Alternate Title: SMSsenger Of The Lord

chess cuties. long may they reign.

thanks for the tag, @ofmagicandmusic​

list 10 songs you've been listening to and tag 10 people

direct from my Spotify On Repeat:

Lose It - Oh Wonder

Sweet Disaster - DREAMERS

Shifted Thoughts - Mazde, Le Mar

Lie Lie Lie - Sure Sure

Then Again - Half Moon Run

Just What I Needed - The Cars

Redbone - Childish Gambino

Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe

Karma - MARINA

Beck + Call - July Talk

if you feel up to sharing your playlist - @faerytalesfromtheabyss @bluebelle88 @zer0-hour @katherynefromphilly @magicandfandoms

The line that pops into my head a lot is just “Bangkok, Oriental setting” yeah we know

I’m kind of curious about the plot of Chess the Musical but I also don’t want to ruin the bizarre magic of this earworm by giving it context

who is this headache saint can you explain?? i can’t seem to find much on google

understandable! not only are there many saints acacius but there are many names this particular saint is referred to by (achatius, agathius... etc.)! there’s a great disambiguation here (see acacius of byzantium)

update: credit for the inspiring post belongs to @knivesplushearts

someone said Tommy as Madonna and it haunted me for a month

me staring at your angel art: I don’t think you understand, I’m obsessed. . I think I wanna draw angels now. Unlimited wings and everythang ❤️

i’m so glad you liked it, and I hope you draw them! can never be too many angels!

Think on your answer. This is the least of what we can do.

since many have strong feelings regarding this illustration:

This is not a literal statement. This is a poem from Woman Hating by Andrea Dworkin. It is meant (as I interpret it) to draw attention to patterns in the way women are portrayed in legends, histories, folktales, religions. "Well Jezebel was actually evil!!" is missing the point. Is there a similarity between Pandora and Eve? Is it relevant that the ascent and downfall of Bathsheba and Vashti respectively pivoted on a king's gaze? The women who appear in Arthurian legend are mostly seductresses who create obstacles for the heroes - does this call Circe to mind? Is there a reason why the primary aspect of many female religious figures is their virginity, or motherhood, or both? Are there common ways these women obtain and wield power in their narratives? What attributes make them famous or infamous?

The poem does not say "all these women were reviled as witches". It asks you to think about who authored, recorded, and taught the stories they come from. That is a valuable thing to do with any story, whether or not you agree with Andrea's poem or with her feminism.

and they had this in common: that they were feared, hated, desired, and worshiped - woman hating, a.d.

we should continue to talk about the ethics of web scraping. but it's very possible to train a model only on public domain images - CC0 photos, works by long dead artists - and still get interesting, beautiful output. this is an uncomfortable fact, but it's also a hopeful one.

it's not enough to put a modern subject in the style of someone ancient. good! it's not enough to juxtapose two contrasting concepts for shock value. good! it's not enough to 'blaspheme' an established art tradition by making a small alteration. good! we can no longer rely too heavily on the prominence of other artists without having anything much new to say ourselves. good!

new developments in art always come of saying "the old ways are no longer enough". this is no different - possibly, it is easier. the old masters we challenge today are neural nets. stacks of linear algebra in a trench coat.

we're better. we can 'train' ourselves by mindfully consuming art which influences (with far more nuance and warmth) what we create. we can choose which of the 'datasets' we've been fed to draw from and which to ignore.

every artist is asking themself - what can I do that an AI cannot? how can I infuse my work with humanity? and I'm hopeful for what that will bring about.

will there be increased interest in physical media, where the limitations of the materials and the artist's body are more tangible in the work?

will we lean on longer forms - series of paintings, illustrated novels, comics - with complicated storylines and a requirement for consistent representation of characters and concepts?

will we begin to make, display and consume art in ways that emphasize the process of making it?

will we reject mass produced items in favor of forming connections with artists and makers?

will we choose to express incisive messages - precise, complicated ideas that go beyond vague associations between metadata tags sifted from a sentence prompt?

god. I hope we will.

Honestly, the plot of Chess is so absolutely absurd and wonderful that I can’t recommend it more. It’s basically all about Cold War politics through an interpersonal lens but I wouldn’t exactly say it’s done well.

I’ve been obsessed since middle school.

then you will be happy to know that I caved and watched it! I have not been the same person since...