olanthanide

[olanthanide]

Basic rules for analysing fiction, an incomprehensive list jotted down in a hurry:

The protagonist isn’t always right

The protagonist isn’t always good

The protagonist isn’t always written to be relatable or likeable

The narrator isn’t always right

The narrator isn’t always good

The narrator isn’t always telling the truth

The narrator isn’t always the author

The protagonist’s moral compass, the narrator’s moral compass and the author’s moral compass are three entirely different things that only occasionally overlap

Pay attention to what characters do and not just what they say

Pay special attention when what the characters do is at odds with what they say

A lot of the time the curtains are blue for a reason. If they aren’t, you should read better books

[olanthanide]

Solarpunk is both pragmatic and utopian. It has to incorporate the latter because that allows us to push the boundaries of what is considered possible. At the same time, being pragmatic is a way of bringing back the reader (or listener) to the present after temporarily escaping into a Solarpunk story. For example, a Solarpunk story set in Gaza in the year 2040 could imagine climate change-related challenges that the Palestinians there would be facing then, and imagine ways of solving them. This would be told in a story in a setting with its own specificity which differs from, say, a story set in Paris in that same year. A Solarpunk story set in Gaza 2040 would therefore have to respect the specific history of that city while also trying to imagine what it could look like free of colonialism, apartheid, patriarchy and other forms of oppression. In that world, are there still two nation-states (Israel and Egypt) restricting the freedom of movement of Palestinians in Gaza? What is the access to resources such as water like? Could permablitzing be one tool against societal atomization brought about by an oppressive state? What are the heatwaves like? Are they dealing with droughts? Is the Mediterranean a source of recreation and abundance, or an intimidating body of water rendered more dangerous by global warming? How are relations with their neighbors?

Fantastic long read on Solarpunk in New Lines Magazine from The Fire These Times podcast host Joey Ayoub

[olanthanide]

[olanthanide]

How to tell if your blog has been flagged as explicit

The easiest method

Go to a postlimit checker

Enter your blog url

If you’ve been flagged as explicit, under General Blog Info your url will be listed as [nsfw] and your avatar will be pixelated 

Without leaving you blog

Go to settings

Select your blog from the bar on the right

Go down to the On-Blog Advertising section

If the On-Blog Advertising button is normal and allows you click it on or off, then you’re fine

If the On-Blog Advertising is off, faded, and you can’t click it on or off, then you’ve been flagged as explicit

Not explicit

Explicit

[olanthanide]

deviantART, Google, etc’s TOS

Everyone is panicking over TOS-es right now as they find a new home as Tumblr gets flushed down the toilet. I don’t like those random TOS breakdowns because the analysis is always wrong. 

Anyway this is what people pay me to do and I will now do it for $0 because I’m tired of everyone spreading misinformation. This post is not a substitute for legal advice etc. Reblogs are appreciated because I literally see TOS nonsense on my dash every day. 

Any more experienced copyright lawyers please feel free to weigh in - it’s part of my field yes, but my wheelhouse is more film production COT rather than derivative works.

Google Drive (TOS)

Google doesn’t have rights to do whatever they want to files you upload to Google Drive

Their TOSes are annoyingly broad in drafting but essentially boilerplate clauses that they need to host your work, use google translate on it, make it searchable etc. They cannot steal your fanfic. They cannot modify your art and use it for whatever.

Your work MAY be threatened (that is, deleted) thanks to FOSTA/SESTA, which imo is a clown provision signed by a clown that sent safe harbour down the toilet. This and this has more information (I’ve skimmed but not perused both), but the tl;dr is: similar to Tumblr, there was a ham-fisted attempt to protect victims of sex trafficking and all it really did was make cloud based services start deleting user files whether relevant or not. 

deviantART (Submission Policy) (TOS)

Uploading work to dA doesn’t give them a license to sell it to Hot Topic. This post is incorrect. Debunked here and corrected by the artist himself here. Your art is safe. 

There’s a breakdown of the TOS in there that’s pretty much wrong on most points, if someone wants me to do a not-wrong version, ask. This may help.

All you really need to know is that like Google, I checked it over and nothing in there puts you at risk for dA asserting ownership over your work or selling it - they need those rights for thumbnails, search functions, resizing etc. 

Sexually explicit fanart is not allowed, as well as “obscenity”, which is an oddly broad term covering things like “sexually orientated commercial telephone messages”. 

I’m not aware of any content purges.

AO3 (TOS)

Yum. I like this one. Easy to read and clearly explained for most people with basic reading comprehension. Section G - What We Do With Content will tell you everything you need to know.

Basically, they have the same clauses about you granting AO3 a license to modify/etc your work, but they take the trouble to explain to you exactly what that means, and how they use it to improve accessibility etc. 

No history of content purges as far as I know. Explicit content is allowed with limits eg. no child porn. 

Wordpress (TOS)

Same deal - you’re looking for 1. Wordpress - Responsibility of Contributors, with the exact same thing as everybody else. They also do a decent job of explaining what they use the license for (though once again, it’s standard), albeit not as beautifully as AO3. 

However, images of sexual acts (including fanart) are against TOS.

I found no history of content purges.

Dreamwidth (TOS)

Same old standard licensing clause, again doesn’t let them steal your stuff.

Incredibly…open content policies…you can basically do whatever you want so long as you don’t break laws or commit fraud it seems? If I’m wrong, feel free to correct.

Hope this helps. Feel free to force me to read and explain any other site TOS documents. Again, more experienced copyright lawyers, feel free to correct me if I clowned up somewhere.

[olanthanide]

It’s getting hard to be an adult artist

Pun wasn’t intended but I think we all need a laugh right now

I’ve been doing a lot of reading tonight. This purge situation is more grim than I thought it was. Not just on Tumblr, but all over the place.

I don’t make a lot of explicit art, but I know people who make a good living off of it and who might be looking for alternate places to post their art. Turns out there are surprisingly few options.

Tumblr, as we already know, is going to get rid of all adult content, including erotic artwork and other forms of “sensitive” imagery, which is basically anything they or The Ineffable Algorithm deem unsuitable for their new squeaky-clean policy.

DeviantART also forbids sexual content (sample seen below of their “sexual themes” policy).

Facebook has implemented a similar policy on 15 October that is now starting to take effect. Granted, it’s under the headline of “sexual solicitation”, and while you’re probably not posting artwork in exchange for sexual favors, there’s a clear line that states drawn content of explicit sexual activity is prohibited (see below).

Wordpress prohibits sexually explicit images, which includes drawings.

And apparently that’s not all. There’s a whole lot of garbage going down that I didn’t know about (understadably, I’m not enganged in some of these platforms or websites) but there are articles popping up all over the place about how this is happening on many popular social media sites. Here are some of the better articles I’ve read:

The internet war on sex is here (Engadget.com)

Tumblr’s porn ban reveals who controls what we see online (Wired.com)

Despite the looming fear of social media exodus, many fandom Tumblr users will staunchly remain on the platform (Polygon.com) This is a really good article with more focus on fanart and the fandom community in general.

There are still some sites that allow freedom of expression, however.

Archive of Our Own. What more can be said? It’s the shining beacon of free speech in an increasingly un-free internet age. Owned by fans, run by fans, supported by fans, untainted by the stench of advertisers who dictate what can and can’t be seen.

Dreamwidth continues to astonish me with its embracing of creative freedom and I wish I had come across it sooner. Read their About Us and Diversity Statement to get a taste of the kind of people they are. It sounds like a blog version of AO3, which is awesome, and, like AO3, they are solely supported by their userbase and are advertiser-free.

Pillowfort is set to be the next Tumblr (minus a lot of the negative things that haunted Tumblr), but they’re just getting started and need time and support to grow. A possible future concern is the fact that the .io domain prohibits use of its sites for sexual or pornographic purposes–but perhaps not sexually explicit art? According to Pillofort’s official tweet, they do allow mature content. The exact definition of the limitations/qualifications of such content remains to be seen.

Twitter has a pretty liberal policy on adult content. Some people are not comfortable posting there due to the inability to control who sees what. From what I’ve heard from fellow Tweeters and Tumblrites, there’s a fair chance of getting unwanted attention from haters, antis, garden-variety Nazis and racists, and good old-fashioned trolls. General concensus appears to be post at your own risk.

Instagram has a no-nudity policy which implies that explicit sexual content (and art) is also verboten. However, they don’t explain if there’s a difference between hand-drawn nudity and photographic nudity, so I assume it’s another case of post at your own risk?

Listen, guys.

This is more than just drawings of cartoon sex. This is about people’s livelihood, their happiness, their fandoms (and their fans), and their freedom of expression, the latter of which is rapidly vanishing from the internet as we know it.

The list of sites above are only the ones I’m familiar with. If anyone has experience on other media sites where explicit art is allowed (like Mastodon? I don’t know much about it), please reblog and help your artist friends find an alternative place to keep doing the thing they love. 

Also, if I’ve missed or misinterpreted anything in the above, feel free to correct me. I tried to read everything thoroughly but I am human and very, very tired, so please be gentle.

[olanthanide]

Shadowbanned Tumblr style?

I can no longer initiate DMs with friends who have been mutuals for years.

I can respond to dms that are sent to me, but I can no longer forward posts to them or message them.

(these are all longtime friends in fandom who definitely have not unfollowed or blocked me)

Double check to see if this is happening to you. Might not be all your friends, might just be some.

[olanthanide]

If you see this on your DASHBOARD please re-blog so that the previous blog knows they haven't been muted!!!

[olanthanide]

You remember that post about the homestuck t-shirt design contest collaborating with hot topic? And how Hot Topic are the biggest art thieves?  This is recent.  As you can see above, I stumbled upon Hot Topic’s website and they are selling a very popular fan art put on a t-shirt, and did not ask permission from the original artist (rismo).

This shows Hot Topic still continues their art thievery.  Hot Topic are still taking art from artists without their permission.  This is disrespectful and appalling.

[olanthanide]

“It all matters. That someone turns out the lamp, picks up the windblown wrapper, says hello to the invalid, pays at the unattended lot, listens to the repeated tale, folds the abandoned laundry, plays the game fairly, tells the story honestly, acknowledges help, gives credit, says good night, resists temptation, wipes the counter, waits at the yellow, makes the bed, tips the maid, remembers the illness, congratulates the victor, accepts the consequences, takes a stand, steps up, offers a hand, goes first, goes last, chooses the small portion, teaches the child, tends to the dying, comforts the grieving, removes the splinter, wipes the tear, directs the lost, touches the lonely, is the whole thing. What is most beautiful is least acknowledged. What is worth dying for is barely noticed.”

— Laura McBride, We Are Called to Rise (via beeghosts)

[olanthanide]

Loyalty that surpasses the stars. I have a lot of feelings about space and Laika  Patreon

[olanthanide]

Ataraxicare on Instagram

Follow So Super Awesome on Instagram

[olanthanide]

source

[olanthanide]

[olanthanide]

A Japanese artist who goes by monde has made a series of wooden bookend dioramas that replicate the back alleys of his hometown of Tokyo. 

Sources: x x

@stick-arms @lunaticobscurity

[olanthanide]

The myth that panic, looting, and antisocial behavior increases during the apocalypse (or apocalyptic-like scenarios) is in fact a myth—and has been solidly disproved by multiple scientific studies. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, a research group within the United States Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), has produced research that shows over and over again that “disaster victims are assisted first by others in the immediate vicinity and surrounding area and only later by official public safety personnel […] The spontaneous provision of assistance is facilitated by the fact that when crises occur, they take place in the context of ongoing community life and daily routines—that is, they affect not isolated individuals but rather people who are embedded in networks of social relationships.” (Facing Hazards and Disasters: Understanding Human Dimensions, National Academy of Sciences, 2006). Humans do not, under the pressure of an emergency, socially collapse. Rather, they seem to display higher levels of social cohesion, despite what media or government agents might expect…or portray on TV. Humans, after the apocalypse, band together in collectives to help one another—and they do this spontaneously. Disaster response workers call it ‘spontaneous prosocial helping behavior’, and it saves lives.