questing-wulfstan

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maybe i’ll try a better portrait next time

#gothic heroine Toshiya my absolute BELOVED #what do you mean OP he's ABSOLUTELY gorgeous here !!!!! #the t e x t u r e here !! #so tenebrous !! #the lil shadow of his earring !! #no no it's delicious !! #dir en grey #toshiya

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I'm not ignoring my WIPs. they're ripening in my mental cellar

#ACCHUALLY #yes #there's two ways to go about writing a fic #either you grab a thread of inspiration and dive head first into the writing maze hoping the thread leads you to an exit eventually #or you let it simmer in your mind and collect inspiration here and there to add to the soup until its ready to be served (written) #and the second option is actually my favorite #although I just might give the first one a try right now ... 👀 #writing

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"I Love You For Your Brain AND Body"

//

"Would You Still Love Me If I Was A Wyrm?"

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i know we are in Economics Hell right now, but who would like to get some Love Bugs tattooed on your person?

#OH I LOVE THIS #really freaking skdjdhdjd #happy Valentine's day y'all 💛

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Hello hi yes I wrote an analysis of The Devil In Me PV but it's a reblog so it won't show up in the tag ; it may be found here if it's of your interest~

#dir en grey #the devil in me #dir en grey the devil in me #the devil in me PV

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MAN WHY DON'T THEY JUST SELL THE PICKS AS MERCH I JUST WANT TO COLLECT TOSHIYA'S FABULOUS DESIGNS LIKE A LITTLE GREMLIN I'M TOO CLUMSY TO EVER HOPE CATCHING ONE FROM HIS OWN HAND MYSELF

#dir en grey #toshiya #I've spent too much time looking for and at pictures of his picks online lately it's not healthy #god forbid a girl be obsessed with a bassist and easily gets cheap stuff designed by him 😔 #if he would stop showing off his picks each time he gets a new one too ;;;;; #I wanted one from the European tour so bad already ;;;;; #but as I said #I'm so clumsy I quickly grieved that hope :')

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If I may add, more details from the PV which are particularly intriguing to me :

The person interrogating the AI is referred to as Observer, not what you would usually find in an actual chat (you if anything, methinks) ; which seem to position them as removed from their request to the machine, yet is also a flagrant synonym of voyeur.

Meanwhile the AI, before impersonating John Wayne Gacy, appears as Mycroft Holmes ; which either (or both) unsubtly equates AI to evil, or shows the Observer has a similar fascination for fictional villains and actual criminals.

Which, and now I am interpretating so feel free to disagree, I don't believe is criticising people's enjoyment of villains but rather the treatment true crime retrospective documentaries make of serial killers as a protagonist, a 'hero' in the litterary sense of the term, meanwhile as you said OP, his victims are treated as mere background characters.

That goes also for other media, like newspapers which, while the serial killer is active and at liberty, will give him a memorable sobriquet and profit from the sensational reporting of his deeds, regardless of the ethics of doing so.

Which brings us to the bias of AI resulting from the bias of the data they are fed, even as the name 'artificial intelligence' poses as purely objective because uncorrupted by emotions. The whole PV has this rose tint, on top of the pink wax the AI-generated images seem to be made of, evoking rose-colored glasses. Rose-colored glasses which the Observer already has on, and which an AI fed exclusively with true crime documentaries would itself wear.

And indeed it focuses on the 'abused by his father' aspect of John Wayne Gacy, painting him almost exclusively as a victim. The AI-generated images are very evocative of fear, and a tortured mind, yet also surprisingly tame in evoking the horror of child abuse. Paired with the real footage that's only, it seems, of a father bonding with his son at the beach. The overall imagery of the PV doesn't nearly repulse and give that nauseating feeling that others with adjacent subjects have before, without AI (I'm thinking of the GazettE's Burial Applicant and Filth in the Beauty personally, but I trust Diru have some of those too to their discography I'm significantly less familiar with). And I think that's on purpose : this needs above all to paint John Wayne Gacy as a victim without in any way evoking the horror that he has himself subjected his victims to. Rather sugarcoat reality until the criminal seems sympathetic, than face the ugly facts.

The last thing I want to talk about here, is the isolation. The AI-generated images overflow with 'people', or least limbs which nonetheless evoke a crowd. In contrast, there is no band shot, no interraction ; the members are filmed individually, each isolated in their own AI-generated box and even facing away from each other in the few shots showing several of them, as if in juxtapositioned boxes.

Likewise, the possibility of 'communicating' with an artificial intelligence biased by a worldview that is bound to become inexorably similar to the Observer's, as such is the functionning of LLM, trumps the effort it takes to connect with other humans, individuals with their own outlook on the world, their own needs and their own wounds. Which in turn may lead to dehumanisation of our peers, the sort that allows serial killers to repeatedly perpetrate their horrific deeds.

AI here only seem to promise isolation, which is entirely antithetical to music (to art in general), Dir en grey's in particular, which aims to connect with people through emotions, and even ones that otherwise isolates us from our peers.

After seeing the whole PV for Dir En Grey's 「The Devil In Me」 I'm not sure what to make of their use of AI in the video. I think the kneejerk is to say "It's AI, so it's shit", but the framing of an unknown person interacting with an AI chatbot to consume John Wayne Gacy content, becoming obsessed, wanting the AI to impersonate Gacy, then asking the computer to generate the inner mind of Gacy is an interesting idea. The AI is not showing us what's in a serial killer's mind, it's showing us what it thinks represents a serial killer's mind based off provided input ("abused by father"? HERE IS A BIG INTRUSIVE MAN'S HEAD). And then text blips like this:

"The deceased" is vague enough that it could be refer to deceased serial killers like Gacy; we cannot know their inner world (not even when he was alive-- that guy was full of shit). It could also refer to how true crime tends to place focus on the murderer while victims are reduced to names and their final outward moments. Entire lives reduced to characters in a serial killer's story. I'm relieved to see the entire PV isn't AI, but its use here seems to go beyond just flashy aesthetic and have some kind of narrative purpose. I'm so curious to know the band's thoughts behind the video, but I know we're not going to get that. I suppose I can demand an AI to impersonate Dir En Grey and give me fake answers, too.

#phew #I might have projected a bit #(a lot) #of my own opinions but #it makes sense ? I think ? #don't hesitate to discuss !! #I would love to hear people's thoughts on this PV !! #I don't want to make an apologia of using AI-generated images for that PV either #but I think what they've done with it is very interesting ? #and gives abundant food for thoughts undeniably #dir en grey #the devil in me #meta

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My cartoon for this weekend’s @guardian books

#SKDHDJDKGA #*focuses only on the hilarious and purposefuly ignore the relatability of this* ahahahaha

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work on the sense of rhythm part 2

#OP THIS IS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL #YOU CAPTURED HIM SO WELL #AAAAAH #GORGEOUS ART OF A GORGEOUS MAN #I LOVE YOUR BRUSHSTROKES #dir en grey #toshiya

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DIR EN GREY - TOUR 22 'FROM DEPRESSION TO ________' Artist Portraits

2022

#OW #OH I'M FUCKING OBSESSED WITH THE POSTER #!!!!! #H A N D S #death by Toshiya naturally #but also #they're all so FUCKING BEAUTIFUL HERE #Mûre discover stuffs years after their release AND WHAT ABOUT IT ?? #dir en grey

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The devastating difference between how much time it takes to write something vs how fast people read it lol

#OH #🥺🥺🥺

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A satirical papyrus showing a lady mouse being served wine by a cat while another cat dresses her hair, a third cares for her baby, and a fourth fans her. The mice have hilarious huge, round ears.

Where: Egyptian Museum Cairo

When: New Kingdom

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last summer I saw a giant moth who had fallen into a water trough, and I gently lifted her out so she could dry her wings and fly away. This was an act of great foresight on my part, since I know that one day, when I am in grave danger and all hope is fading…she will appear, and remember me from long ago, and lift me out of the water trough that I have fallen into. I’m telling you, this moth was huge

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happy lesbian visibility week. for seven days, lesbians take on a corporeal, human form and are able to be observed with the naked eye without causing madness or instant retinal damage. let us enjoy this beautiful natural phenomenon while it lasts

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Listening to Last Heaven a lot these last few days. I wonder whether Ruki thought of Hide specifically while writing it, or that dedication was only posterior and what he allowed himself publicly to explicit it being about grief ... Either way, it's bringing me immense comfort in the wake of Reita's passing. I am so grateful for this band that is capable of consoling me even of the death of one of its members ...

#the gazette #reita #last heaven #I have an inkling I am far from done with mourning Reita #yet for now the aftermath has been surprisingly gentle #I am immersing myself in their music again #reminiscing about all that they have bought me #the inspiration for stories they have been so generous with bathing me again #I certainly don't want to dismiss the loss #and I hope all Sixth Guns can equally find comfort for their pain #but ... I am basking in this wisdom I once saw engraved on a tomb : #that the pain of losing a cherished one must not make one forget the joy to have known them

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Reitaさん、rest in peace.

#;;;;; #beautiful beautiful art OP !! #the colors and shading are so pleasing 💛 #oh man #you will be so missed rocker ;;;;; #the gazette #reita

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I keep reading REITA’s tweet over and over and over again. I’m sure I’m just overthinking things, but the phrasing is similar to the last verse of UNFINISHED.

REITA’s final words were “the GazettEは永遠であってほしいと願う” (“I hope the GazettE lasts until eternity”). He uses 永遠 (eien) for eternity and 願う (negau) for hope/pray/wish.

The last verse of UNFINISHED is “辿り着くまで永遠に / 強く願うよ　君と向かう未来を / それは変わる事のない / 俺の生きる理由が君であるよう” (“Until we reach eternity / My deepest hope Is to keep heading toward the future with you / That will never change / Because you’re my reason for living”). This versus also uses 永遠 (eien) for eternity and 願う (negau) for hope.

I don’t even know what I’m trying to say here. I’m just struggling to understand how he could be gone.

#I like to think I'm already done with the grief #but in truth I'm this far 🤏 from caving in to conspiracy theories #as to how aware he was that he was going to die #which ... isn't good and doesn't make sense :') #Mûre s t o p #anyways it's quite a subtle observation OP !! #sorry for pourring out in your tags <3 #the gazette #reita

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Knot My President

#sldjdhzksjd #judge me if you will but I believe Reita would want me to reblog such a joke immediately after a mourning post for him