Update January 2026

Jan 7

12 min read

Update January 2026

So, I really have no new major updates a week into 2026. I had managed to get that Retrospective Blog for 2025 out. I did not think I would but after giving it a thought, I decided that I might as well. And it was a lot of fun to do and I am happy to have posted it.

So 2026 has come and I have no new year resolutions this time around. What I would like to do for this year is to engage with more stories. I recently got into Kindle and Audible. And currently, I have been listening to an audiobook during my walks and I am at chapter 11.

The story is called “Arc, the SS Tier Heroine” by Azrie. And it is a decent take on the OP Isekai genre. Honestly though, I have seen so many fights and battles in anime, to listen to a story that is different but still familiar. I am more into the slice of life genre lately so maybe I’ll get into stories that are more like that. But Arc is fun so far and I look forward to more of the story.

Winter is in full swing in my area and I am easily getting cabin fever. I guess it is a good thing I am still getting hours at my retail job, just to get out of the house. But January tends to be a slow month and we shall see what happens. I am not even sure what days I will be having off (yeah retail work! 😝). And because of that, I decided to get a headstart on the next update.

I was going to wait since I had nothing really huge to talk about. But I just engaged with something that was simultaneously both beautiful and horrifying. Something that is growing more and more and shows no sign of slowing down.

I am talking AI.

AI is becoming more and more prevalent and available. And as a creative person, I should be against this whole trend. But I decided to have an open mind about AI this year and dip my toes into AI generators. I wanted to see what a free book cover generator would offer me.

I found a free AI generator site called “Colorify”. Colorify is an AI generator dedicated to creating covers for authors’ books. Now, if I was to release a book, I would seek out someone with artistic talent to create a cover. However, this tool is available and I got curious. And then I found myself for two hours just messing around until Colorify stopped me. Apparently there is a limit to how many covers one can generate on this site per day. Which makes sense, since it is free.

How it works is you choose a style then type in information into a box. And then the AI does what it can to offer up something close to what you describe. And the more detailed you are, the more interesting things get. Even with one sentence, the AI gives some . . . interesting results. And if you like what the AI has made, you can download the cover.

I went a step further with the images I saved though. I used the Snipping Tool to save not only the image but the style I chose and information I gave the AI. As of typing this right now, I have no idea what the blog is going to do with the full screen images. Stretch them? Warp them? Maybe they will be okay? I am hoping the images show clearly. If not, there is an option for the reader to click on the image to expand it. Or I crop out the covers and add them to the blog too. Hopefully, this will not be completely derp.

What am I saying? Most anything related to AI is derp, as I discovered. And we are continuously trusting our existence to AI. Have we not learned anything from Sci-Fi movies? No, the answer will also be no.

This lot of madness is going to be fun to share. And the most amazing thing about AI is that it has to give you something, no matter how nonsensical, insane, or eldritch the information it is given will be. And what it gives is so wonderful!

So, I saw the anime style option and immediately clicked on it. Because anime! I gave the AI a one sentence description and I was very direct. “The craziest thing this AI can generate.” And this is what it gave me:

"The Cosmos Awaits" is what I would call this anime — Meeting of the cosmic minds!

This is beautiful. I have no idea what is happening. But I would watch the shit out of this anime. I am assuming the girl in the center left is the lead because she is the most average human of the group. That girl’s hand in the far center makes me think she is some alien trying to be human. And the friendly looking robots are adorable as all hell. And all of this is happening IN-SPACE! Or at least a space station with a badass view.

I have no idea what the kanji says but I have a feeling it is my description made into a Japanese anime title.

So adorable it is horrifying! — I would be horrified if it was not so damn adorable.

I was thinking of “John Carpenter’s The Thing” when making this. And it gave me something that was far too cute to be scary. I suppose I had to be more specific by saying animal parts rather than straight up animals. And all of those animals are so darn chibi that I could melt like the monster. It’s like the animals were glued to the monster as it “phases?” out of the cabin.

And that one animal just watching as the monster approaches is so melancholy about . . . a horror about to glue it onto its being. This looks like something straight out of Adventure Time or Steven Universe. And yes, I would so watch an anime short of this lonely monster just gluing friends onto its being.

Fun time at the beach, NYAH! — I asked for five and got seven, no compliments!

I just had to. The temptation was far too great. And I have to say, this turned out better than I thought it would. Usually with AI, there are some freaky extra limbs or misshapened eyes. But all of these cat girls came out just fine. Except the one on the far left. That has an extra tail when others do not have tails at all. And she is clearly a glitch that happened. But her positioning makes her look like she is shy and hiding behind the other cat girl.

And sadly, the dude in the background is so small I cannot tell how shocked he is or if he is holding binoculars. This is the downside of using the snipping tool and not downloading the original which I did not do with any of these, regrettably. These are so pixely if zoomed in.

But the AI had given me what I asked for and a few extras. I am also impressed with the shadows which look legit. And the bikinis are of different colors, except the glitch shy girl has a matching color to the ginger in the far right. Beyond that, I am impressed with this thing so far.

Who is Thuilu? — "I deal you five souls and raise you five thousand"

I have had a concept called “Poker Night at R'lyeh” with Cthulhu hosting a poker game as the universe ends. So with that concept in mind, I asked the AI to generate a cover for me with some details. Now, the anime style is interesting but it is not at all something I would use as a cover. And who is that random human guy in the background?

So, I moved off of anime and chose the Fantasy/Sci-fi style.

Sure beats dogs playing poker — "House rules, gents!"

Now that is more like it! We have monsters around the table with Cthulhu. Cthulhu is front and center and looking badass. And the style, with the dark background and bold colors on the monsters are “chef’s kiss” 😘 Perfect. The most impressive thing is how uniform and clear the table is. And the lighting with the shadows is eerily good. I again regret not downloading the original cover because this would be an awesome pic to frame and put on my wall.

"Despite all my rage, I'm still just a pumpkin exploding in a cage" — Explosions of ORANGE!

This is interesting. It looks like a cover that would be at home with a parody of “Goosebumps”. I should have given a description of the jack o’lantern’s face. But I like the surreal imagery going on with the pumpkin itself. I was expecting to see it in mid-explosion, not to be manifesting chunks while still being intact. And for selecting “realistic” style, this is the most unrealistic thing I have ever laid my eyes on. Just a pumpkin glitching, infinitely exploding and producing unlimited jibblets. Still, I like this image, it looks like the poster to an over-the-top halloween comedy.

The more the middle one loses, the more cat she becomes! — So are they cats that turn into girls?

Oh, did you think we were done with Cat-Girls? Nope! I could not help but type that whole thing in and test what the different styles would look like. I did not do all of the styles but I did get some interesting results.

So with the "Realistic" image we have some interesting things going on here. I am impressed with the skin tone on the girls, it does look realistic. And it is a choice to have one with the head of a cat which does add to the humor. But look to your left. That cat girl in red has three hands, which means the AI could not decide how she was holding the controller. Then there is that abomination of a “pillow?” next to her. It feels like a Muppet mascot to some lost 80s sitcom. You know what? I would watch this if it was a sitcom, it looks hilarious as all heck.

"Your sister is joint at the hip, huh?" — “Move over!” “I can’t!”

The “Fantasy/Sci-Fi” style gave some interesting results. For one thing, the cat girls are all redheads and are cute as hell. The guy at the window makes it seem like a horror show, so it is giving me slasher movie vibes. But then you really look at what is going on with the two cat girls on the right. There is so much sofa left that the AI could have fit all three comfortably. But no, it decided to go with a conjoint twin angle with them. I assume the cat girls are all sisters since they all look the same.

"Rocket Heel" is my favorite Elton John song — Rocket Heel!

The “Anime” style is, no surprise, the most reasonable upon first glance. Cat girls really do belong to the anime genre. And at first glance things seem pretty typical. Two of the girls have mismatched eyes which is okay. The guy in the background looks legit perplexed. Things are fine, right? Well, look at the girl to the right. First off, the AI did not line her hands with her arms correctly. And then for some reason, it decided to give her a third leg with a rocket heel. I have no idea why she has a rocket heel but that is kind of badass. And what is that avant garde art in the top right? It makes as much sense as having a third leg with a rocket heel.

"EN! My third leg itches so bad!" — Does AI not know what bra straps are?

The “Comic” style was the last of the gamer catgirls I tried. And I thought we had a winner. It legit has all of the elements I was asking for upon first glance. But then the one on the left has a third leg, lacking any rocket heels, which is disappointing. And the one on the right has extra toes. At least the guy is there, he is barely visible at the top left which adds to the humor.

And no more catgirls, for now. What I decided to do next was to combine the last couple of themes and see what happened: Furry with Lovecraft. What if HP Lovecraft was being haunted by a green skunk girl? Yes, I challenged the AI to do that and it delivered . . .

"What is that smell? The horror, the horror!" — “How is that Non-Euclidean Typewriter I got you, Mister Lovecraft?”

Anime Style first and it looks good, for the most part. Lovecraft does not look horrified. It looks more like he is angry with his complicated typewriter. Seriously, the AI made one hell of a complicated looking typewriter to operate. And the skunk girl looks more like his secretary than something that is haunting him.

Now I tried Anime Style again with more details and . . . you are not ready for the result. I was not prepared for what horror the AI presented before me. I am going to give you some blank space to prepare your soul for what your eyes are about to behold . . .

Final warning, are you prepared? Good . . .

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Seriously, this was a close top favorite out of the bunch I did. What is even happening? First off, the skunk girl is menacing but HPL looks like he is thinking “oh, she’s at it again, LOLZ!” But the greatest question of all is . . . Is her tail attached to his head? Or is his hair her tail? Is she some manifestation of HPL’s deepest subconscious, appearing as a skunk girl attached to his head? But the most horrifying thing of all is HPL’s cleavage revealing a purple bikini. Like, this is true horror and I am laughing my burnt ends off.

I decided to ask for one more bounty from HPL and the Green Skunk Girl. And this time I went with “Fantasy/Sci-fi” style that gave me such a badass Cthulhu playing poker cover. I also added a little more to the description to add some spice.

And what did I get . . . ?

"What's his name again?" — HP Lovecraft writes “HP Lovecraft” on his [HP Lovecraft] brand typewriter

No surprise that the typewriter actually looks legit with this style. And the skunk girl looks like a cosplayer trying to distract HPL from his work. And I am loving that Beetlejuice suit HPL is rocking. I have to say, this is by far the most well put together one of the bunch. I am not seeing any AI hiccups or hallucinations. Well, the skunk girl has four fingers but both hands have four and it seems legit with her design.

Now, for the final image I produced and my number one favorite of the whole bunch. Let me share with you the description I gave before sharing the image. Be warned, you are not prepared for what is about to enter your eyeballs. I had no idea what to expect but it is the most epic thing I had seen this AI make thus far. Seriously, I am kicking myself for not saving the cover itself, much regret, so legit angry right now.

“The most crazy, insane, [an] brain melting thing you can do. I want to look upon this image and not understand a [think]. My brain needs to be goo when I am done looking at this image. I am talking the most nonsensical, ridiculous, and absolutely strange thing you can give me. Melt my brain.”

So, I got excited and typed a few things wrong without proofreading first. The [an] was suppose to be [and] and [think] was suppose to be [thing]. This is why you always proofread your work at least once. But despite that, the AI gave me something so profoundly awesome that I wonder if the cover could top it in the future. It is art, true surreal beauty and I cannot help but be inspired by this image.

Are you ready?

Get set! Brace yourself!

B E H O L D!

One word for this: EPIC! — “You Shall Not Password!”

This is “Doctor Strange” meets “Metroid.” This is incredible. And I have so many questions. Like, who is the guy in red? What spell is he casting to have so many tendrils? What beef does he have with this cyber brain? And what is the fire all about? So many questions and I do not care. This is like out of a fever dream, legit! There are moons, bats, steampunk piles, and all around a feeling that something awesome is about to happen! I so regret not downloading this cover, you have no idea! There is no way the AI would give me this again. I am grateful that I did manage to save this pic.

And with how many times I said “brain” in my description, I was expecting to see a brain appear. Everything else was a welcomed surprise and I am so down with what is going on. This image is so wonderful I really want to add it to the site in some way.

So, that is my long winded rant about my first adventure with AI generated book covers. I might make this a regular thing but not do so many in one blog. There is infinite potential for content and fun with AI generated images. So while AI has its controversies and is flawed as hell, it is not going anywhere anytime soon. So, I might as well use it to have a few good laugh.

Good Luck and [This Blog Was Made by a Human Being, promise 😁]

—BUCK