guerrilla ontology

The Bad Thing is not the scraping itself—that's already been happening. That's functionally unpreventable for anything posted publicly to the internet. If other people can view it then a bot can view it. The fact that the bot's eyes work differently can be to some degree weaponised, but the bottom line is that anything you show people can be seen by anything else that's capable of seeing, and replicated by anything capable of remembering it. Computers are v. good at this replication so they can do it more efficiently than if you put up a painting in a gallery and someone came in and painstakingly copied it, but that's it. It's not good but it's also not preventable within the constraints of the problem.

The thing you SHOULD be mad about is any company trying to sell, effectively, a licence for content they do not hold the copyright for. Yes yes it's in the TOS. Standard terms of service for websites that display user-submitted content notoriously overstep the claims they can actually make to your work. The idea of the "we can do whatever we want" clauses—which are ubiquitous—is that you can't then sue them for literally displaying the content, which they do not otherwise have a right to do. You're licencing the work to them as a condition of use. Trying to flip that into effectively sub-licencing content they do not by any possible means own is the part you should be furious about. They're selling shit you own from under you.

I am not the most massive fan of the concept of intellectual property but as the law stands you do fucking own anything you write or draw. Even shitposts. Even messages to your friends. You'd be livid if someone tried to sell your hoard of used envelopes, right? You might not have valued them especially highly but they're yours to use or discard as you please, and they're definitely not, say, your landlord's?

"Oh, no the CEO of my employer is having an emergency and I need to click this link right now!!!"

Slow down...

Bubbles 🫧

Twenty-Three Cozy Plans

baking cookies

drinking hot chocolate

reading a good book

wearing warm pyjamas

doing a jigsaw puzzle

hanging up fairy lights

drawing paintings

visiting the Christmas market

knitting a warm sweater

listening to podcasts

lounging by the fireplace

going ice-skating

drinking mulled wine

watching romantic movies

lighting scented candles

doing arts and crafts

taking a long nap

choosing a Christmas tree

decorating for the season

playing board games

listening to cozy playlists

bundling up and taking a walk

watching the snow fall

If I’m doing this exercise, I want 7-10 questions to get the character feeling real in my head. So I thought I’d share the ones that get me (and my students) good results: 

What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)

What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)

What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)

Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory) 

What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.) 

Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)

Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)

Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)

What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.) 

Many of you sent me that spectacular AI art of "Jodorowsky's TRON." I felt inspired to take a stab at the concept with some other properties. Step into a dark portrait of the human psyche in...