This is one of the short films made as part of the Legendy Polskie cycle (”Polish Legends”). Directed and designed by a CGI artist acclaimed worldwide, Tomasz Bagiński, the cycle aims to present Polish folklore in a new manner, and to prove that fantasy films can be done well (or better!) outside of Hollywood.
The goal is to combine modern, world-class filmmaking with… some of the more typical aspects of Polish-ness, not only where legends are concerned.
This installment in the series does not require knowing any particular legend, the English subs are passable (though it’s less funny, some of this stuff is not very translate-able), so it’s pretty accessible to general public.
Also, really cool.
For explanations of some things that may perplex foreigners, see below.
just got into this wonderful webcomic called shaderunners–gorgeous linework, instantly intriguing premise (the world is in grayscale! the mains steal and smuggle color!!), layers of yummy worldbuilding (in a roaring 20s-esque setting), a plethora of unique characters with compelling relationship (including queer romances <3), tons of mystery, and plenty of chapters to read!
so anyway
y’all should read it
JUST READ IT ALL TONIGHT IN ONE GO AND I AM VERY PLEASED
Possibly the most artful handling of a genderfluid character I’ve read yet. Lots of very good visual cues and hot damn Attractive to boot.
So a while ago I made my first Twitter/Mastodon bot, a very simple little bot called TheSingalongBot. It came out of a chance conversation at the XOXO conference with Kate Compton and Gretchen McCullough, and all it does is toot/tweet/twoot the first line of a song. Humans can sing along if they want. (To date, SingalongBot followers have finished the ABC song, A British Tar is a Soaring Soul, When Will My Life Begin, and, heroically, The Saga Begins. They are also about 80% through 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall).
To build up a suitable list of first lines for the bot, I started with a list of billboard top hits from the last 50 years. And then, because I was worried that the top hits might exclude some of the best songs, I asked people to submit the catchiest songs they knew. I got over 1,500 suggestions. Once I removed duplicates (”I threw a wish in the well” was submitted 14 times, followed closely by “Is this the real life?”) and combined with the billboard hits, I had 3,847 songs. The bot is going strong, and meanwhile I have this dataset.
Here’s how well it did at imitating the song lines after it had seen all 3,847 lines just once in training (that is, at the end of Epoch 1).
All I was a light the goont dood and och go dread I want the stars a gind was the stord I can’t a live the sake you hee I want you ging you sand the rook on the shook The sharly goold the bodey
By the end of Epoch 2 it could at least spell a bit better, though it made no actual sense.
I can a got a baby I can day more to make you make you a pan I was a little time it make a love a friend When I don’t got a love I see up a bearsting Well I was a pan and I ever mise You can a baby, down Here you one and you are now
By Epoch 3 it has settled on the strategy of using “baby” in pretty much every song.
I don’t know the baby We’re the baby baby I’m gonna get up and love is to the sea The baby all the trains You see you wanna take the something We’re not on your road I don’t know when I’m gone and thing My baby but this baby love your eyes Looking down the baby for you
Epoch 4: experimenting a bit more with new words, including some that don’t actually exist. Grammar: questionable.
You can see your face I don’t want to be a room You think a beautiful saids There all the true of the horse You don’t never think the street You can dang the be sunshine You love me funny things I don’t never love you You never good the darn tonight You know you want you I was air, the end is the light The time, I was a train There’s a tring at the boom I’m not my bright on the brains the feeling on my heart
Fast-forwarding a bit to Epoch 7, the neural net’s progress is a bit less obvious. At least we can mostly figure out what it is trying to say. Mostly.
I was a little beautiful star I was a funny life with a little sing Hearing about a brain I was so long to be a little baby I got my love, I got a put you in my heart I want you to the thing I got a single and the world so lonely You took my heart and shipportow I can’t get up in love When I was a strangle, day Spinnarduachy nobody man whiskey, die where it come Staps the phone Yo babe, very where you are frow You shazry waiting and I’m girlin’
We arrive now at the end of the training, in Epoch 15 (so chosen because progress had pretty much stopped). The neural net has learned quite a bit, really.
It has learned to do love songs.
I see you standing in the hair I can dance if you want my life Oh no, my name is in the sky Oh, I’m in love with your head in my eyes You look at me like there’s a strungle I see you and I’m home, and I see your face for me I’m so tired of being so hearts Yeah I’m always love you
And dance tunes.
Love, love my eyes rollin’ Ive got to Seem sexy Hello when I came home from ass Oh, baby, do you make her bass? Welp, a-sunshane’ said, doot doot doot dam i gim
And folk songs.
When i get up in the mirror This is the world that you’re a burning here I can’t explain my window Welp, the lack of the sunshine You are my eyes are the boot I see you standin’ on the mind I said it up, the year was 1778
And whatever the heck these are.
The lights in the eventoot, heaven me I had a peanut, ooooonce colod me back at the sing Look down! Couse Rider schoode After all waits that you’re feelinged Fingertippolming Muskrat, pen up forever for me Hush, you’re funny time I was childrentin'
Look out, songwriters! AI is coming for your jobs!
I also collected some songs generated by the most highly-trained algorithm, but at a higher creativity level so they’re really really weird. To get the list (and optionally bonus material every time I post), sign up here.
Frank Kunert, born in Frankfurt in 1963 is a German photographer.
In recent years, Kunert has mainly focused on creating and taking pictures of his “Small Worlds”.
The project “Small Worlds” is far from being mere photographic satire. Instead, Kunert has spent weeks, working with deco boards, plasticine and paint, in order to model his thoughts in 3D. With an exceptional eye for detail, he has constructed faultless models and created scenes that look just like the real thing. Kunert never flicks on his studio lights and reaches for his large-format camera until he feels that his models have reached a state of perfection - until they have become little worlds of their own.Kunert’s “Small Worlds” are equally funny, whimsical, grotesque, and pensive musings, and they are also provocative and critical. It is left up to the viewers to decide if they find the works morbid, or simply funny; if they want to truly see the deeper level of what the stories are telling them, and if they might even dare to elaborate on them.
Dr. Christine Donat
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The party, pointing to an NPC that the DM never intended to be a recurring character: That’s My Child Now
@caffeinatedwriters Now you gotta write them a quest where they get the chance to bring him back!!
The first dungeon-boss that my group was meant to just quickly kill at the end of their very first session, they saved from death. Repeatedly. She’s now a reoccurring character who despite the fact that she is defs evil and showing no signs of redemption (yet) they keep. Saving?? So I guess I’d better write a redemption arc?
I love your players so much. I’m imagining Local Villain turning good mainly out of confusion because why they save me tho????
We’ve adopted our first small villain to the party as a DMPC. During the interrogation he suddenly bursts into tears, says the villaining was his last desperate try to unfuck his life and now we can do whatever we want with him, cause he’s done. He’s out of ideas and his life is still fucked up. The whole party went all “aaaaww there there pat pat poor thing” and now he’s our token pretty boy and an in-game DM’s snarky voice.
We found a 20 ft cube of gelatinous acid in the underdark. He wanted to see sunlight. He was perfect. So he became part of our party. He’s slow so he always follows behind us and every now and again he has a few new skeletons inside of him of the fools that tried to sneak up behind us. He’s my favorite.
I love this. I support you and your sun-loving acid dog
The NPC I fell in love with was this older woman named Nora who was a blood Hunter.
My character latched on to her.
She died in the first session (accidentally)
But it devastated me. I ended up getting a scroll of resurrection and brought her back (without consulting the other party members too heavily)
My DM re-wrote her as an important NPC and she ended up being my characters biological mother and it was an amazing story arc. I could yell about this forever but I don’t want to clog up this post.
