#And I'm not a huge content creator; so it's not changing much in terms of what I do

[levyfiles]

different anon here but like. i gotta be honest, people have been going harder on watcher for fumbling what would have been a pretty good idea given the landscape youtube is become than how they reacted when the whole ned debacle went down. the blatant racism and hatred being leveled at watcher for making what is a pretty logical, if not unfortunate, business decision has been so much worse than the treatment ive seen ned get after not only cheating on his wife but sleeping with his own employee. its bonkers to me. why is watcher getting raked through the coals when they already apologized, rolled back some huge changes to appease people, and were vocal about what their goals are in terms of what they deliver to their audience? i dont get it. so they fucked up their timing and misjudged how much change their audience could handle at once. does that mean they should be crucified like jesus fucking christ was on the cross? i dont get it, man. i really dont.

mood.

Creators that have fucked up in ways that are harder to walk back have had a lot more grace than Watcher is being given. I'm still salty that people were in my inbox telling me to cite MoistCritical for insight when he very publicly denounced a huge formerly racist/misogynist creator for apologising for his past content.

If the reactive people in their comments and tag had gotten their way, Steven would have been fully chased off the internet just for existing and making a show--the content for which--we are still not even certain about.

The real hurt for me isn't even all that anymore. It's the fact that this smaller company with only one social media manager has--as a result- rolled back whatever promo they had cooked up for the programs some of us are actually excited to see on the streaming platform. Travel Season starts airing on May 31st. A few survival mode clips have cropped up but if tomorrow isn't an Adam/Andrew/Steven podcast episode, I don't know how they mean to draw in a new audience. It feels like the internet stunned them into silence.

I hope with all my heart I'm wrong about that and they're just unrolling the promo a little late.

[rinadragomir]

Ok, I want to start off by saying that I am a fan of all arts and am so appreciative of the time, passion, and work that goes into any kind of content creation.

I am also very particular about when it comes to art. There are mangas, comics, animated works that I have difficulty reading/watching or will not read/watch if I'm not a fan of the art style.

And as an artist I understand that art is subjective and not everyone likes it. Just as I recognize that not everyone likes my particular art style and that's ok. (Not trying to have people come for me like I’m trashing Charlie’s art cuz I am 10000% not.)

Charlie does amazing work and I like it, but it's clear that her style has changed (as most content creators do) since the TLH portraits she did and the pieces that are going in the journal for CC's new kickstarter. I'm a self- taught artist so terminology isn't my best, but her style now is giving semi cartoon realism, but airing on the side of the cartoon more now.

I feel that my unpopular opinion is that I'm not a huge fan of it. I really like the TLH portraits she did of Matthew, James, Christopher, Thomas, ect, but idk there is something about these new portraits in her style that I'm just not liking. Her lines are much sharper now, darker, more profound and it feels like all of the face shapes/ jaw lines are basically the same (and I know I have no room to talk since I draw in an anime style so one could argue all my lines look the same).

and I'm NOT saying that they are carbon copies. Jem clearly looks different from Will down to his eye shape which is amazing and looks great. But idk...maybe part of my disliking is also the inconsistencies? and I'm using that term lightly...but like

Clary's hair looking straight when it's very canonly curly. Alec and Magnus having basically the same haircut... (I’m not the best person to speak on Dru…but CJ’s flower card is different and feels more like how she’s described on the book). The lack of and absence of runes... and I know all of that can be personal preference/stylistic choice. After all, art is subjective and based off of the artist's interpretation (for the most part anyway) but I'm a stickler for details so it bugs me…

And I just liked the softness/ more realism style of the previous portraits Charlie has done for TSC than these newer ones. These new ones are nice and I do like them…just not as much…and there are some that I don’t like at all.

Thanks for reading my ramble 😂 I hope it made sense

Summary: I like Charlie’s work, but am not a huge fan of these new TSC portraits.

BESTIE I'M ABOUT TO CRY😭THE WAY I ASKED YOU MYSELF TO EXPRESS YOUR FEELING IN MY ASKBOX AND THEN FORGOT ABOUT IT

Okay okay, SO! You're so brave for saying this, LIKE YES WE'RE BEING FED, thank you for the content for our dying fandom, but damn...

Allow me to also start with: WE LOVE YOU CHARLIE, WE JUST LOVE TO COMPLAIN🥺

I can understand Clary's hair, she could have styled them, I understand few runes on James, maybe Cassie didn't clarify that BUT WHAT ABOUT THESE😫the first one looks like a dream and the second one... I'm not sure, it feels like sth is wrong about it but I'm not an artist and I can't say what exactly is off

BUT SOMETHING IS OFF RIGHT?

One time she nails the character completely and the next time BOOM JUMPSCARE

Is it Cristina? Is it... who's it😳 it can't be Dru

But also I can't blame Charlie, I mean I also prefer her old style, but I'm mostly confused by Cassie. Like...you paid for the work and had a chance to correct the artist or clarify some details about the characters but...you saw this and went YEAH THAT'S WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, NO, NO NEED TO FIX ANYTHING IT'S ALREADY PERFECT

Girl—

[flawlessfallen]

Welp, let's take a shot at this. Adamsapple essay, right.

So I'm not an essayist, so this'll probably be pretty scatterbrained but here goes.

There is SO much potential for Adam in terms of growth and for Lucifer to be the catalyst of that growth. Really consider that there are few people around that were there when Adam was created, few that know how he used to be. Because I cannot ever believe that he was that huge of a dickhorse as a human in Eden.

Because really consider: Adam being 'controlling' of Lilith and then Eve wasn't even his idea, it was God's. This is what God told him to do, as a freshly created human that did not know anything outside of what his literal MAKER is telling him. A maker whose power he sees first hand and who speaks to him directly. Why would Adam even consider questioning what God said? Much less go against it? Lilith going 'lol no' is an exception, not a rule. Adam likely could have either been content with what God told him because he literally knew nothing else OR he could have even been afraid of disobeying him.

If your Creator has the means to make you, then they have the means to UNmake you... likely in many painful ways.

And Lucifer is one of the people who would know how Adam was in the garden, because he was THERE. He was there, he would know how Adam used to be. He would know how far the First Man has fallen, figuratively, from someone that likely was a decent guy with some hang-ups into someone just so... contemptable. So unlike how he ever was when first made.

He would know just how much Adam has changed.

In turn, Adam's view on Lucifer is just as the man who stole his wives, yeah? Well that depends... if he and Lucifer actually spoke, spent time together in the garden, which is likely, then you could argue that not only does Adam suffer abandonment from both his wives but he could even see Lucifer's actions as a betrayal. It adds more fuel to his fire and gives further reason to why he would probably descend into being a trashfire of a human soul. What's the point of being kind or empathetic when all it's ever done is gotten you shit on?

Adam's whole awful attitude could just be a front to hide his insecurities but it could also be him reveling in the fact that he, even if indirectly, get to make Lucifer suffer further by periodically going out to slaughter the denizens of Hell. Even if Lucifer didn't care about the Sinners, there was no way Adam could have known that. He could be reveling in it because it's some way to let out all the anger he feels for all the wrongs he believes he's suffered.

Does this excuse his actions? Not in the least, they're awful and should be more than enough to have him cast down into Hell.

Which brings us to Sinner Adam

He would likely have trouble even existing in Hell. Everyone knows who he is, everyone would want him dead (again) for what he's done. I can't even imagine Charlie wanting him around, he's done so many terrible things. But imagine if he was given a chance. Imagine if he had to make a deal with Lucifer to make sure he didn't cause trouble and to give him some protection from the multiple people that want him gone. Once again, he and Lucifer are brought together and this time they HAVE to tolerate each other.

Imagine the possibilities.

Imagine them finally talking to one another, after many snapping arguments and jabs. Imagine Adam reconnecting with the angel he had met back in Eden, back when things were easier, when things didn't hurt so much. That Lucifer has felt just as alone for almost just as long, with his depression, struggling with his own mistakes and failures. Struggling with having to watch the evils Man creates because he urged them to eat the Apple.

Learning that Lilith left him much like she left Adam (as far as we know).

Imagine the healing that could happen on Lucifer's part. He feels massive regret for giving humans knowledge, that they abuse their Free Will so badly that they end up here in a place of chaos and carnage and exploitation. How soothing to his wounds it would be if the first human, period, were to actually change and grow. Were to develop from the piece of shit that he is back to something closer to how he used to be, how Lucifer remembers him being, before the apple.

Adam can never go back completely, too much time has passed and he's done too much. But Adam is still human and all humans are capable of change,

Lucifer being there as one of the only people who remembers, who can make Adam recall, how he used to be, can coax him back to something closer to creation. Adam being there as someone who has also known Lucifer likely the longest in this show, who knew how he was too; how hopeful, how driven and creative.

Killing Adam off and leaving him dead is a huge WASTE of potential. A waste of really running with the theme and idea of the Hotel: That any soul is capable of redemption, if they try.

Imagine if Adam wanted to try? Imagine if he actually grew, imagine if Lucifer was a big part of that? BOTH of them growing because of their shared history. It's a fucking BARREL of possibilities that's just sitting right there. Wouldn't that be like... the biggest achievement? There's just so much HERE, there's so much that can be done!

Both have fallen-- one literally and one figuratively. Both likely have abandonment issues from their wife/wives leaving them. Both are completely different (likely) from how they were in Eden. Both are so similar and yet so different and that's where all the good kind of potential can be found.

There's SO much that can be done with Adamsapple and it makes me FERAL.

[rutadales]

Do you not think cDream is the villain? Sorry this is not at all meant to be agressive or anything, I just have trouble understanding that interpretation. I’m genuinely interested in what you think bc I’m not as well versed in lore as many dsmp fans but from what I’ve seen, cDream is a pretty unequivocally bad person. I think few of the characters aren’t to be fair, but though cDream is more complex than the common interpretations, he doesnt necessarily seem to be morally better? Again, don’t mean to sound rude or anything!! Just kinda trying to understand :)

So this question kinda expands into several branching off points for me, but I'll try to keep it simple and break it down into sections as best I can. this is going to get long

So do I think c!Dream is a villain? Depends on what definition you're using first of all but also in what context, in which storyline, and from whose perspective you're consuming the story from. A strength of SMPs as storytelling devices is that the concrete plot and hard facts of the story are often pretty fluid; what happened when, who was there, who saw what, and who is a villain or a hero is all dependent on which stream you chose to tune into at the time. But as much as this is a strength, it's also a detriment. Entire character beats and motivations can be missed or obfuscated by simply not tuning into a creators stream. A big example of this is how many people missed the Staged Finale reveal, anyone who didn't watch Punz stream will still be operating under the belief that everything Dream did in the disc finale was his true nature, and not an act. Completely changes how to interpret those characters and the entire finale as a scene.

The nature of stream based storytelling is audiences are consuming completely different stories, simultaneously, and there's no hard copy of this story. It's not a book you can go pick up at Barnes and Noble or a movie you can stream on Netflix. To get caught up and engage with the fiction you either have to go back and rewatch hundreds of hours of live content (with dead space and parts that have been completely ret-conned), watch recaps edited by third parties who are at liberty to cut out anything they deem irrelevant to the story, or get it exclusively word of mouth by the audience. A character being more loved by the audience now means that character's narration is given higher value in contrast to other characters. Even supposedly non-biased sources, like the fan wiki, meant to lay out bare bone facts of the story are riddled with un-sourced fan interpretations of the media. Look here

Now, reading a characters unreliable narration as reliable isn't a failing as it is more just engaging with the media as intended. The intent of utilizing unreliable narrators is often to "trick" the audience or to showcase how that character sees the world. Its fine and is used is a lot of different mediums, I'm actually a huge fan. Love me some bitches who just lie. The thing is, due to everything I've laid out above, having a character who is unreliable, like c!Tommy often is, in this medium means fans who only consume the content via world of mouth are getting an unreliable narration without the context that its unreliable. This completely changes entire swaths of the fiction and more, to our point, who is the villain.

A really, kind of neat phenomena in the fandom is how fans bought into c!Wilbur's lies about L'manberg the same way the characters he was manipulating did. Fans became part of the narrative in a strange way. Which is actually a perfect example for how other characters shape the narrative around Dream, both within the fiction and within the fans trying to engage with it.

With that in mind, I don't even read the dsmp as a story with "villains" or "heros", its a story with a lot of different perspectives that clash with each other. Those terms don't really lend themselves to the kind of questions I'm asking about the story.

I think the question you're really asking is "Do you think c!Dream is a good person". You bring up being "unequivocally bad" and moral a couple different times, which to me flags as a question about fictional morality. Because the question of who is a villain in the dream smp is completely dependent on who you watch, which streams you've watched, and whosever narration you decided to subscribe to-- and is why I find the label villain in dsmp analysis fairly mute. It's kinda a pointless exercise to try and determine who earns that label and who doesn't. Not the kind of analysis I'm interested in.

But to answer the question I think you imply here, no I don't think c!Dream is a good person. I don't think anyone on the smp is. Maybe Michael? Well he tried to break into a prison for information, so by some moral standards, absolutely not! I'd certainly agree with you that Dream is more complex than common interpretation would lead us to believe, but that complexity does lend itself to morality in some cases.

Is Dream wrong to want to prevent his home from being split up into countries and thus filled with conflict? Is it worse to threaten, torment, and assault someone because you're pathologically obsessed with them or because you have a larger goal in mind and find those actions beneficial to the goal at hand?

To me, that's it's just pointless hole to get sucked into. I am personally uninterested in ideas of a character possessing or gaining moral purity and much more interested in characters learning to move on from the harm they've caused. C!Dream is interesting to me, not because he's a good person, but because hes a complex one. TL;DR: I am uninterested in using villain as a term within the context of dsmp and find the discussions of the moral goodness of characters reductive.

If you have any other questions feel free to shoot me an ask! I actually quite enjoy breaking down how I think about characters and media and am always open to (friendly) discussions on the matter. <3

[notanotherzerofan]

I don't know if anybody has a Spoutible account, but there's been a huge data leak

Only heard of this site a few days ago and only heard about this happening just last night, but if you signed up for this site, you're personal info (e-mail, phone, etc) is at risk.

I bring this up as I see all the user-unfriendly practices going on with Twitter (as an outside observer) and people looking for alternatives.

Anyway, did a bit more digging and apparently this Christopher Bouzy guy bought the source code and barely changed anything making it so that if you know what to put in the site's url you can pretty much access any user's data. Also heard he doxxed someone who was trying to warn people of this situation (if I'm remembering correctly, plus he's been in some other shady stuff, but I'm not about to get into any of that).

There was also apparent an issue where initially you had to sign up using video verification showing both your face and your ID or passport, but from what I know it's been removed.

Anyway, here's a video kind of reiteration what I've just said (and probably explains things better than I did).

While I'm at it, I'll say this: with all these new sites popping up everywhere you probably shouldn't be jumping on day one, especially if there's been little to no transparency from the creators/owners.

Also, always read the TOS. i know it's a chore and full of confusing legal bs, but you could literally be consenting to something you don't agree with (like Cohost's weird wording terms on user content and ownership).

Please share this anywhere you can.

Also, I really shouldn't have to say this, but my post has nothing to do with politics. If you're not a fan of the guys in the video, fine. I literally have not idea who they are other than the fact one is a lawyer and that the guy they're interviewing is a programmer. Some things are more important, like not having you identity stolen and life ruined because of it.

EDIT: Spelling error

[kissmetwicekissmedeadly]

I can see where you're coming from when you talk about the term "content creator", however I think for a lot of people who prefer the term, it comes from a place of fanfiction being deemed a "lesser" art form for so long, that we want to have a title that is recognized as important by other parts of the creative community. Fanfiction has a lot of roots as being the outcast version of media, and is often infantalized and demonized by others in the same general field. So when the term "content creator" came around, it was not only recognized by a HUGE part of the community with youtubers, tik tokers, and instagrammers, fanfiction writers found that they could also apply that title to themselves without backlash - which was rare.

So yes, I understand that the terminology itself sort of denotes a "competition" or "business" style of thinking, but coming from the other side, perhaps that isn't ALL bad if it allows fanfiction writers to be taken just a little more seriously. My personal belief is that we should all be able to call ourselves what we want without that title being "wrong" or overall deemed "bad". I can see the good in a change, but I can also see it hurting a ton of great people who have chosen this title because it helps them.

All love! ❤️

Thank you so much for contributing to the discussion!! 🙇🏻‍♀️ I understand your point and it gives so much food for thought. I can't talk about the topic of how fanfiction came to where it stands today in terms of being recognized and respected in fandom communities because I just wasn't there to witness this process. I only know things the way they are right now. I'm forever thankful to the people who made this possible, and despite that I too have been insulted for making fanfiction by people who deem it embarrassing, I recognize that things are much, much better right now than how they once used to be.

Still, it's not perfect. And neither are those other parts of the creative community that we're trying to get at the level of. I think this situation can be simply put as "it's okay now, but it always can be better" - as in, we should recognize the efforts of bringing fanfiction to the status of fan content, but we should also not accept that as enough. The people who made peace with being called content creators are still around us, an essential part of our creative community, and we should respect them. But at the same time, another group of people is starting to show up, one from a new generation of creatives - and it's up to them to further bring recognition and respect to fan fiction. We shouldn't force this change as it won't happen overnight, and maybe it's the normal order of things that arguments about this arise from inside the community.

I personally would simply stick to what (now) feels better for me to call myself, and would try to bring some attention to this problem - from there on everyone decides for themselves and I shouldn't judge their choice. This is how I feel.

Now, I wanted to make it clear that up till here we're talking about fandom culture in general and how this affects especially fanfiction. My initial post was about the Ikemen community in particular, meaning that all of what we have to say about the word "content", I saw through the prism of "how does this work for the Ikemen community?". When we talk about how this terminology brings an air of competition, I wanted to say that especially in the Ikemen community it has a stronger effect. And, I might be wrong! Gods, I hope I'm wrong! But just wanted to make it clear that I'm coming from a place of genuine worry for an underlying problem in our community. Again, one that could just be in my head. That's why I wanted to have a discussion!

Thank you once again and I hope this didn't accidentally sound mean in any way! Sending love back! ❤

[raifuujin]

What’s your opinion on kaishin? Do u like their dynamics together? or do u like both characters separately? Also, do you find it weird that some ppl ship them romantically?

I’ve thought about KaiShin a little. V:

I don’t really find it weird that people ship them romantically. If two characters interact with each other and have any sort of dynamic (or sometimes even just a regular chat), they will get shipped in some way. And the law vs criminal dynamic is one that’s pretty popular already, they’re the same age (when it’s Shinichi and not Conan), and were already going to be compared at protagonists and lookalikes, so Kaito and Shinichi were already set up for a ship in some way.

As for what I like, it really depends on what the context is. I do enjoy both characters individually, but the dynamic is a reason I like movie 14. Granted, the ‘dynamic’ I like isn’t a ship thing, I just enjoy the interactions as a general thing, makes the characters and how they’re dealing with the situation fun. They have a nice and easy to grasp attitude towards each other that’s entertaining for me to see. 

Now if what you were asking was whether I prefer shipping them or just see them as two people who sometimes interact with each other, then I’m kinda neutral. With this series, I approve of a lot of ships, both canon and fanon, even if I could criticize any of them for various reasons. It’s along the same lines as liking a show, but can point out any flaw it has in a heartbeat. I don’t think I actively ship anything now, though. Passive shipper for a lot, including KaiShin, it’s mostly just that I think it looks nice when I see good content for it without going out of my way to want to provide and find all content for it.

[simnostalgia]

TW: Stalking, suicide, death, death threats, Zoophilia, Pedophilia, etc.

This is a long read. Sorry about that. I have lots of thoughts.

A Little Background for Those Not in the Know Regarding Sims "for profit" Modding Drama.

Okay, so I know I've already kind of talked about the implications of the new policy a little, but I haven't really talked about what I personally think about it. This seems like a good time though. I don't really expect many people to read this all the way through but honestly, I just wanted to say something about it.

As some of you know I was the old head of DHM (Dollhouse Mafia) and original founder. I stepped down a while ago because I was spreading myself too thin on personal projects and also, I didn't like the way things were going. I have nothing but good things to say about the current leadership, but it just personally wasn't worth it to me. ANYWAY, that being said, I wanted to put my thoughts about how the community has changed regarding its stance on pay content and how it used to be

So back in the days of TS2 PMBD acted as a receptacle for all pay custom content to be leaked. TSR, way back, was the biggest pay site in the community with several other smaller pay sites that specialized in hair or clothes. These sites generally had a specific style and very obviously made their own content. I couldn't tell you how much creators made but I know that other than TSR users it wasn't a huge amount.

So, The Sims team has pretty obviously always had a love/hate relationship with pay content. Even though it seems to have cooled they used to be VERY close to TSR. I know that they've always had a policy against pay content but it's never been enforced really. Like I said though, the only people who seemed to be making BIG money from non-passive income was TSR.

The reason that I bring this up is that I think the reason that things went so wrong isn't because of pay CC. I'm against pay CC and I always will be, we can talk about paying artists all we want but at the end of the day this is a hobby and if you're trying to use it as your main source of income you're in the wrong but I digress...

EA's Relationship with for profit CC

Fun fact, Patreon was actually started by the voice actor that played Teen/College aged men in TS2. I suspect that he got the idea from watching The Sims community try and set up their own personal online shopfronts and figured there was a way to do it better. I also suspect that many people who worked within The Sims Studio were pro-paysite because it created a demand that kept The Sims brand in people's minds. If people were making a living off of it then it was always being bought and you had people who basically HAD to buy it because that's how they made a living.

When talking about his new NFT (gross.) project Will Wright actually mentioned that one thing he didn't like was that piracy was taking place when Sims players were creating pay CC and others would pirate it. I suspect that the only reason they kept the policy they did was in case creators would make something that rivaled the studio in terms of quality (which according to Don Hopkins was an actual concern and part of the reason that EA's CC tools weren't super powerful, we couldn't create anything "too good")

Like anything to do with money, I think people who were mostly outsiders to the community realized that they could maximize profits through unsavory means such as flipping meshes quickly and reselling them from 3D modelling websites.

The problem is this created a flood of people who started using The Sims as their SOLE income and they began making good money too. Enough that they wouldn't easily be able to make that amount doing anything else without a serious career change.

Low Quality, Quick Profit, Unruly Community

So remember how EA decided they wanted to reach out and start the Game Changer program for the better by doing outreach to players by trying to interact with the community online. Then very recently they were like... trying to start a "sims social platform"? Yeah EA isn't really crazy about the fact that we're a self-sufficient community.

Most other gaming communities that have player made content tend to try and keep that player made content in an official store of some kind. Both so they can monetize it and use it as a selling point and also so they can control what can be done with it. Roblox is a GOOD example of how companies tend this sort of thing to play out. Communities that exploit creators and allow companies to control the player content, so everything aligns with the "brand".

Now, I'm just a person who REALLY likes The Sims and knows a lot about it so take it with a grain of salt but I suspect that EA is trying to find a way to keep us under better control. They've likely seen the messy fights that the patreon creators have been getting in. They've also definitely heard about the wide-spread availability of not just sex mods but sex mods that allow for pedophilia/zoophilia.

People can act like this has happened before in The Sims community but not like this. Before people were getting legal threats here and there and a few people were doing some bad stuff with the game but now we're talking doxxing, half of 4chan has started using The Sims as a sex playground, and people are making crazy money from it. EA was willing to overlook sex mods but I doubt they want a replay of the Jack Thompson case or to get the bad press that Habbo of Secondlife got for being bastions of pedophilia and perversion. It used to be that TSR was one company that made a lot of money and acted like a company acts to protect their business interests. However, now you have several HUNDRED people who were using The Sims as a get quick rich scheme and they were willing to attack community members to keep themselves living well. Not all of them, mind you, but it is an issue.

I suspect EA is worrying how this will look for the brand. It was okay when we were all creating a few mods and making pocket change from custom content. But now, because we've all been content creators we're getting better at it and it's causing problems (TM) for EA.

Both because their overlooking of pay content has backfired as it became more of a business AND because their players started becoming skilled enough to create things that both rivaled their own content and sullied their brand for outsiders and started attracting more and more unsavory types (cough cough ColonolNutty).

TL;DR: EA did this to themselves. They wanted the community to create for their games but didn't consider the outcomes of monetizing it. Now no matter what they do, some group will be mad at them. No matter what they do it's going to result in bad press... And you know what?

[vethbrenatto]

Hi! Not hoping to start drama or anything but I just wanted to say I totally get the fear of tlovm. I'm more scared of hyping it up than of it disappointing me which makes no sense at all but thats where I'm at.

Im so excited for it and also I wish we would stay in the countdown with only the trailer forever. I want every single scene animated and also a whole new story so the animation of my fave scenes can't fail to meet expectations.

I join you in Fear is what I'm trying to say.

(different ask, same vibes) i am in the same headspace as you about tlovm. i have a lot of faith in cr in terms of adapting their own story but retcons are not new to them (just... slowly and surely erasing tiber*us out of canon) and for the first time i think i realized they could change things i am actually very fond of and made the story special to me.

i understand those fears, though for myself i'm specifically worried about the couple of characters i mentioned

as an overall, to bring you some positivity back, i'm fairly optimistic about this adaption. given how much say the cast had, i have a good amount of faith in their ability to bring their own stories to life, specifically and especially in terms of plot. are scanbo and The Cows ever going to be as good as the original? probably not, but they can still be great.

i also think you have to be open to the medium of animation and the kind of storytelling that involves. i'm personally a huge animation fan and am perfectly fine with changes (especially plotwise, less so concerning relationships and dynamics), and considering the format, i'd advise any fan to go in with that mentality. the meatiness of D&D is just TOO much for animated show, but i think we're going to get the essence of vox machina and for the most part, i think they can pull that off.

everything from the clips released, i've enjoyed so far. i think the designs of the characters are spectacular, the animation is good for the budget they had, and i feel like certain clips were great for the character's energy (especially grog's moments!).

i will say that i'm with you with not wanting much retconning. that's a personal preference of mine as well.

lastly, be prepared that they might erase scenes that were important to you. there were so many important scenes, they couldn't possibly fit them all in. plus they have to make room for new content that will not have been in the original material. you might miss those scenes, but they'll still exist in the original, and the original VM can still be that special to you, TLOVM is an adaptation. similar to novel to movie adaptations, things will fall to the wayside, but they can still be good if the creators really understand the source material (and i'd say there's a good chance with how much creative say CR cast had, they do.)

but also being in a fearful headspace rather than a hyped one is often a defense response (that i pull a lot myself) because if you don’t have expectations you’ll be less disappointed

[shanitani]

I understand your point of view about "blushing" and other things but personally I don't really meet this word very often in different works. Talking about writers and works where we CAN meet the word "blush", I think these white (most likely) people write things mostly for white readers (they even do it unconsciously ig), as well as you, being poc, wrote for poc readers. Anyway, what I wanted to say that I think if you have some ideals and try to share them with society you need to behave according to these ideals too. I understand that you write black!reader because internet lacks such content but anyway it kinda doesn't seem fair to me?? Even if you say that everyone can read your content, it is not true because in your works you specify that reader is black, that's what I'm talking about.

your ask is giving very much “I’m white and yeah everything is pretty much pale related even in real life terms but I need EVERYTHING to be so why don’t you as a black person be more inclusive to me!!!”💀.

this is YOU as for me I meet this word VERY frequently - I don’t like making discourse unless I truly feel like it should be heard about. (If you’ve been on my blog for a while yk I constantly talk abt not loving being in discourse.)

I’m glad you understand that theirs a HUGE lack of black content and most of the black content I read are from creators I’m friends with - and I only have 900 followers with around 150 mutuals. Take that ratio in account of ALL of the white authors on tumblr (who’d I obviously not expect to write black readers since they aren’t black lol)

Again, I put black reader bc I am a black writer. there’s no changing that. My writing is inclusive and if the only thing stopping you from reading is bc I put black reader than so be it mf we get nothing💀. And you act as if you can’t skip through mine and then find a MILLION more suitable fics for you as a white person.

My statement was how I felt and Im sticking to it and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.

[creampievampire]

Could you go into the difference between the subtext and queerbaiting in it, I'm still kind of -well it's obviously gay but nothing was really ever said or shown that says that expect for people talking about it- Like are the characters and their relationship just queer-coded (positivly ofc lol) but the baitiness comes from them sort of confirming it off the show?

of course! im assuming by ‘it’ you mean merlin, but rather than explaining the reasons why i think bbc merlin is a matter of subtext (or queer coding) and not queerbaiting, i think it would be easier and more productive to explain the difference between the two in general. they are very similar - which is why i think a lot of people are unable to tell the difference between them - but they have important differences

just a warning, this is going to be a LONG post lmao ive bolded exactly what each term means below, after which i go into more detail on the whole issue. this is something im passionate about so,,, ♥

queerbaiting specifically refers to a marketing technique in which creators hint at but dont actually depict a queer character or relationship. They do this in order to attract a queer audience with the suggestion of a character or relationship they can relate to, while also avoiding alienating their queerphobic audiences

queer coding is the subtextual coding of a character as queer through the use of things like metaphor, allegory, hinting, recognisable traits/stereotypes/experiences, etc. This is done to build believable characters and create more complex plot lines, and it is also regularly used by people who want to tell queer stories but are unable to do so explicitly. it CAN be used negatively to enforce damaging stereotypes, but that is just a small part of its usage

both of these things utilise subtext in order to work. subtext is not only a crucial part of the creation of any piece of media, but is impossible to avoid.

an example of the most basic types of subtext is when a character tells someone that everything is going to be okay, but you can tell they dont believe it. or when youre watching a story unfold and you suddenly connect the dots and realise whats going to happen before its explicitly stated - you used subtext and the hidden meanings and hints to figure it out!

the people involved w a piece of media create their story with a specific purpose or meaning in mind, and they construct the subtext of the story to reflect that purpose/meaning. HOWEVER, the viewers dont always see things the same!

your experiences and personality shape the way you view and interpret every piece of media you consume. if you hate cops youll see the insidious undertones in cop shows - if you grew up with an abusive parent youll see the biting implications in a characters dialogue that others find innocent - if youre queer you will search for and fine queer characters everywhere, regardless of the creators intentions

now, both queerbaiting and queer coding use subtext to function, right? so how do you know which is being used and whether or not its a bad thing? its all about intention

to give a specific explanation of the difference im going to use two examples that are (arguably) very similar in the way their queer characters became canon

example 1: adventure time featured the characters marceline and princess bubblegum, who have been forever depicted as a couple in fan content. their interactions in the show were read into and latched onto bc we saw ourselves in them and we saw it as positive queer rep. but their relationship was never explicitly discussed during the course of the show and was only confirmed at the end of the final episode.

that makes 10 seasons in which their relationship existed only in subtext, and when it did finally exist in canon it was only for a few minutes, if that.

example 2: supernatural featured the characters dean and castiel (lol) who have been depicted as a queer couple pretty much since the first episode cas appeared in. i personally hung on their every interaction, analysed every glance between them, bc i interpreted deans character as a parallel to my own childhood trauma.

cas joined the show in season 4, so that makes 11 seasons in which him being gay existed only in subtext, and when it was confirmed he was immediately cut out of the show. the exact nature of dean and castiels relationship still remains in subtext.

so why is it that adventure time is widely considered perfectly fine but supernatural is dunked on as being the poster boy for queerbaiting?

its bc adventure time involved queer creators and was an earnest representation of queer characters, but they were boxed in by their publisher, Cartoon Network and thus the only way for the relationship to exist in the show was through subtext.

supernatural, however, consistently neglected their queer character and employed transparent tropes and stereotypes - bringing him in just sparingly enough to keep queer audiences interested while never being gay enough to alienate their macho manly man queerphobe audiences. they would have dean and cas stare into each other eyes for a full 30 seconds and then almost immediately follow it up with an episode about dean banging a disposable female character.

so imho adventure time falls under queer subtext, and supernatural falls under queerbaiting

when it comes to a show like bbc merlin i see a lot of debate about whether or not its queer coding or queerbaiting, and my intention is not to convince you of either. merlin was very much a product of its time, and i have argued the same about seasons 4-6 of supernatural as well, before the queerbaiting escalated and became exhausting to me

the purpose of this post is to start giving you the information you need to analyse any piece of media and come to your OWN opinion as to whether or not its queerbaiting or whatever else

people will ALWAYS have differing opinions about this shit yall. i have debated so many times w so many people about where the line is and whats okay and what should be ‘cancelled’ and if consuming something deemed problematic makes you a bad person or not

and my conclusion?

if youre capable of acknowledging the flaws and issues w a piece of media without trying to defend it as a shining beacon of purity simply bc you like it, then you do you. enjoy whatever you want to enjoy - if i think its reprehensible i simply will never interact with you lol

at some point everyone has to stop regurgitating these generic woke speak cancel culture speeches and buzzwords and formulate their own opinions

my advice to anyone reading this is to learn how to do close reading (ill provide a link to a wonderful short guide on it in a reblog bc tumblr hates links) and start really considering where you draw the lines with all types of content. decide for yourself whether merlin or supernatural or adventure time crosses the line into content you cant stomach, but respect other people whose interpretations differ from yours

i know a HUGE amount of people think supernaturals confession scene was homophobic and toxic - a slap in the face - but when i watched it i saw myself reflected in dean. a repressed bisexual whose emotions had been stunted by lifelong trauma, who wasnt ready to face his feelings for cas but quickly realising that his chronic avoidance and fear was about to tear them apart possibly forever. to me it was tragic and beautiful, and i loved it

i also think merlin is a tragic and beautiful love story, and to me its a pivotal piece of queer media that changed the way i viewed love and made me believe that it was a possibility for me bc i related so deeply to arthur

i hope that you can draw a satisfying answer from this, anon, and i apologise for this post being a full essay lol but i believe it needed to be said  - i dont think there is a right or wrong answer here

[forestwater87]

I'm screaming. I just realized this was the legendary Forest Water from Ao3, the creator of the fandom last names Santos and Greenwood, and I didn't know all this time?! What?! I can't actually believe it. Your stuff is legendary! I really enjoy your fanfiction, and you're a great creator. Any advice for a fanfic writer who starts to write a Gwenvid longfic? Any tips on how to become a sucessful fandom memeber? Sorry this is so long, I just really enjoy your work!

These two happened to dovetail really nicely, so I wanted to respond to them in a single (very long) post. I’ve talked a little about getting started writing in the past, but specifically about writing Gwenvid? That’s a little different, and interesting to explore.

I think, anyway. But I always find Gwenvid interesting.

1. Thank you! 

I don’t consider myself especially famous or special -- certainly not anymore, when my updates to my flagship fic are annual at best -- so it’s a little weird that there are people looking at me like that. However, it’s also really touching and encouraging, so I’m at a loss for words. Not sure how to respond to such kind comments, so . . . you know, thanks.

2. Writing Gwenvid -- especially longfic

Here’s the thing: There isn’t a single fic I’ve written that I expected to become long. The first “Tigger & Eeyore” was supposed to be like 5 chapters and then ballooned into 14 and a sequel (which it’s now looking like is going to explode into its own sequel, so yikes). 

There’s a reason they’re called plotbunnies: they multiply like crazy. So if you have a single-shot idea or shortfic that you’re not sure will have legs, just start writing it. It might end up wrapping up rather quickly and you can move on to the next idea without it hanging over your head, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes something much larger totally organically.

Also, keep your plots kind of . . . vague? At least, in my experience I’ve found that helps. A generic idea of the world you want to build and a couple set pieces (i.e., major conflicts or story beats) gives you room to play around without pressure to make it “add up to” something. I’ve never written a fic that had a story in the first 4-5 chapters, and that’s how I like it. It’ll . . . just sort of materialize, while you’re exploring the world.

I mean, if you want to write a tightly-paced epic with a twisty, intricate plot, then you’re going to want to find an author who does that sort of thing. My stories tend to be a lot more meandering.

OH! Also get really flowery with your language. Eats up word counts like Wheaties.

Okay, but Gwenvid specifically: if you want to be mostly canon-compliant, the big thing is that we only see them in the context of this one improbably long summer. There are years of story before and after that point that we’ll never get to see, and I think it’s really interesting. (Especially the before part; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone write a “prequel” to Camp Camp, but how fun is that idea???) When it comes to “fill in the blanks” fanfic writing, it’s really nice to have a story, relationship, and world with so many blanks. There’s a lot you can do just by writing about what they’re up to the rest of the year.

As for AUs: go nuts. Fucking go wild, you funky lil person. Groundhog Day. Ghostbusters. Lost in Translation. Movies that don’t star Bill Murray, probably. Find a straight couple and make them Gwenvid, and go goddamn bonkers with the possibilities. Find a world with Gwenvid-like characters and make them Gwenvid. The possibilities are literally endless. 

3. Fandom engagement and being a BNF

Huh. Not sure where to go with this one.

Like I said, I don’t consider myself much of a BNF (that’s “big-name fan,” for those of you who might have a life outside of tumblr) -- certainly not anymore. And honestly, becoming “popular” in this economy fandom isn’t . . . necessarily going to be super easy.

I mean, don’t get me wrong! The fandom isn’t dead by any means; people are still writing, and still being read. But if you look at the track record over time:

Average kudos counts of Forestwater’s fics by year:

2016: 574

2017: 277

2018: 79

2019: 60

2020: 50

(if you ever wondered why I had a serious emotional crisis about the quality of my writing and general popularity in 2018 and 2019, that drop should tell you a lot)

Now, some of this is certainly my fault. The most important thing when it comes to fandom success is engagement: the more you write, the more attention you’re going to get. If you can stick to a regular update schedule, you’re going to be on the front page and in the top of the tags, and people will see your stuff and be more likely to read it. And attention is self-generating, because the more kudos and hits you have, the more people are going to check out your work just to see what the big deal is. So getting laid off and deeply depressed, then not updating at a time when the fandom was already beginning a pretty steady downward trajectory anyway . . . was not my best move in terms of relevance.

And engagement doesn’t necessarily have to mean updates, by the way! (Though you should update regularly if you want the attention.) Sharing headcanons, answering asks, starting fandom drama and ship wars . . . that’s all the kind of thing that establishes you as an authority; even if people think you’re wrong, they’ll think you’re someone whose opinion is worth disagreeing with, if they see you mouthing off in the tags enough. 

I’m not confident this is a good call, but Snowqueens Icedragon didn’t get massive fandom success by not starting flame wars, is all I’m saying. 

If you have the spoons to answer questions, people will want to ask them. No one wants to talk to someone who won’t reply to them. The most popular artists and authors are always going to be the ones who interact with the fandom the most. Higher output, more attention, more praise. I’m not saying it’s fair -- in fact, it very well might not be -- but that’s the nature of the beast.

Also, play to the fandom. Camp Camp fans want to see dadvid. They want to see dan/vid. They want to see Max-centric content, and they probably want it to be angsty. They want to see self-inserts dating David. If you can give them some of that stuff (none of which is inherently bad, to be clear, nor is it inherently good; it’s just what’s popular, and tbh if you can cram it all in one fic that’d be amazing), you have the benefit of giving people exactly what they want. 

To be clear, don’t write about things that don’t inspire you; aside from it being a soul-crushing endeavor, it’s noticeable when someone’s heart just isn’t in it, and it’s even harder to keep those regular updates. But if the things you’re passionate about happen to be the things the fandom really wants to see at the moment, then you’re much closer to riding the kudos train, my friendo.

But here’s the thing: even if you do everything right, you might still get screwed.

Some of this is just due to the fact that Camp Camp is always a dead fandom in the off-seasons, and we don’t know how long this current off-season is going to last. Hell, we don’t have to look at me for this:

This is “How to Foster an Asshole” by emiartse. It’s one of the fandom’s most popular fics, with a whopping 962 kudos. Hot damn, look at that engagement. That’s a fucking fic right there!

This is the sequel, which has 122 kudos. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure -- I think we’d all be delighted to have 122 kudos -- but even the general tendency of sequels to have less attention than a series debut doesn’t entirely explain such a precipitous drop. And emiartse is doing everything right! This is dadvid! And momgwen! It’s just as well-written as the first; it’s not like we suddenly experience a decrease in quality or anything. It came right on the heels of the first one ending, and the updates have been more or less like clockwork, in keeping with the previous story.

So what changed?

Well, HTFAA was first published in 2019, right on the heels of Season 4′s finale and when fandom hype was pretty high. HTAAA was published in September 2020, during this whole “world pandemic and every political disaster all at once” thing that’s got us all fucked up -- and especially, during a period where we all knew Camp Camp wasn’t coming back for the year, and maybe not ever.

It’s . . . not a great time to be a writer for Camp Camp if your goal is popularity. I mean, it’s never a great time to be a writer if your goal is popularity -- consider the tragic difference in notes between ellohcee’s gorgeous art and their equally-excellent writing just for comparison -- but it’s especially tough now. If you really want to be a huge name in the fandom, my suggestion is to travel back in time to 2016 and establish yourself as the pioneer of something (seriously, it can be anything; there was basically nothing in the fandom at that time. Every idea was a new one). 

So . . . what do we do when we can’t be popular? Maybe you don’t want to chain yourself to a strict update schedule, or write the twelve-thousandth iteration of the most popular fandom tropes, or you exist in 2021 when everything is terrible and no one cares about a web cartoon series. What happens then?

4. Do it anyway.

I know, I know -- that sounds hella cheesy. “Write because you love it, not for attention” is one of those statements that everyone rolls their eyes at, because seriously? Please. What’s even the point of sharing something you write if no one reads it?

Well . . . because you made it. Because it’s something that wouldn’t exist without you, and because even though there are such a tiny number of readers in a very small, very dead fandom -- those people still exist. And seeing what you wrote will make them happy. And if they have the spoons, they’ll let you know that you made them happy, which will make you happy.

I haven’t updated my major fic in a year -- haven’t updated any writing in several months. But what keeps me going is the excitement that my ideas bring me, and the pride I feel in watching them come to life. It’s like giving a gift to someone; I get really nervous and giddy whenever I post a sentence.

And does it suck when it feels like your present goes unappreciated? Yeah. If you write the first chapter of your awesome long-form Gwenvid fic and it gets like 5 or 3 or even zero notes, that’s a huge bummer. That hurts a lot, and it can crush your self-esteem worse than even the most vicious hate. But your fic isn’t going to just be around for the few hours or days that you’re watching the engagement. It’s going to be there, growing as you update it or just sitting happily in its tags, and someone is going to find it.

Your story is going to be someone’s favorite fic. I promise. 

And hell, let’s make it my favorite fic! 

If you post something -- you know what, even if you post something in a trope or ship I hate, or a fandom I’m not in, doesn’t even have to just be Camp Camp; times are hard right now and we gotta support each other -- send me the link in a personal message. (Don’t tag me, I won’t see it. I never see anything on this terrible, terrible site.) I’ll like it; I’ll give it kudos. I’ll probably even share it*, because we’re going through the lean times in this fandom. And we’re writers, so the lean times are extra lean; it’s the bone-and-dust times. 

*Okay, but I reserve the right to not support someone’s work that makes me very uncomfortable. I’ll share things I don’t personally stan, but I’m not gonna platform your “why Hitler was good, actually” essay disguised as a fanfic or anything. My 6 followers deserve better.

Write something that excites you, and then tell me about it. If you need help brainstorming, tell me about that too. 

I might not have the spoons to keep this up for a prolonged period of time, but I’ll do what I can and you’ll do what you can and together we’ll . . . idk, do something. I’m losing the thread of my great inspirational speech here.

Uhhhh TL;DR let’s just do the dang thing. If we fail we all fail together. Yay team!

[kidmachinate]

Forget Pay to Win, Unite to Win

Alright look...the title could use some work but hear me out as I take you through this casual look at Pokemon Unite.

You may be thinking to yourself, why? Why listen to a guy who doesn't play MOBAs or enjoy them in the least bit due to the toxicity that exists within? I'd argue that is more the reason to listen. Because I don't care for a lot of what goes into these games and am having a shocking amount of fun with what is honestly a fun game, but definitely isn't without its drawbacks. Spoilers. The drawbacks are what everyone knows already. There is a Pay to Win aspect. Let's break this down.

MOBAs (to me) are intimidating. Huge focus on teamplay while juggling various mechanics and game knowledge. Huge focus on map awareness. Crazy stuff. This doesn't change in Unite and won't be a game that changes your opinion on the genre as a whole perhaps but if you find yourself bored and/or with a short attention span, this one may just get your attention. I've previously played League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm. The latter I found more fun but it didn't grab my attention. Apparently Activision Blizzard didn't like it either as the game got canned. Something about Pokemon just brings people who are into it together. Here's what works for me.

No focus on last hitting

I don't know if last hitting has a term but in Pokemon Unite, you get experience even if you don't get the last hit. You get more if you do, but still some without having to learn the timing for a last hit between different characters and trying to coordinate that potentially with a teammate in the same lane. This is huge for me. It was an annoyance from the start when playing. To do this for so long to potentially have so much else fall apart possibly about fortyish minutes later in a game.

Match Length

Matches are ten minutes long. By the time potential anger or team mistakes could get to you as it will anyone to some extent, the match is over and you can queue right back up for the next one. A lot more games can be played in the time it takes to play a single LoL game. The game respects your time in that aspect until you start to look into the various areas where it potentially doesn't. Unfortunately this does align with where the P2W aspect kicks in. More on that part later. Ten minute matches whether ranked or regular games makes daily tasks seem more doable. Sometimes dailies or other various things you can redeem will require a quick match. Five minute matches. Even better! Personally however, I don't care much for quick matches. The pace of the game is a bit too quick and one map in particular with treadmills makes moving more of a chore than it needs to be. Ten minutes goes by quickly while still feeling the phases of the game hit you as you get familiarized with the game. Early, mid, and late game phases all play different parts of what makes up a good game of Pokemon Unite. Ten minutes feels right to be able to focus quickly on what each of these phases are and quickly learn from your mistakes before trying that next game and seeing what you can do differently.

Pay To Win?

Quick answer? Yes. Not as bad as it is made out to be however. Many doing this are either content creators or whales. Sometimes one in the same. This does in the case of content creators allow them to be able to provide insight to builds and what works quicker but sucks for the beginners to both the game and perhaps the genre as a whole. Knowing this however, skill can outplay the money one spends. You get benefits for sure but in higher ranks, people are going to have higher level held items anyway. Held items give a Pokemon various effects or buffs. You can hold three of these as opposed to just one in the core games. There a slight gatcha aspect with the energy system. Basically a completely random either cometic or game enhancing item if you're lucky. You have a weekly cap on this and if you want to bypass it...you guess it! You can spend money. Looking past the complexities of various currencies, there is a lot you can get for free without having to spend a dime. Even if you do, if you're really against P2W, you could just...not. Crazy concept, I know but you can just not buy into it. Save your money for cosmetics or new licences which get you different Pokemon to play as. Saving for the ones you can't acquire for free is a good idea.

The game may lack the depth a hardcore MOBA player would be looking for, but has just enough to be more interesting to a wider audience, and lots of variety with the different Pokemon and team combinations, to make for a fun experience. I truly don't believe things are currently at.a point where an outrage is necessary but we also cannot pretend it isn't there. Considering the facts for what they are, I say this is a fun middle of the road type game. I'm having a lot of fun with it but could do without it. It's not excellent but it isn't bad. Not every game is a 0 or a 10. It's okay to play a 7 out of 10 game you may enjoy but also not be blind to potential shortcomings. The fun factor outweighs these shortcomings for me and it helps that many others I know currently feel the same way. Like any potential multiplayer effort, I'll keep playing until it wears out its welcome...but with how many Pokemon exist, it may be a long journey.

[rpbetter]

a vent (feel free to ignore if it's too much!): so recently i've noticed psd makers getting anon asks on whether they're ok with people who write certain topics (mostly rpf, incest, rape, underage, the usual "problematic" topics) using their recourses. now, i don't roleplay any of these subjects on tumblr, so even if a content creator said not to use their stuff, it's not even something i need to worry about - but, and maybe this is me overthinking it, what if i, someday, write a noncon fanfic on ao3? i'm still not using their resources on the subject or writing it on tumblr, but i'd probably feel weird about it, like i'm crossing some boundary. what if a psd maker whose content i've already purchased suddenly goes "actually don't use my psds if you rp abusive relationships", which is probably the closest to what people consider "taboo themes" of the things that i roleplay. it just feels like a fine line between personal boundaries and a shitty situation for a customer - not wanting to cross boundaries but already having PAID for something previously, when no such rules existed. it's making me want to 1. block everyone i see saying this, because even though i don't personally roleplay the topics above, i don't feel SAFE around people who tell others what kind of fiction they are allowed to enjoy and 2. just quit using people's resources and spend years learning to make my own psds so i won't have to worry about this shit. it's just stressing me out, as someone who has been harrassed and bullied online for speaking against censorship. i've had literal sock accounts made just to spew targetted harrassment at me on twitter. i've been accused of being a pedo and supporting incest and this is??? literally for saying "i don't think real people should be harrassed for fictional shit", i've not even shipped underage or incest ships. both make me uncomfortable. but fuck, antis make me 1000000x more uncomfortable than people who ship these kinda ships. i digress, this got rambley, i just. do you have any advice on what to do with the potential psd situation, or am i really just overthinking it? (always worried i accidentally send stuff like this off anon. help)

I need you to know that I actually had to rush-scroll back up and just double check that you did submit on anon lol! I always get worried I'll miss the one person who accidentally didn't use anon, if it makes you feel any better! When someone does submit with their URL attached, I message them first to be sure they are okay with them having it posted that way/it wasn't an accident ;) That's what I would want someone to do!

Alright, so, anyhow...

I've also noticed that becoming a more common thing and it's been on my (maybe huge) list of things to look into for a bit because I really do try to make sure I'm not just noticing things in my areas of the RPC/failing to notice things that do not impact me. Since I do all my edits and graphics, it falls into the first category for me. So, thank you for moving that up the list and informing me that it really is more prevalent and not my imagination!

My take on seeing it was a combination of business logic and anxiety, not going to lie.

On the first: charging to do a psd that is just that, just a psd file being used as a template/to act as an easier version of a photoshop "action" in a way, that's 100% legal and fine. Absolutely no muddy waters there. However, charging to do things like icons, edits, etc. that include images of celebrities and stills from movies (or gifs) is quite muddy. Legally, it's not legal. It's a thing we're allowed to do and use (on most platforms) because we're not making money off of it, we're not claiming to hold rights to the images, and so on - it's ignored but illegal. Charging money for it, however, even when phrased as "for my time" (which, absolutely valid feeling), is a more serious form of illegal and potentially attention-getting. This all gets more iffy though when we add donation instead of direct commission/purchase when working with these copyrighted materials. You can ask people to donate and suggest a donation based on your time spent, and that is always what I advise people to do.

Okay, so, that preface is necessary because the thing about stipulating use-rights is that they're iffy, too, there are variables present.

Often, these same people are charging for things like icon packs as well, meaning that even if they're only charging you for a template-style psd file sans imagery they don't own, they've kind of shot themselves in the foot. Not to mention, it's exceedingly damn hypocritical to pitch a fit about someone violating your rights when you're literally using other people's copyrighted materials lmao And that does tend to occur to me, yeah, it's a consequence of attorney friends and running businesses.

The other issues with this are that usage rights have to be stated at the time of purchase and morality clause-style shit, as pertains to products, is not legally binding.

When you purchase something like a psd file, that purchase acts as a sort of contract.

Think of like...buying a photoshop brush set - the person selling it puts very simple rules as to its use, such as: non-commercial use only, brush pack cannot be resold or distributed for free, separate brushes from the pack cannot be resold or distributed for free individually. Meaning that you own the brushes you bought, but you are not legally allowed to make real-life money from anything you use them in, and you cannot send the whole pack or files individually to friends for free or charge other people for them. By buying these, you have agreed to these stipulations of use and ownership.

If the person sells psd's and you agree to what they've stated about the use (you can't use them to do commissions you make IRL money from, you can't give them away to friends, etc.), that's binding even somewhere as casual as RP Land. The exchange of real currency makes it that serious.

However, there are limits to stipulations of use! One of those things is when you agreed - this person cannot, even one literal second, later change their terms of use and retroactively hold you to them. If they were okay with you not crediting them anywhere or using them in works you will gift others or charge others something like game currency for at the time you purchased, then that's it. Tough shit for them, not you, when they decide a month later that they want credit given where the work appears, that they do not want finished products gifted, or don't want you to make even in-game currency from them.

And that absolutely would apply to the morality wank, yes.

Except that this very morality wank comes with its own issues. Reality is not tumblr. In reality, at least in most instances and countries, you can't throw in a fucking morality clause regarding the buyer, use of item, or finished product.

Think of this in this way: Chik-Fil-A starts denying chicken and waffle fries to anyone suspected of being queer. They're legally allowed to run their business (as a private business, everything does have variables) with some things that are morally objectionable that they feel morally aligns with their religious beliefs. They're not allowed to deny queer workers a job or queer customers service, however, in accordance with overarching laws.

While "being gross" online in fiction is not like, making anyone a protected status person lol this is just an extreme example to drive home the point. Legally, when it comes to items/products be they digital or physical, your rights and responsibilities as the seller don't include your moral policing.

What your right is, is to make people uncomfortable to a degree, yeah. You absolutely can do that. You can state some nasty shit about prospective buyers you don't want. For example, they should (I mean, they should just grow up and get some real concerns, but) be stating that they would not like to see their psd's used by people on this following DNI list of idiocy, and they will block those users if possible to prevent interaction and purchase. That's really it, that's what they can do and the least immature way to proceed.

On the second: none of this logic would make me feel comfortable about interacting with them and their psd's in the future once they had outed themselves as morally objectionable and dangerous to me with this nonsense. And I would still feel anxious about using things I had previously bought because once harassed...it doesn't really go away, does it? It would just give me some ease about the latter with things I'd already made. Like, I could keep using the icons I'd made with those psd's with a little bit more comfort knowing that they honestly have not a leg to stand on outside of their harassment.

I might have the tendency to respond to harassment without much upset, but that doesn't mean I want to be harassed. Especially when I am not doing anything that draws that kind of attention. Not that harassment is warranted over anything, but when I make a PSA or answer an ask that I know is likely to get their attention and piss them off? That's an acceptable risk I am knowingly taking. When I'm just going about my life as a RPer, it isn't.

So, I don't feel like you're overthinking it or being too concerned! In no way did you sign up for getting unwanted attention, and because it has happened before, of course, you're trying to insulate yourself from having it happen again. That's totally reasonable!

Now, what you could do about it...

It's another of those situations in which we're only truly capable of controlling ourselves. Everyone else is kind of a NPC.

You don't have to do anything I'm suggesting, but these are things I would do!

I would block the shit out of anyone saying these things/trying to make them stipulations, yes.

By that, I mean that I would also visit blogs they appear to interact with and they'd be blocked as well. We can all reblog something like resources or a shit post from a user we do not agree with without realizing it, but when it's frequent reblogs, direct support, and friendly vibes going on, it's safer to assume that they are aware their friend sucks. More importantly, that they do not think their friend sucks and support their views.

Even if that is not the case, do you want someone else's repeated inattention to expose you to bad actors? Nope! So, don't run the risk of paying and otherwise interacting with the one resource blog in the group that doesn't express these views/"requirements," but does involve themselves with those who do.

Try to find people selling these resources, that are not connected to the problem ones, who do not have those views. Once a trend starts, it is very hard to stop until it has run its course naturally, so, this might be difficult and take some extreme effort. You might want to consider asking like-minded friends who use psd's where they got them so you can check those users out for yourself.

If they're all the same, problem, people...

Look for users well outside of your corner of the RPC(s) who are not asking to be paid. I know it sounds wild, but there really are RPers out there who just enjoy making things for others! I can think of at least one right off on my dash. They might not be advertising for doing psd's or psd packs, but either they might be willing to do so (especially if they do not appear policing-positive) if you explain what is going on, or they could at least fill some requests for you for fully made icons and such. Hell, people who love doing this work usually know others who do as well, and anti-policing people quite reasonably stick together. They could have suggestions for someone not vile selling psd's.

Depending on what it is you want your psd's to do, I promise you that it wouldn't take you very long to learn it. I know...I know lol that's both really easy for me say when I've been doing it for over twenty years and am about to piss some people off. The latter because the most common settings on popular psd's are extremely simple shit, a lot of that is the kind of thing you're expressly told not to do in design work. Like ramping up extreme contrast, pixelating the fuck out of an image, and turning up the primary colors only. Once you get to playing with photoshop or an equivalent, you will totally see what I mean. You can accidentally make an icon look identical to something that is on trend in the RPC. If that was what you were going for? You've hit the mark, and it's just repetition and tweaking it here and there!

Once you start playing with it, too, it's actually pretty intuitive when it comes to the basic things like resizing, adjusting colors and contrast, and doing easy effects like blurs and sharpening. Frankly, playing with it is better than half the tutorials you'll find because they get unnecessarily complicated when all you want to do is crop your muse's face, overlay some color, and add a damn dotted border. Listen, like I said, I have a lot of experience...and I find many tutorials frustrating and overwhelming!

It is not just you, you're not dumb or anything. People get very comfortable with something and when they try to explain it to others, they use terms and methods that are more advanced or specific to them than they realize. That's all!

If you have friends who make their own things, ask them some very basic questions about what you want to do. They know you, so, they'll know better how to explain to you, specifically. Just keep it simple until you've had some time to experiment! Ask things like, "I want to take this image, resize it to be an icon, and add an orange tint to the image while sharpening only my muse's features...how would I do that? Easy mode?"

And! You don't even have to pay for photoshop or pirate it anymore! Photopea is as an exact copy as possible entirely located in your browser for free. It's all overwhelming at first, a real case of too many options and ways to do the same thing, but the only way it gets less overwhelming is just diving into it. Dive in, get a little frustrated, have some successes, make some awesome discoveries, it gets a bit addicting in short order. Then, the tutorials and tips are so much easier to figure out and expand on, too.

If you'd like, you can always send me a pm here and ask me. I'm happy to try to explain how to do things, zero judgment or impatience. Just an additional option if you both decide to try learning and would feel comfortable doing that. Zero judgment as well on not wanting to do either of those things!

Okay, this one is much harder than learning PS basics because it's honestly a bit terrifying...the way these people are, they're going to take issue with you no matter what you do, and in the end, if they notice you and feel like bothering you, they will. There's literally nothing you can do about it. All you can do is try to buffer yourself, stay away from them, and be aware that you are not the problem.

Like with the AO3 thing or writing what could be viewed as toxic relationships. You can never write or be interested in a single, solitary thing that they're on about (and accusing you of doing in real life when the burning Eye of Moron turns your direction), but to them, you supporting the right of other people to do so is just as bad as doing it yourself. To them, the toxic relationships not only would be problematic, they'd be problematic enough. Being uncomfortable with their policing and feeling unsafe because of it is, to them, a red flag of how problematic you are. Writing anything they've deemed objectionable (or reading or viewing it, for that matter) anywhere, doesn't have to be on this platform or RP-adjacent, doesn't have to actually utilize any of their materials, is enough.

They're absolutely including you in who shouldn't use their shit. That's part of the "logic" and methodology of policing. Everyone is problematic, so, everyone can be labeled a pedo and harassed without too many people getting up in arms about it. No one is safe, so, everyone better behave. You don't actually have to be engaging with or enjoying things like underage, non/dubcon, rape, abusive relationships, etc.

It's gross, it's bullying, it's actually a problem...and there isn't much you can do.

All that is truly up to you is making an effort to avoid them, though, this is very often unfair and likely to get more unfair as resource blogs of all sorts deal in it more. At least, in this case, you do have some small bit of actionable power - by not ever buying from them. They wouldn't be charging if they did not either need or want the money, not giving it to them is a bigger hit than things like simply unfollowing/blocking, reblogging PSA's, and so on is!

Nope, it isn't like you're denying them some extreme amount of money by yourself, but every three, five, ten dollars is felt pretty hard when you desperately need money and/or are saving for something.

I know, I mean, I personally do know, that it's impossible to "get over" bullying, Anon. I'm in no way telling you to just get over it and move on, find some great well of not caring somewhere! What I'm saying is that there is power in not giving them power. The power to make you anxious, uncomfortable, unsafe, when you have every right to be here doing your thing and are not hurting anyone. And it might seem to be a deeply contrary sort of logic, but realizing and accepting that there are people out there who irrationally dislike you for literally no reason, that you cannot infallibly escape or avoid, despite doing nothing wrong is a bit empowering. Because it puts into perspective the things you can control, and when we know what is in our control, it's easier to just enjoy our time here without constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. If it drops, we can go put it back in the closet where it belongs.

It starts to put a positive spin on the whole, damned if I do, damned if I don't feeling, if that makes sense? I'm probably way too tired to try to be explaining this lol I'm sorry!

Anyway, again, I'm not implying you can or should do any, let alone all, of those suggestions! I just really hope that something will help you feel even a little bit more at ease. It's an unfair situation, it isn't right, and you have every reason to be uncomfortable and stressed. If I could make it happen, you better believe that every policing asshole out there would be writing heartfelt apology letters and sending donations to everyone they've upset lol but...since I can't make that happen, all I can do is say what I, personally, do, would do, or have done.

[peacemaker-ic]

Hi Peacey. After literal years of lusting after your stuff, I finally caved and upgraded from TS2 to TS4. I'm not really sure where to start in terms of CC though – would you be able to make a list of your favourite creators and any mods etc. you use? Many thanks in advance!

You picked up the free copy being offered? Awesome! I love when companies do that. I would have never thought Assassin’s Creed games were my thing until i got a free copy of AC Black Flag and never looked back. Hopefully you enjoy it :)

As for the first part of your question, I am so the wrong person to ask LOL! I make what i need for the most part because I have severe trust issues when i downloaded content from the community. Multiple pay-per-click services in tandem? No thanks. Edited pics hiding huge issues? Nah uh. What little I do download from others i have answered similar questions for that you can find below:

https://peacemaker-ic.tumblr.com/post/181827603964/hi-i-love-your-cc-i-was-wondering-if-you-have

https://peacemaker-ic.tumblr.com/post/173812191044/hello-i-was-wondering-if-you-could-suggest-any

As for mods? I keep mine relatively simple because i don’t do a heap of gameplay. Most of mine are environment of UI mods with the odd one to alter some gameplay aspects. They include:

MC Command Centre - Used primarily for altering how much bills are, but it can do a lot!

UI Cheats Extension - after playing TS3 and not being able to adjust moods and stuff directly from the UI, this mod is a must-have. 

Anything by TwistedMexi - From tab mode camera in build/buy to MOO always on, to seasons buildmode fix, there really is a whole bunch of stuff worth looking at. They are on patreon but none of them are locked behind a paywall. 

No Mosaic - because it annoys me so

Fogtiy’s no highlight - this annoyed me so much since TS4 was released. So glad to get rid of it

Playable Pets by Andrew and Orange Mittens - Makes testing so much easier for furniture

Luumia’s CAS and World lighting overhauls - they really are wonderful

Unfortunately we are experiencing a net outage here so i can’t link them without it being a huge pain in the ass but all these should be easily attainable by googling. These are a great starter but once you decide how you are playing the type of mods you want may change. 

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Art reposting etiquette

I see art theft happen a lot, and whether or not it's true or has just been happening more frequently in the circles I follow I can't help but at least feel like it's becoming more and more of a problem.

To be clear, "reposting" is downloading art from a website that you did not make or own, and uploading it as a separate post, regardless of where and how it's presented - with notable exception of header and profile pictures assuming they are not trying to imitate the artist. Not all art theft is reposting, but all improper reposting is art theft.

As cut and dry as "stop art theft it's bad, don't repost art" posts make it sound, there are several benevolent reasons people may want to repost such as:

Believing they are spreading the artist's influence around the internet

Adding intrigue or a visual aid to a fanfiction

Sharing some neat art they thought was really cool

Just to name a few

Assuming the best in people, these are not necessarily bad reasons and DON'T MAKE PEOPLE BAD, but many often don't understand there's a dark side to the reposting issue.

People who may want more art may be unable to find the original creator

People may not realize that the artist makes rent with the very artwork you're enjoying and they may be looking at stolen premium content meant to put food on the table

People take art and further edit it so that it becomes even harder to trace back to the original

Malicious websites and bots find popular fanart and illegally use it to produce bootleg merch. This has a double-whammy effect when someone sees the merch IRL when out and about and wants it because it's cool art of their favorite character but don't realize the artist is actively being robbed.

Reposting art makes it harder for the artist to track down the thief and take legal action as well as actively funnels traffic away from their business. By and large it should always be assumed that reposting for any reason is damaging to the artist's wellbeing; and frankly, if you don't care you're actively hurting someone, it makes you the asshole, not me for calling you out.

But, that isn't to say reposting is NEVER allowed, but ONLY UNDER EXTREMELY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES. That's the point of this post.

Before you can decide if you should even attempt to repost art, check these things first:

If it says directly on the art "do not repost" don't waste your time. They are not going to make an exception for you.

Check to see if the art is already on the platform you're planning to upload to (especially here on Tumblr). Often, artists make it a point to put their work in very specific locations for their own reasons. They may not want their work on your website at all and you need to respect that.

Gain the artist's explicit permission after explaining where you want to repost their work, which work you want to repost, and why with how you plan to credit them. If you gain permission, keep a copy of the conversation for your own protection. If you do not gain permission, don't repost at all.

If you gain permission to repost art, these things are an absolute necessity:

Mention of the artist's name

THEIR main platform of choice

link to the original piece used

It would likely look something like this:

Artwork uploaded with express permission by @[artist] on [website], found here - (hyperlinked to original piece)

Bonus information to include:

Additional social media handles of the artist

Link to the artist's Patreon and/or Ko-Fi if available

Link to artist's store if available

Hyperlinking the image itself so other users can just click it to find the work/artist

Remember reposting should be about the artist, NOT YOU. You didn't create the work, and even if you supported them via Patreon it still doesn't belong to you, nor are you entitled to it. A commission you personally paid for is the only piece of work of that artist's creation you are ever entitled to unless otherwise stated in a contract when you bought it.

To continue to cover my bases I'm going to address some stances that may pop up about the issue:

"I didn't know reposting was that bad!"

It's okay. That's why I made this post. In general, as a supportive fan and consumer you should try to learn how artists are rewarded for their work on different platforms. YouTube is different from Instagram is different from Facebook is different from Tumblr. Learn which best ways to support your favorite artists in the ways that are most beneficial to them, even if all they ask for is respect and a little appreciation. And do take down any art you may have reposted. It can continue to do damage by remaining up, but removing it almost always mitigates any future harm and genuinely helps. Now you know better and can be better moving forward!

"I can't get ahold of the artist for permission."

Don't repost it then. Remember, at the end of the day reposting is only good for the reposter in fake internet points or actual money/intellectual property stolen but always tangibly hurts the artist. It sucks, but they have a right to determine where and how their hard work is displayed.

"Whatever, I'll do what I want. Lol"

Enjoy your takedown. Hey, artists, did you know you can find each website's terms of service and figure out how to submit a report with the offending post and user, and they're usually good about getting it down within days?! Look for "misappropriation" that's your ticket! 😊

But seriously, repeat offenders can get permanently banned from sites and even sued for actual real-world money and damages over your precious fake internet points. It actually pays to not be an ass!

"But I just want to support the artist and reposting is so easy!"

You know what's even easier?

It's literally only one or two clicks to support the artist or tell them how much you love their work! Most other platforms make supporting content creators just as easy, and some platforms even PAY the creators based on them or enable them to grasp opportunities to be paid!

"But I don't want to bog down my followers with a huge reblog dump of one person's stuff."

Put it in queue to space it out, then.

"I don't have money to support the artist so I repost instead to give them exposure."

Time and time again it's been proven that reposting actively funnels money AWAY from them. You don't have to monetarily support them with much. Buy one thing from their store or give them $1 on Ko-Fi. If you can't even do that, tell them you love their stuff and shout to the rooftops where someone else can pay them; but don't make it harder for them to get paid. Too many artists "die of exposure."

"Why do you even care?"

I AM an artist. I currently support artists with real money monthly because I love their work. I only ever make money off my own art on commissions, and that relies on people being able to find me. I'm not even the one supporting my two children, husband, pet, and medical expenses with only this option to pay for it, and you bet your butt I still would be pissed if I ever found out my art had been misappropriated. Some people do this to SURVIVE and I want to see that those who do have as little unnecessary struggle with it as possible.

"It's fanart/fan content put on the internet for free I can do whatever I want with it!"

At least in North America the law says you can't. Did you know that the way laws are currently written, if someone takes a picture of you and finds a way to make money off that photo they don't owe you a dime? They hold the copyright to it. When art is displayed publicly, that copyright is not surrendered and is automatically afforded to the artist by virtue of it being their specific expression and work. By being their work, they can actually sue you for stealing their property.

Ask Disney, they're really good at it.

And to close this out I want to say one more thing: the internet has changed a LOT in the time I started browsing from the early 2000's. Rules are different, cultures are different, and for younger people especially you may not understand how some have had to (and still do) fight tooth and nail over this internet space and still make it.

If you didn't know all this, THAT'S OKAY! You're learning, and the internet is more or less a wild west right now. That means it's equal opportunity to be a killing field or a place we can lift up and support each other. Reposting is just one corner of the bad things that can come of it, but now you know how to help and even start reversing the damage.

Learn about how people who upload free content make money. When you find misappropriated work, report them to the site and try to inform the artist - don't even acknowledge the thief, just slap a ticket on them and move on. Teach others how and why reposting is bad and what they can do to help.

If you love free content, show respect and protect it. Otherwise, artists will have to put it behind a paywall and that content you loved will disappear over time. Respect will get you a much greater return than entitlement.