#they don't WANT to use AI as a new medium to make art they want to use it as a cheat code to avoid making art

[blujayonthewing]

when you put aside all the ethical issues, I'd respect AI art a lot more if the people making it were actually leaning into the bizarre dreamlike output instead of breathlessly insisting that it looks SO good SO realistic and it's gonna REVOLUTIONIZE ART, BRO and trying to use it to make Normal Children's Books and Normal Marketable Advertising Art

[naamahdarling]

I'm probably going to piss some people off with this, but.

The use of AI and machine learning for harmful purposes is absolutely unacceptable.

But that isn't an innate part of what it does.

Apps or sites using AI to generate playlists or reading lists or a list of recipes based on a prompt you enter: absolutely fantastic, super helpful, so many new things to enjoy, takes jobs from no-one.

Apps or sites that use a biased algorithm (which is AI) which is not controllable by users or able to be turned off by them, to push some content and suppress others to maximize engagement and create compulsive behavior in users: unethical, bad, capitalism issue, human issue.

People employing genAI to create images for personal, non-profit use and amusement who would not have paid someone for the same service: neutral, (potential copyright and ethics issue if used for profit, which would be a human issue).

People incorporating genAI as part of their artistic process, where the medium of genAI is itself is a deliberate part of the artist's technique: valid, interesting.

Companies employing genAI to do the work of a graphic designer, and websites using genAI to replace the cost of stock photos: bad, shitty, no, capitalist and ethical human issue.

People attacking small artists who use it with death threats and unbelievable vitriol: bad, don't do that.

AI used for spell check and grammar assistance: really great.

AI employed by eBay sellers to cut down on the time it takes to make listings: good, very helpful, but might be a bad idea as it does make mistakes and that can cost them money, which would be a technical issue.

AI used to generate fake product photos: deceptive, lazy, bad, human ethical issue.

AI used to identify plagiarism: neutral; could be really helpful but the parameters are defined by unrealistic standards and not interrogated by those who employ it. Human ethical issue.

AI used to analyze data and draw up complex models allowing detection of things like cancer cells: good; humans doing this work take much longer, this gives results much faster and allows faster intervention, saving lives.

AI used to audit medical or criminal records and gatekeep coverage or profile people: straight-up evil. Societal issue, human ethical issue.

AI used to organize and classify your photos so you don't have to spend all that time doing it: helpful, good.

AI used to profile people or surveil people: bad and wrong. Societal issue, human issue, ethical issue.

I'm not going to cover the astonishingly bad misinformation that has been thrown out there about genAI, or break down thought distortions, or go into the dark side of copyright law, or dive into exactly how it uses the data it is fed to produce a result, or explain how it does have many valid uses in the arts if you have any imagination and curiosity, and I'm not holding anyone's hand and trying to walk them out of all the ableism and regurgitated capitalist arguments and the glorification of labor and suffering.

I just want to point out: you use machine learning (AI) all the time, you benefit from it all the time. You could probably identify many more examples that you use every day. Knee-jerk panicked hate reflects ignorance, not sound principles.

You don't have beef with AI, you have beef with human beings, how they train it, and how they use it. You have beef with capitalism and thoughtlessness. And so do I. I will ruthlessly mock or decry misuse or bad use of it. But there is literally nothing inherently bad in the technology.

I am aware of and hate its misuse just as much as you do. Possibly more, considering that I am aware of some pretty heinous ways it's being used that a lot of people are not. (APPRISS, which is with zero competition for the title the most evil use of machine learning I have ever seen, and which is probably being used on you right now.)

You need to stop and actually think about why people do bad things with it instead of falling for the red herring and going after the technology (as well as the weakest human target you can find) every time you see those two letters together.

You cannot protect yourself and other people against its misuse if you cannot separate that misuse against its neutral or helpful uses, or if you cannot even identify what AI and machine learning are.

[atalienart]

@ianwaite replied to your post “Does Al also make you paranoid? Look at this...”:

Why do you assume that AI artists are not interested in their cause? What do you think of digital art?

​There are no Al artists, there are Al prompters. If you've ever been interested in something then you must know that the object of your interest is what really counts. You want to know more about it, you want to fully experience it. You want to be a writer, you sit and write, you develop your skills, find new techniques of writing and telling stories through written words. If you don't want to write, you're not a writer. You can tell stories but that doesn't mean you're a writer. You can have ideas but that doesn't make you a writer. If you tell another person or a machine to write you something you're not a writer. If someone else composes words for you, you're not a writer. You are not a carpenter when you tell a machine to make you a table in a rococo style. You're not interested in carpentry, you just want a table and want people to clap saying "wow, what a beautiful table, you're such an amazing carpenter" and then to buy it. This is what they're interested in. Al prompters are interested either in the technical aspects of Al, or the final "product" that can give them money or a pat on the back, or a short lasting pleasure of seeing their wife's head on a supergirl body. Tell me the difference between prompting and image searching? There is none.

What do I think about digital art? It's great and beautiful. Graphic programs artists use are another medium. Graphic programs don't lead your hand, don't magically pop images like Al. You draw lines with a stylus on tablet the same way you draw with a pencil on paper. Every medium has different properties. With oil paints you can do impasto paintings, watercolours react beautifully with water, Clip Studio allows you do draw on layers. There is no dark magic but Al prompters see a sped up, edited screen recording of a digital art proces and they think the drawing magically appears on screen without a physical input of the artist. They don't see work, just pats and some "product". I love digital art because it allowed me to share my art with other people much easier. I admire digital artists who can create amazing art pieces. I hope they won't give up when Al people constantly steal from them.

[alcrego]

Hi, I've been following you for a while now and just want to say I'm sad to see so many people speaking before they know what they are talking about and unjustly attacking you and the validity of your art (as if their opinion even matters to what you will choose to do?). I also don't like the purely internet-trained AI generated art I see more and more of, but I just ignore it. I have never used the technologies firsthand but I think it should be pretty obvious what you are doing is not in the same category or even context to that stuff at all. I think the best analogy I saw you make was saying "should I also not use a camera [or other technological tools]? It reminded me of how the electric guitar and digital music of any form was looked down on for not being "true art" either. Canvas stretched on a frame, paints and brushes etc are all technological tools and were all new at some point in history as well. I enjoy your art and how you use the computer itself to take your art to new levels. Some of the best modern musicians (imho) understand that the medium and the machines they use to record to that medium are like another member of the band itself and they embrace this and cognitively, purposefully utilize it to further their creativity. I think you are doing a very similar thing with visual art (and music) and just wanted to say I have been enjoying your stuff on here for months now. Don't listen to the haters. :)

Deep gratitude for those who can see and understand further than the noise... Truly! 🙏🥹

And the same here, I neither like the internet-trained AI generated images (I wouldn't even call it art), but in the same way I don't like the 'artists' that steal and copy styles of other artists (as it's happening to me since more than a decade ago), but this is ok, no?🥹👍

People should start to understand that for some (most) AIs are a way to obtain an image, but for few others is a tool to create our own resources/ingredients that later we mix/cook/modify to achieve our own ideas, in the same way we ALWAYS used images from the web, magazines, ads, street, etc... to achieve our ideas.

Thanks a lot for these words, and don't worry, it's funny for me to 'listen haters' bc they NEVER had idea about what they talk about. Those who know what is this about can have a respectful, deep and meaningful conversation, and despite sometimes I don't agree, I totally can speak with them.

Big thanks!!

[fourormore]

[Image description: A polyam flag with the words “four or more bingo” on it. End description.]

FOUR OR MORE 2024 BINGO

AO3 COLLECTION | SQUIDGEWORLD COLLECTION

You thought I would stop at a ficathon? Hell no, I have a vision: a world where we can read about polycules and complicated relationships with four or more people until our eyes hurt and our hearts can't take it anymore.

Let me introduce to you: the 2024 Four or More Bingo!

This is a low-stakes, personal challenge. There's no penalty for not finishing or running late.

Cards will be given from October 20th to December 31st. Fills can be posted to AO3, SQWA or tumblr forever.

GUIDELINES

Any medium! Any rating! As long as your work focuses on a relationship with 4 or more people, it's allowed!

All works must be your own and not previously posted. AI generated works will be deleted from the collections.

You may combine these with other events, as long as the other event allows it (examples are @polyamships ' polyartober, lyricaltitles ' bingo, etc)

Small fandoms welcome!

Don't forget to comply with the community guidelines.

MEDIUM SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

Minimum wordcount for fics is 100 words. There is no maximum

Minimum for art is a sketch on unlined paper (figure sticks allowed!). There is no limit to the quality or effort you want to put in your fills.

Minimum for moodboards is a 3x3 grid (9 images individually or edited in one image). Maximum is given by the place where you decide to post. On tumblr, the maximum is 20 images, but on AO3, you're free!

Minimum for podfic is a 100-word fic. There is no restriction on maximum length or effects.

Minimum for fanvids is 30 seconds. There is no maximum.

Other mediums don't have a minimum. Do you want to make an in-universe magazine for your ship? A cross stich pattern? A sculpture? Go ahead and do it! I look forward to all the things you can create.

Prompts, FAQ and more below the cut!

PROMPTS

The following are the prompts that the bingo card will be generated from. Send us an ask if you want a card, and if you want any prompts specifically excluded from it (you can exclude up to 5 prompts). Feel free to request a new card at any time through December 2024, even if you've already received one. If these prompts seem familiar, it's because most of them come from the ficathon! I've chosen some of the most frequent prompts + some new prompts for added spice.

Hide and seek

Growing old together

Getting high together

Moving in together

"It's complicated"

Long distance

Going to a music event together

Medical AU

1920s AU

1950s AU

1980s AU

Y2K AU

Apocalypse AU

Cyberpunk AU

Meeting the parents

"Because I'm heartbroken"

Kink negotiation

Didn't know they were dating

Truth or dare

Skinny-dipping

Aromantic character

Coffee date

Pacific Rim AU

Gamer AU

Game night becomes an orgy

Stargazing

Trust issues

"My turn"

Omegaverse AU

Sedoretu

Sharing a bed

Wedding

Introspection

Dirty talk

Birthday sex

Coming home

Case fic

Morning after

"Don't look at me, this wasn't my idea"

Royalty AU

Combat training

Dancing

Confessions

Experimenting

Redemption

"Let me/us help"

Enemies to lovers

Friends to lovers

"Why me?"

Something made them do it (sex pollen, fuck water, in heat, etc)

Outsider POV

Wearing each others' clothes

Collection

A fandom you haven't written before

A fandom with canon set before the 20th century

A fandom that's 10+ years old

A fandom that's 20+ years old

A polycule with 5 people

A polycule with 8 people

A polycule with 10+ people FAQ

Q: So how do I get a card? A: Send us an ask, preferrably off anon, but if you prefer to remain anon, leave an emoji to identify you by.

Q: How many fics do I need to write? A: For a bingo, 5 prompts in a line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). You can even go for a blackout (all 25 prompts). Q: Why isn't X allowed? A: Just because.

Q: I don’t have a Dreamwidth account. Can I join? A: Of course! You don’t even need an AO3 account if you wish to post only on tumblr.

Q: My work contains [INSERT WARNING HERE]. Can I still participate? A: Yes. This is a CNTW (Choose Not To Warn) space.

Q: I don’t want to see [X] content, can you please remove it? A: No. The only content that will be removed will be that that does not comply with the rules.

COMPLETION POSTS

So, you have a bingo (or a blackout!), what now? Well, to acknowledge the fact that you spent time and effort on at least 5 fics, we'll be receiving bragging posts (also known as completion posts) where you can link all of your fills at once. Please follow this format. You may post on your own blog and @ us, tag #fourormore or submit it to the blog.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send a message.

Have fun and bon appetit!

[reds-references]

Welcome to my corner of chaotic whimsy!

I'm Red or formally known as, Justine...

I am a multi-media artist. I am my own photographer, editor and model, I am an illustrator (HUMAN ARTIST, NOT AI) and seamstress. I am a crafty/fitness YouTuber, an OnlyFans model and a boxing instructor/fitness coach. I do hope you enjoy your stay in my wee corner of chaos and please feel free to use any and ALL of my reference photos for your artistic needs! Also do say hi!! I try my best to answer every message and comment! I just appreciate you being here so gosh darned much.

FAQ

ONLYFANS: I know, when you hear "OnlyFans" your mind goes to some pretty wild places. I am a non-spicy model, which means I censor everything as tastefully as possible! You can think of me as a whimsical lingerie model! I started my OF as a way to raise funds for my FREE boxing gym for underprivileged children and to provide artists with cheap art packs.

YOUTUBE: I started my YouTube channel as a way for me to express myself even further with my art. My OF photoshoots aren't always the artistic sets I would like them to be and I stopped drawing years ago (attached are a few of my illustrations, including the cover to my web comic "The Nun's Mistake" and the cover for Colm McGuinness' album "The Colm Before The Storm" on Spotify) so I figured I would try and make photography my new medium for "paintings". Even with that in mind, I still wanted to be crafty and what with my day job in concrete/construction, I don't get a lot of free time to myself. Hence, YOUTUBE! YouTube has given me the chance to make content that I can be free to have fun with and Patreon is helping me to continue pursuing that dream!

MY ART: I spent 10+ years working as a freelance artist between my other jobs. My art never sold, I barely got a single commission and people always tried getting things for free. Safe to say my art failed miserably and I gave up on it for a few years. My OF and ESPECIALLY YouTube are helping me find that spark again! (P.S art commissions are not open, I see where your sweet little brain was going!)

BOXING: I have been a trainer/professional boxer for over 8 years now. I trained with world champions and fought on a professional level and found a love for teaching along the way. I got tired of how expensive boxing classes are, seeing as there are so few "trainers" who actually know what they're doing and aren't just MMA people pretending to know what Boxing is. SO, I and the other trainers decided to dedicate our lives to opening a completely FREE boxing gym for underprivileged children. We have put every penny we earn into this gym. Everything I make in my day jobs and OF helps to fund the gym, while the Patreon helps me to fund my dream of quitting my back breaking job in concrete and work full-time as a YouTuber/Creator.

WHAT ARE YOU: I am a cisgendered woman. I got my dad's tits and his jaw, I know, I appear more masculine than femme. I also work out a lot, hence the muscles.

WHAT ARE YOU ON: Bro, if I was on roids, THERE WOULD BE SIGNS. I am a SMOL, natty Muscle Mommy!

Thank you for taking the energy and time out of your own life to show me kindness, love and support. Thank you for being here.

[gatheredfates]

I know you are exhausted and really can just delete this if you feel like you want to just drop the subject.

But it's nice to see someone speak up about these sort of concerns regarding mods. While I haven't suffered myself from saying no to download other people's aesthetic mods I share in the feeling that there is just too much expectation on mods being used. I always feel sad watching new blogs on tumblr express a discouragment because they don't use mods themselves, then end up using them anyways, only to leave the community on tumblr all together shortly after.

I have friends who tried to aesthetically shape MY OCs with mods they think are cool (but doesn't suit their OCs so they ask if I want them) even when they know what my character look like, and the mod they share is so far off it is almost upsetting. I'm an artist, who love to express their true looks through art rather than mods, I don't need help finding mods.

Heck I remember the first time I encountered Mare, just idling in Quicksand and someone expressed interest for walk up RP, asked if I had Mare and I asked what it was, never to even hear from them again. After that a few other encounters where people weren't interested because I did not use it.

What I mean to say in the end is that, you are not alone in finding mods tiring. But I think as long as we welcome newcomers and support vanilla players rather than... send them guides on how to mod, we can take down those gatekeepings.

Hi anon, there's no issue on my end! While I'm definitely burnt out by the whole thing, I'm of a mind I wouldn't have posted my thoughts if I wasn't up for discussion/critique, provided it's in good faith. You'll have to forgive the fact my response may be clunky, though! I saw this right as I was heading to bed, so I'm typing it on my tablet LMAO.

A lot of what you're saying are the exact things I echo when I express my exhaustion. I really feel for new players. It's hard enough to try and find a legitimate rp scene with the rise of the nightclub scene (which is not me knocking it, I'd just prefer an in-game nightclubs to a plug for a twitch DJ), but then to go and feel alienated because you don't have x, y and z add-ons? I'd want to quit too.

I'm no artist, so I can only imagine how painful the rise of AI must be in devaluing your work, but that plus people trying to push mods must be exhausting no matter how well meaning they're trying to be. You shouldn't need to use mods, especially when you have medium that works for you to express your character in the way you want. Mods aren't going to do the work justice unless you make and/or commission them yourself, and there's already precident for people alienating on account of people having free mods--to say nothing of people who choose to be vanilla. Not to mention there's not a lot of black/poc mods anyway, so those who want those kinds of things are at a disadvantage from the start.

I do fully believe that mods should be opt in and we should be side-eyeing people who demand their utilisation as part of a collaborative space. It should be enough for someone like you to send art. It should be enough that I can send a screenshot, a written description or even a completed doll maker if I want and still be taken seriously and sincerely.

[erisweekofficial]

Eris Week 2024: Rules, Prompts, and FAQ

Welcome to the official Eris Week Blog!

This post is intended to serve as a master post for the entire event. It will include the dates, prompts, rules, and a FAQ! Make sure to click the read more to get ALL the information!

Prompts and Master Lists

2024 Prompts

Event Master Lists

2023 Eris Week Master List 2024 Eris Week Master List

🔥🔥🔥

Rules

Eris Week supports all mediums of creativity (art, fics, mood boards, playlists, incorrect quotes, headcanons, drabbles, theories, etc)

You can ship Eris with anyone and everyone. This blog is ship-neutral and will support all works. Eris x OCs and Eris x Reader are welcome too! 

There is no restriction on content. You're welcome to post NSFW or dark content as long as you tag appropriately. If you see someone not tagging their work correctly, reach out to us. There are a lot of new folks who are still learning the ins and outs of tumblr and likely are making an honest mistake!

Be as wild as you like! Every day has a prompt, but they are purely optional!

We do not tolerate hate. Do not disparage other participants, add hurtful comments to their work, or ship bash. We are here to support one another and celebrate one of our favorite characters! If you are not a fan of Eris, you are welcome to block this blog! Your peace of mind is important as is that of our creators. Failing to follow this rule will result in an instant ban and the removal of all content from master lists. Please note: this includes bashing ships that are non-Eris related. Ex. If an Eris fic has background Casriel, we don't bash it.

We will not reblog or interact with any AI art.

We will have a Collection (ErisWeek2024) on AO3! Do some double duty and post your masterpiece there too!

If you run into trouble, please reach out to the blog and one of the mods will reach out to you for support.

🔥🔥🔥

FAQ

How do I participate in Eris Week?

During Eris Week, please post your content on tumblr. Tag this blog in the main body of your post (@erisweekofficial) and tag your post with #erisweek2024. If you are posting on AO3, make sure to add your work to the Eris Week AO3 Collection and post your link here on tumblr.  If we don’t reblog your post within 24 hours, feel free to send us a message with the link! We would never intentionally not reblog someone’s post. 

What content is eligible?

In order for something to qualify for Eris week it needs to: A. Be posted for the first time DURING Eris week B. Be a new creation, a new chapter featuring heavily centering around Eris, or a significant rewrite of a previously posted creation. If you're unsure if your piece qualifies, please reach out to the blog and the mods will help you! ❤️

How can I see all the works posted during Eris Week? 

During Eris week, we will compile a list of all works created for that day and post the following morning, Eastern Time. So, Day 1 we will reblog all Day 1 content. Then we’ll start off Day 2 by posting the Day 1 master list and then start reblogging all Day 2 content. This is so we can try to account for multiple time zones. If we miss your post or the link is wrong etc, please reach out and we will fix ASAP.  At the end of the event we will have THE MASTER LIST to rule them all that will contain links to each day’s master list. 

If I’m not a creator, how can I support Eris Week?

Leading up to the event, reblog our posts and/ or let your favorite creators know this event is happening! Visibility is incredibly helpful!  Reblog and comment on Eris Vanserra works leading up to and during the event! Supporting work now will encourage creators for the event week itself!  During Eris Week, be sure to leave a nice comment on AO3 works as well! 

I want to participate, but I am nervous! Do you have any advice? 

Character event Weeks are an excellent way to practice your craft, take risks, and explore art in a low stakes environment. Here are some words of wisdom that have helped folks in the past:  When in doubt, start small! Write a drabble, write some bullet points, make a sketch. All of this is 100% accepted and supported during Eris week.  Don’t feel like you have to do something for every day! Pick one or two days that really resonate with you and make content for those days!  Don’t compare yourself with others! It’s hard, especially when well known folks are also participating. But remember, everyone is happy to get any content, especially Eris fans. We’re hungry for anything folks will give us! And one day, you may be that well-known creator ;)  Don’t aim for perfection! Post something with typos, get a canon detail wrong! People will ignore it and love what you’ve made anyways. I am sure that somewhere in these guidelines, there is a typo! Embrace the chaos!  If you’re looking for some reassurance, share your work with a friend ahead of time. Get their feedback! Sometimes a little encouragement can go a long way. Both of the Eris Week organizers are creators and are more than happy to chat with you about ideas, offer advice, or simply cheer you on. 

I have a question that isn’t here!

Feel free to send us asks, we’d love to hear from you all! You can send questions, head canons, ideas, or anything else! If you have a question you’d like us to answer privately, be sure to let us know in the ask. Otherwise, all other asks will be published on our blog. 

[lifeseries-ttrpg]

Part 3 of answering your questions and suggestions!

Heya guys! Admin Excel here, after a bit of a break spent on setting up the Discord server for our future participants and gathering the entire mod team. We're almost ready to launch contributor applications - but you will have to wait for that just a little bit later. The good news is, once the date is announced, you def won't miss it :>

Today I'll answer a few more questions and suggestions you left on our interest check. Remember that if you have any other questions you feel are important. either in terms of the project or the future manual itself, you can drop them in our ask box!

Would 3D be a viable medium for art contributions? (It’s distinct enough from 2D art as a whole that I thought I’d ask, even if varieties of styles are allowed).

I don't see why not! We'll be accepting a variety of artstyles, so I can absolutely see different art mediums used in the project. Moreover, I think 3D art could look incredible if utilized by an enviroment artist (but would work in any part of the manual really). We actually encourage different types of artistic mediums for the project - for example, I also think someone who does pixel art would do amazing as an item artist. There are only really two limitations when it comes to our artist, one a bit more lenient and one a very important, hopefully obvious rule:

The designs for characters/items/locations will have to be kept at least somewhat consistent throughout the manual, so that people who want to play, but don't know Life series as much don't get confused. Adding your own little elements is obviously fine - but we don't want a situation where, for example, Grian's character card has him depicted as an avian, but an illustration of him doesn't have his wings - that could possibly make things confusing for people.

AI genetated content will be absolutely NOT allowed in the project. 3rd Life TTRPG is supposed to be a celebration of the fandom's passion - so it should go without saying that we will not be approving any AI generated artwork. People who are caught using AI in their work (both artists and writers) might face termination from the contributor team.

I really like the ‘success with a cost/failiure with a reward’ mechanic in the Wild Sea TTRPG and i think it works well with third life

That's a really good suggestion! We'd have to get more familiar with that system and then we could hopefully introduce something similar to the system. Like I said a couple of times, this system will be primarily roleplay-based, so we really want the players' choices and decisions be more than a black and white success-failure scenario.

A section on how to build your own scenarios

We already have something like that planned! The scenarios are envisioned to be something pretty simple, that the GM could easily modify to make them more fun for themselves and for the players - so we will surely add tips on how to build an original scenario, either based on events from the series, or something completely new. It could even utilize some non-canon elements of the game we're thinking of introducing :>

Thank you guys again for such an incredible support for this project! This page lately crossed a 70 followers milestone and out interest check has almost 100 responses at the time of writing this! We wouldn't be able to do this all without you ❤️

[umbralsong]

Lady Incognita

Cazador Szarr's "niece" is named Amanita Szarr. You can find her story scattered throughout the palace's attic, dungeon, and the House of Hope. She was a girl who grew up near Anga Vled raised by old servants. At 13, she was brought to visit her uncle in Baldur's Gate...

The day her entire family exposed themselves as vampires.

Alternate Text: An east Asian girl with medium-brown skin and dark brown then red eyes looks away from the viewer. One with brown, facing away. Twice with red and shoddily cut away dark hair, looking away in despair and notably darkened, red, downcast eyes and short hair. Once more with darkened eyes and a cloak and red eyes to match, long dark hair flowing from her hood.

Unfinished, but hey. I want to show fellow artists that things just don't come to you. Sometimes, you have to work the lines and paint until they do. Use Glaze to protect your art from AI scrapers.

The notes you can find in order:

Alturiak 1477 Tarsakh 1477 Mirtul 1477 Kythorn 1477 Flamerule 1477

Please read about issues with Cazador's depiction [here]. Thank them for their kind contribution and show support.

Donate to Gaza here: https://gazafunds.org/ Support good causes with a click here: https://arab.org/ Ceasefire Now: https://ceasefire-now.com/ Donate to the [Sidewalk School] [Pay your rent], settlers. [KOSA Resources]

The city palace, straddling the wall between the Upper and Lower City, was more than creepy, it was somehow chilling.

Cazador Szarr the Avid rose to power in 1296. She stayed at the estate for at least four months before she was killed. She was turned in Kythorn 1477, 15 years before the start of the story.

'Uncle' Cazador made me a vampire, but I refused to participate in the family rites. He gave me the Hunger but he could not break my will. He had Blovart imprison me in the attic. I weakened. They sent up human blood, and eventually I drank it. For a year, they stopped sending anything. I tore at the walls in frustration. Then they sent up a bound captive.

Cazador's favorite punishments are cruelty, hunger, and isolation.

His staff, "Woe:" The gentle tap-tap-tap of a staff on stone sparked terror for all in Cazador's palace. It signalled an approaching storm, and all they could do was shrink into the background and pray its wrath would not fall on them. His dagger, "Rhapsody:" Cazador's love of poetry arose after he read on the naked stomach of a dead child in his homeland. The child was hung from the lowest branch of a tree. Cazador read the poem, and looked at the child, and he knew that here was the artform for him.

Her coffin is on a wooden table overlooking a window. There are chains by her bed, a candle, and a skull. There are three skeletons in the attic, one headless with a crossbow and garlic cloves in their cage.

I succumbed. I am a vampire, and damned. I curse the name of Szarr and reject it. Now I stay in the attic by choice and write my little histories. I am Lady Incognita. Amanita is no more.

I think the snippets of her story were so impactful because of the complete betrayal. The fact her family were never around. The fact they lied for her entire life. The fact they forced her to transform, which we know from Astarion's partial ceremorphosis dialogue is incredibly painful:

Player: Unlike you to be so unwilling to receive a new power... Astarion: That was before I knew the cost. Before I knew it meant transforming into some grotesque beast. I remember how it hurt when I turned to a vampire. My body writhed and warped while I was utterly helpless, the grip of death owned my heart as it beat its last. I - I don't want to turn into anything else. I can't do that again. I can't watch my body be taken over. Player: You're afraid? Astarion: I'll happily murder my way to whatever powerful artefacts we can make use of. Point at the back and I'll stab. Just don't ask me to sacrifice my body. It hasn't been mine for so long.

We know thematically there is a parallel between vampirism, abuse, and sexuality. Cazador appeared to lose interest in his 'niece' altogether. Nonetheless, he locked her into an eternal childhood under "true vampirism," never to grow to adulthood, and denied her a "typical" life forevermore. There is something particularly grotesque about that.

Astarion: Nearly two hundred years and I never came back. Not since the night I woke up down there. I had to punch a hole in the coffin and claw my way through six feet of dirt. Then when I finally broke the surface, retching up dirt and congealed blood, Cazador was waiting. From that day on I was his. Until today. Player: You were never his. Whatever he had, he took by force. Astarion: Maybe, but he did take it. There's almost nothing left of the person I was. Just a name on a rock. For nearly two centuries, I stalked the streets like a ghost while the person I was lay here, dead and buried. Now I need to figure out who I am. What I want.

We find The Tourmaline Depths in the room beneath Cazador's room. She wrote Diseases of the Blood to tackle vampiric illness. She wrote the names of ruling vampires, their titles, and their successors. She is, what, 28?

I like to think she knew all of Cazador's secrets, from the corpses in the suspended cages to his dungeon. I'm impressed by her mental fortitude in the face of such odds as a child and young woman. I'm impressed she chose to do what she loved, escaped, and became such a relevant figure in the study of vampiric physiology. I wish we knew her better. I wish we had the opportunity to meet her.

She is the historian who sullies his name and documents his endless crimes. She escaped. Cazador underestimated her.

[mushiemellows]

On Rivd and AI

So last night I made this post and said I'd elaborate more in the morning and when I had the time to do a bit of research. Upon doing said research, I realized that I had misunderstood the concerns being raised with the Rivd situation, but that isn't the case any more. However, some of my thoughts on ai still stand. Heads up, this is going to be a long post. Some actual proper blogging for once wow.

I'm going to discuss the Rivd phishing scam, what can be done for fic writers as ai begins to invade fan spaces, and my elaborated thoughts on Language Learning Models. Warning for transparency: I did utilize chat gpt for this post, NOT for the text itself but to provide examples of the current state of LLMs. Some articles I link to will also be ai generated, and their generated quality is part of what I'll be warning about. This is not a generated post and you can tell because I've got those nifty writing things called "voice" and "style."

ANYWAYS:

Okay so what was the Rivd situation? So two days ago this post was uploaded on tumblr, linking back to a twitter thread on the same topic. I saw it late last night because I was traveling. A reddit post was also uploaded 3 days ago. According to google trends, there was a slight uptick in search traffic the week of June 23rd, and a more severe uptick last week (June 30th-July 6th). That's all to say, this website did not exist until last week, caused a stir, and immediately was put down.

Rivd is not longer up. Enough people contacted its web hosting service Cloudflare and they took the site down. This happened yesterday, from the looks of it.

So, then, what was Rivd? And more importantly, what was the point of scraping a chunk of ao3 and re-uploading it? There seems to be 2 possible theories.

1) The more innocent of the two: they genuinely want to be an ao3 competitor. I can't look at the website any more, and very little positive results appear when googled, but I did find one ai-generated puff piece called "Exploring Rivd: The Premier Platform for Movie-Based Fanfiction" posted to Medium last week by one "Steffen Holzmann" (if that is your real name... x to doubt). This account appeared the same week that Rivd had that first little uptick in google queries, so it is undoubtedly made by the people running the website themselves to create an air of legitimacy. Medium appears to be a safe enough website that you can click that link if you really want to, but you shouldn't. It's a bad generated article, there's very little to glean from it. But it is a remnant source on what Rivd was claiming to be, before it was taken down. Here's the conclusion from the article, the only portion that gave any actual information (and it barely offers any):

Rivd is the ultimate platform for movie-based fanfiction, offering a diverse range of content, a supportive community, and robust interactive features. Whether you’re a writer looking to share your work or a reader seeking new adventures in your favorite movie universes, Rivd provides the perfect platform to engage with a passionate and creative community. Start your journey on Rivd today and immerse yourself in the world of fanfiction.

There's a second article by Holzmann titled "Mastering the Art of Fanfiction Writing in 2024" that's essentially similar ai bull, but trades explaining that fans can write Star Wars fic for explaining that you can make OC's and maybe get a beta (not that that's advice I've ever heeded. Beta? Not in this house we don't.) This was posted six days ago and similarly spends half the time jerking Rivd off. That's all to say, if they are to be believed at face value, this website wanted to just be a fic hosting site. Scraping Ao3 would have made it seem like there was already an active user base for anyone they were attempting to attract, like buying your first 50,000 instagram followers. Anyone actually looking to use this as a fic site would have quickly realized that there's no one on it and no actual fan engagement. There's already fan community spaces online. This website offers nothing ao3 or ffn or wattpad or livejournal or tumblr or reddit didn't already.

Similarly, it reeks of tech bro. Between the scraping and the ai articles, the alarms are already going off. According to that Reddit thread, they were based out of Panama, though that doesn't mean much other than an indicator that these are the type of people to generate puff articles and preemptively base their business off-shore. Holzmann, it should be mentioned, also only has 3 followers, which means my tiny ass blog already has more reach than him. Don't go following that guy. The two comments on the first article are also disparaging of Rivd. This plan didn't work and was seen right through immediately.

If fan communities, and those who write fic know anything, it's how to sniff out when someone isn't being genuine. People write fic for the love of the game, at least generally. It's a lot of work to do for free, and it's from a place of love. Ao3 is run on volunteers and donations. If this genuinely is meant to be a business bro website to out-compete ao3, then they will be sorely disappointed to learn that there's no money in this game. It would be short lived anyway. A website like this was never going to work, or if it was, it would need to ban all copyrighted and explicit materials. You know, the pillars of fic.

So then what was the point of all of this? Unless there was a more nefarious plan going on.

2) Rivd was a phishing scam. This is so so so much more likely. The mark for the scam isn't fic readers, it's fic writers. Here's how it works: they scrape a mass of ao3 accounts for their stories, you catch it, you enter a lengthy form with personal info like your full name and address etc. requesting they take your work down, they sell your data. Yes, a lot of personal info is required to take copyrighted materials down on other sites, too. That's what makes it a good scam. Fic already sits in a legal grey area (you have a copyright over your fic but none of the characters/settings/borrowed plot within it. You also CANNOT make money off of fic writing). So the site holds your works ransom, and you can't go to Marvel or Shueisha or fuck it the ghost of Ann Rice herself to deal with this on your behalf. Thankfully, enough people were able to submit valid DMCA's to Cloudflare to deal with the issue from the top.

Remember this resolution for the next time this situation arises (because of course there will be a next time). Go through higher means rather than the site itself. These scams are only getting more bold. Me personally? I'm not going to give that amount of personal info to a website that shady. Be aware of the warning signs for phishing attacks. Unfortunately, a lot of the resources online are still around text/email phishing. We live in a time where there's legal data harvesting and selling, and illegal data harvesting and selling, and the line in between the two is thin and blurry. Here's an FTC article on the signs of phishing scams, but again, it's more about emails.

I should note, I do not think that Rivd is connected to the ransomware virus of the same name that popped up two or three years ago [link is to Rivd page on PCrisk, a cypersecurity/anti-malware website]. It's probably just coincidence.... but even so. A new business priding itself on SEO and all that tech guy crap should know not to name itself the same thing as a literal virus meant to scam out out of a thousand dollars.

That's all to say, this was absolutely a scam meant to take personal info from ao3 writers. And that blows. To love art and writing and creation so much just to have your works held hostage over data feels really bad. Of course it does!

So, should you lock down your ao3 account?

That, to me, is a little trickier. You can do as you please, of course, and you should do what makes you feel safest. Me personally, though, I don't plan on it. I really, really like that guests can interact with my work from the outside. Ao3 still uses an invite system, so a lot of regular users still don't have accounts for any number of reasons. I read a lot of the time logged out anyways. I started writing again last year after all the info on the ao3 Language Learning Model training had already come out. Like I talked about in my last post, I set out to write things that a computer couldn't produce. (from here on out, I'm going to be using One Piece fic as an example, simply because that's what I write. It's also in a really prime position for a lot of ai discussion due to the size of the fandom and the size of the original work)

I'm going to be honest, I'm not all that afraid of my work being scraped for LLMs to train off of. Text generators have existed for a decade now, but they really popped off last year. LLM's are at a point, though, where the tech is sort of stagnating after the initial boom. The flaws of current ai chat bots are so baked into the flaws of ai itself that they won't be ironed out soon. They make up info, they're easily manipulated, they simply are not people. The flaw here is deep- you can trace it to the fact that we don't know enough about neuroscience itself, and even then neuroscientists don't make ai. Ai programers do. Complex info already has to make one synaptic jump without losing any understanding from person to person, and then it has to be perfectly abstracted for a machine to comprehend. It can't be done with the tools we currently have. I DO hate to admit it, but there are some decent uses for ai. if you are specifically a python programmer. The rest of us? Maybe not.

I don't like generated fic, I don't read it on principle. Checking on ao3, though, there's only 4 total generated op fics (3 in spanish, one in english, 3 xreader, 1 zosan but 2nd person zosan? and the author edited the framework the computer generated text. I still didn't enjoy the fic, tho.) But that breaks down to .005% of all op fics. I went into chat gpt and asked it to generate a drabble for me based on One Piece, and this is what it wrote:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word fanfiction based on the manga One Piece. Next line, Chat GPT- "On the shores of an uncharted island, the Straw Hat Pirates stumbled upon a hidden treasure trove. Among the glittering gold and jewels, Luffy discovered an old, weathered journal. Inside, he found sketches and notes detailing the adventures of a legendary pirate who once roamed the Grand Line. Excited by the prospect of a new adventure, the crew set sail. following clues left in the journal. Along the way, they faced formidable foes and forged new alliances, unraveling the mysteries of the lost pirate's legacy. With each island they conquered, they grew closer to uncovering the ultimate treasure- a legacy that would shape their own journey." End ID]

Okay so like, this blows, yeah? 75,000 One Piece fics to train off of on ao3 and it still can't like, write a decent little story. This reads more like an episode summary or a book dust jacket blurb. Drabbles have an internal structure that make them interesting, much like a single sentence short story. You have to get very baby shoes never worn with them, yeah? Ai doesn't understand that, it just knows how many words it has to generate. It doesn't have any sense for creative language, metaphor, simile, poetry. I asked it to write me a poem and it wrote me the same poem with thesaurus replacements each time it re-generated one. A lot about dreams and stars and midnight and whispers, over and over again. The same rhyme scheme and cadence too.

It's also- vitally- so unhorny that it's almost a crime. For a test, I asked it to generate a story about a uhhhhh robot and an archeologist kissing. Just to see what it would give me. I ran 4 tests, a robot falling in love with an archeologist, a robot kissing an archeologist, an archeologist kissing a robot, and an archeologist falling in love with a robot. All 4 were incredibly chaste, quiet little drabbles about the innocence of discovery or whatever the fuck. Here's one of them:

[Image ID: A screenshot of chat GPT. The first line shows my prompt. It reads: You- write me a short 100 word story about an archeologist kissing a robot. Next line, Chat GPT- "Int he dimly lit chamber, Professor Evelyn Porter stared in awe at the ancient artifact- a remarkably lifelike robot buried for millennia. As she leaned closer to examine its intricacies, a surge of curiosity and admiration swept over her. In a moment of spontaneous fascination, she brushed her lips against the cool metal of its cheek, a gesture of reverence and connection across ages. The robot, dormant for eons, stirred faintly in response to the unexpected contact. It was fleeting, almost surreal exchange between past and future, bridging the gap between human exploration and technological marvels of ancient civilizations." End ID]

So like, some of these phrases gets to what's vaguely intriguing about this dynamic, sure. But at the end of the day it's still uhhhh chaste as hell. A reverent kiss??? Not what I want in my fic!!!! This is all to say, LLM's can scrape ao3 all they want, that doesn't mean they can USE what they're stealing. The training wheels have to stay on for corporate palatability. I'm stealing, I'm taking these dolls out of Shueisha's grubby hands and I'm making them sexy kiss for FREE.

In my opinion, the easiest way to keep your work out of the hands of ai is to write something they cannot use. If the grey area of copyright lies in how much is transformed, then motherfucking TRANSFORM it. Write incomprehensible smut. Build surreal worlds. Write poems and metaphors and flush out ideas that a computer could never dream of. Find niches. Get funky with it. Take it too far. and then take it even farther. Be a little freaking weirdo, you're already writing fic so then why be normal about it, you know? Even if they rob you, they can't use it. Like fiber in the diet, undigestible. Make art, make magic.

Even so, I don't mind if the computer keeps a little bit of my art. If you've ever read one of my fics, and then thought about it when you're doing something else or listening to a song or reading a book, that means something I made has stuck with you just a little bit. That;'s really cool to me, I don't know you but I live in your brain. I've made you laugh or cry or c** from my living room on the other side of the world without knowing it. It's part of why I love to write. In all honesty, I don't mind if a computer "reads" my work and a little bit of what I created sticks with it. Even if it's more in a technical way.

Art, community, fandom- they're all part of this big conversation about the world as we experience it. The way to stop websites like Rivd is how we stopped it this week. By talking to each other, by leaning on fan communities, by sending a mass of DMCA's to web host daddy. Participation in fandom spaces keeps the game going, reblogging stuff you like and sending asks and having fun and making art is what will save us. Not to sound like a sappy fuck, but really caring about people and the way we all experience the same art but interpret it differently, that's the heart of the whole thing. It's why we do this. It's meant to be fun. Love and empathy and understanding is the foundation. Build from there. Be confident in the things you make, it's the key to having your own style. You'll find your people. You aren't alone, but you have to also be willing to toss the ball back and forth with others. It takes all of us to play, even if we look a little foolish.

[antibagel]

Advice to aspiring 2D animators/storyboard artists/concept artists etc.:

Don't go to expensive art school

Don't work for low pay indie productions in hope of boosting your resume

Don't do cheap commissions

Don't post traced or AI art ever

Don't make animation your career

Stop telling yourself artistic skill = money

If you are in high school right now, do not go to college for animation. I'm so so serious. The animation industry is crumbling right now, and the last thing you should be doing is racking up college debt for a degree that will fail you.

Here are some things that you can do:

Use your creative skills for jobs outside of the entertainment industry

Work on personal projects

Do not feel like you have to spend your time marketing yourself on social media if you don't enjoy it

Collaborate with other artists on projects you actually want to work on

Widen your creative influences

Try new mediums

Keep private sketchbooks/journals

Allow yourself to flow through periods of creative highs and art block

Even if you 'make it' in the animation industry. It is highly likely you will get laid off, be overworked, or underpaid. Most likely all three.

I've been laid off by two studios, underpaid by all of my animation jobs with exception of two, and I'll name them so no one thinks I am accusing them. One was a small short film called Emaho where I got to set my own rates and pick my workload. And the other is Wild Card, which was commission based and priced by me. I have had three animation studio jobs, and all of them have either not paid me or paid me very little.

The last studio job made me finally quit the industry. It was the largest most prestigious studio I had ever worked for. And, with exception of the studio that paid me nothing as I was an intern, this studio paid me the worst wages of any job I've had. I had calculated my pay, and it was less than minimum wage in my state. The studio had hired me promising part time hours, but would often leave me without work for days. The managers were hard to reach. I had little to no contact with the other animators working at the studio. But it was my first and only credit in an animated show, so that's something.

This expierience has been echoed by my animator friends and coworkers. It is not a sustainable industry. It profits off of worker exploitation. Don't feed it with your time, money, and creativity.

[upsidedownsmore]

ENTRIES CLOSED, reblogs turned off, thank you everyone for entering and sharing your wonderful works!!

A compilation of every entry piece can be found here!

The winner is @mugbearerscorner and the information has been confirmed in DMs!!

Roll proof:

A link to the full spreadsheet of entries can be found here!

I'm so so grateful to all the people who participated in this event!! I'm so happy with how well it turned out and I'm so so thankful to be able to host it!!! Love you all!! :) :) :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAUSS PRIME ACCESS GIVEAWAY!

* Provided by Digital Extremes! Info about the prime access here.

To enter, simply reblog with your art of ANY warframe giving a thumbs up!

Giveaway entries will close on FEBRUARY 10TH at 10:00pm CST

The post for the above drawing (with reference screenshot and wips) can be found here.

MORE INFO UNDER THE READ LINE, PLEASE READ IT IF YOU WANT TO ENTER

Notes:

This is not a contest! The winner will be decided entirely randomly, image quality will have no effect on chances of winning! Make whatever you can in any medium you want! (This can also include 3D mediums! The only thing I'm not including is unedited game screenshots/captura, though edited might be okay). Everyone can draw regardless of how good you think your own skills are!

Please submit your own drawing(s)!! Only one is necessary but you can make more if you want of course! Do not use any AI generation tools for your entry.

When reblogging it might be a good idea to enter some text either in the post or in the tags! It turns out reblogs with just an image and nothing else might not show up under the original post, which means I might miss your submission!

Only one entry per person, you will not get more entries for additional reblogs and/or drawings.

The goal of this is for the community to have a fun little gallery of warframe thumb ups in the reblogs, but again don't stress over how "good" your drawing is! As long as you have fun and submit something vaguely in line with the prompt you're good! (such as a wave instead of a thumbs up or an operator instead of a warframe, etc. Up to you how closely you want to follow the prompt!)

You DO NOT need to engage with me in any other way (likes, follows, etc.) to enter, just a reblog with a drawing loosely following the prompt!

This giveaway will only run here on Tumblr due to issues with bots and impersonation on Twitter. The issue of course is that the only way to submit images under a single post on Tumblr is through reblogs, but please know that I do not intend this to be a means of promotion. If people could submit images in the replies I would gladly take that option! If this post gets taken down I will look into other giveaway options.

As this is my first giveaway as a Warframe creator please let me know if I've made any mistakes!

Here are some example drawings that would all work, but of course whatever you want to make shouldn't be limited to this!

Inspired by @ritens, I will be assigning one unique number per individual and then throwing them into the random number generator on random.org. After the entries close and I roll the winner, I will update this post with the winner's name and a message saying that the giveaway is closed. Reblogs will also be turned off once the giveaway is closed, as I am only using reblogs as means of congregating drawing submissions under one post during the giveaway period.

Whoever's number get's chosen will be contacted via DMs here on Tumblr, so please make sure your DMs are open! I will be asking for your Warframe IGN and platform so DE can give send over your prize! If you have cross-save linked or merged then please tell me, though I will also be asking in DMs as well. If the winner doesn't respond within 48 hours or no longer wants the prime access pack, then I will roll a new winner with the same method but with the previous winner(s) number(s) taken out of the pool.

Topmost drawing without giveaway text:

Anyways good luck and most importantly have fun!!

[lukadrienmonth]

It's here! 2024 calender for Lukadrien June!

As a reminder, instead of 30 days, we're doing 15 this year! So that means, there's a prompt for every other day. A gentle reminder that you don't have to do every prompt or even do them on their assigned days. Go crazy and have fun with the prompts.

Rules:

This is a salt free event. This includes harsh criticisms of the show, characters, ships or fandoms involved. Any kind of hate will not be tolerated and will not be reblogged. Please be respectful.

Fics, art, playlists, edits, cosplay and other creative mediums are all welcome. Please make sure to tag us properly so we can reblog your hard work.

No AI - generated content. It's a safety factor for us as creators to not allow AI to learn how we do things and show our own creativity instead of relying on a program. We ask that you respect that by posting things you have created yourself. A reminder that you don't need to feel rushed to post on the day and turn to AI programs to finish or start your work. We're more than happy with whatever you can produce naturally.

We ask that there be no poly ships that include Lukadrien. There are other events that would cover ships such as those and we want to focus on just these two. Feel totally free to have other couples in your posts, but we ask the main focus be on Lukadrien.

As such, alternate personas of the boys are allowed, so feel free to add them in.

The tags for this event are #lukadrienmonth, #lukadrienjune2024, #lukadrienjune. We also ask that you tag the blog @lukadrienmonth

We will allow NSFW, but please have it under ‘Keep Reading’ line and properly tag it with #lukadreinmonthNSFW

And finally, have fun! As mentioned, you don’t have to post everyday or even use the prompts given for the day it’s assigned.

Prompts listed below cut.

Day 1-2: Start of something new

Day 3-4: Gothic

Day 5-6: What if?

Day 7-8: Band Practise

Day 9-10: Academy

Day 11-12: No Miraculous AU

Day 13-14: Healing

Day 15-16: Ladybug!Luka

Day 17-18: Hero/Villain

Day 19-20: Royalty

Day 21-22: Another fandom AU

Day 23-24: Magic

Day 25-26: Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Day 27-28: Horror

Day 29-30: Mythology

Feel free to ask if you need clarifications on any of the prompts and we can't wait to see what you come up with in June!

[fourormore]

[Image description: A polyam flag with the words “four or more Valentine's Flash Fiction Madness" in distorted letters on it.]

AO3 COLLECTION | SQUIDGEWORLD COLLECTION

Happy New Year! I'm already looking forward to creating about the complicated relationship dynamics that come up when you have four or more people in a polycule. What are you looking forward to this year?

Well, hopefully, you're looking forward this event.

Let me introduce to you: the 2025 Four or More Valentine's Flash Fiction Madness collection!

What's this? It's a writing-focused challenge, however all mediums are welcome in the collection. The idea is to purposefully create in smaller chunks for your favorite relationships with #fourormore people with the intent of promoting your favorite ships and populating those tags of polyamorous goodness.

This event will run from February 7th to February 21st.

This is a low-stakes, personal challenge. There's no penalty for going over the limit. In fact, if you manage multiple works that go over the limit, you have my admiration.

GUIDELINES

Any medium! Any rating! As long as your work focuses on a relationship with 4 or more people, it's allowed!

All works must be your own and not previously posted. AI generated works will be deleted from the collections.

You may combine these with other events, as long as the other event allows it (such as @polyamships PolyamShippingDay or @febuwhump)

Small fandoms and complicated relationships more than welcome!

Don't forget to comply with the community guidelines.

MEDIUM SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

Minimum wordcount for fics is 100 words. Maximum is 2000 words.

Minimum for art is a sketch (digitally or traditionally drawn. Figure sticks allowed!). There is no limit to the quality or effort you want to put in your fills.

Minimum for moodboards is a 2x3 grid (6 images individually or edited in one image). Maximum is a 3x 3 grid (9 images individually or edited in one image).

Minimum for podfic is a 100-word fic. Maximum is 2000 words. There is no restriction on length or special effects.

Minimum for fanvids is 30 seconds. Maximum is 1minute and 30seconds.

Other mediums don't have a minimum nor maximum. Do you want to make an in-universe magazine for your ship? A cross stich pattern? A sculpture? Go ahead and do it! I look forward to all the things you can create.

FAQ

Q: How much do I need to create? A: As much or as little as you want! Even one more work in your ship tag is better than none!

Q: Why isn't X allowed? A: Just because.

Q: I don’t have a Dreamwidth account. Can I join? A: Of course! You don’t even need an AO3 account if you wish to post only on tumblr.

Q: My work contains [INSERT WARNING HERE]. Can I still participate? A: Yes. This is a CNTW (Choose Not To Warn) space.

Q: I don’t want to see [X] content, can you please remove it? A: No. The only content that will be removed will be that that does not comply with the rules.

PROMO POSTS

Please promote your works! Create reading lists! Send us on a treasure hunt to unlock a secret fic! If you are posting on tumblr please @ us @fourormore and/or use the tag #fourormore, and your work will be archived to the blog.

--

If you have any questions, send us a message!

Have fun and bon appetit!

[taikouvember]

Taikouvember 2024 - Rules & FAQ

Even though most of the general rules for the week were already written down in the Event Announcement Post, we would still like to specify some of our Do’s and Don’t’s to make sure Taikouvember will turn out amazingly for everyone involved!

Do's & Recommendations

The event goes from November 4th to November 10th. There are prompts for every single day - this time, they refer to the Crests of the other Chosen Children.

Interpret the prompts as you like, you can find some helpful tips in our Prompt Guideline. You may submit as many entries for each prompt as you like.

If this year's prompts are not to your liking, feel free to use the prompts used for the 2022 and 2023 events as well.

Every kind of entry will be allowed: Fanfiction, Drabbles, Poems, Fanart, Comics, Sketches, Doodles, Music, Playlists, Music Videos, Picture Sets, Edits, Gifsets, Meta, etc.

You can of course decide which series or medium you want to focus on: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, all corresponding movies, Digimon Adventure Tri, Digimon Adventure Last Evolution: Kizuna, Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning, Digimon Adventure: The 2020 Reboot, games, manhuas, audio dramas, novels, the stageplay, etc.

You are free to choose how to interpret the relationship of Taikou - whether that's romantic or platonic is completely up to you!

Other canon characters are allowed to be included, as long as the entries contain the original ship Taikou, the original characters, Taichi Yagami and Koushiro Izumi, and/or in extension, their partners, Agumon and Tentomon. You can also include multi-/polyships, OT3s, OT4s, etc. as long as they contain Taikou.

Crossovers, Alternate Universes (AUs) or Own Characters (OCs) are allowed, as long as the entries contain the original ship.

When posting your entries, please make sure to @ us directly as @taikouvember in the entry post or use the following tags: #taikouvember2024, #taikouvember 2024, #taikouvember. You can also submit your posts directly to our blog.

We will search the different ship tags (#taikou, #koutai, #taishiro, #taishirou, #taichi x koushiro, #taichi x koushirou) for your entries too, so regardless of what spelling you use, we will try our best to find it. Late entries beyond Taikouvember are perfectly fine, we will search the ship tags until at least the end of November. If we missed your entry, please contact us directly!

Old content may be reblogged by using our handle @taikouvember, so we can find it or you can send us content you would like us to reblog for consideration. We highly encourage creating new content though!

Don't's & Restrictions

Do not post any ship or character bashing/hate concerning any other Digimon ships/characters. It will not be reblogged.

Only post your own content, art theft etc. will not be tolerated. This includes the use of AI technology. AI art may only be reblogged if it is tagged/marked explicitly as such and doesn't blatantly copy other people's work.

Not Safe For Work (NSFW) content may be submitted in moderation and in line with tumblr's guidelines, but only if it is hidden under "Read Mores". Any kind of adult themes and triggers need to be tagged accordingly. Please understand that we may not reblog explicit, disturbing or any kind of discriminating content.

We're excited to see what you'll have in mind. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly! Have fun!