Musings of the Artshifter

"I am no unicorn, no magical creature. I am human, and I love you." - The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle. May contain language unsuitable for young children. Exercise caution.

[prokopetz]

Predictions for Dungeons & Dragons under Hasbro's management in the coming years:

Uma Musume style horsegirls introduced to the Forgotten Realms; setting's lore revised so that they've always been there.

Advancement rules now stipulate per-session XP bonus based on lifetime D&D Beyond purchase history.

Compendium of exclusive feat trees for specific gender and sexual identities. Bisexuality receives no feats of its own, being mechanically implemented as "half gay"; the resulting synergies are disgusting.

Editorial error in revised Dungeon Master's Guide accidentally refers to Dungeon Masters as Hasbro's employees.

"Noble savage" coding of barbarian class walked back, refocused on European folkloric touchstones such as the Ulster Cycle; all barbarian characters become Irish stereotypes.

AI-based DM service trained exclusively on work of Ed Greenwood launched; withdrawn a week later citing "guiderail issues".

Expanded discussion of navigating player expectations frames "not showing up at all" as a valid playstyle.

Dragon-blooded sorcerer subclass revised to state that one of the character's ancestors was "very good friends" with a dragon.

[artshifter]

[artshifter]

καὶ σύ τέκνον

[artshifter]

This video from 2012 (promoting the film Prometheus) scared the hell out of a friend of mine. Above, if Tumblr doesn't break, should be the music that was used during the beginning sequence of the video.

[championoftheravenqueen]

every time I hear someone say “we should just get rid of physical shops and have everything online” I get a bit angry because

a) physical shops are important for those who don’t have access to a computer/ internet/ ect

b) those “weird” and “niche” shops I love so much don’t have the same vibe online, they turn into just another website

c) I hate paying for shipping

[magpiedragon]

d) it is in fact often impossible to assess the quality, appearance and just how accurate the dimensions of the item are if you want to buy from just an image

[mangonetics]

e) I kinda want to leave my house on occasion

[texasdreamer01]

#f) i can go to a shop right now and get a thing immediately if i must (x)

[1909vintage]

g. there’s nothing quite like rambling around the main thoroughfare of a small town packed with little shops

[theprofessional-amateur]

h) nothing matches the expertise and vibe of a little specialty shop owner and staff. yes tell me all about the quality of this or help me figure out the differences on these based on what I need

i) so you want your cities and neighborhoods to be…? just houses and maybe some places to eat? what about when you visit someplace?

[artshifter]

j) After years of getting groceries through instacart because I've become a shut-in in the wake of Covid and some other stuff, my brother took me to a grocery store in person. I mean, technically it's a supermarket. But it is just so much nicer to be in the store shopping for groceries in person. You can smell the bakery section when you get close. You can see the groceries you want to buy instead of hoping they are in stock and a website and/or app isn't lying to you. You can check the expiration dates!

[kakotheres-anthropos]

I know there's a bunch of people begging in ask boxes right now, but I got my car impounded today and if I don't come up with a weeks pay by tomorrow I'm fucked. They want $400 from me to pay a ticket and get my car back for expired tags when I already live paycheck to paycheck and heavily rely on a credit card to make ends meet.

If you can spare a few bucks to help me get my car back so I can keep my kid and my trailer, id appreciate it more than you know!!!

Please, I am literally begging for help...

[cyle]

hello!! i hope you don’t mind me asking, but i’ve seen a lot of very rude and hateful posts about how users should reblog things instead of liking, with a lot of debate surrounding whether or not reblogs are “better” for the tumblr algorithm and sharing content than likes or whether or not likes also help push posts in the algorithm. is there a definitive answer for this?? or is there at least an answer to how exactly likes function, if they do anything for a post and it’s circulation or if it’s just a fun little button to let someone know you liked a post??

there is a definitive answer to this, i feel like i've answered it a dozen times or reblogged posts with commentary to help dispel this myth.

likes absolutely help, even more than reblogs in some cases. the argument that "reblogs are better than likes" rests on a few assumptions, but one of them is that every one of your followers will see your reblog. that's simply untrue: most people using tumblr do not catch up with every post on their dashboard. they look at some of them, and maybe come back the next day to a whole new set of posts in their feed.

this is why "Best Stuff First" / "the algorithm" was created: to optimize what those first-seen posts are. the way we "rank" those posts via the algorithm (not just for the dashboard, but for "For You", for recommendations, etc) uses a number of signals. the loudest ones are reblogs and likes! i don't have the exact weights, but i'm fairly certain a like is more or equal weight as a reblog.

i think a lot of this misconception stems from the fact that we've never made "what do likes do" clear in the tumblr interface until recently. the only way you'd ever see "what a like does" is via the notes view or via your own Likes list -- so it makes sense people won't know that their likes were used for so much more.

but now we have "Based on your likes" and "Liked by..." recommendations on tumblr, so you can directly see the result of people using likes. but it's actually always worked that way! we just didn't make it clear.

so please, spread the word that liking a post is valid, it's a perfectly fine function of tumblr, and it does help surface content across the platform. reblogs are still super important -- but they're not "the right and only way to use tumblr" or the only way content spreads around the platform.

[retroness-is-fabulous-deactivat]

[musicmoreweirdthangood]

Seems to be a demo video for Apollo Computer to show off the amazing new technology to Generate Imagery with a Computer, telling the story of some circles and sticks on a quest to the City of Rhythmic Pastel Temples to gain a third dimension (although their musicians weren’t quite as talented as their animators and texture mappers)

[randomencounters]

Place: this vaporwave city of bouncing orbs and wiggling hover-temples

[prokopetz]

It’s interesting that you should remark on the uneven quality of the music: this same animation was later set to a completely new soundtrack and included as the fourth segment of volume one of the 1990 Miramar Productions anthology The Mind’s Eye.

Folks who grew up in Canada – or certain American states near the Canadian border – during the 1990s may recognise the re-scored version from YTV’s “Short Circuitz” segment, which drew heavily from the various Mind’s Eye anthologies; that version of the short can be viewed below (skip to 2:22).

(Note that this video appears to be two unrelated computer-animated short films cut together; I’m not sure of the origin of the other one, though I’d love to hear from anyone who knows!)

[artshifter]

In order, here are the two unrelated videos that were mashed together to make Heart of the Machine:

• Treadmill, produced by Geoff Campbell

• Best Idea in the World, produced by Cranston/Csuri Productions

• Gillette Video Show, produced by Cal Ltd.

• Manage, Produced by Digital Productions

• Entrepreneur, produced by Digital Productions

• Movietime Radio I.D., Produced by Movietime

• Integration, produced by R/Greenberg Associates

• Balance, produced by Digital Productions

• Quest - A Long Ray’s Journey Into Light, Produced by Apollo Computer

[prokopetz]

Interesting – so “Heart of the Machine” (or at least the version of it that was used by YTV) is actually a highlight reel of short 10–30 second excerpts from eight videos by six different production houses, followed by a nearly complete – albeit re-scored – version Apollo Computer’s Quest. I wonder if the full versions of any of those eight videos have survived? Some cursory research suggests that several of them are considerably longer than what’s seen here, but my efforts to track them down mostly just yield clips of the same short portions that were excerpted for “Heart of the Machine”.

In any event, thanks for the info!

[artshifter]

Sorry, nine videos; I misunderstood something. The first part of the "gears" section is from a 30 second TRW ad entitled "The Best Idea in the World" by Cranston/Csuri Productions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvICw-8WaGk

The second section with the deforming gears doing interesting and complicated things is also by Cranston/Csuri Productions but appears to be an untitled series of several very short, aesthetically similar excerpts from various demo reels they did in the early to mid 1980s; the credit went to the production company but there was no title associated with that section.

A not insignificant portion of the Mind's Eye series was material from TV commercials, network bumpers, and advertising demo reels, etc.

Here's an example:

Above we have an example credit from Beyond The Mind's Eye, a series of clips from various CGI material edited together into short videos set to music by Jan Hammer.

"Power" shows a stone cat on a pedestal coming to life, taking a running leap through a large flame, and turning into gold. If you search YouTube for it, you probably won't find it because "Power" is pretty vague.

But if you've seen it before in its original context you can search for that and you end up with a 30 second TV spot for a cigarette company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdBoKOpctp4&t=59s

(That specific animation was at some point reused for an ad for KTWV FM in Los Angeles, but I think the ending might have been chopped.)

What I'm implying here is that in many cases where you have an early 1990s CGI showcase, you're not just hunting for excerpts from long films or short films; you're very likely hunting for excerpts from mid-1980s 30-second or 60-second TV ads whose titles are internal to the production company and/or the ad agency, meaning one title might be "Power" and another might be "Hitachi" or "Motorola".

I am pretty convinced that "Heart of the Machine" is comprised almost entirely of the CGI sections from 30 to 60 second TV ads, and that may be why you're having trouble finding anything but that specific footage: it might be the only CGI that was in the ad.

[retroness-is-fabulous-deactivat]

[musicmoreweirdthangood]

Seems to be a demo video for Apollo Computer to show off the amazing new technology to Generate Imagery with a Computer, telling the story of some circles and sticks on a quest to the City of Rhythmic Pastel Temples to gain a third dimension (although their musicians weren’t quite as talented as their animators and texture mappers)

[randomencounters]

Place: this vaporwave city of bouncing orbs and wiggling hover-temples

[prokopetz]

It’s interesting that you should remark on the uneven quality of the music: this same animation was later set to a completely new soundtrack and included as the fourth segment of volume one of the 1990 Miramar Productions anthology The Mind’s Eye.

Folks who grew up in Canada – or certain American states near the Canadian border – during the 1990s may recognise the re-scored version from YTV’s “Short Circuitz” segment, which drew heavily from the various Mind’s Eye anthologies; that version of the short can be viewed below (skip to 2:22).

(Note that this video appears to be two unrelated computer-animated short films cut together; I’m not sure of the origin of the other one, though I’d love to hear from anyone who knows!)

[artshifter]

In order, here are the two unrelated videos that were mashed together to make Heart of the Machine:

• Treadmill, produced by Geoff Campbell

• Best Idea in the World, produced by Cranston/Csuri Productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvICw-8WaGk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8TYobTi234&t=226s

• Gillette Video Show, produced by Cal Ltd.

• Manage, Produced by Digital Productions

• Entrepreneur, produced by Digital Productions

• Movietime Radio I.D., Produced by Movietime

• Integration, produced by R/Greenberg Associates

• Balance, produced by Digital Productions

• Quest - A Long Ray's Journey Into Light, Produced by Apollo Computer

[personsonable-deactivated201908]

me holding a gun to a mushroom: tell me the name of god you fungal piece of shit

mushroom: can you feel your heart burning? can you feel the struggle within? the fear within me is beyond anything your soul can make. you cannot kill me in a way that matters

me cocking the gun, tears streaming down my face: I’M NOT FUCKING SCARED OF YOU

[miaislying]

Hey OP? What the FUCK does this mean?

[personsonable-deactivated201908]

decay exists as an extant form of life

[miaislying]

That’s a terrifying answer, have a nice day

[notunlikepride]

@shitpostsampler this feels up your alley

[boggletheowl]

I’ve been getting a lot of these lately, and I guess I just want you all to know what I think when I read them.

[ampervadasz]

[glumshoe]

My cat has ice cream prescience.

I don’t know how she does it. I don’t know how she reads my intent so clearly.

When I walk to the kitchen to get a popsicle or thaw a slice of banana bread or warm up some mango slices, she doesn’t care. She stays on her chair and waits patiently.

But when I walk to the kitchen to scoop myself a bowl of ice cream, she’s at my heels SHRIEKING by the time I turn on the light. She knows. She’s not smelling it, she’s not hearing me say ‘ice cream’, she’s not accustomed to some predictable pattern because I rarely eat ice cream.

But she fucking figures out before I even reach the refrigerator. It’s the only human food she asks for, and I have to give her a small tithe of it to keep her from shredding the skin from my legs and popping my eardrums. She’s terrifying.

[cipheramnesia]

Registering the unique “ice cream gait”, try walking without rhythm so the cat will not be able to track your movements.

[glumshoe]

But what if it’s not my Ice Cream Groove… what if I excuse pheromones of Ice Cream Intent?

There have to be ways to thwart her Ice Cream Knowledge. Perhaps I will have to trick myself into believing that I’m actually getting up to thaw leftovers, and then I’ll start exuding Leftover Intent pheromones.

[glumshoe]

I DID IT!

I got up to make myself a cup of tea, thought Tea Thoughts, and then at the last moment I filled my tea cup with ice cream instead of tea.

My cat didn’t even notice. She didn’t smell it, or pester me while I was eating, or come running and yodeling her need when I opened the freezer.

I am free.

[casual-derg]

What happens if you think about ice cream while getting something else?

[glumshoe]

I just tested this. I got up thinking Ice Cream Thoughts, and by the time I got to the kitchen, guess who was at my heels meowing?

[glumshoe]

THIS IS SHE:

[columbojumpscare]

You have a semi omnicient god-tier goblin in your house who can read thoughts and can as such predict the future to some degree of accuracy….

…But it only wants ice cream.

That’s amazing.

[uncle-beanbag]

“Try walking without rhythm so the cat will not be able to track your movements.”

Thsis how you also avoid sandworms in the deep desert.

[k-banning-kellum]

Thawing bread and heating fruit?

[glumshoe]

They’re frozen. I’m adding temperature. Not too much temperature, but enough to make them not solid with lack of temperature.

[artshifter]

Have you considered the possibility that cats who have been around humans for long enough may be able to read and understand human facial expressions? Maybe you get a happy look on your face when you think about ice cream. 

[artshifter]

5-22-19 

So, at some point prior to joining Tumblr, I decided that this was the hill I was willing to die on: the idea that the U.S. Armed Forces have rules and laws and don’t straight up murder prisoners without facing dire consequences. 

I have had fights with people over this. 

“Oh, they didn’t sign the Geneva Conventions—” 

Doesn’t matter. 

“Oh we pulled out of the ICC in 2002—” 

Doesn’t matter. 

This is a matter of U.S. Military Law and the idea that maintaining “good order and discipline” is paramount to having a professional fighting unit instead of a band of pirates. (Speaking of pirates: there is no such thing in the U.S. military as a “take no prisoners mission.”) 

Does not matter who the prisoner is, does not matter if you think the enemy behave like monsters; you don’t murder prisoners. 

And now, here I am, over 6 years later, vagueposting on a blog I haven’t touched in ages, because I have been reading U.S. news and am aware that on or around 27 May 2019, there is a good chance that this idea that I hold paramount is going to effectively perish. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html

https://twitter.com/Martin_Dempsey/statuses/1130809276191035392 

https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/statement-general-charles-krulak-usmc-ret-opposing-reported-memorial-day-pardons 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-and-friends-host-pete-hegseth-privately-lobbied-trump-to-pardon-accused-war-criminals

Most of these cases have not yet gone to trial. 

Added 5-23-19: 

https://smile.amazon.com/Law-Armed-Conflict-International-Humanitarian-dp-1107135605/dp/1107135605/ref=mt_hardcover

https://taskandpurpose.com/think-lt-clint-lorance-murderer 

https://www.lawfareblog.com/war-crimes-pardons-and-attorney-general 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/politics/war-crimes-pardons-trump/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/opinion/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-pentagon-oppose-trump-pardon-murder-warcrimes-20190522-story.html

https://qz.com/1625838/us-veterans-are-disgusted-that-trump-may-pardon-edward-gallagher/

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/trump-attorney-marc-mukasey-war-criminal-pardon-edward-gallagher.html

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article230729914.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-05-23/congress-should-hold-hearings-on-trump-pardons

Added 5-24-19: 

http://time.com/5593657/trump-military-pardons-mistake/

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-pardon-warcrimes-20190523-story.html

https://news.yahoo.com/retired-special-operators-critical-of-trumps-reported-memorial-day-pardons-180144573.html

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/5/24/18637360/trump-war-crimes-pardons-gallagher-golsteyn-fox-news-hegseth

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pardons/trump-says-will-consider-pardons-for-us-soldiers-accused-of-war-crimes-idUSKCN1SU26W

Added 5-25-19: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/24/opinion/trump-war-military-pardons.html 

Added 5-26-19: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/pardoning-convicted-troops-would-tell-the-world-america-no-longer-has-a-disciplined-military/2019/05/24/f289fbf2-7e3a-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html 

https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/DoD%20Law%20of%20War%20Manual%20-%20June%202015%20Updated%20Dec%202016.pdf?ver=2016-12-13-172036-190 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-led-a-platoon-in-iraq-trump-is-wrong-to-pardon-war-criminals/2019/05/09/15b10430-71d5-11e9-9eb4-0828f5389013_story.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trumps-war-crime-pardons-are-an-insult-to-millions-of-service-members/2019/05/20/b0bdb93e-7b1f-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html

Added 5-27-19: 

https://www.icrc.org/en/document/icrc-explainer-what-does-international-law-say-about-pardons-war-crimes 

https://www.lawfareblog.com/when-presidents-intervene-behalf-war-criminals 

https://famous-trials.com/mylaicourts/1623-daniels-ltr 

Added 5-30-19:

https://theconversation.com/trump-and-the-problem-with-pardons-117725 

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a272470.pdf 

...

[artshifter]

(via Horizon Pewter Endoskeleton from SPARKART) 

Lookie what I bought. ^.^

I have been trying to find another one of these pewter figures for nearly a decade. It is highly likely that the reason it took this long is I was only looking at eBay. I found this one Friday evening by accident in a random Google search, and the price was right and the shipping was decent—and the plasma rifle, which is the most fragile part of it, isn’t broken. Also looks like it has the original packaging which is a major plus for me. 

I am so happy. 

[artshifter]

2015: 

2016:

2017: 

2029: 

...

[ifuckinghatevideogames]

[summonermedirby-deactivated2025]

I don’t think people give Flash enough credit.

[kumasenpai]

…………….my goodness

[livid-righteousness-badgers]

He didn’t just rebuild an apartment building.

HE LEARNED HOW TO BUILD AN APARTMENT BUILDING. HE DID RESEARCH. IT TAKES SEVERAL YEARS TO LEARN ALL THE ENGINEERING AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS OF BUILDING A BUILDING AND HE JUST DID IT.

[boxwithlid-blog]

This is one of my favorite flash comics. It really highlights how the flash doesn’t just run really fast, but can do absolutely astounding things. I remember reading this for the first time and having my head explode. 

Flash rules.

[therighthandofdoomcpn]

Flash is actually really freaking awesome.

[diotimamantinike]

to quote Hal Jordan: “the fastest man alive was always late because he stopped to befriend the people he saved” Barry Allen is a sweetheart

[adriofthedead]

He even built a wheelchair ramp :’)

[randomthingsfromarandomguy]

And that is why imo Flash is one of the greatest superheroes

[artshifter]

He also removed the old broken fence and apparently a broken down car and planted grass, trees, bushes, and a swing set.

[dsjckljdfsdkcjksdf-deactivated2]

hey uh did i ever share on here what i stumbled upon concerning a homophobic greek guy from the island of lesbos who tried to take greece’s gay community to court in 2008 all because he was so offended about the lesbos demonym ‘lesbian’ also referring to gay women because i was just reminded of it while talking with my wife and i’m losing my fucking mind all over again

[dsjckljdfsdkcjksdf-deactivated2]

me every day of my fucking life

[artshifter]

"Lesbos", the Island, was the birthplace of Sappho. And if you’ve read what's left of Sappho’s poetry and accounts of her and her lady friends, then... well, you know. 

So, for a while, English used the term "Lesbian" to describe people from the island of Lesbos, and "Sapphist" to describe women who were into other women. 

Somewhere around the late 1800s (the 1870s I think) there were some works (medical stuff, prose, poetry) written by old white dudes who spoke English, and those works used both terms in such a way that “Lesbian” could be conflated with “Sapphist” by an average reader. 

As it turns out, there were a lot of average readers. 

So, by the turn of the 20th century, “Lesbian” had become a synonym for “Sapphist” as far as English was concerned—and eventually “Sapphism” sort of dropped out of the lexicon and we were left with “Lesbianism.” 

It appears that people who live on Lesbos are not pleased about this, especially insofar as the word “Lesbian” as synonym for “Sapphist” was adopted by the rest of Greece at some point. It isn’t that the term is “also referring to gay women”; it’s that the term is, for most of the rest of Europe, “only referring to gay women.” 

Is it homophobia? In the case of the people who brought the lawsuit, almost assuredly, insofar as they described that use of the term as “insulting.” 

But one should at least take a moment to consider that due to the actions of some late 19th century English-speakers (who were probably white straight cis men, who viewed women in love with women as either a curiosity or a medical disorder) the residents of Lesbos don’t know what to call themselves now. 

Like, if I’m from California, I’m a Californian. 

If I’m from Iowa, I’m an Iowan. 

If I’m from New York, I’m a New Yorker. 

If I’m from a given country I’m associated with that country, and if I’m from a given state or city or province I am associated with that state or city or province. 

But if I’m from Lesbos, then I’m a “Person Who Lives On The Island of Lesbos,” (and if I move, I’m a “Person Who Formerly Lived On The Island of Lesbos”) because the word “Lesbian” means “gay woman” in English, and has for over 100 years. 

It probably doesn’t help that the term “Lesbos” was also used as plural of “Lesbo” which was, iirc, used in a casual and derogatory manner by homophobes in the 1990s.