Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath

YouTube video by Small Town Monsters Sasquatch of the Green Mountains: The Appalachian Bigfoot Files

youtu.be/7AVz3lqHzLA?...

Flowers ☾ @flowersslop Copyright yapping is one of the silliest forms of virtue signaling since really most people have a lot of fun doing fanfiction stuff, and it doesn’t hurt the original creators at all. Be fucking real. Also, isn’t everyone for oss models? Theyre trained on copyrighted material too 7:41 AM · Oct 5, 2025 · 16.3K Views

These folks yapping about how silly creators are being by demanding that their IP rights not be infringed by AI do not understand what it means to be a creator of intellectual property. They do not understand that human creators create works of value that are worth defending.

Aeris Vahn Ephelia - 𝑹𝑬𝑽 @VahnAeris · 8h It’s actually the opposite; there’s institutionalized parasitic landlording the imaginal, and those rats think their bullshit will never fly out the window.

I'm an artist. I'm also a small-businessman (sole proprietorship) selling art and items featuring my art and holder of the rights to an array of intellectual properties that I have created. Does that mean I number among the "institutionalized parasitic landlording the imaginal"?

Makes me think of the Pat Benatar song"Invincible".

I had a serious eruption of anger and rage earlier today. It made me realize just how mentally and emotionally worn I've become lately. I've little patience left.

Night’s Dead By Richard H. Fay Night swiftly overcomes day A black rider on a nightmare steed Death it brings, swift and sure Evil reigns at night’s blackest Beware the witching hour For it is then they dance Under a pale, cold moon Creatures striving to steal men’s souls

One more bonus dark poem for day 5 of my "31 Days of Spooky/Dark/Horror Poetry", just because I feel like sharing extra today: a very old piece of mine, "Night's Dead", that appeared in one of those questionable contest-related poetry anthologies back in 1987.

Is this a 3D model? @IsThisA3DModel · 4h AI users really don't understand copyright. They reduce it to "yapping" when it has its own legal field. There are literally entire departments at company's devoted to licensing & appropriate use of IP with rights holders. AI company's think they're special and they are not. Flowers ☾ @flowersslop Copyright yapping is one of the silliest forms of virtue signaling since really most people have a lot of fun doing fanfiction stuff, and it doesn’t hurt the original creators at all. Be fucking real. Also, isn’t everyone for oss models? Theyre trained on copyrighted material too 7:41 AM · Oct 5, 2025 · 8,665 Views

My wife is an attorney. She put herself through law school and passed the bar (on the first try). She is, among other things, an intellectual property rights attorney. She acts as my intellectual property rights attorney. Yes, it's safe to say that IP law is its own legal field.

Andrew A. Rosen @aagave There’s quite a bit you’re missing with a moral and legal framing. 1. AI is a new medium. It is informed by old mediums but it is an entirely new medium (this is @vkhosla ’s point) 2. AI gives fans agency with their favorite IP and fandom, at its core, is giving fans agency to do what they love with their favorite IP 3. A key forgotten detail is that LLMs are *also* trained on content fans pirated and post on the internet over the past 30 years. It included content artists, legacy media companies and publishers posted for free to help get their content get awareness with consumers and fans. That’s a near infinite volume of content that was available for free. 4. So, yes, there has been training off of pirated material. But there’s also been training off of content we as internet users made for free because we are fans. The moral framing misses all this. 7:36 AM · Oct 5, 2025 · 162 Views

Tell me you do not understand how IP laws are supposed to work without telling me you do not understand how IP laws are supposed to work.

Post Conversation Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex Silicon Valley is increasingly at odds with creatives, and this from one of OpenAI’s investors makes it worse. Yes, creatives object to Sora and call it slop. But instead of responding by calling them “tunnel vision creatives”, “defensive”, and “ivory tower luddite snooty critics”, the tech world needs to do more to listen to their concerns. These people’s work is being exploited against their wishes, to compete with them, by billion-dollar companies. AI companies have taken their life’s work and turned it into an infinite content machine - yes, much of it slop (not all of course) - that will make tech execs untold billions and that will pay most of these creatives zero. If you can’t understand why they are angry, you’re not listening to them.

Let's face it — these goddamned avaricious AI-pushing tech broligarchs don't give a shit about creatives, or the opinions of creatives regarding the exploitation of intellectual properties by AI, or the rights of creatives. They'd just as soon strip creatives of their IP rights.

Corner Stand with Halloween Decor

Halloween/Horror-Theme Wine Bottle on Shelf in Kitchen

A couple more snaps of our Halloween decor:
one of our corner stands decked out in Halloween decor (note the giant toad next to the stand), and various Halloween/Monster-theme wine bottles (obtained over the years) on a shelf in our kitchen.

Pedestal with Scarecrow and Crow

Skeleton Mr. Humphries

Plushies and Tinsel Dog by CD Player

More Halloween Plushies

More Halloween decor.
I like the irony in having the life-sized plastic crow next to the scarecrow on our pedestal.
This year, our skeleton decoration names "Mr. Humphries" is wearing a new bow.
We've plushies and a tinsel ghost dog by our CD player, and more on our CD rack.

Skulls on Cabin Stove

Haunted House Front

Haunted House Side 1

Haunted House Side 2

Yesterday, I decorated the house for Halloween.
Yesterday and today, I snapped some photos of our Halloween decor.
Here are pics of "Skulls on Cabin Stove" and 3 views of the "Haunted House" decoration I made myself (many years ago) using plaster, balsa, and Halloween stickers.

Flowers ☾ @flowersslop Copyright yapping is one of the silliest forms of virtue signaling since really most people have a lot of fun doing fanfiction stuff, and it doesn’t hurt the original creators at all. Be fucking real. Also, isn’t everyone for oss models? Theyre trained on copyrighted material too 7:41 AM · Oct 5, 2025 · 7,023 Views

I'm real.
Are you?
Somehow, I doubt it.
Regardless, I'm a real artist, visual and literary, who takes copyright and intellectual property rights seriously. When it comes to protecting one's own IP, there's nothing silly about it!

Dr Rebecca Richardson @mavisclare part of what I find so offensive about these gen AI videos is the fact that there is actually SO MUCH TO WATCH in the world. So many incredible works of art across film and theater and television -- and so much of it is more readily accessible than ever before. So why slop? 12:57 AM · Oct 4, 2025 · 41.2K Views

Why slop? So tech broligarchs can reap in even more dollars before the AI bubble finally bursts.

Galactic Road Trip by Richard H. Fay Time and space being relative, One can always burn the former To travel through the latter. Fire up the plasma drive, Pack your environment suit, Tune in an ambient wave, And go for a galactic joy ride! Zip to the Zynterra System. Sip some puguberry wine At the Corrosive Cafe. Watch the blue binary suns set Over the yellow Sulphur Sea. Pay your bill (or not) and take off Before the acid tide surges in. Rocket to Ragobomax. Witness the rainbow ion storm And get an energizing jolt From the glowing electron stream. Visit the robotics chop-shop. Buy a chrome-plated co-pilot And program in the next stop. Star hop to Hyptaris. See qualumps cross the orange sands And follow the Strill caravans To the celestial bazaar. Make your way to the Darkside Club. Dance the eternal night away, But leave before the end of time. Dive into the nearest wormhole, Slingshot through the fifth dimension, Accelerate faster than light. Break the temporal barrier, Spy the universal secrets, Give your past self a friendly wave, Then sail the solar winds home. (Originally published in Tales of the Talisman, Volume IV Issue 1, Summer 2008.)

Winter Crows by Richard H. Fay A murder wings o'er skeletal trees, Pinions beating hard 'gainst bitter winds. Raucous mobs roost along barren boughs Stripped of all but a few frost-crisped leaves. The gathered horde sings a rowdy song To disturb this season's morbid hush. Then the scoundrels raise a harsher din And rise into a threatening sky. Ragged dark specks amongst the flurries Whirl in churning clouds o'er snowy hills. Flocks search cold fields for man's poor leavings, Hoping to feast on refuse and death. Originally published in Every Day Poets, March 10, 2009

Life is the Life by Richard H. Fay Roused from decades of sepulchral slumber By savage cannonades and rifle fire, Departing the dark comfort of my tomb, I roam a mad world ripped apart by war. Venturing forth like a smoky blue veil Wafting across this cratered countryside, Searching for the base essence of being, I am drawn to fields of lingering death. Drifting amidst battle-broken bodies, Ignoring agonizing cries of pain, Invisible to dimming mortal eyes, I harvest embers of vitality. Finding a suitably ravaged vessel, Sensing sustenance within battered flesh, I drain lifeblood to feed this hungry soul - A dying youth becomes my golden cup. Energies flow from spirit to spirit Fuelling my ethereal existence. Leaving behind the soldier's empty husk I retreat into deepening shadows Revitalized. (Originally published in The Monsters Next Door, Contest Issue 4.5, November 15, 2008.)

I Am Done By Richard H. Fay I am done with others breaking my heart. I am done with strangers putting me down. I am done with people doing me wrong. I am done with humans waging their wars. I am done with mankind wrecking the Earth. I am done with society. I am done with life. I am done. Done!

Speaking of one's creative range...
Not only is the range of my visual art broad, so it the range of my literary art, specifically, poetry.
I go from speculative to literary, quite light to very dark, poetry penned in persona to poetry steeped in the confessional

Consequence of Taking Too Much by Richard H. Fay Red rose placed on fresh earth becomes a grave symbol of true love lost and my hunger for blood. (Originally published in Macabre Cadaver, Issue 3, October 2008.)

Bonus dark poem for day 5 of my "31 Days of Spooky/Dark/Horror Poetry": my cinquain "Consequence of Taking Too Much, originally published Oct 2008 in Macabre Cadaver 3.

Background digital manipulation of image obtained from Pixabay. Free for use under the Pixabay Content License.

Your Bloody Face by Richard H. Fay I see your face in all things. It mouths silent words of love On a blank monitor screen. It stares sadly back at me From a rain-streaked window pane. It appears amongst the crowd On a bustling city street. I see your face at all times. It bothers my troubled dreams And follows me through the day. It lurks within my mad mind And haunts my guilt-ridden soul. It's there when I close my eyes, A reminder of my crime. I see your face before me. Its gore-stained cheeks bear pale tracks Where tears washed away the blood. Its sunken eyes full of death Drive me to a grisly fate. It laughs at the irony As hot lead rips through my brain. Originally published in Tales from the Moonlit Path, Issue 9, February 2008.

Day 5 of "31 Days of Spooky/Dark/Horror Poetry", in which I'm sharing at least 1 of my spooky/dark/horror poems a day.
Today it's "Your Bloody Face", a work I typically share around Valentine's Day. It was originally published Feb 2008 in issue 9 of Tales from the Moonlit Path.

Lincolnshire Auseklis Witch Mark

Internut

Durrow Knotwork 2016

Cute Pirate Lad

My art features such a wide range that I can't post the entirety of it in just four images:

Medieval Knight Early 13th Century

Fronstipiece for Herb Kauderer's Recalibrating the Future

Things in the Swamp

Blue Dragon Spitting Lightning

Human artists, quote repost with your range.
Let's see how wide your human creativity stretches!

Even though I'd already decided AI wasn't for me, upon the insistence of a former small-press editor/publisher who had taken a deep dive into AI, both in prompting AND coding, I briefly experimented with it. I was less-than-impressed with the results. Not. My. Thing.

Reid Southen @Rahll · 11h Pretending artists are all wealthy, arrogant snobs rather than working class folks is just one of the ways AI goons justify their exploitation. Doesn't matter that the starving artist stereotype exists for a reason, or that 77% of artists are freelance with low job security.

Considering I come from a working class family (my step-father was a pro-firefighter, my mother an over-glorified secretary), considering I'm a self-taught artist, considering I'd be a starving artist if not for my wife's income, I laugh at being called part of the "elite".

Nessie the Loch Ness Monster Rubber Stamp

Sold 10/4/2025 through Zazzle and being shipped to a recipient in the US:
one Nessie the Loch Ness Monster Rubber Stamp. www.zazzle.com/nessie_the_l... via @zazzle
Thanks, buyer! Much appreciated!

Vinod Khosla @vkhosla · 20h All the replies to @OpenAI 's announcement of #SORA on X that are criticisms "Finally, pure slop," are from tunnel vision creatives. Let the viewers of this "slop" judge it, not ivory tower luddite snooty critics or defensive creatives. Opens up so many more avenues of creativity if you have an imagination. This is same initial reaction to digital music in the 90's and digital photography in the 2000's. There will be a role for traditional video still but many more dimensions of creative video thru AI.

I welcome you to view my array of artistic creations, visual and literary, and tell me I'm a "tunnel vision creative".

Considering how I've no formal education in art (I've an AS and BS in Biology), and considering I use the internet for business, I'm no "ivory tower luddite".

Embracing Curves Yellow, Blue, and Green

Jungun Catching a Quibbib

Circles Abstract

Blobby the Alien

While I'm an advocate of artists using references, there have been times I've created artworks without using references, relying solely on my imagination, creativity, and artistic instincts. Here are some examples:

Szilágyi Pál @szilagyipal If you know how AI works, you just described what AI also does. 1:36 PM · Oct 4, 2025 · 12 Views

The way I understand it (understanding being the crux of the matter regarding the difference), AI training is not learning from experience and gaining understanding from experience in the way humans learn, but rather by encoding patterns from vast amounts of data.

neil turkewitz @neilturkewitz · 21h I have a huge, but simple, request… STOP using other people’s creative works to train your derivative content paste machine. The world will thank you. I look forward to hearing back from you once this has been implemented. Thank you. Sincerely, the past, present & future Quote Bill Peebles @billpeeb · Oct 3 sora is number 1 in the app store! it's been epic to see what the collective creativity of humanity is capable of so far. team is iterating fast and listening to feedback. feel free to drop us feature requests! (we're sending more invite codes soon, i promise!) Image Szilágyi Pál @szilagyipal · 10h So you also want to stop art education? Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @AzureLionProd · 2h Self-taught artist here (I've had no formal art education beyond high school art classes, and yet I've been selling my art to the public since 1999). As an autodidact when it comes to art, I can say it's quite possible to learn art on one's own WITHOUT resorting to the use of AI. Szilágyi Pál @szilagyipal You are the exception. But most artists copy others. Or even if they don't there are other materials very similar to theirs.

The fact that I was never into straight copying may be why I now produce art of a style that several folks have called "unique".

I've NEVER wanted to produce art that looked like that produced by everyone else. I've ALWAYS gone my own way, adding a unique stamp to my works.

Conversation neil turkewitz @neilturkewitz · 21h I have a huge, but simple, request… STOP using other people’s creative works to train your derivative content paste machine. The world will thank you. I look forward to hearing back from you once this has been implemented. Thank you. Sincerely, the past, present & future Quote Bill Peebles @billpeeb · Oct 3 sora is number 1 in the app store! it's been epic to see what the collective creativity of humanity is capable of so far. team is iterating fast and listening to feedback. feel free to drop us feature requests! (we're sending more invite codes soon, i promise!) Image Szilágyi Pál @szilagyipal · 10h So you also want to stop art education? Richard H Fay - Artist/Illustrator/Poet/Polymath @AzureLionProd · 2h Self-taught artist here (I've had no formal art education beyond high school art classes, and yet I've been selling my art to the public since 1999). As an autodidact when it comes to art, I can say it's quite possible to learn art on one's own WITHOUT resorting to the use of AI. Szilágyi Pál @szilagyipal You are the exception. But most artists copy others. Or even if they don't there are other materials very similar to theirs.

"most artists copy others"

Maybe that's true in art schools. Maybe they teach by having artists copy. Then again, I never went to art school. I suspect they're teaching art all wrong in these schools (a suspicion reinforced by horror stories I've heard from art school students).

"AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help."

spirit of the night pale spectral visitation a phantom's chill touch (Originally published in Scifaikuest, Issue 19, February 2008.)

Bonus dark poem for day 4 of my "31 Days of Spooky/Dark/Horror Poetry": my horror "spirit of the night".
This horrorku was originally published February 2008 in Issue 19 of Scifaikuest.
You can tell it's one of my earlier horrorku since I stuck to the 5-7-5 format.

Cosmic Grind by Richard H. Fay Placate otherworld gods With sex and violence. Sacrifice flesh and blood To tentacled idols. Feel the pulsating throb Of an eldritch drumbeat. Let that sound drown your soul In orgiastic bliss. Enter the manic press; Gyrate with strange beings. Lose your body and mind To that fanatic mob. Copulate with creatures Painted red head-to-toe. Embrace inhuman forms In rites of carnal lust. Lay a crimson-skinned wretch Upon a black altar. Slit the thing’s offered throat To open cosmic doors. Shudder with ecstasy As the gore-stained ground quakes. Spy the summoned arrive In a protean mass. March toward a mad god Quivering with delight. Leap though its gnashing maw To be ground into dust. Originally published in Infernal Ink Magazine, Vol. 1, Issue 2, October 2012

It's day 4 of "31 Days of Spooky/Dark/Horror Poetry", in which I'm sharing at least 1 of my spooky/dark/horror poems a day.
Today's poem, "Cosmic Grind", is dark indeed, perhaps my darkest to-date. and among the edgiest of my works. Be warned: this one isn't for younger readers.