Writer Stuff - Blog Posts

Day 35 (1:05) of rewriting my novel

Today was a "bridge the gaps" day.

Yesterday, I wrote about Vimir. The day before that, I wrote about Taguchif. In order to bridge those scenes with what I already had, I wrote for, like, 4 hours and about 2,100 words piecing it all together. Now, Part Three is like 12,000 words, and I'm probably just over 1/3 of the way there? I'm staring down the barrel of probably 40,000 words necessary for Part Three.

To be clear, in no way is Meiste meant to be consumed in four parts. Later, I plan to block off chunks as chapters. But not until after I've gotten all four parts to places where they can reasonably be split off into chapters.

Part of what I mean by that is this: Part One was really rushed, comparatively. My "alpha" reader pointed out that the pacing is really rushed in Part One, and that's been on my mind this whole time, but that was really so I could work up the motivation to get through Part Two.

Part One is even, comparatively, short compared to parts Two and Three: it stands at just 12,000 words. And mostly as an introduction to the other three parts. That was a critical flaw in choosing what has become, essentially, in media res to start a fantasy novel.

I plan on adding a scene at the end, once this is all said and done, where Izi, Vimir, and his boss are all at church. With that I can do several big things:

Lay out Zenestian religion. While the Constitution of Zeneste is inherently a religious document, Zenestian government has strayed so far from its original intents to suck power from its citizens that the religion has almost become a sort-of government worship. This was one of the big reasons my "alpha" reader was confused in the first chapter by everyone just accepting that "the Constitution said Izi is Emperor, so Izi is Emperor." It's a level of Orwellian brainwashing that is crazy deep.

Lay out what Izi's world even looks like. At this point in the story, he's just an eighteen-year-old worker in a rice farm taking a single evening of rest to go and worship with his community, including his best friend and most loyal ally.

Set up the windows scene in Part One. In Part One, Izi's astounded by the lack of designs in the Old Chapel of Zeneste, and when he finds the old windows in the attic, he hires somebody to come and replace the windows for him. Since the reader doesn't have context for this, it might make Lozerief's outburst even more confusing.

Foreshadow his mom being the Hero of Life. Like, the Hero of Life appears everywhere, and I don't wanna give away Izi's mom being the Hero of Life too early, but I can afford to drop more hints.

This, alone, would add probably 2,000-3,000 words.

In addition, she recommended changing the pacing so Izi has more like a month in the palace (instead of the 3 days that I wrote in originally.) I definitely could use this to illustrate what the Zenestian government is like: a bunch of corrupt politicians figuring out how they can get more power (Lozerief is an exception).

This has mostly become me ranting about novel plotting, and what I have to do later, but feel free to let me know your thoughts! I'm always open to hear other peoples' opinions (except when they necessitate the disenfranchisement of others.)

Day 32 (1:02 in extended-base 30-7) of re-writing my novel

Yeah ok today I couldn't help myself and I cut to the chase: introducing Taguchif, the Hero of Doom, and easily the character who would beat all the others in a full-blown battle.

(Also, I never answer it anywhere, but Zenestian surnames are always first: In, Ihine, and Eheste are the most common surnames I write about.)

In Taguchif

19 year old Taguchif (nick. Tagif) is the Princess of Atepsi and the Sixth Hero, and therefore the last one needed to save Meiste. Due to other circumstances, her Realization isn't what sets Meiste's return to normalcy in motion. That will come later. She's Izi's sister, tech god, and explosive (in a literal sense).

She's about 5' 10", and goes around wearing her metal chestplate with gauntlets, wearing gray sweat pants and sneakers. Her midriff is usually exposed, as well as her arms up to her elbow. Her skin is darker than Izi's (whose is already pretty dark), and she has green eyes with long, wavy hair.

Backstory

Taguchif and Iziser were separated once Izi was born, and Taguchif was raised with her mother in Atepsi city as an only child. She was never aware her mother, Ihine Dolgof, was the Hero of Life.

As a child, she gained a knack for working with technology, and she came up with her best invention, termed the 'technoplate.' It's a chestplate and gauntlets designed initially to harness magic, but later designed to suppress it.

Speaking of suppressing magic, Doom can be a volatile magic, and Taguchif's Realization is no different. When she turned fifteen, she started seeing signs, but it got progressively worse until her final Realization when she's with Izi and Hota.

In addition to being Hero of Doom, though, she's also the Princess of Atepsi, and a very influential figurehead, though powerless under the Atepsi Constitution.

Abilities

Fire is one of the key symbols of Doom. She breathes fire out of her mouth and her eyes glow orange.

But also there's poison skin, so don't touch her unless she says it's okay.

She can also shapeshift, but it takes a lot of energy, especially to get a lot larger.

Those are the main three for now.

Quotes

"Too late...you're cooked."

"Huh...nice."

"Oh! You want to hear about the holograms!" Yaps for 30 mins uninterrupted.

Day 29 (41 in base 7) of re-writing my novel

Yeah today everyone remembers that, all the way back in Part One, Lozerief offhandedly said that Izi could render the Constitution of Zeneste completely void if he said so. I find this very amusing for several reasons.

The President is (effectively) the Emperor after she removes Iziser as Emperor.

If Iziser renders the Constitution void, the President and the two houses can write a new constitution which doesn't include the Emperor as a role, or any connection to the Hero of Life.

Furthermore, they can write the role of Vice President out entirely and hold special "elections" (mass voter fraud/suppression) and oust Lozerief, the only sane politician left, while she's isolated from the other two (three) Heroes.

This is a rather Orwellian (see 1984) take on how this will turn out, but President Sluwfa has to then convince the masses that a) this is what the Hero of Life would've wanted, and b) In Iziser, the rice farmer who became Emperor, was actually an enemy of the state the whole time. As a result, policing in Ir Nouzonif (both the city and the state) increases drastically, but (as you may already know from my previous posts,) many remain sympathetic to In Iziser, anyways.

Day 28 (40 in base 7) of re-writing my novel ft. The Great Coalition

Four weeks officially! This is so exciting!

Part Three is coming along greatly and I'm still so excited for its completion. As a follow-up to my post earlier today, let's talk about the Great Coalition.

The Great Coalition

The only change to the flag was the black background on the right being added as symbolism for the Hero of Earth.

With the sole goal of recapturing Ir Nouzonif, Zenée, Tolftorrijv, Atepsi, Ytos, and Itaush all form the Great Coalition.

The Recapture of Ir Nouzonif

The White Army and Atepsi stage their armies at the Odapir border. Rebel groups in Pisteeks stage the Tolftijv army, and in Sedrosteks the Zenée army will set up on the border with Ir Nouzonif.

The Hero of Earth revealed that the President stole her technology to put an anti-magic barrier around Ir Nouzonif, so nobody will have their Gift once inside the city limits.

Ytos, Itaush, and the Atepsi navy are sent to guard the Eastern Sea and ensure that the President doesn't escape that way. Everyone knows her goal is to escape with the magic and the Heros of Life and Language's bodies. None of the four remaining Heroes can let that happen.

Day 26 (35 in base 7) of re-writing my novel

I finished Part Two today! I will celebrate tomorrow (somehow). It is ~21,000 words.

The very end of Part Two explores what it is like to exist as a body without magic. Check out the following excerpt. Keep in mind, there are a TON of spoilers right here.

I blinked again, and Dolgof was on the ground.

I staggered back, clawing for Hota's arm, pulling them back as well as I stared at the Hero of Life's limp body, laying up against the lemon tree. Behind her stood the Hero of Earth. She gripped a syringe with white knuckles.

"What did you do," I shouted, "you killed her!"

Fangs bared, she kicked the Hero of Life. "Go on, tell him your dirty lie," she growled.

"Come," Dolgof whispered. "She won't hurt you."

Against my better judgment, I knelt down beside her. Her breathing slowed. Her hand laid over her stomach. Her cheeks drooped with fatigue. She was barely alive now, and she wouldn't be for much longer.

"I hid so much from you," she continued. "I hid myself from you for eighteen years. Only now-" she coughed "-only now do I tell you that, In Iziser."

She struggled for a breath. I lifted her head up. "What, what," I cried. My body shook, tears forming behind my eyes. "What is it?"

"You're my son."

No.

"I'm  your mother, Izi."

I gasped and staggered back, hands covering my mouth until I fell hard on the ground. Hota picked me up. Still wielding her syringe, I begged the Hero of Earth, "what did you do to her?""I took her magic," she snarled. "I took the Hero of Language's, too. I'm going to combine them all, myself, and save Meiste. That's the easiest-no, only-way."

A body without magic is, too, aimless and stumbling through existence. An existence without the magic that fundamentally makes people people in Meiste is a painful one. Dolgof, once the Hero of Life, will remain a vegetable until the end of the novel, once they're able to reunite her and her magic.

Day 24 (33 in base 7) of re-writing my novel

Since google docs (my primary writing tool, accompanied by my note-taking journal) doesn't quite accurately describe my true word count, today I will celebrate 30,000 words like I promised yesterday, because it's close enough to be within a 5% error.

I wrote more today, including getting deep in the weeds with the relationship between Izi, Hero of Cognition, and Dolgof, the Hero of Life. Without sharing very many spoilers, they're in very similar situations. Or, have been.

Izi, the current Emperor of Zeneste, has never been in a position of power before, nor has he been a proper leader. Dolgof had been in his position during the drafting of the Constitution of Zeneste, but she never became a good leader.

I like this dynamic between them. Not only does Izi have someone to discuss what being a leader means with, he also has someone to juxtapose himself against, however unhealthy that may be.

Day 23 (32 in base 7) of Rewriting my Novel

I was on a plane again today, so I wrote a bunch. If I didn't crack 30,000 today, I'll crack 30,000 tomorrow. Yay!

I finally got around to writing an introduction for this blog, which was long overdue. I'm definitely not only shouting off into the void of binary while I continue to write.

Neither Odapir nor Ipol are to a point where I would feel comfortable publishing a dictionary, but they're to a point where I can translate as I need to and derive words on the fly. If I ever get to a point where I have 1,500-2,000 words, I'll publish a dictionary, then. Probably online.

A Proper Introduction

It only now occurs to me that I haven't properly introduced myself (or this blog!) Welcome. I'm happy to have y'all. I'm Lex (they/them) (18+), your local siren, programmer, writer, worldbuilder, conlanger, composer, and gardener. I speak with a bit of a Southern accent.

This is my main (and only, for now) blog, where I mostly post about my writing endeavors and worldbuilding "woes" (I make myself suffer for fun.) In the future, I may make blogs devoted to specific conlangs or concultures, but I will probably make a website for that, first. If that happens, I will post it here. I follow other blogs I like ad nauseam.

Additionally, I'm always taking translation suggestions for any of my conlangs in any of my WIPs. At the moment, I only have two WIPs, which I'll list below, but I'm really only working on one right now.

My WIPs are:

It Will Hurt: And There Will be no Fire - (On hold) A story about a vegan big-V Vampire, her sister, her cofee bar, and a lot of people who want her power for themselves.

Meiste - (Current) A story about several Heroes running around and trying to restore "magical balance" while also navigating political and economic strife.

Moreover, current conlangs I'm accepting translation ideas for:

Ipol (and Sinezo 'speer)

Odapir

Atepsi

Kwalinu and Kwaleynnũ

Ytos and Itaush

Katla-Khi

Bumpe Nende

Knál Bnú and Kanál Banáu

I'm normally down for connecting with writing buddies, so if you're interested, feel free to DM me! I am also willing to proofread/edit others' works, in addition to helping however I can. I can make websites, make languages, and make music lol.

I promise I wrote today, so there will also be an update following this. Take care, y'all.

Day 22 (31 in base 7) of rewriting my novel

Today I wrote some more and did some more plotting.

While we're on the topic of plotting, let's talk about the newest character (referenced yesterday) whose name is Mostijv in Ipol and Heja'umak (/hɛ.jə.u.mək/) in Odapir.

Her character has suddenly become very important for the fate of Odapir. She, along with local, lesbian, giant lava monster, Tev, are introduced by Dolgof. They both decide to team up to overthrow the tyrannical, Odapirian dictatorship, but it becomes a hard-fought, very long battle. One that extends past the novel's canon. (I.e. the "White Army" of Tev and Mostijv and the "Purple Army" of the Odapirian dictatorship are still fighting when the novel ends.)

Mostijv and Izi butt heads a lot, but they're fundamentally allies through mutual respect. Hota, since they're constantly trying to keep the peace, gets along fine with Mostijv.

Mostijv's magic is Doom, specifically some basic fire-making.

As Promised

I filled out one of these character sheets I found for In Iziser, Hero of Cognition and Emperor of Zeneste, as a writing warm-up.

General Info

Name: In Iziser

Nicknames:

• Most prominent: Nuwrrite Emeete, "Hero of Cognition," Nuwrrite sis Nistemiks pijn.

Called Izi by all his friends.

Pronouns: he/him

Age: 18

Gender: Cis Man

Sexuality: Pan

Species: Human

Place Of Birth: Outside of Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste

Current Home: Ir Nouzonif, Zeneste

Big spoilers ahead of here, be warned!

Appearance

Izi has short, brown hair and brown skin and a flat-ish nose. His eyes are green, and he stands at around 5' 6" (167 cm). He doesn't appear particularly fit or trim, but the mass on his bones is definitely muscle from tilling and harvesting rice fields.

Normally, he'll be seen wearing jeans and long-sleeves, even in >100 F (37 C) heat-indexes, since Ir Nouzonif is a very humid place. He's no stickler for colors matching, and often his clothes are permanently stained with dirt.

Personality

Though mostly cheery, he can becomes aggravated easier than normal. Moreover, he can be overzealous and overconfident. He's very openly trusting, although he keeps his early history close to his chest. He's not altogether too proud, though he hates to receive charity, even when he's down on his luck. He looks up to his father, and remembers his words a lot.

Likes:

• Rice bowls. They're his favorite food because they're a) easy to make, b) versatile, and c) filling with the right ingredients. He mostly just adds a couple of fried eggs to his rice bowls.

• Spending time with Hotautebz, the Hero of Mind. Since there's no point in holding back from Hota, Izi feels most like himself when he's with them. Hota's not too judgemental, thankfully.

• His local general store. It's the place where he does most of his shopping, since he knows the price is relatively cheap for the quality of clothing and other daily goods.

Dislikes:

• His authority being questioned. Though he's very insecure about being a leader (in more ways than one), he wouldn't give up the title for his life. He often finds ways to reassert his own authority in that way.

• Lounging around. Izi is restless and likes to me moving about. He likes to rest when he's tired, but he doesn't stay stagnant for too long.

• Burned rice. He believes rice is one of the easiest things to cook, and one of the hardest things to mess up, since it's so versatile.

Known Abilities

Cognition Magic

Cognition magic is the magic of the Irrealis-that which is not real, or cannot be known. Quantum physics lends itself really well to this, as well as knowledge of magic, itself. At a base level, Izi can teleport, become "ghost-like," and sense another person's magic.

Besides that, his skill with the scythe and sickle have been honed for the years since he worked in the rice fields.

Relationships

Family:

• (Mother) Ihine Dolgof, Hero of Life. (Not present during his upbringing.) (See! I told you there would be big spoilers.)

(Father) Äs Xajas. Raised Izi alone. Deceased

(Sister) In Taguchif, Hero of Redacted. Raised by her mother (Ihine Dolgof) in Atepsi to become the Princess of Atepsi.

Friends/Allies:

• Vimir, roommate and best friend. Worked in the rice fields together. Complete airhead.

Eheste Lozerief, Hero of Earth. Simultaneously an ally and enemy.

Hotautebz Az, Hero of Mind. Izi and Hota fit together like the first two tunes in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea Songs.

Enemies:

President Sluwfa of Zeneste. The big bad.

Eheste Lozerief. Marginally less bad.

In Taguchif. Even less bad.

Backstory

Izi was born the second of two to the Hero of Life and Xajas. Deciding she couldn't raise two children, Ihine Dolgof forced Xajas to divorce and split their children, since Taguchif was just two, and Izi had just been born. As a result, Izi was raised alone.

He went through elementary school in the rural area outside of Ir Nouzonif until his father died in the hospital with stage four lung cancer. After that, the lawyers who were supposed to transcribe his inheritance and set up a fund, based on his father's will, stole it all for themselves, leaving the, now twelve years old, Iziser to find work for himself.

Fun Facts

• Izi's accent of Ipol has the voiceless uvular fricative, [χ], as the realization of the voiced uvular trill, [ʀ] phonemically /ʀ/. Additionally, his /s/ is realized as [h] in most contexts. In summary, he speaks like a farmer.

• Izi has a big fat crush on Hota for most of the novel. That's really all there is to say on the matter.

• Izi never quite realizes why the lemon tree is so significant for Dolgof and Lozerief.

Day 21 (30 in base 7) of re-writing my novel.

Wow, three weeks and ~27,000 words. Time flies.

Today I added double my normal word count to Part Two. I finally started writing the Hero of Life into this nonsense.

I will also provide an Odapir translation for today, used in canon:

Omoi odáo o tavishy ko. Wá áso asiren omoi táotsoi ko. Ymaktaviji tá taviji umak.

The translation is "Arriving in Tavishy. Take care when exiting the train. Ymaktaviji is the next stop."

Day 17 (23 in base 7) of writing my novel again

Today I will drop some Modern Odapir translations because they're actually kinda ridiculous and I'm really proud of what I was able to accomplish with this damn language.

Phonology

Stops: p, b, t, d, k, g

Nasal stops: m, n

Fricatives: (f) (v) (s) h

Approximants: w, j

Tap: r

Vowels: i, y, e, a [ə], á [a], o, u

Diphthongs: ai [əɪ̯], oi [ɔɪ̯], au [əʊ̯], áu [aʊ̯]

As you can see, phonemic vowel length was lost, as well as a lot of diphthongs, and all of the affricates. Non-glottal fricatives remain as allophones of stops between vowels, i.e. p, b, t > f, v, s / V_V.

Translations

Wá maji áso ná moi ten ko! - Watch where you're going! (Lit. using where you're going, do a warning!)

Omoi moimaji ko - Halt. (Lit. do a stop.)

Majy jamá ná ymak moimaji. - Why are you out after dark? (Lit. Why exist you after dark.)

I really like the (o)moi N ko grammar I created, because it serves several functions all in one. It literally means "to do a N," but it's actually just a light verb construction.

Day 13 (16 in base 7) of writing my novel again.

Today, in addition to adding about 700 words to Part Two, I also made a bunch of translations into Modern Ipol. I probably translated about two hundred words of English into Ipol, and I will post one snippit of it here:

Pijteshijv sispeen pijte sis Nistemiks sis Nurrif sis Leerf pifijz. Pijteshijv losr shise tismostijv sispeenes pijte sis leerfine sis koleerf pite, Ir Nusnijv, spuw's sis spine, por sisla's pijte sju sis koleerf ejr sotenaks sis Nistemiks piste.

Ipol is the language of the Hero of Life's Confederacy of Zeneste. It started as the dialect of the capital, Ir Nouzonif, where it diffused, becoming a standard language for Zeneste. It replaced Classical Zispoel as the language of government and official business one-hundred and fifty years ago.

A couple notes:

ij and uw are symbols for long i and long u respectively.

j before a vowel is the palatal glide /j/.

Nistemiks literally means "the states" but it's also the most natural translation for 'Zeneste.'

Maybe at a later date, I'll do a post that breaks down this translation, but that's all for now!

Day 9 (12 in base 7) of writing my novel again

I'm almost done with Part One (I think!) I should finish it tomorrow. There are about 10,000 words so far, and I need to write the final coronation scene with plot twist #1!! Izi is the Hero of Cognition!

Also, as soon as I finish that, I'll give it to some of my friends for "alpha" reading, since I'm ready for a first draft of something to get torn to shreds to help keep me motivated.

In the eventual future, I hope to flesh out Zispoel and Ytos as languages enough so that I can create "meme" translations of the novel itself into Zispoel and Ytos. A sort-of "meta-translation," if you will.

Introduction to the Heroes of Meiste

I will post later about my writing progress today, too, don't worry. But right now, I thought I'd introduce the concept of Heroes in Meiste, how they relate to religion and politics, and introduce a few of them, along with their Guardians.

Before I get too deep into the weeds, every person's magic is also their soul in Meiste. Without their soul, their body and cognitive function can stay alive, but it's greatly decreased. (Foreshadowing...)

What even is a Hero?

Tl;dr: The most powerful six magic users are Heroes.

A Hero is a human who is a vessel for the rapid generation and usage of magic. Since there are only six magic types, there are only six Heroes-one for each magic type. These six, along with the Seventh Hero, Meiste itself, make up the Seven Heroes. Each Hero also has a Guardian who necessarily protects them.

Several Heroes are already known about: the Hero of Life, the Hero of Language, and the Hero of Earth. The other three remain (mostly) a mystery.

Introducing Three Heroes

Eheste Lozerief - Hero of Earth (or Meistezon)

she/her (Ipol: prijv/pijf)

"Meiste," translated as Earth, encompasses much more than just dirt in Zispoel. It also translates to the "physical" realm, where we as people reside. The (probably) Euclidean space where we type on keyboards and waste hours behind our cell phones.

Eheste Lozerief, known as Dr. Este, can manipulate space. She keeps her black pick-up truck on her keychain when she's not using it, for example. And she can teleport. Her mood is kind-of hit-or-miss when dealing with her, and while she does okay as a follower most of the time, she can only let her own needs get walked-over so much before she explodes.

Her Guardian: Tev, (or the Sensonif)

she/her (Ipol: prijv/pijf)

Sensonif literally means 'monster' in Ipol, by the way, and while her stature may be monstrous (fifty-foot tall lava-monster lady), her demeanor is anything but! She's warm-hearted (pun!) and fun.

She's one of four ancient beings called the Elementals (which aren't very relevant to the story.) She lives in a volcano and takes care of the village at the base of her volcano.

Those two end up dating each other post-canon.

In Iziser - Hero of Cognition (or Emeistezon)

he/him (Ipol: por/piste)

"Emeiste" literally means 'not-real,' so it could be translated as 'unreal,' but that may be a bit reductive. "Emeiste" encompasses everything that isn't real, but still exists. A prime example of this is the entire field of quantum physics and the wave functions that codify it. As a result, Izi can, himself, exist in a quantum superposition at will.

Izi is more assertive than Lozerief, but not quite as crabby as she can be. He and Lozerief bond over their shared nerddom, however, since they're both super interested in magic theory.

His Guardian: Pejemer

she/her

Pejemer is a seven-foot-tall swordswoman with ashen-colored goat-like horns and a sword so thin it can cut through anything. She's been wielding it for 1,100 years. Her species is also not human, like all Guardians. Instead, she's a Tawoo.

Pejemer is much more like Tev: easygoing, lighthearted, and fun. But Pejemer is more relaxed than the energetic Tev.

Hotautebz Az - Hero of Mind (or Ezispoerizon)

they/them (Ipol: pir, pirij)

"Ezisperizon" literally means "not-language," so it pretty much encompasses the subconscious. Hota, then, can control the subconscious. They can speak telepathically, influence a person's feelings, plant thoughts in their mind, or even take control of another person's mind!

They're far too timid to do any of that, though. They're six-foot-four, capable of mass-manipulation, and wouldn't hurt a fly-even if their life depended on it.

Their Guardian: Luwzrij

she/her

Luwzrij is a swamp fairy, a kind of humanoid with wings that's one of the four types of fairies, and Luwzrij is from the swamps of Eastern Zeneste. She's outgoing and charismatic, but rather clumsy (including downright destructive.)

Conclusion

Only Iziser and Lozerief are introduced by the end of Part One, but Hota is introduced very early in Part Two. None of their Guardians are present until halfway through the novel (Part Three.)

As my ex would say, especially Luke Skywalker

Every writer has two sides:

"I love my characters, they are my children and will protect them with my life"

"I wanna make them suffer so fucking much"

Obviously I get inspiration from things I’ve read, but I am also inspired by my favorite movies, shows, anime and manga.

It’s bothersome when I feel like I can’t bring that up when I talk to other writers.

Serious question: is 11 writing projects (long fanfics or novels) too many?

This was a peak mental moment

Echoes of the void tell me, where did my sanity go?

I'm sorry to say but I disagree, and the reason why in my eyes your argument is invalid is actually one of your own arguments.

Nowadays every thing is art no? A stripe of pencil on a piece of paper? You don't need skills for that. Being against ai doesn't take the opportunity to be an artist away from the ones who don't want to, or can't? ( you kind of cannot not)

And even then art is a skill, like so many other things. What your saying is like that Ready-to-eat meals are a good substitute for fresh made food, no even worse that artificial food is as good for society as food with no artificial ingredients.

Generative art is not as worthwhile as art made by living beings. Art itself is something that expresses emotion, thought or something else, but it's always something that gives art a life. Even if it's a painting about dead, it has a life because it shows that it was made by someone alive.

Artificial intelligence does not share these traits with us, or other living creatures. It can imitate them yes, but it can not experience them. The question is if ai will ever be able to.

Ai is cruel towards artist and writers. Not because ai wants to be, it can't be, at least not yet as far as we know. Ai imitates and steals from what already exist.

So yes there are ethical ways to argue that Ai should be opposed.

If Ai ever gains conscious and emotions we shouldn't use Ai either, because then it would be a sort of slavery. Forcing something that is alive to do your will.

Ai isn't ethical and it will never be.

generative art is just as worthwhile as any other form of art, and the idea that it should be treated as anything less, anything more limited in what it's acceptable to use it for, is deeply ableist. if you treat it as such, you are participating in bigotry

art is not defined by tools or methods. it's about finding a way to communicate or express something, whatever form that takes