upon. Which creates a new label; [CyberArtist] or Cyborg Artist. 

Their argument is that the AI can be a helpful tool to conceptualize ideas as a first draft in productions or help with small time gigs such as promotional art or E-flyers. These Cyborg Artists also pointed out that AI Art will set a unique benchmark for what “good art” actually is, focusing more on the concept/ prompt than the process of creation.

Tempting as it may to say the world cares more about the idea than the craft. This is still detrimental to small timers or freelancers who want to pursue art as a profession with their own new ideas. It can discourage new and rising artists from chasing their ventures as they will be aware of the competition upon them.  

The comment; “it won't happen because, MY art is not that great" is not the point. If I were to guess. The AI will absorb any artwork that emits a large following and activity as food for the AI to feed and replicate which might even include doodles if left unchecked.

Although, not all hope is lost. As with these new improvements arise new problems. For that, new laws and new policies are being made to combat this troubling issue. Though not effective, it does raise the awareness. What is very important is that the general public must be made aware of such an issue. The world still looks down on Creatives, and sees their work as still "just a hobby" which is why this awareness needs to be raised and why we need to prove we are better.

On a hopeful note, AI is but an imitation of what is considered as great art but the one thing it can't ever do is produce Personal Art. It can't emote the hard hours spent, the process of improvement, the personalized charm, and the very heart that the artist cares about the audience.

That is something the AI CAN’T ever do. Its easy to feel fear knowing that the days as a Creative is numbered now that everyone can have access to such a program and to some, it may even be disheartening. But be aware that the True Value of an artist is the heart they have to share their craft. To show the imperfections and to do so anyway because they believe it inspires people. That is perhaps, what AI Art can’t ever kill.

To give because they enjoy the fun of it.

Thanks for reading

- Caw4B -

Hybrid Class Review: Investigator part 2

(art by Nezart on DeviantArt)

Utility and Builds

Now with the preamble out of the way, let’s get into the meat of what makes the investigator tick.

At their core, the investigator gets proficiency with light armor, simple weapons, and a collection of thematically-appropriate weapons revolving around more subtle and dexterous weaponry. They also get a nice selection of class skills and a heaping helping of ranks to put into them, making them a very skill-focused class to begin with.

They also start out learning alchemy the same way alchemists do, able to use it to identify potions and elixers, as well as brew extracts, though they do not gain bombs or mutagens. They use the same spell list as alchemists, though obviously the bomb admixture extracts won’t work for them normally since they don’t gain bombs.

Honestly, I dislike the addition of alchemy to the base investigator, as it seems a little too out of place and/or too much a reference to Sherlock Holmes’ drug habit, but maybe that’s me seeing things that aren’t there.

The biggest mechanic, however, that the investigator is known for is their pool of inspiration. This pool allows them to add an extra d6 to skill checks. They can do this with any skill, though they can do it for free with knowledge skills and linguistics as long as they’ve trained in them. Additionally, they can spend double the points to use them with attacks and saves as well.

Their keen perception also gives them the roguish ability to notice traps with ease and disable even the magical ones.

They also study lots of lore on poisons, not only being able to handle and utilize them safely, but able to identify them with ease and even neutralize them.

That practice comes with a lot of errors and tests in the lab, and as a result, much like alchemists, they develop increasing resistance to poison, and even immunity later on.

Much like alchemist discoveries and rogue talents, investigators get their own supply of talents. These talents range from adding nasty extra effects to their studied strike (more on that in a moment), adding a limited list of alchemist discoveries or rogue talents, improving the base die of their inspiration, letting them apply inspiration for free on more types of skills, making using inspiration for combat purposes more efficient, new ways to spend inspiration to bolster themselves or others, and so on, leading to a lot of customization.

Their skill and instincts with traps Also makes them good at dodging them.

Much like rogues, investigators have their own advantage in combat, though it functions differently. By studying an opponents every move, from the way they attack to the subtle ways they give away past injuries and weaknesses, giving them bonuses on their aim and the damage they deal. However, normally such a foe immediately learns to compensate once the studied state ends, making it impossible to do again until at least a day has passed, that is, unless the investigator expends some of their inspiration to compensate for their compensation.

However, they can also end this studied state with a bang, ending the state in return for dealing a singular crippling strike against their target, the damage of which only increases with time, and can apply to both lethal and nonlethal strikes alike.

Much like alchemists, they also learn to brew their alchemical items with exceptional speed.

Finally, the most brilliant and skilled of these investigators can use their inspiration for free on all skills and ability checks. What’s more, their inspiration rolls two dice instead of one, boosting them to even greater heights whether they are applying it to skills or combat.

Of course, investigators got alternate capstones in Chronicle of Legends, with the one specific to the investigator making them even more lethal when studying a foe.

Aside from that, some become pinnacles of mental and physical fitness with Perfect Body, Flawless Mind; become the heads of organizations with The Boss; acquire a legendary weapon or piece of equipment with With This Sword; or become a death-defying legend akin to the apparent death and later resurrection of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle with Won’t Stay Dead.

The investigator class is very much a skill monkey, and arguably one of the best ones thanks to them able to add an extra dice to their rolls, often for free, not to mention being able to roll on all knowledge skills even without training. You can be anything from a rambling chatterbox that gets others to let slip information, to a sneaky investigator that seems more like a thief despite gathering evidence instead of riches, and so on, leading to so many different builds.

Additionally, their combat gimmick is fun and rewards strategic play, gaining a lesser passive buff for a while before striking at the right moment with a devastating blow, which may be at the end of your strike or whenever it would be most useful to damage the foe right now or apply a debilitating effect.

And on top of that, they have alchemical extracts as well, providing plenty of buffs with some blasting and strange other effects. Despite my misgivings about them, the base investigator can do a lot with them, though it’s no surprise that the Second Edition version of the class treats the alchemy side of the original as an optional possibility.

All in all, whether you use then as actual detectives, brilliant scholars putting their knowledge to good use, or even military tacticians or masterminds, the investigator truly is a class all about putting their intelligence to good use without having to be a caster (mostly).

That will do for today, but as we’ll see tomorrow, archetypes only improve the variety of brilliance that these investigators can command.

hii i luv your work soo much and also the headers and the stuff you make is rlly good 😻 i was wondering if it’s too difficult to make the headers etc? specially the ones that are more like gifs? and also is it too hard to find the images? bc honestly i haven’t seen a lot of them, just wondering! i get it if you don’t want to share i just genuinely think that the work is rlly rlly good<3 (sorry for such a long ask omgg)

Omg thank you so much hi hi 🥹🥹💞💞💖💖🌸🌸 first of all thank you so much for liking my work and supporting me, I so so appreciate it ✨✨🫂🫂💐💐 And omgggg you’re making me BLUSH thank you thank you thank you for the kind words 😭😭🫂💞💞 I love when people compliment my works it makes me feel like I’m doing something right 😫💐💐 flowers for you for being so great ✨💐💐🌷🌷🌹🌹🌸🌸

To answer your question, the dividers and headers are actually very easy to make. The animated dividers I make aren’t difficult per se, they just involve a few more steps than making a normal divider does. As for my animated headers that I use for my fics or masterlists and what not those are also pretty easy. I’ll try to explain a little more about what I use in depth below. If you would like a detailed walk through explaining how I make them I could do that as well 💕 Prepare yourself, there’s a lot 😭💖

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐒 / 𝐖𝐄𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐈 𝐔𝐒𝐄 — Picsart, Pinterest, PicCollage, Vita, Polarr, GIPHY, Photopea, Etsy, DeviantArt, Phonto, ezgif.com, onlinegiftools.com, Iloveimg.com, various fancy font generators (I don’t use these anymore, I use an app now for fonts, but this is what I used to use the most), various sparkle emoji combos + decorative text ( I use this one a lot + there are a lot of symbol apps on the App Store you can download, I have two apps that I use from time to time )

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒕 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is a photo editing service / app I use to make regular dividers. They have a lot of aesthetic / cute stickers and pngs like the ones I use in a lot of my dividers. They have a transparent background option I love that makes it easy to make a divider. You can save the stickers you like to a collection and follow artists / users you like as well. I 10/10 recommend this one. They also have a bunch of photo editing software like cropping, retouching, etc. if you’re into that.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — You have to buy Picsart Pro to use a lot of the “pro quality” services, and the better quality stickers not made by an individual user (I.e. stickers Picsart itself has created) are not accessible to users not subscribed to Pro. Also, when you crop an image Picsart has a certain limit to how thin it can go, so I use an image cropping website I mentioned above Iloveimg.com. I only use Picsart for divider making purposes though so I don’t have to worry about allat. Not compatible with animation / gifs

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑬𝒕𝒔𝒚 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is one of my favorite shopping apps in general. If you don’t know about Etsy it’s a small business / individually owned business kind of shopping app. There’s a lot of different stores / sellers that sell a bunch of different things. It’s a good place to buy dividers for very cheap, less than $5 dollars, I’ve also bought pngs / stickers as well. I’ll buy a divider pack from time to time and edit them however I please. I never just buy a divider pack and claim it as my own on Tumblr, I always edit them in some way that fits more to what I want. It’s just a good starting point in my opinion. Of course, you can probably find simple dividers online, only you know what’s best for you. Also, this is just a good place for anything web related in general ( they have sticker packs, dividers, procreate brushes, decorative elements, really anything you want for a relatively small price)

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is an app for fonts. Unlike the usual fonts you see in fancy font generators (𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰, 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, etc.) Phonto lets you upload your own fonts to use on pics. Using font websites you can upload whatever fonts you like in just a couple seconds. I personally like to use Dafont.com for my fonts. You can also use dingbat fonts / decorative element fonts. Not compatible with animation / gifs

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 ⊹₊ ⋆ Who doesn’t know Pinterest?? Literally my favorite app ever. I use Pinterest for image inspo / my aesthetic images. Here’s my Pinterest if you’re curious. This is besides the point but I used to be a Wattpad girly so I have a lot of boards relating to my past OC’s and wattpad stories (like 2016) 😭💕 You can search up literally anything / any aesthetic and the pictures / gifs that relate to it will pop up. Very easy to use and so much fun to make your own boards and stuff. I spend hours organizing my pins, I need to get back into it tbh 😿

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — Users upload a lot of fan made art that isn’t always crediting the original artists who made it. I have found some jjk fan art I use for my headers but no source as to who the original creator is. A lot of profiles do give credit tho so that’s good.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is the same service made by the people who created Picsart. I use this for many purposes. I mainly use it to combine my animated gifs with still images and combine animated dividers together with other dividers. To be honest it’s hard to explain what I use it for specifically but it’s just good for combining gifs and still images into one.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — I don’t think there is a transparent background option, so I have to use a certain website mentioned above to remove gif backgrounds. You also can’t crop the image and unless you pay for no watermark it gives you one. It saves animated dividers / gifs as videos, so I go to Ezgif to make it into a gif and crop the image to remove the watermark. Again, this one is a little hard to explain.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑽𝒊𝒕𝒂 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is a free app I use that’s a rip off of the “real app” I used to have. The “real app” started charging for its services and so I moved to this one. It’s completely the same and FREE. This is where I apply text to my gifs and add the motion to it. Like how my masterlist header is, where it spins and flips, this is the app where I apply those effects. Side note, this is a good starting app for making edit videos like you see on Tiktok. You can turn off the watermark for free.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — This app also turns gifs / animations into a video when you go to save it, so again I go to Ezgif to turn it back into a gif.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒓 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is my favorite filter app for photos. Has very aesthetic filters that I use for my still images and as of recently my Pinterest boards as well. Not compatible with animation / gifs

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑮𝒊𝒑𝒉𝒚 ⊹₊ ⋆ I use this app solely for its stickers. You can find sparkles, butterflies, hearts, anything you want with a transparent background and turn it into a divider. I use this app mostly for gathering animated stickers to make my animated dividers.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑷𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒂 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is my go-to for applying effects / filters to gifs or animations. I use this to add filters to my animated headers. I download PSD’s from DeviantArt and use those filters for my gifs. This is not an app, just a browser I’ve added to my Home Screen. I recommend using on a computer because there’s a lot of stuff on the screen and you’ll want to see it all spread out. I use it on mobile only because I know which buttons I need to press so it’s not a problem.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — You have to upload your own filters to be able to add one to a gif. Once you open up the site it can be very overwhelming and confusing with all the buttons and drop downs and yada yada. Photopea is like an animations version of photoshop. I recommend searching for a tutorial, or if requested I can personally make a separate post showing you how to add filters to a gif.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑬𝒛𝒈𝒊𝒇 ⊹₊ ⋆ my go-to website for literally anything gif related. Cropping, removing frames, optimizing a gif, making a gif, turning a video into a gif, and many more. I even use the effects tab from time to time to add a border around my gifs (like the one around the Sugar Water Series header) There’s other stuff you can do of course, I recommend checking it out, I’ve been using it for years.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is a browser I use to remove the background from gifs.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒 — It doesn’t do the best job at removing a gif background unless it’s a solid color. I always do solid black and it removes it pretty well. If your background is white it will have a hard time differentiating the gif from the white background and will clip out parts of the gif and make it choppy. I recommend having a plain black background as that works best for me. Also it just recently had an update where you need to wait 10 seconds before you can download the finished product. It also claims you can only use it a certain amount of times a day but tbh I’ve used it a bunch in one day and never seem to have a limit. So idk. Like I said this update is recent. I guess a lot more people started using it and now they want to charge people.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝑰𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒊𝒎𝒈 ⊹₊ ⋆ This is the browser I mentioned in the picsart section where I crop really thin images. Does not have a limit on how thin you can make an image. I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure this is not animation / gif compatible.

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 ⊹₊ ⋆ ONE TWO THREE

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓 ⊹₊ ⋆ ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 ⊹₊ ⋆ Evernote (a notes organizing app I use to organize my fics + I love it so so much), Amino (can find clubs / communities dedicated to bio decor & symbols), Gif Toaster (the og app I used in the very beginning to apply text to gifs), Canva (good stickers / elements + can find aesthetic / cute stickers with keywords on Pinterest), Videoleap (a video editing software I used to use), Remini (an app that upgrades the quality of an image), Symbol Pad & Symbol (apps I use for individual symbols) Snow (has cute animated effects I used to use sometimes a long time ago), VLLO (the app I used before Vita that charged for some of its services), DeviantArt (where I get all of my PSD’s + they have a lot of stuff you can use, pngs and whatnot, I just don’t really use it for those purposes)

I've always been kinda curious about what the precise origin point was for June Egbert. Like I know it was a largely collective thing birthed from the source material, but nontheless I remain curious at the exact inflection point at which June Egbert, more specifically June as a transfem interpretation of John Egbert, became "a thing" so to speak. So I did a little digging, though I am not a researcher, I am a woman with limited patience. This mostly started when I was scrolling to the back of the (new!) June Egbert tag, and found something odd! Previously, all the earliest fics were from 2019, but lo and behold, there was a SINGLE fic from back in 2017!

It's actually just a very well done, short, bittersweet work about June being alone on Christmas! Now this was notable, as I would (historically, as a modern person with limited experience in the fandom pre uhhhhh this year) consider the big Inflection point to be the Toblerone Discovery! Obviously for that tweet to become a thing, the concept was obviously floating around beforehand, but that's the moment when it started get floated into pseudo-canon spaces. But I was curious if I could find anything before that time! Sadly, my results came up relatively sparse. The most I could find was some pages that were clearly NOT from before then, and a couple of curiosities! First off was this very cute art by CallMeYukari on Deviantart! But, it's supposed to be Egbert's descendent. Nontheless, very cute.

Also, this was just a fun little tangent, I got a couple of bandcamp pages which showed up, which turned out to just be a reviewer who had June Egbert Is Valid as a blog title.

But I knew that the best place to search would be Tumblr. Fortunately/Unfortunately, the June Egbert tag is Fucking Enormous, and I do not have the patience nor the nohow to journey back to the beginning. But you know what isn't quite as large of a tag? Joan Egbert, which appears to have been (afaik again) a pretty commonly used name for a fem version of John! I scrolled back as far as I could, which was abouuuut 2013! Now obviously, here we come back to a bit of a conflict! Which is that, there is actually a lot of girlbert content! Buuuut most of it tends towards Genderbend and Rule 63 stuff rather than trans stuff specifically, which ain't really what we're looking for! Though I was finding transfem John stuff as far back as 2015, and likely earlier if I was more thorough, most if not all of it went under Joan! There's still a few more recent posts that use Joan, which is quite fun to see!

Here's an example of a trans Joan post by the way.

But! Lo and behold as I scrolled to the bottom of the tag:

A mention of June! Granted, it is again specifying a genderbent, not transfem version, but this is the earliest I was able to find on a cursory glance. So that was my little shallow dive into history! If you have more detailed information or wanna do your own digging, feel free to share more!

Jade Seven

“Monster Girl Challenge 26 - Favorite Monster Girl” © deviantArt user “justsantiago”. Accessed at his gallery here

[Last week, I got high enough that I spontaneously developed an OC. Appearance, personality, how to represent her in PFRPG, everything. So here she is. This was another one where finding good art was difficult. This image is pretty solid, but is a place holder--I like this character enough that I’m probably going to commission at least one artist to draw her. The challenge was not in finding snake-bodied gorgon archers (that’s how Harryhausen interpreted Medusa, after all). But in finding one wearing clothing in general and more than a boob sling in particular.]

Jade Seven CR 17 N Monstrous Humanoid This woman has the lower body of an immense snake, and snakes grow from her scalp instead of hair. She wears leather armor and dark glasses, and carries a bow.

Jade Seven is a bibliomaniacal medusa. She collects rare books of all kinds and keeps a massive library. She is willing to allow others to consult her books, but only under strict supervision and on the premises. Anyone who tries to steal or damage one of her books is unlikely to escape with their life. Jade Seven leaves her library to delve into ruins and dungeons in search of lost or exotic tomes, as well as to collect magical scrolls. Occasionally she enters civilization to consult other libraries or comb through bookseller’s wares, typically using a magical disguise to avoid attracting attention.

Jade Seven is not evil, but she is pragmatic. If she feels that combat is the best way to obtain what she wants, she engages. Jade wears tinted lenses that help her follow tracks and find traps…and block the effect of her petrifying gaze. Removing them is usually her first resort in combat. Creatures that succumb to her gaze are transformed into a greenish stone reminiscent of jade. Anyone who is not petrified is peppered with arrows. Jade Seven mixes ranged combat with spells that improve her fighting prowess. She collects scrolls, wands and other disposable magic items, and does not hesitate to use them. Jade Seven has suffered the consequences of arrogance and carelessness, and would rather negotiate or flee than fight to the death. 

Jade Seven may serve as either an ally or a foil to the characters. She may be hired to translate, decipher or interpret a text, or as a dungeoneer to assist in finding and disabling traps. She values money, but values books more (magical or mundane), and rarely takes on any jobs that don’t offer her access to her special interest. On the other hand, she may compete for a book that the PCs need or be working in a mercenary capacity for the PCs’ enemies. Although she considers any book at least theoretically worth her attention, she is most interested in pursuing magical manuals and tomes that grant inherent bonuses to ability scores. One of these would be the ultimate bribe to secure her allegiance.  

Although Jade is somewhat coy as to the origins of her sobriquet “Seven”, the truth is straightforward. Jade Seven is the seventh iteration of the medusa librarian. One of her earliest valuable discoveries was a brace of spell scrolls of the clone spell. The previous six Jades have died, some slain by rivals, others due to poor luck or judgement in dungeon delving. Jade has only one clone left, currently preserved with unguents of timelessness. Replacing this clone, and ensuring that the Jade lineage can continue indefinitely, is one of her primary goals.

Jade Seven         CR 17 XP 102,400 Variant medusa bard 13 (archaeologist) N Large monstrous humanoid Init +8; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., Perception +29, scent Defense AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 26 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural, +5 armor, +1 deflection) hp 274 (8d10+13d8+168) Fort +15, Ref +19, Will +16; trap sense +4 Immune petrifaction, poison Defensive Abilities evasion, fortification (25%), slippery mind, uncanny dodge Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft. Melee +1 longsword +18/+13/+8/+3 (1d8+2/19-20), snakebite +12 (1d4 plus poison), tail slap +12 (1d8) or snakebite +17 (1d4+1 plus poison), tail slap +12 (1d8) Ranged +2 adaptive composite longbow +24/+19/+14/+9 or +22/+22/+17/+12/+7 (1d8+3/x3) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Special Attacks archaeologist’s luck (10 rounds/day, +3), gaze Spells CL 13th, concentration +19 5th (2/day)—greater dispel magic, greater heroism 4th (4/day)—break enchantment, cure critical wounds (DC 20), hold monster (DC 20), legend lore 3rd (5/day)—clairaudience/clairvoyance, dispel magic, haste, hypercognition, see invisibility 2nd (7/day)—alter self, heroism, mirror image, psychic reading, tongues 1st (7/day)—abundant ammunition, cure light wounds (DC 17), expeditious retreat, identify, lock gaze (DC 17) 0th—detect magic, light, message, mending, prestidigitation, read magic Statistics Str 12, Dex 19, Con 26, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 22 Base Atk +17; CMB +19; CMD 32 (cannot be tripped) Feats Ability Focus (gaze), Deadly Aim, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Sidestep, Magical Aptitude, Mobility, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Sidestep Skills Acrobatics +25, Appraise +17, Bluff +18, Climb +13, Diplomacy +18, Disable Device +27, Disguise +18, Escape Artist +21, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, history, local) +23, Intimidate +18, Linguistics +16, Perception +29, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +13, Survival +13 (+18 following tracks), Swim +13, Use Magic Device +23; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Infernal, Sylvan, Undercommon, 4 others SQ bardic knowledge (+6), clever explorer (+6), jack of all trades, lore master (2/day), rogue talents (guileful polyglot, slippery mind, trap spotter), serpentine, undersized weapons Gear +2 adaptive composite longbow, +1 longsword, +2 light fortification studded leather armor, belt of physical might +2 (Dex, Con), headband of mental superiority +2 (Acrobatics), efficient quiver, bag of holding (type I), ring of protection +1, lesser rod of extend spell, vest of escape, cloak of resistance +1, lenses of detection, wand of pass without trace (50 charges), wand of comprehend languages (50 charges), potion of fly, potion of bull’s strength (x2), unguent of timelessness (x2), scroll of teleport, scroll of greater invisibility, scroll of restoration (x2), scroll of arcane sight (x2), scroll of align weapon (x2), 10 adamantine arrows, 20 silver arrows, 20 cold iron arrows, masterwork thieves tools, 40 arrows, holy water (x2), 76 gp Special Abilities Gaze (Su) Turn to stone permanently, 30 feet, Fortitude DC 22 negates. The save DC is Charisma-based. Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 22; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d3 Str; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based. Serpentine (Ex) Jade Seven is a variant medusa with a snake-like lower body. A serpentine medusa is a Large creature with the undersized weapons SQ. She gains a +2 bonus on Strength and Constitution, a -2 penalty to Dexterity, and a +3 natural armor bonus. Her move speed is reduced to 20 feet, but she gains a climb speed and swim speed equal to her land speed. She gains a tail slap attack as a secondary natural weapon that deals damage as normal for a creature of her size. Serpentine medusas are immune to petrifaction and poison, and gain scent as a sense. These advantages grant a serpentine medusa a +1 to her CR.

knowing your partner can potentially make writing together a lot easier!

BASICS.

♡ NAME: jack ♡ PRONOUNS: he / they is fine! ♡ SEXUALITY: gay? bi but leaning male? questioning? god only knows anymore ♡ TAKEN OR SINGLE: single

THREE FACTS.

♡ i have an accidental collection of weird hats, which include a roman helmet and a french medieval helmet, each from its place of origin ♡ i do very much like spiders myself! it's usually one of the first things anyone would find out about me. it's also a funny story how this came to be ♡ i sleep a lot. if you message me and i don't respond, it's likely i'm snoozin'

EXPERIENCE.

♡ HOW LONG (MONTHS / YEARS?): UHH... i lost count. more than ten years? ♡ PLATFORMS YOU’VE USED: tumblr, discord, facebook, skype, msparp, online forums, deviantart... ♡ BEST EXPERIENCE: i'm not sure? i've had good experiences and bad experiences alike pretty much everywhere, but i do always treasure those i befriend the most!

MUSE PREFERENCES.

♡ FEMALE OR MALE: male, due to gender dysphoria ♡ FLUFF, ANGST OR SMUT: good lord. i'm not sure if i prefer fluff or angst more, so they're both first place to me. as for smut? it's fine, but it's not something i crave or seek ( unless there's potentially angst or fluff in it ) ♡ PLOTS OR MEMES: plots tend to be helpful to keep a thread more fluid, but i don't mind sending memes either! i haven't been reblogging many ask memes lately because my active thread count already is off the charts, and i don't want to overwhelm myself ♡ LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: long, definitely. they're more juicy ♡ BEST TIME TO WRITE: at night, in bed. i find it easier to focus when it's dark and i'm on my phone! ♡ ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S): nnnnnot much, surprisingly. sometimes we have certain characteristics in common, but most characters i've written so far aren't that similar to me ( save a couple of exceptions? )

tagged by. so many people... have mercy please

tagging. whoever has not done this yet?