The Idea That Meng Yao Is Different From Jin Guangyao And That Everything Is Actually Jin Guangshan's

I've finally figured out an argument that convinces coding tech-bros that AI art is bad.

Got into a discussion today (actually a discussion, we were both very reasonable and calm even through I felt like committing violence) with a tech-bro-coded lady who claimed that people use AI in coding all the time so she didn't see why it mattered if people used AI in art.

Obviously I repressed the surge of violence because that would accomplish nothing. Plus, this lady is very articulate, the type who makes claims and you sit there thinking no that's wrong it must be but she said it so well you're kind of just waffling going but, no, wait-- so I knew I had to get this right if I was gonna come out of this unscathed.

The usual arguments about it being about the soul of it and creation fell flat, in fact she was adamant that anyone who believed that was in fact looking down at coding as an art form as she insisted it is. Which, sure, you can totally express yourself through coding. There's a lot more nuance as to the differences but clearly I was not going to win this one.

The other people I was with (literally 8 people anti-ai against her, but you can't change the mind of someone who doesn't want to listen and she just kept accusing us of devaluing coding as an art) took over for I kid you not 15 minutes while I tried desperately to come up with a clear and articulate way to explain the difference to her. They tried so many reasonable arguments, coding being for a function ("what, art doesn't serve a function?") coding being many discrete building blocks that you put together differently, and the AI simply provides the blocks and you put it together yourself ("isn't that what prompt building is") that it's bad for the environment ("but not if it's used for capitalism, hm?" "Yeah literally that's how capitalism works it doesn't care about the environment" she didn't like that response)

But I finally got it.

And the answer is: It's not about what you do, it's about what you claim to be.

Imagine that someone asks an AI to write a code and, by some miracle, it works perfectly without them having to tweak it---which is great because they couldn't tell you what a single solitary thing in that code means.

Now imagine this person, with their code that they don't know how it works, goes and applies to be a coder somewhere, presenting this AI code as proof that they're qualified.

Should they be hired?

She was horrified, of course. Of course they shouldn't be. They're not qualified. They can't actually code, and even if by some miracle they did have an AI successfully write a flawless code for every issue they came across that wouldn't be their code, you could hire any shmuck on the street to do that, no reason to pay someone like they're creating something.

When actual engineers use AI what they do is get some kind of base, which they then go though and check for problems and then if they find any they fix them, and add on to the base code with their own knowledge instead of just trying different prompt after prompt until they randomly come across one that works.

People who generate code like this don't usually call themselves engineers. They're people who needed a bit of code and didn't have the knowledge to generate it, and so used a resource.

And there you go. There are people who have none of the skills of artists, they don't practice, they don't create for themselves. When they feed the prompt to the AI they then don't just use the resulting image as a reference point for their own personal masterpiece, and if they don't like it they don't have the skills to change it---they simply try another prompt, and do that until they get something they like.

These people are calling themselves artists.

Not only that, these people are bringing the AI generated thing to interviews, and they are getting hired, leaving people who slave over their craft out of the job.

And that is the difference, for the tech bros who think AI art isn't a big deal.

Good morning! I’m salty.

I think we, as a general community, need to start taking this little moment more seriously.

This, right here? This is asking for consent. It’s a legal necessity, yes, but it is also you, the reader, actively consenting to see adult content; and in doing so, saying that you are of an age to see it, and that you’re emotionally capable of handling it.

You find the content you find behind this warning disgusting, horrifying, upsetting, triggering? You consented. You said you could handle it, and you were able to back out at any time. You take responsibility for yourself when you click through this, and so long as the creator used warnings and tags correctly, you bear full responsibility for its impact on you.

“Children are going to lie about their age” is probably true, but that’s the problem of them and the people who are responsible for them, not the people that they lie to.

If you’re not prepared to see adult content, created by and for adults, don’t fucking click through this. And if you do, for all that’s holy, don’t blame anyone else for it.

I think the thing that I've taken away from this panel is that it's okay if you don't like your work because there are people who will love it.

And I didn't take that away because there was any implication that Hugh or Mads disliked the work they did on Hannibal but because they so obviously loved it but even they couldn't remember all the details of the things they loved. Hugh wouldn't stop talking about S1EP2 Amuse-Bouche but he could not for the life of him remember Eldon Stammets' name, and Mads and Hugh had to be reminded of Donald Sutcliffe's name.

And those details of the panel stood out to me because it's like wow I may forget about something I've written or recorded or drawn, but someone somewhere out there, even if it's just one person, probably loved what I made even more than I did and they might've committed parts of my work to memory that I've completely forgotten about or thought were insignificant.

I guess the panel just reminded me how thankful I am for fandom spaces and the fannibal community and just generally people who are kind and uplifting and share what they love with each other.

The current discussion about "a big advantage for the yeerks is that no one knows there's an alien invasion" reminds me of your ficlet that became the first chapter of All Assorted Animorphs AUs; Elfangor meets the team as adults, and they *do* go public about the invasion. It ends poorly. Sorry kids, no clean option here.

The yeerks' need for secrecy and the Animorphs' need for secrecy are not the same, in a really interesting way.

The yeerks need to keep humans as a whole from knowing that mind-controlling alien invaders exist. This means suppressing all knowledge of extraterrestrial everything, even when it means covering up for their enemies.

The Animorphs need to avoid controllers knowing who they are, and don't have a reliable way to know which humans are controllers. This means they have to protect their names and faces at all costs, but would prefer it if humanity did know the yeerks exist.

Like, look at #22 where the controller-cops indirectly protect Jake by inventing reasons a tiger could be unconscious on the floor of a California mall. Or the times the kids win victories over controllers by getting them to act alien in front of civilians (e.g. #12, #35). The yeerks are the ones who have to keep the entire war secret.

By contrast, the kids just have to keep themselves secret. Look at the number of times they straight-up admit they're morphers and not real animals. Sometimes it's around people too remote to be controllers, like Derek (#25) and Yami (#44). Sometimes it's a civilian who just reacted with shock instead of anger to the sight of morphing (e.g. the home cook in #5, the busboy in #35). Sometimes it's even a known controller, just as long as they don't give their names (e.g. the opening of #18, Visser One in #30). They don't even go out of their way to actively maintain the fiction they're andalites — they don't dispel that belief if they can help it, because it's useful, but they're not going to spend a ton of time and energy on it. Just as long as no controllers know that Jake Berenson of 123 Street Road, Townsville, CA, can morph, it doesn't matter what else leaks.

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

I really think people have forgotten just how bad things were under the Trump Administration. Literally every day there was news about some service being cut or someone terrible appointed somewhere they shouldn't be or what have you. He constantly flirted with WW3 and military dictatorship. It was such a blur of badness that there aren't big standouts for people to point to to make him "the XYZ president." it was everything. all the time. Why do we not remember this.

I don’t know if anyone has ever done this before but, here ya go… The Different Types of Fanfiction! 

I probably left a few out, but these are the most common, compared to their base fiction’s canon plot. Enjoy! XD

DEI does not mean lower standards.

You are thinking of white privilege.

"Am I intersex?"

If you have ever asked this question, we hope this post finds you (and that you check out our intersex guide, which we updated today.)

Do you have high levels of androgens, or high levels of estrogen? That is intersex. (Yes, even if its from PCOS. Yes, even if you are 'female' with hyperestrogenism or hypoandrogenism, or 'male' with hyperandrogenism or hypoestrogenism.)

Do you have low levels of androgens, or low levels of estrogen (not caused by menopause/andropause)? Or does your body not process the hormones it is producing? That is intersex

Do you have chromosomes that differ from XX or XY? Or do your chromosomes "mismatch" your body? That is intersex

Is your urethra in an atypical spot, being lower or higher than expected (hypospadias or epispadias)? Were you born with an extra urethra? Or is your urethra merged with your vaginal canal, anus, or both? That is intersex

Were you born with a curved penis (congenital chordee)? Were you born with a scrotum that is atypical (penoscrotal transposition, shawl scrotum, etc)? Do you have an extra penis? That is intersex

Were you born with genitals that have absent, small, or closed parts? A narrow, incomplete, or absent urethra? A narrow or shallow vagina? An absent vagina? A hymen or tissue that partially or fully blocks the vaginal entry? A vulva that has absent labia on one or both sides? A small or absent clitoris? A micropenis? A congenital hidden/buried penis? A penis born with no foreskin? Undescended testicles (that didn't naturally descend within the first 3-6 months after birth)? Little or no genitalia whatsoever? That is intersex

Do you have ambiguous genitals (that ARENT from surgery or HRT?) Do you have a bifid scrotum? Do you have fused labia? Do you have a large clitoris (yes, even one that developed naturally during puberty)? Do you have a penis and a clitoris at the same time? Or penis with labia? Or a penis where a clitoris "should" be? Or a vaginal canal underneath a penis? That is intersex

Are your reproductive organs atypical? Is your uterus, prostate, gonads, fallopian tubes, vas deferens, or seminal vesicles small or absent? Do you have streak gonads? Do you have extra reproductive traits (extra gonads, extra vas deferens, uterus didelphys, etc)? Do you have both ovarian tissue and testicular tissue present in your body at the same time? Do you have a prostate and a uterus at the same time? That is intersex

Whether you have only ONE of these traits, or MULTIPLE of these traits - the conclusion is the same. Every single trait listed here...is intersex.

And if you used to have these things, but your body was changed (either by yourself, or as a form of medical abuse, such as genital mutilation, reproductive mutilation, hormone abuse, etc)...you are still intersex.

Doctors will very likely not diagnose you as intersex. They may actively deny your intersex status when you call yourself that. But you are intersex if you fall under any of these traits. They will instead likely tell you that you have a "hormone disorder", "urogenital/genital deformity/disorder", "reproductive disorder/deformity", "disorder of sexual development/DSD", or other intersexist work-arounds that they were taught in medical school, or personally came up with.

It's an open notes test and some dense motherfuckers still can't figure out the answers.