An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Pinned story link for Resident Evil fanfic series (weekly serial, Tuesday release) over on AO3. Basically what would happen if Mary Shelly and Jane Austen rewrote the Resident Evil games. Ashford-focused. Sorry, no giant vampire lady (for now). It’s primarily Wesker x OC.
Currently in the process of posting story to Tumblr, will update links HERE internally every few days as the story progresses. Bolded chapters are currently live and linked on Tumblr. Eventually I’ll organize these a little better for Tumblr, but this is the main reference point for now.
Flowers and Ash - Part one of the main story, spanning from 1968 to 1998. Completed June 2022.
Ashes in the Fall - Part 2, Main game timeline (RE2/3). Completed December 2022. NSFW by about chapter 9.
Chapters: master list link, also available on AO3.
Paper Tigers - Short stories filling in the gaps of the early days of Flowers and Ash. Main arc completed December 2022; Bonus 1981 collab estimated for release March 2023. Paper Tigers stories ARE relevant to the main plot, and contain the early seeds of the main story.
Chapters: master list link, also available on AO3.
November - NFSW one-shot set during chapter 26 of Ashes in the Fall
Downtime & Demons in the Dark - two SFW connected one-shots (one fluff and one angst) set between the events of Ashes in the Fall and Frozen Ashes.
Frozen Ashes - Part 3 of the main story - the Code Veronica arc, where everything comes to a head. Weekly chapters starting March 21, 2023.
Chapters: master list
The Tasting - non-series NSFW one-shot, vampire Wesker x Reader
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Marigold Ashford, my OC and main character, also features heavily in The Antarctica Incident by Q.Alias starting in 5-1.
There’s been a big effort to soft-merge to two storylines between the two of us for an Ashford Cinematic Universe. Between The Antarctica Incident and Frozen Ashes (Marigold’s side of the Code Veronica story), we’ve got something pretty solid.
This is magenta, and not pink. Unlike pink, magenta doesn’t actually exist. Our brain just invents magenta to serve as what it considers a logical bridge between red and violet, which each exist at opposite ends of a linear spectrum.
Your brain is a badly-designed hot mess of bootstrapped chemistry that will tell you that all kinds of shit is happening that has no correlation to physical reality, including time travel. It just makes things up. Your brain is guessing about what’s happening when your eyes saccade, what’s happening in your blind spot, and what the majority of the visible light spectrum looks like, and you don’t know it’s happening because it doesn’t aid your survival to become aware that a lot of what you see is fake.
The human eye only has three types of color sensitive cones, which detect red, blue, and green light. Your brain is making up every other color you perceive.
Let’s have a little fun with that thought. This is the visible spectrum of light.
You will of course note that yellow is on the chart. Yellow has a discreet wavelength, and is therefore a distinct physical color. But we can’t see it.
“Sorry, what the fuck?”
What we call yellow is just what our brain shrugs and spits out when our red and green cones are equally stimulated. We have light receptors that can pick up on the physical spectrum of light we call yellow: that’s why yellow things don’t just look like moving black blocks to us. But your brain has no fucking idea what the color yellow looks like.
Some animals have eyes that can perceive the color yellow! Goldfish have a yellow cone in their eyes. If they could talk, they could tell us what yellow looks like. But we wouldn’t be able to understand it.
What your brain actually sees of the color spectrum:
We can measure the wavelength of light, so we know that when we see ‘yellow,’ we are seeing light in that 550-ish nanometers range. But we don’t have a cone in our eyes that can pick that up. Your brain just has a very consistent guess about what color that wavelength of light could be. We decided to name that guess ‘yellow.’ We can’t imagine what yellow really looks like any more than a dog can imagine the color red.
Here’s the funny thing: your brain is never perceiving just one photon of light at a time. Something like 2*10⁸ photons per second are hitting your retina under normal conditions. Your brain doesn’t individually process all of them. So it averages them out. It grabs a bunch of photons all coming from the same direction, with the same pattern, and goes, “yeah, that cup is blue, fuck it, next.”
That’s how colors blend in our eyes. So sure, if a photon of light with a wavelength of 550 nanometers bounces into our eyes, we see what we call “yellow.” But if we see two photons at the same time, coming from the same object, one of which is 500 nms and the other of which is 600 nms, your brain will average them out and you will still see yellow even though none of the light you just saw was 550 nms.
So how does magenta factor into this?
Well, as we’ve just established, when your brain sees light from two different slices of the visible light spectrum, it will try to just average them together. Green plus red is yellow, fuck it. If it’s more red than green, we’ll call that ‘orange.’ Literally who gives a shit, we’re trying to forage over here. There are bears out here and it’s so scary.
What happens if you take the average of blue and red light, which we perceive to be magenta? What’s the centerpoint of that line?
Fucking green.
Hey, that’s not gonna work? We live on a planet where EVERYTHING IS GREEN. If something is NOT green, that means it’s either food, or a potential source of danger, and either way your brain wants you to know about it.
So your brain goes, WHOOPS. Okay - this is fine. We already made up yellow, orange, cyan, and violet. We’ll just make up another color. Something that looks really, really different from green.
And so it made up magenta.
So, physics-wise, is magenta “real?”
No; there’s no single wavelength of light that corresponds to magenta. But you’re rarely seeing only a single wavelength of light anyway. And even when you are, every color other than RGB is a dart thrown on the wall by your meat computer. This is the CIE Chromaticity Diagram:
Explaining this thing is a little more than I want to take on on a Saturday morning, but I’ve included a link above that goes into it a little more. The point is that only the colors that actually touch the ‘outline’ of the shape actually correspond to a specific wavelength of light. All of the other colors are blends of multiple wavelengths. So magenta isn’t special.
Given that color is just a fun trick your brain is playing on you to help you find food and avoid danger, is magenta real?
Yeah, absolutely. Or at least, it’s just as real as most of what we see. It’s what we see when we mix up blue and red. It would be disastrous from a survival standpoint to perceive that color as green, so we don’t. Because it’s not green. Light that’s green has a wavelength of around 510 nm. Stuff that’s magenta bounces back light that is both ~400 and ~700. Your brain knows the difference. So it fills in the gap for you, with the best guess it has, same as it does with your blind spot.
The perception of color exists within your brain, and your brain says you see magenta. So you see magenta.
It's not r*pe, it's rape. It's not su*cide, it's suicide. Not unalive, dead. The backbone needs to be reintroduced en masse because softening the blow of these concepts with advertising language does absolutely nothing but allow people unaffected by them to feel not even a sting of what they can do, prompting inaction.
And it's been proven that on certain websites, you don't even face a repercussion for using the words as they are. People just started censoring themselves because they feared the potential lack of views and likes and followers which is so nasty itself.
I attended an anti-suicide seminar in college. One of the big takeaways from it was that stigmatizing suicide increases the rate of suicide, because people who are feeling suicidal feel like they can't ask for help. Every time I see babytalk garbage like 'unalive', I think of that.
Next time you go to write a ten year old child, please know that mine just gave me a fairly accurate explanation of fiat versus commodity currencies, in those terms. So for goodness sake, just have them talk like the adults they’re around most.
Also I saw a post yesterday that said that children under ten don’t understand sarcasm, and I assure you, that is not the case.
I talked like an adult when I was 10. So did all of my friends. Writing children believably is not about making them not know stuff, or making them struggle to express themselves. Kids can be very knowledgeable and very expressive, especially if they’re little book weirdos like I was.
To write a believable child, DO NOT make them:
- dumb
- inarticulate
- prone to outbursts
- superlatively innocent
DO make them:
- totally incapable of accurately calculating delayed gratification or the long-term consequences of their actions
- intermittently sociopathic
- sometimes choose to lie in a way that cannot possibly be believed, due to a dearth of life experience making it impossible to determine the likelihood of their own statements
My 10 year old can do her own laundry, cook simple meals, look after pets, carry on a sophisticated conversation, make jokes that will make adults laugh (with her) for days, and do long division, but sometimes wears the same pair of underwear for several days in a row or forgets to wash the conditioner out of her hair.
My favorite thing about kids of all ages but especially pre-adolescents is they will casually observe and absorb whatever older kids and adults are doing and be doing it too within a day.
Also, if your little kid has older siblings/kids they spend time with, they have the advantage of learning stuff sooner than expected. Older kids are who you learn dirty, dangerous, and “grown up” knowledge from. If adults won’t tell you, older kids are only too happy to sound wise.
As a former librarian I'm actually required to remind you that many libraries that subscribe to Libby are opted into a program that lets you subscribe and access magazines for free with no wait
And that this is actually a really fun, low cost way to not only access news and larger cultural magazines, but also to get free patterns for many different crafts that you can screenshot if need be and that lower the financial barriers to entry for trying new things
From my experience working in both academic and public libraries, many libraries are use it or lose it funding-- I have to say this because a lot of patrons feel guilty for how much they use the library and how often they're using it funny enough, but the worst thing you can do for libraries is not try out new features and not use what's already given to you as much as possible.
The numbers that come as a result of your patronage are how most libraries justify their continued existence in times of financial hardship, which sucks but, go check out some magazines on Libby!
Any media form is allowed (art, fic, gifs, music, whatever).
AI-generated content is NOT permitted.
You can participate however much or as little as you want, no pressure to complete every single day.
You can post your work anywhere on the internet, Tumblr, Ao3, etc.
Tag potential triggers and NSFW accordingly.
If you want to be counted as an official participant and have the chance to be featured on the blog, post your content during the month of April. You can still use the prompt list after April ends.
I can’t guarantee that every single work will be featured but I’ll try to reblog as many as I can.
To increase your chances of being featured here, tag your post with the event name and the prompt of the day that you used (For example: #whumpril2026, #whumprilday1, #beg)
You can also @ the blog, @whumpril.
Questions? Check the FAQ to see if your question has already been answered!
Full write-up of the prompts can be found under the cut!
Whumpril 2026 Prompts:
Beg
Bite
Crash
Dazed
Trigger
Carried
Ambush
Collapse
Tremors
Migraine
Sedation
Wheezing
Weak Link
Separated
First Aid Kit
Side Effects
Sneezing Fit
Proof of Life
Ears Ringing
Seeing Stars
Pained Smile
Recovery Setback
“Keep them calm”
Collateral Damage
Running on Fumes
“Don’t look at me”
Prank Gone Wrong
Sobbing Uncontrollably
“I’m not giving up on you”
“Let me protect you this time”
Alternative Prompts:
If there’s a prompt above you don’t feel inspired or comfortable doing, you can switch it out with one of these alternatives!
I cannot believe there's absolutely no way to watch free shows and movies anymore, there are too many paid streaming platforms and pirating websites have viruses and ads preventing you from watching it uninterrupted((.)) id rather follow the rules and purchase media moving forward because it is too inconvenient. Seriously, free and no ads or viruses with 1080p streaming is DEAD.
Exactly! It's freaking annoying when I want to watch movies but I would have to subscribe to like 24 different services . Just to watch the shows that I like.
i like using streaming apps but there are waaaay too many and they're all stealing my data .i wish there was a secure and organized way to have millions of shows and movies available one one app. but alas. we've truly gone full circle back to cable + now it spies on you. its a real shame. i dont want to fill my device storage with tons of boring and stupid cash grabs.
Hey someone suggested I use ChatGPT to figure out adulting today, and as I was going through the mental list of places I'd rather look, I realized "beloved strangers on Tumblr dot net" was on that list.
So if you have an aspect of adulting that you're really good at-taxes, budgeting, cooking, insurance, credit, time management, house upkeep, anything-please feel free to reblog with any tips.
That's us! Professional internet adults, specializing in financial stuff! We recommend starting with our Grand List of All Articles, or one of our Masterposts:
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need To Know About Taxes
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about How to Increase Your Income
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Retirement and How to Retire
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Credit and Credit Cards
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Investing for Beginners
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about How to Pay off Debt
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need To Know About Living Independently for the First Time
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Repairing Our Busted-Ass World
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Self-Care
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Getting a Job, Raise, or Promotion
MASTERPOST: Everything You Need to Know about Saving Money and Being Frugal
Shell out the $50 for the America's Test Kitchen Complete Cookbook. I personally collect cookbooks, but as far as "needing" them goes, you can make the ATK your only one and still spend years without eating the same thing twice. (I do recommend their whole line, though. It's great.)
It's beginner-friendly, contains recipes for everything from biscuits to bibimbap, and (in my opinion) best of all, it doesn't just say "here's how we did the thing," it says "here's why we did the thing this way." My banana bread recipe is from ATK and I've literally had people tell me they hate banana bread but love mine. The secret? Microwaving the bananas. Yes, really. I took their method and applied it to hamantaschen filling and created a little bit of heaven.
It's $50 well-spent, although it's often on sale and cheaper (right now it's $30). And if you're so hard up you can't even get it on sale and have nobody you can ask for a birthday gift, you can often find old editions for a couple of bucks at library sales.
Also: Alton Brown and I are both begging you, do not get the gadgets and gizmos. You do not need them. That sandwich maker will get used once and gather dust. Garlic zooms are adorable but hard to clean. That "all the brownies will have crunchy edges" pan just burns stuff. If you want a waffle iron, get one that converts to a flat griddle. Gizmos are made to part you from your money, not to make your life easier. I own exactly two gizmos: a 1980s French fry cutter I inherited from my mom, and a mini waffle maker I bought before I learned this rule.
And finally:
--to take your French toast from good to "oh my GAWD," add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to your batter.
--any recipe with chocolate, tomatoes, or red meat can be made better with a pinch of espresso powder.
--making bread is much easier than you think, but it is time-consuming.
--any food you buy on "manager special" must be edible by law, but you should eat or freeze it within 24 hours. They're selling it that cheap to try and make a profit.
--kosher meat is more expensive but tastes better and lasts longer.
--don't wash your chicken. It doesn't actually accomplish anything cooking won't, but comes with an added bonus of splashing chicken germs all over your sink and counter and potentially bruising or tearing the meat.
--Greek yogurt isn't usually worth it unless you need it for a no-substitutions recipe.
--to extend your meat and make your sloppy joes more nutritious, dice carrot, onion, and bell pepper and toss them in with your hamburger to cook. You can do up to a third of the mixture by weight and the effect on the taste is minimal, if noticeable at all. (By the way, this hack is Gordon Ramsay-approved. When his son was still a tiny thing Ramsay was struggling to get veggies into him and asked Twitter for suggestions. I provided this as the way I used to sneak veggies into the kids I babysat and he loved it.)
--black beans are a tasty and protein-packed substitute or extender for red meat.
--I strongly suggest learning to forage. I grew up eating mushrooms out of my grandma's yard (GET A MUSHROOMER TO GO WITH YOU IF YOU CHOOSE TO FORAGE MUSHROOMS--there are a ton of deadly lookalikes and guidebooks aren't always helpful), and now I pick my own amaranth right out of my backyard.
--learn what your "cooking staples" are based on what you cook, rather than "every cook should have these" lists. For example, a lot of people will keep spaghetti on hand for a quick meal. I hate spaghetti. You will never find it in my cabinets. But you know what you'll never find my kitchen bereft of? Onions. I will spend my last fifty cents to make sure I have an onion. Last year I ended up with about thirty pounds of onions, stored them in a cool dark cupboard, and it took me four months to use them all by myself BUT I USED THEM ALL. One person. Thirty pounds.
--butter is always on sale at Christmas. Stock up and freeze it. I only pay full price for butter because I have a Winco and their full price often beats Kroger sales.
--the Bitches will also tell you this, but it bears repeating: brand loyalty is almost always overrated. I'm a little bit of a brand snob about some things because I try to purchase kosher as often as possible and a lot of generics aren't kosher, but if there's a kosher generic version I'll get it.
--with that said: do a little research on your brands and always go brand-name with olive oil (I recommend Terra DeLyssa), honey (I recommend finding your local beekeeper, but if you're not near anybody, look up Gray Fox Farms from Washington and support an indigenous land rehabilitator), and maple syrup (Trader Joes store brand is actually real). These foods are commonly faked, which is to say they may have undeclared additives (for example, cutting olive oil with canola oil to bulk it out; adding corn syrup to honey for the same reason) or be a lower grade mislabeled as a higher grade to get a better price (for example, selling regular olive oil as extra-virgin). It's worth paying the extra to get the real versions of these items. If you eat a lot of seafood you should also get it from a local market, not a chain shop--it's common to label poorer-quality fish as high-demand fish to make a buck.
”I have this artistic idea but not the skills to achieve it to the standard I want.”
congrats! Now you have a motif! A recurring theme! A focus for your art! Something to haunt you!
Seventeen still lives of dandelions? Three hundred poems about grief? A sketchbook dedicated to your grandmother’s house? Two books trying to unravel the complexities of familial relationships?
Don’t let the fear of it not being perfect on the first try stop you from being Weird About It!
Please view Hokusai's gradual working towards The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, over a period of 39 years.
An early exploration of the themes Hokusai would keep coming back to is Spring in Enoshima, done in 1793 when he was 33. The wave is small and there are no boats, but Mt Fuji is clear in the background, and Enoshima is in Kanagawa, so we are clearly beginning to work towards something here.
A second pass, eleven years later in 1803 when he was 44. The title of this one begins to get more familiar: The View of Honmoku Off Kanazawa. It has a towering wave over a smaller boat, but Mt Fuji is not present, and the boat is considerably larger and has a sail. But the feeling of danger in the wave and the smallness of the boat are here, and of course the general composition is definitely recognizable.
This is A View Of Express Delivery Boats, done in 1805, merely two years later at age 46. Here we find the wave and the boats almost exactly as we'll find them in The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, though Mt Fuji isn't present, and the location is uncertain. And it's a good picture! The wave is threatening, the boats are small -- but the feeling of "ocean" isn't really there yet, is it? It's unlikely this picture would have become a classic for the ages. But that's okay, there's still time.
And here we have it, a full 26 years later, done by Hokusai in 1831 at the age of 72. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. The boats are there, the mountain is there, the wave is there, and the FEELING is there. He did it! He reached the apex of his ongoing motif and theme!
Or did he? Because the whole point of a motif is not that you're striving to get to the perfect version of it, the one idealized image you carried in your head all along, and when it is done, you are also done. Hokusai is on record at the age of 73 saying he'd only just begun to feel like he was learning how to draw things properly, and that "if I keep up my efforts, I will have even a better understanding when I was 80 and by 90 will have penetrated to the heart of things. At 100, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live decades beyond that, everything I paint — dot and line — will be alive." He had drawn The Great Wave, but he didn't believe he was finished -- he thought that he was still just beginning to get started.
And he wasn't finished with his ocean motif, either. Please check out his Mt Fuji At Sea, done in 1834 at the age of 75.
It's all there; Mt Fuji, the ocean, the wave. The boats are gone, but replaced with birds, flying with the wave instead of fighting against it. It's not as famous as The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, but that's not what motifs are for -- each successive work does not have to surpass the previous in terms of success, especially in terms of external success. They're there for you to keep playing with, keep remixing and re-experiencing, for as long as you think you have something to say.
I also want everybody to know that Google and most of the internet think that all of those paintings bar the last one are called "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa", so I had to do a sort of middling deep dive just to find their actual names. And then I was like "I don't think those translations are very accurate", so I went on a second quest to retranslate them, which was particularly difficult with painting three (A View Of Express Delivery Boats) because for some reason he titled that one entirely in hiragana, and it's all archaic words that were very hard to chase down without their corresponding kanji. Google suggested "the push-off is a transportation route", which wasn't particularly helpful.
All of which is to say that I probably spent a bit too much time on all of that, but it was fun; and at least I know what those paintings are called now.
So you can avoid them stealing things from you, the artist/writer, etc.
Pro GenAI websites/Programs:
Facebook
Instagram
X/Twitter (Remember, Grok gives people cancer)
Threads
Pro Writing Aid
Grammarly
Duolingo
Google Docs
Microsoft Word/all Microsoft products Takes from and will feed their machine.
Youtube (taking advantage of people who are hearing impaired. ==;;)
Adobe Products. All of them. If you HAVE to use them (Some businesses require it), save offline because there is a film of at least some privacy protections there, so if you have to sue, you can say it violates US privacy law. Remember, contracts do not circumvent US law.
Corel won't feed the machines, but still uses AI stolen from other artists. Which sucks since Corel Draw is the second best overall for vector programs. (Plus I love Painter, but I bought the offline version to avoid AI). (Canadian company)
Canva Takes and feeds their machine.
Deviant Art Not only supports AI, but put a tool in and said they are going to steal your work if you like it or not for their machine.
Sketchup went Pro-GenAI. The thing is that you can do the same thing in Blender these days with precise measurements.
Autodesk has stated they are Pro-Gen AI here. It is not clear if they will use your models to feed their machine. But be on guard. They make Maya and 3Dmax. You can replace it with Blender.
Neutral ground:
Tumblr (there is a way to opt out [Link] and they don't have an active AI machine.) https://www.tumblr.com/dookins/743519550598987776/heres-how-to-disable-third-parties-like-ai
Etsy allows GenAI, but still has some (minor) restrictions. I'd still be cautious. (Also be cautious of drop shippers). Complaints about too much AI and AI images+patterns made by Ai still exist on the website. They lean slightly more pro-AI, but still won't let it run completely amok, say like Facebook. They won't feed your work into a machine, but also don't ban it through robots.txt.
Bluesky They don't use an AI algorithm except for in the "Discover" section of their website, but while they are anti-GenAI strongly, they don't seem to block the Gen AI bots from entry, so you'd still have to use Nightshade or Glaze (links below). There is no opt-out because they don't need an opt out. (Leaning towards strong position on AI, but I wish they would block GenAI bots).
Searxng- If you super want to screw over Google, in general, and have some tech savvy, you can set up your own search engine through searxng. It's easier on Windows and Linux than it is on a Mac. (Mac you need Docker), but if you're determined on privacy, Searxng adds a layer of privacy. Some of it sometimes uses bits of AI, but most of it doesn't and you can fuss with the settings so it doesn't spit out AI results. At sheer minimum Google will stop spitting out weird videos on Youtube at you because in your private browsing, you searched for the origin of ball bearings while not logged in for a book and Google likes to break privacy laws.
Strong positions against AI:
Scrivener (Creator vowed against AI) Writing program. There is an active forum, and versions for Mac, Linux and PC. It is paid, but at ~60 USD, it's cheaper than most programs. There is usually a holiday sale around Christmas. It has a learning curve, but with an active forum with the programmer of it there to ask obscure questions it's not a dead zone. They often take suggestions and implement them over time. (Especially if you rank the importance, applications, etc) US company.
LibreOffice Open source and free Spreadsheet and Word processor program that can replace Microsoft Word. Some people might have seen older versions where it was called Neo Office (now extinct) and Open Office. LibreOffice is still populated, plus the forums are super helpful if you get stuck. The UX is pretty intuitive if you've used Microsoft Word. Scrivener, BTW, supports exporting to odt (the native file) as well as .doc, and this can open both. The slight thing is that sometimes it doesn't export to .doc smoothly. And I DO wish more magazines, and agent (big clue here) supported .odt files since it is free. Part of the reason .odt isn't as supported is because Microsoft and Adobe have a deal with the devil with each other, so Adobe's Book formatting program InDesign doesn't support ODT. (BTW, if you have a good open source replacement for InDesign that supports ODT, let me know.)
Dabble (as suggested by SF stories, see reblog) is a writing program. Similar to Scrivener. Has vowed against AI and to resist it. 108 dollars a year for Basic. It is almost twice the price of Scrivener who lets you update for fairly cheap. 29 dollars a month, v. 59 dollars for the whole program (Scrivener) for the same features of Premium. You choose.
yWriter is a free Writing program and like Scrivener, and has vowed against AI Last I looked it had some UX issues, but some people swear by it. The learning curve is higher than Scrivener which is saying something.
Ellipsus is an online writing program and vowed against AI. The main feature I like (which Scrivener doesn't have) is the ability to change spellcheck based on region/language. It is a requested feature of Scrivener, but lower priority. So if you have a Brit, you can get the spelling for the character. They are a British-based company.
Cara.app (The creator of the website sued GenAI there is no chance they'll convert) is an artist website. Cara is trying to institute an auto Glaze/Nightshade into the website if given enough funds. People see it as a soft replacement for deviant art. (which went fully AI) If you believe in human art, please donate if you can. Zhang Jingna, the Creator,is Chinese-Singporean. She lives in Singapore.
Clip Studio Paint added AI, but saw the light and decided to protect artists instead because of protest and removed it. There are tutorials and a good forum if you get super stuck. Based in Japan, so the UI and UX is really clean.
Davinci Resolve Pro is a film editing software that's super good. There is a free version and a paid version. The forums are responsive. The programmers aren't always present. There is a healthy group of tutorials. US company. Clean UX. It does take a little bit of time to remember the shortcuts.
Tahoma2D is anti-AI and open source animation program. Takes a little getting used to, but is good for animations and doesn't crash as often as Animate. Programmers are in the forums and some bugs are fixed within hours. The forums are super responsive and helpful.
Krita open source and free, no AI. I'd rank it secondary to Clip Studio Paint (which is paid) I haven't tried the forums, but it's pretty intuitive and can stand for a lower level replacement for Painter, and do a lot of the basics of Photoshop. It's usually ranked higher than the equally open source Gimp.
Writer P AKA Writer+ (app for when you're on the go) is a simple word processor app for your phone that doesn't use AI. The original programmer stopped updating, so Writer+ person took over and isn't out to make a profit since it's free in the spirit of the original app. It has subfolders you can use. Since it was programmed before GenAI it doesn't have AI. Intuitive, easy to use. Fairly easy to upload the files through three dots->share. The files can save to your card or phone with some settings fussing. Simple word processor.
Inkscape is a free vector program and no AI. It is harder to use than illustrator and has less features. But if you're doing smaller vectors for one-offs with less complexity, it'll do you after some learning curve. Best of the lot. I hate Affinity Designer which is the same thing, only paid. (Neither Affinity program was worth the money paid)
Affinity (Designer, etc) swore to be AI-free and does Vector and Photos. The UX is messy, I dislike the program and regret paying for it. Inkscape and Krita are better UX and do the same thing. The forums aren't as friendly since there has been an onslaught of people seeing it's supposed to be a replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator, but the programmers aren't present. The people on the forums are often on edge about this assertion. And the capabilities of the program don't outshine basically Krita or Inkscape capabilities (both free). What is usually intuitive is not. UK company. If you're going to pay for a program, go for Clip Studio Paint which rivals Corel Painter.
Blender is a 3D art program and does not use GenAI. It can do 2D animation, but Tahoma is easier to use in this regard. It's open source and free. Plus there are plenty of tutorials. The forums can be touch and go sometimes, but there are plenty of sub Blender communities that might be responsive. It can also do animation.
Handmade vowed against AI and promised to never sell itself for stock prices to prevent AI (as a replacement for Etsy.)
Discover a world of creativity and craftsmanship through Handmade, an innovative platform connecting passionate artisans with discerning buy
Proton (to replace Google Suite) as suggested by SF Stories (see reblog) Vowed against AI. They are missing a spreadsheet, but have online and offline capabilities, plus a built-in VPN.
But you need a pro website...
Look up robots.txt and AI bots: https://www.cyberciti.biz/web-developer/block-openai-bard-bing-ai-crawler-bots-using-robots-txt-file/
Use cloudflare:
Use Nightshade:
https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/whatis.html
which will poison the algorithm
Use Glaze:
Take Away:
The thing is you think you doing it alone will do nothing, but the more AI feeds on itself, AI images, the worse they become, and the less detailed so, denying it the images, adding poison or not being able to read the human text is eventually going to lead to an AI collapse.
Analysis shows that indiscriminately training generative artificial intelligence on real and generated content, usually done by scrapi
And why not help that along?
I don't want to give cancer to poor people [Link] or make the planet burn faster [Link]. So GenAI collapse is everything I dream of. GenAI apocalypse is not.
how it feels when your family knows you make art but only cares about it through a capitalistic lens and pressures you to shill their ai chatgpt services on your artist friends while also asking for money because you carry your family financially
"why don't you make merch and shirts and posters and charms and stuff" - my sister
1. i don't view what I make through capitalistic viewpoints and if I did I would hate making art forever + the questionable ethics of mass produced merchandise.
2. people appreciate my authenticity and give me money through community care instead of capitalism itself
