What should I do? Your opinions please.

[redjak6t4]

Hello.

It's been a month since I've contributed anything in the way of QS manipulations or AI creations. The first week of my absence was simply down to a vacation and the second to an extra-busy time at home. But when more time became available I began to do two things. The first was to resume using AI to make QS images and the second was to wonder what happened to StephyMink.

She was my most vocal and enthusiastic supporters and so I noted that she was no longer posting. Sadly, it seems that she's left this forum and closed down her account. I will miss her.

Another member who often commented on and appreciated my work is MadMax359. But by shifting over to the Grok AI system I've generated something of a problem for Max. He likes to see big-busted ladies in the mud and if their "assets" are on on show, he likes it even better. The catch with my use of Grok is that it's programmed to filter out ALL images where nipples, areolae and naked breasts are displayed. It will even filter out overt displays of cleavage.

What this means is that now I can't really create the kind of busty-damsel-in-quicksand images that Max would like to see. Or rather... I can. But only after running Grok through dozens or even hundreds of iterations, hoping to sneak just one buxom damsel past it's wall of programming. It's very, very labour intensive and takes a long time to squeeze even one suitable image past Grok's censorship.

Yes, I suppose I could try a different AI system. But I'm currently very happy with Grok in almost all other respects and it gives me good results almost all the time. During my absence I've used it to create a backlog of 30 images.


Now, here is where I would like to ask the other members of QSF about what I should do.

With StephyMink gone and my ability to please MadMax all but stymied by Grok, will anyone make any comments or voice their appreciation of what I post? I know that some members MUST appreciate what I do because the numbers of viewings of my posts say so. The numbers don't lie.

I suppose I could just carry on posting, without ever getting any feedback from anyone, but if you were in my position would you do that?

If you had regularly contributed to this forum for years, would you carry on posting?

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions about this matter. I value them.


Thank you,


Redjak.

[MadMax359]

from my POV, i'd like to see a mix--- keep up your Ai work for those who like the results!
but mix these in with images made with your non-AI programs, like you did before

AI can be wonderful... but i don't think we should let it censor our range of choices

would that be an option?

[GTaggert]

Hey Redjak!

I have also become a contributor. In my case, it's in the Stories area instead of the AI images and such (I write the For Your Pleasure series of stories) but I have found myself in a similar situation. I greatly enjoy your creations and would love to continue seeing them. I don't have a particular preference for any one type of your image creations; I think they're all great. The fact that Grok censors your creations tells me that a different AI platform should be used instead, or something non-AI. I'm not any more sure of which direction to go than you, but things are developing so quickly in the AI world, we should all have answers much sooner than later.

I am currently in communication with a former professor of mine who is acting on my behalf to get me connected to a TV producer to bring my stories to life on the small screen (most likely Netflix if it happens at all - stay tuned). My stories get a lot of views on the individual posts, but relatively few downloads. So, my problem is not censorship but format. I suspect many people in this forum do so on their phones which is why they don't download the PDFs. I intend, however, to keep cranking them out anyway, perhaps re-releasing them as text only so that more people can read them.

So, my suggestion for you is to do a combination of switching to a different AI platform and/or using some non-AI tools to keep cranking out your images the way I will keep on cranking out stories.

[redjak6t4]

Thanks for your input Max.


Yes, what you suggest IS an option. But there are pluses and minuses to it.

The plus with using AI is that it effortlessly deals with such things as perspective, lighting and shadows, foreshortening and a dozen other things that help make an image believable. If I went exclusively back to my old photoshopping ways then I'd have to do these things myself. Doing that would mean a very great increase in the amount of time I'd have to put in to create just one image.

If you recall, in my pre-AI days it might take me a week or so to create just three images - which I'd then post here. But, with Grok I've created dozens and dozens in the past month and then whittled that total down to 30, which are pending posting. So the minus here is the time factor involved with going back to photoshop. I'd post much fewer images and much less often.

Sadly, the censorship that accompanies AI DOES limit our range of choices. It prevents me from doing what I'd like and it also prevents you from seeing what I'd like to create. It's a bitter pill Max, but we may have to swallow it.

One workaround that I could try is to use Grok to generate suitable backgrounds and then use photoshop to 'slot' the damsel into that background. These would then be a kind of hybrid, mixing AI and photoshop. And it would take more time than just using Grok. But I could try it.

Your thoughts?


Redjak.

[MadMax359]

i'm certinly not ying go bck excluively to the old method

but once in while, for old time ke?

if you can use Grok for easy generation of backgrounds, then photoshop uncensored damsel into the scene, that sounds promising to me!

[MadMax359]

i'm certinly not ying go bck excluively to the old method

but once in while, for old time ke?

ooops, some sticky keys!

i'm certainly not saying go back exclusively to the old method

but once in while, for old times sake?

[redjak6t4]

i'm certinly not ying go bck excluively to the old method

but once in while, for old time ke?

ooops, some sticky keys!

i'm certainly not saying go back exclusively to the old method

but once in while, for old times sake?

That sounds doable Max.

The stuff that Grok won't touch I'll process through photoshop and post to Manipulations, even though they'll be a kind of hybris mix of AI and non-Ai.

The stuff that it will accept will go into AI Creations.

I'll resume posting later today, starting with backlog of purely AI images that I've created recently.


Thanks again for discussing this with me.


Redjak.

[redjak6t4]

This message goes out, not to MadMax359, but to all those other members who look at and download my work.


When I go to my threads and hold my cursor over my past postings this reveals how many times a given image has been viewed. So, from this I know that you DO take an interest in my work. I'm very glad that it's of interest to you. We seem to share common interests.

With that in my mind, it would be very nice for me, as the creator of these works, to receive a little more than the automated count of how many times my images have been viewed. I'm not a robot or an AI system, I'm a person. And this person would like to interact with other like-minded people in this forum. People like you.

This interaction doesn't have to be out in the public gaze, for all to see. A Private Messaging system exists in QSF so that members can communicate with each other privately. Right now you know who I am in this forum but I don't know who you are. And I would like to.

So, as a very long-standing member of the online quicksand community and a long-standing contributor to this forum, I give you my solemn word that, if you message me privately, I will keep our dialogue strictly confidential. No other member will ever know anything about it. You have my word.

Therefore, rather than leaving me guessing and wondering who you are, please get in touch.


Thank you,


Redjak.

[Viridian]

Unfortunately, this is a systemic problem that all creators face of any medium.

It's the hallmark of a dying community. Very few threads see engagement of any kind. The only daily activity is basically cerberus posting 10 images a day and MadMax359 making a comment about at least one of them.

This pattern is the same across the entire forum. Ever since the heyday of the video producers, there hardly seems to be anyone left.

In my case, you'd think that finally being able to make the perfect dream fantasy QS scenes using AI would be the breakthrough that everyone wanted, but it's come too late and there isn't enough of a community here to raise that. That's without mentioning the issue that splits the art community between AI and anti-AI, and even the AI proponents aren't necessarily supportive of each other, and everyone mostly works in their own bubble.

For what it's worth, I don't comment on your threads because I'm not interested in the style of outputs you create. It's not they're bad; I just don't find them interesting. I'm not a fan of oversized boobs. Furthermore, the outputs - like with most AI creations - all look the same to me, and are all pieces that I can re-create infinitely with little effort. Unfortunately that's the territory of an AI creator - we're not unique.

It's not all doom and gloom. People are attracted to activity. You can help that by being the change that you want to see. If you want other AI artists to engage with your threads, start up the conversation in their threads and get the talk happening. There's so little of it that those of us who mess around with it are probably more than happy to talk about it.

As for the question of what I would do if I were in your position (and I am): I'm used to getting zero feedback, so I make whatever the hell I want. I don't serve the community. I assume that people either like my content, or they don't. I make stuff when I feel like but I'm not beholden to make things based on feedback and demand.

Besides, the feedback and demand is usually inane. The average comment on DeviantArt is dumb shit like "I WISH THEY WERE BAREFOOT!" or "CAN YOU MAKE AN EROTIC VIDEO?" or "I HAVE A UNIQUE IDEA! WHAT ABOUT BUSTY BIKINI LESBIAN BABES?"

[redjak6t4]

Many thanks for your thoughtful reply, Viridian.

Unfortunately, this is a systemic problem that all creators face of any medium.

It's the hallmark of a dying community. Very few threads see engagement of any kind. The only daily activity is basically cerberus posting 10 images a day and MadMax359 making a comment about at least one of them.

This pattern is the same across the entire forum. Ever since the heyday of the video producers, there hardly seems to be anyone left.


Hmmm... I must confess myself puzzled by this.

So this community was thriving in the years before AI became widely available and now, because anyone can use it to create the QS images they want, it's dying? If that's so, then shouldn't that be reflected in the numbers of views of the AI Creations that members post here? I haven't checked over time to see if these numbers are going down. All I know is that someone views my stuff and the numbers run into the hundreds.


In my case, you'd think that finally being able to make the perfect dream fantasy QS scenes using AI would be the breakthrough that everyone wanted, but it's come too late and there isn't enough of a community here to raise that. That's without mentioning the issue that splits the art community between AI and anti-AI, and even the AI proponents aren't necessarily supportive of each other, and everyone mostly works in their own bubble.


Yes. That was my thinking too. Years ago, when I was limited to Photoshop, what I created fell short of what I actually wanted to see. It was ok, but no more than that. Now with AI I can realize a lot of the things that were out of reach in the past.


For what it's worth, I don't comment on your threads because I'm not interested in the style of outputs you create. It's not they're bad; I just don't find them interesting. I'm not a fan of oversized boobs. Furthermore, the outputs - like with most AI creations - all look the same to me, and are all pieces that I can re-create infinitely with little effort. Unfortunately that's the territory of an AI creator - we're not unique.


Same here Viridian. I don't comment on your stuff for the same reasons you don't comment on mine. Each to their own. We respect and tolerate each other's personal tastes.


It's not all doom and gloom. People are attracted to activity. You can help that by being the change that you want to see. If you want other AI artists to engage with your threads, start up the conversation in their threads and get the talk happening. There's so little of it that those of us who mess around with it are probably more than happy to talk about it.


Ah, now here's where we diverge a bit. I'm not really interested in opening up conversations with other AI artists. My priorities are sex first, then art. Privately I've had satisfying conversations with submissive straight men, who like to place themselves in the roles of Redjak's victims. With submissive gay men who do the same thing. And with straight, submissive woman who want to be his victims too.

Call me naïve, but is it hopelessly optimistic of me to wonder if the silent hundreds who view and download my stuff would also like to actually talk privately with me about these quicksand-based fantasies?


As for the question of what I would do if I were in your position (and I am): I'm used to getting zero feedback, so I make whatever the hell I want. I don't serve the community. I assume that people either like my content, or they don't. I make stuff when I feel like but I'm not beholden to make things based on feedback and demand.


A healthy approach Viridian. Perhaps I should just shrug my shoulders and adopt it.


Besides, the feedback and demand is usually inane. The average comment on DeviantArt is dumb shit like "I WISH THEY WERE BAREFOOT!" or "CAN YOU MAKE AN EROTIC VIDEO?" or "I HAVE A UNIQUE IDEA! WHAT ABOUT BUSTY BIKINI LESBIAN BABES?"

Yeah, I know the territory. I go on DA most days and see exactly what you're talking about.

But thanks again for responding like this. I really appreciate it.


All the best,


Redjak.