#you are not entitled to the creators output

[echoofawind]

I have a problem with 90% of the fests I see advertised with prompting. I love the idea of sharing plot bunnies or creative ideas. I don't like it when the prompt forms have a dozen fields outside of the prompt that further specifies anything. Ship, rating, characters, triggers, etc. A prompt in a standard fest is NOT a request for a gift. The writer is not obligated to write you a story. If you as a prompter have a list of requirements for the prompt, then you are not offering a prompt. You are saying, writer you must write me this exact story. I do not understand how that is seen as the norm in fandom right now instead of rude and limiting?

As long as you don't gift the story to the prompter, you are under NO OBLIGATION to follow any of those superfluous prompt fields. It's a prompt. A starting point for inspiration.

I cannot count how many fest prompts I've read through, found a prompt that sang to my muse and started crafting an idea only to then read 'Do Not Write: age gap relationship. Or only X or Y characters' . Who is this prompter to tell me what stories I am allowed to create? That is not how a prompt works! That is how a gift request works. Stop putting me in a fucking box.

[olderthannetfic]

Just saw a TikTok of a girl bragging about copying and pasting the unfinished fics she's reading into ChatGPT so that the AI can write the missing chapters and all the comments were super positive and kept asking her which AI was the one that worked better for this, and I'M SO FUCKING TIRED.

Fanfic is a hobby, not a duty, and if someone stops posting they have their reasons. They may not be good, you may think they're stupid, but they have THEIR OWN REASONS and you HAVE TO respect them.

It's so fucking shitty that the OTW is trying to defend its creators from AIs as much as possible, the only suggestion for authors that of making their works visible only for registered users, and here are these cunts who are PURPOSEFULLY harvesting material and feeding it into AIs because they think they're entitled to other people's stories.

If they care so much about those fics, why can't they do it the right way: opening up their own little Google Docs document and writing the missing chapters themselves? It's not like they can post them to Ao3 anyways, so... what's the fucking difference?

I'm 100% sure that they feel this entitled because a lot of traditional writers are now churning out four 500 pages novels a year and are constantly selling them something. They think that that amount of output can be sustainable for people who don't have writing as their main form of income, who have to have jobs to support themselves, and who are just doing it because they like it.

I hate them.

I fucking hate them.

--

Also, it's just Sanderson who has Can't Shut Up disease. Or people with ghostwriters.

Most authors don't put out that many pages per year even if it's their primary source of income.

[ccchloister]

It's so strange how the problems that come with existing online have forced me to find words to explain concepts that I assumed were mostly universal. I thought knowledge, talent, expertise, hard work and persistence were skills that were valuable and should be encouraged in everyone. A.I. has taught me otherwise.

A.I. might as well stand for Anti-Intellectualism, because that's the spirit behind the excitement. It literally takes the skill and labor out of skilled labor. Learning is being treated like an inconvenience, a problem to be eliminated in the name of efficiency. Entire disciplines are being treated as grand sacrifices in the name of mass production and instant gratification.

Why does art need to be efficient? It's not food. It's not medicine. It's not shelter. How fast are people shoveling content into their gob that between social media, streaming, and physical media, it's still not enough? Technology has already pushed creators to pumping out content at an unhealthy and unnatural rate just to try to appease social media algorithms. Now that same output is being used to train new algorithms to pump it out even faster while cutting creators out entirely. It’s sick and cruel. And instead of this exploitation being treated like an injustice that needs to be corrected, I'm told "It's inevitable. Adapt or die. Don't put your work online if you don't want it taken", delivered either with condescending pity, callous apathy, or malicious glee.

If A.I. fans aren't taking the "hardened pragmatic realist" approach, then they are shallowly aping socialist ideas, blaming capitalism for exploitation, not the tech. A very "guns don't kill people, people kill people" take. Just because exploitation of creatives is not a new concept doesn't mean A.I. isn't responsible for making it INFINITELY WORSE. They’ve also decided that people shouldn't be pursuing art and knowledge for the sake of profit and that the skilled creators trying to protect their labor are greedy, elitist gatekeepers trying to keep art from "the common man" (because creatives aren't the common man, apparently). It's that same resentment and distrust of experts that's typical of anti-intellectualism, except creative fields are in this weird place where they aren't even respected the way STEM is, so there's an extra layer of belittling and disrespect to the othering. Consumers feel entitled to art, but they don't understand how it's made, and they definitely don't respect it as a discipline.

The glut of creative content available for "the common man" to consume has never been greater or more accessible, but it's still not enough. It's not enough to just consume art. They want ownership. They want the sense of accomplishment that comes from making something, without having actually *made* it. And despite their finger-wagging at creatives wanting to protect their careers, they also want to make some money. Etsy is flooded with A.I. prints, kindle is filled with A.I. books, spotify is loaded with A.I. songs. There’s even A.I. kickstarters. Along with replacing writers and animators, CEOs want to replace actors, voice actors, and models with simulacrums they can make do whatever they want, forever, and A.I. fans are hoping they'll be the ones hired to facilitate that process. Even without actively profiting, A.I. still devalues the work of skilled laborers. Why commission a skilled artist when for 15 dollars you can buy a machine that will give you infinite works of the same or better quality, instantly? Do you have faith in consumers to prioritize ethics over convenience? Do you think it's right and fair and good to make compensating skilled creators an act of charity rather than a necessity?

A.I. users overestimate their contribution to the final product, thinking their idea is so unique and their vision so strong, that of course they should claim ownership… conveniently ignoring all the infinite little decisions A.I. made for them based off the knowledge and fine motor skills of millions of artists. It's like they think fully realized Good Ideas are a natural resource waiting to be excavated, and traditional creators had the unfair advantage of pickaxes, physical strength and a knowledge of geology to find the rich veins. Now A.I. is providing scanners and and powerful machinery so "the common man" doesn't need strength or knowledge to quickly mine those same veins first.

But that's not what art is, and that's not how creation works. Art is communication. Imagination is fostered through life experience, observation and processing information with your human brain. It's something every living person could do, because every person is unique with unique life experiences. Creation is practice, study, experimentation, problem solving, and adapting to limitations. There is nothing stopping anyone from doing these things. Natural ability has been grossly overvalued: most people with "talent" were not making hyper-realistic paintings at 13 like Picasso. What happens is a child shows a slight aptitude, the adults in their life notice and give them positive reinforcement, and then they are motivated and encouraged to pursue that interest. So instead of treating the naturally talented as having an unfair advantage, why not blame the adults in your life for not encouraging your interests at a young age. Or if you want to be brutally honest, blame yourself for not pursuing your interests despite a lack of external validation. You have agency.

I try to imagine, what is an A.I. fan's idea of a perfect future? One where no one has any advantages that another person doesn't, where "everyone's special so no ones special"? Where all labor is automated and no one has to do anything they don't want to and everyone spends their infinite free time bettering themselves for it's own sake rather than for money? Every time they mention the evils of capitalism and how we need universal basic income and other ideas of a post-work society it makes me want to pull my hair out. We don't *have* those things. We aren't even close to those things. So it is functionally useless to factor that into your argument. Who is Tech to use A.I.'s elimination of thousands of jobs in non-Tech industries as a bargaining chip to try and incentivize the government to create safety nets for those displaced? Since when has your government prioritized it's citizens over corporations? Have proponents always been this naive, or only when trying to assuage concerns over the consequences of their new toy?

Even if we did achieve that techie utopia, what makes them think most people will use their free time productively, exercising their brain for it's own sake? Because speaking for myself, I can have every good intention of using my time to create and learn, but those things frequently lose out to short term, dopamine-driven feedback loops like social media and video games. Without any external incentives, I guarantee far less people will pursue learning for its own sake if the knowledge-based roles that keep society functioning are filled by machines. Think of how we've had to reintroduce exercise into are lives just for exercise's sake. Hows that going? Again, speaking for myself as an overweight person: Not Great. I might intellectually know physical fitness is important, but the difficulty and unenjoyable nature of exercise and the benefits not being immediate and obvious means it frequently loses out to activities I do enjoy. I know not everyone is like me, but many, many people are. Now replace physical fitness with cognitive abilities. Abilities that require work, who's benefits are totally abstract, and would be wholly unnecessary for living in an A.I dependent society. If that doesn't give you chills up your spine, then you must stand to benefit from a culture of stupidity that's hopelessly dependent on tech. And I hate you.

No ones going to read all this.

[fayes-fics]

hey! it’s Yearning Nonny again - but today I am not yearning for romance, but yearning to understand what on EARTH went through that requestor’s mind when sending you that message?!

I won’t waste any energy on them, instead putting it into telling you this: Faye, you are a FANTASTIC writer. I had a dumb smile on my face through so much of that fic

Also, you are completely correct - you do this for free! You had no obligation to fill out that request at all, and if you took inspiration from it to write then that’s more than is expected of you! (or should be, because followers are NOT owed work by creators). Also also - you’re not a mind reader, how can you ever write exactly what someone had in mind when creating a request?

The whole thing is madness to me - overall, I hope you’re okay after all this. Please ignore that one comment as much as you can (easier said than done, I know!) and do whatever brings YOU joy!

Sending you internet hugs 🫶

Hi Yearning Nonny! 🫶

You are simply the sweetest 🥹🫶

I’m so pleased you enjoyed that fic. It was meant to be a lighthearted comedy. I do not subscribe to the notion that only angst/drama is profound/“good” writing, especially with romance.

Every writer gets some rubbish thrown at them at some point, but that it was from the requester really threw me for a loop. Indeed I am not a mind reader, but I wish I was - I would have jettisoned that request if I knew the sort of person it was from lol.

Thank you for your kind, supportive words. Overall my experience of the fandom has been positive - I’ve met lovely people such as yourself - so I will try not to let one entitled person ruin it for myself and others. 😁

I will only write the requests I want to moving forward, rather than feeling obligated to people who, as it turns out, are sometimes undeserving of our effort/output.

Hugs back to you my dear 😁🧡🧡

[mintharaa]

The post you made about Astarion being the fan fave. Have you ever considered... thats not an issue? Like ever? At all? I dont even play BG3 but after being in several fandoms where theres always been a small cluster of people that arent interested in the fan favorite and do nothing but constantly shit the bed over others all enjoying the popular characters, I just think its stupid. What do you expect as a solution - everyone forcing themselves to try and change their favorite and their blogs to please you, a complete stranger? Why would they? Do you not see the entitlement...? This isnt something like an area of scientific research getting neglected. Its fandoms on tumblr, and people enjoying something harmless. The only one who would benefit here is you and a few others that like the less popular characters - but you dont *need* to benefit. It would be nice if you did but if you dont get to, thats life. You are not entitled to a high volume of fics, artwork, posts etc that center around your fave. At all. Its not an issue that youre not getting that, creators will make what they will and people are allowed to enjoy certain aspects of a media most of all that you dont. Their fun isnt about you. It sucks for you, I do empathize that it must feel frustrating, but get over it. People dont need to change their fave and creative outputs all for your sake. And you can always commission if you feel so entitled to. But otherwise all of this stuff is free content people make primarily for themselves and those who feel the same.

Good lord what a shitty uncalled for response to one (1) meme. Let’s start from the beginning. First of all, “it’s not an issue”, do you really think the fact that the only poc character in the main cast getting almost no attention from the majority of fans is “not an issue”? You really don’t see the problem here? But like… it’s not like my post was a call to action of some sort, I hardly “shat the bed” as you so eloquently put it, it’s a meme. It’s a funny meme my guy. If you don’t find it funny that’s okay! But like you said, you don’t need to! It’s not all about you :)

And like the thing is, wyll isn’t even my favourite character. I like him a lot, I like all the characters, but he’s not my favourite. I just noticed the disparity in attention and thought, huh, that sucks, ill make a meme about it. It’s kind of incredible the extent to which you managed to miss the point of my post.

And also I… never said anyone can’t enjoy anything? Again, I hardly said anything, this is over one (1) meme. But I enjoy all the characters, you can take a look at my posts and see astarions one of my favourites, I certainly haven’t stopped enjoying content around him, why would I think anyone else should.

End of the day my meme was just a bit of fun. I do think there’s a wider issue about the treatment of black characters in fandom, but there was no malice intended towards anyone and I think people should enjoy what they enjoy, just be aware. The fact that you saw my post and read so much into it that wasn’t there and wrote me this very hostile message says a lot more about you than it does about me.

[redwinterroses]

genuine question here, in regards to not commenting on videos (and fics, and art, etc.) Is there, and if so, where is there, a distinction drawn between people who do not care about commenting, and people who literally do not have the spoons to comment? I can't speak for everyone obviously, but personally, every time I've decided "alright, it's time to be loud and supportive of the things I like through comments!" I end up stopping consuming that content completely, because I literally don't have the mental brainspace and energy to comment. (This isn't a conscious choice I make, either. What happens is I'll sit down, decide to read or watch something, but then when I remember that means commenting as well, I become suddenly actually unable to consume the content in the first place. Like regular procrastination, but guiltier and more bored!) Again, this is a genuine question and I promise I'm not coming from a combative position here. Just tryna get some clarification, because all the talk about it lately is getting a little... aggressive, without much in the way of nuance.

No no, this is a good question, and a good aspect to address. Especially on This Webbed Site where most of us are neurodivergent and/or low-spoons of some flavor.

Here's my short(ish), probably-not-nuanced enough answer:

You have to a) find a balance that works for you, personally, and b) don't take it too seriously.

The first bit of that means that you don't have to force it on days that are tough -- but also don't just say "well. it's not worth it because I 'never' can do it." All or nothing aren't the only two options. And you have to decide for yourself: at what point is it worth it to me to output a bit of extra energy to repay the person who is providing me with something that gives enjoyment? There's a certain entitlement that seems to come into play in the way a lot of people are talking about this, in a "how dare you suggest I make an effort when that's hard for me" kind of way. (to clarify: that's not this ask. It's just a vibe that comes up a lot anytime "leaving comments and feedback" comes up. As if people get insulted at even being asked. Beware: yon way lies the path of the Karen.)

So you have to find a balance that works on your level between "what this is worth to me" and "what I can do right now." That balance can change. Should change, honestly. But it's not a 0% or 100% option -- there's room for gradients.

And the second bit is something I'm seeing a LOT in the tags. People saying things like "I just don't feel like I have anything to contribute" and "I only comment when I have something to say" and "I just never have anything interesting to comment."

Ditch that notion. Literally write it on a piece of paper and toss it in the fireplace. Writing a comment on youtube or tumblr is not in any way a situation that requires meaningful or insightful wordage -- and I mean that in the most /pos sense.

Type "I loved this!" and hit post. "So excited for a [creator name] video today!" "These videos put a smile on my face." "Thanks for a great vid!" Heck. I've seen comments that are literally just "<3!!!!"

And you know what? Those count. Maybe more than the paragraph-length comments tbh, because they're quicker to read through and get that little bit of "oh, that's a drop in the positive bucket."

They help engagement. They contribute to CCs knowing their content is enjoyable and hitting the right audience. They help stats and tweak the algorithm in the CC's favor. It doesn't need to be a deep dive or an original suggestion or a clever quip or whatever. Don't put that pressure on yourself.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you "No, bud, you don't have a choice. If you want to be a good fan you have to push through your own struggles and leave comments, no questions asked, no quarter given." That would be ridiculous and actually cruel.

What I will say is... yeah. Don't take it too seriously. Just, whenever you can, drop a "Cool build!" comment. And let the fact that it really, genuinely can be that little and still make a huge difference to someone's day lower the spoon-rating a little. If you don't see it as That Huge A Thing, it might not require as much energy to actually do.

...anyway that wasn't short at all but I hope maybe it made some sense.

[if-confessions]

There’s one popular IF that I know will never ever see completion and I’m sure at this point, the writer knows it too. I just wish the author would put their readers out of their misery already.

The author answers asks regularly but the actual writing? Rare. They’ll disappear for a while and return with a reason for the disappearance, promise to do better, say they’ve written however many words, but that demo gets updated once in a blue moon.

I feel bad for the readers that remain hopeful and engaged because the writing has been in the wall for this author and this WIP for months if not years.

And now as I write this, I realize this actually applies to multiple authors/WIPs.

[just a lil reminder for readers of this blog to not jump into any inbox of authors who could potentially fit in this ask and demand answers.]

Future me addition: This post ended up garnering the wrong kind of interactions, as multiple authors received many hateful anons following its publication. I naively thought people would be rational and not jump authors with entitlement and hate, but nooooooo...

No matter how much it is repeated on this blog, it seems many people forget that

IRL is a thing, a thing that should always take priority over hobbies.

IF is a hobby for 99% of creators, no one should be entitled to the output of said hobbies, nor do creators have a responsibility to cater to other people's wishes.

Readers should manage their own feelings about projects they follow. No one has to be put out of their misery. If you feel miserable because you miss a project, it is not the author's responsibility to make them feel better.

Unfollowing is not hard.

[tehriz]

People are so goddamn callous and entitled about creative works these days.

“We’ll finish this painting with AI! We’ll create songs in the voices of dead artists with AI! We’ll feed all these novels into AI and have it write sequels!” People act like they DESERVE to have “more Beatles songs” or “a sequel that never got written” just because they want it.

I see all this shit being pitched as “ordinary people having the tools to make art” and—setting aside the fact that you already have the tools to make art because you are a person and you just have to learn and put some fucking effort in—it’s NOT “democratizing art” when the training of these models and now the OUTPUT of these models is fundamentally built on exploiting artists and using their voices and their style and their materials as training data without their consent, and then taking away their jobs and their ability to create further art because you’ve wholly devalued it. Just because you want it. Just because you can.

It’s such a reflection of our culture’s obsession with having everything fast and easy and right now, the way the tech industry has designed every product for the last twenty years with purposeful effort to destroy our attention spans and that’s leaked into every aspect of life. It’s a reflection of how the internet making so many things accessible made people feel that they then should have EVERYTHING accessible just because they wanted it.

Remember a few years ago when authors were saying “book piracy directly harms me and makes it so I can’t pay my rent” and people still told them to their faces “but I want your book and I don’t want to spend money on it”? Everyone deserves access to books and literature in general—and very many people have it, through the magic of libraries and the public domain!—but that doesn’t make you entitled to a specific book just because you want it.

It’s a reflection of the way social media made creators easier to see and connect with, which then warped into harassing creators when storylines didn’t go your way, when they made choices you didn’t like, when they were private about part of their identity and you decided that meant you could bully them into sharing it to prove they were “allowed” to write about something. People didn’t just feel entitled to the art, to “have a say” in the art, they felt entitled to the creator too.

People see that making a work of art—a painting, a song, a quilt, a sweater, a book—takes time, and time to learn how to do it and learn how to be good at it, and we’re so used to instant gratification that that’s total anathema. They would rather chew up artists’ works and regurgitate a facsimile of them that they can have Right Now. Because they want it. Because they want it and therefore that means they deserve to get it.

And the thing that gets me the most is the hypocrisy of it. People who proclaim themselves to be social justice-minded, to want to better the planet, turn to these IMMENSELY ENERGY-GUZZLING AND ENVIRONMENTALLY UNFRIENDLY networks to get their word vomit or rearranged pixels and tell artists who can’t afford health insurance to go fuck themselves, because they want something right now and they don’t want to wait.

It’s callous and it’s entitled and it’s soulless, and it makes being a creator so fucking hard. And I don’t know how to stop it except to appeal to people one by one to understand that art is a reflection of our shared humanity, of the work we do every day to live together and make something true and beautiful of our time on this planet, and it’s something that takes time. And that’s not a flaw. It’s the only thing that matters, if we could just fucking slow down and let it happen.

Rage. In my heart. All-consuming. FUCK AI.

[molluskzone]

i wish the people making whiny posts demanding reblogs from people just admitted to themselves that no, its not about "reach," its about Big Number Feels Good. because if you allowed yourself to confront the fact that you ARE a number chaser then youd have a much better chance at fixing it. and you HAVE to fix it if you want your art output to remain sustainable. numbers will NOT make you satisfied never ever especially not on modern social media. and no its not "just big accounts who dont get it" who know this: the MOST followers ive had on ANY art account of mine since 2014 is 600. and i got maybe 40 likes per post and a handful of comments. thats the best i did in 10 years online and i reached that point in like 2016. haven't gotten near that level of "popularity" since that year because the game changed and i was unwilling to change what *I* wanted to do to please an algorithm.

i understand WANTING people to care about your art. i think itd be weird if someone DIDNT want people to care (at least, out of the people posting their art publicly). but lashing out at the audience not only will NOT get you what you want but it also reflects REALLY badly on you and just makes you sound annoying, mean, and bitter. i honestly hate this and this is the main reason i block people, i have unfollowed people for even just reblogging particularly nasty posts because it rubs me the wrong way SO bad

"people dont reblog because theyre all new users who are too stupid to use the site! you NEED to reblog its just how the site works if you dont like it dont come here" its not up to you to decide what people do on their OWN blogs. people have been complaining about this since at least 2015, and honestly likely before that too (thats just the first time i remember seeing it firsthand). its NOT the "fault" of new users. if people arent reblogging your work... ITS BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT IT ON THEIR BLOG. this is not a crime. some people just dont reblog everything they see: and if people DID truly reblog every post they saw (which by these posters logic they SHOULD be doing if they Really care about creators), their accounts would be so cluttered the "reach" wouldn't matter anyways. if they have a blog centered around their OWN work, their followers might bail if all they do is reblog random peoples work they didn't agree to see. THIS IS A VALID AND NORMAL WAY TO USE THIS SITE. i've also seen people suggest making a "reblog dumping blog" so you can give number-crazed artists their precious internet points without reblogging something to your main that you don't want to. this is a genuinely stupid suggestion. again, if the point of reblogs is "for reach," then WHAT purpose would a dumping blog have. nobody is going to follow the dumping blog of the average tumblr user. it wouldn't "reach" ANYbody but the op. not only is this pointless but its also STILL trying to control the actions of random internet users who are causing no harm and just trying to use the website as they please: this is ridiculous and entitled behavior.

"its an INSULT to like a post and not reblog it. youre basically telling the artist their work is shit to their face!" / "likes are useless!" honestly i do not have any sympathy for people who say shit like this because it's just so fucking number-greedy i dont even know what to say. like i said before, there are many reasons a person might not reblog something. its entitled as HELL to demand people do with their blogs what YOU want them to. but to say that likes are useless, or worse than useless? absolutely ridiculous. god forbid people want to express appreciation of a piece even if they dont want to reblog it. i would personally MUCH rather get 20 likes and 0 reblogs on a piece than 0 likes and 0 reblogs. again, targeting and being rude to people trying to express appreciation for your work in simple ways because YOU have a problem with being focused on numbers and because YOU are *choosing* to take it personally is inexcusable

"if you like but dont reblog i will block you! you dont care about artists" perhaps the reason you dont get "enough" attention on your posts is because you are alienating any potential audience by trying to control their use of SITE-WIDE functions. the like button is part of tumblr, it is so weird to me to block people who use it. if you want to block people that is your business but i genuinely dont understand why youre blocking potential followers and people who enjoy your art enough to WANT to click the like button if your goal is to grow your account. you don't have a right to complain about lack of attention if you do this is all i'm saying

"im leaving the site because YOU didnt reblog my work enough! im QUITTING ART FOREVER because nobody reblogged it so if youre reading this its YOUR fault! if artists leave the site its YOUR fault. if you dont reblog work THINK about what youve done. artists are quitting and its ALL YOUR FAULT" this is immature guilt tripping and it boggles my mind that grown adults will make posts like these. i have seen many! if you quit art because you didnt get enough reblogs, that's your own problem. it's probably for the best because focusing on numbers so much that your entire motivation for creating is based around numbers is unhealthy and unsustainable anyways. ill give you a fun fact: the numbers will NEVER be enough if that's all youre focusing on. and even if you get to your "goal", it will NOT be forever. the internet isn't even forever and your social media site could be shut down at any time. you need to find other motivations. and again, this is ANOTHER example of alienating your potential audience: if you care about growth, stop trying to manipulate your audience! stop blaming your audience for your personal problems! if you want to quit, just quit. it's not your audience's fault.

basically: no it's not "reach" or "mutual artist support" you just want numbers. numbers feel good so you want them! admit this. there is no other reason you would feel THIS agitated and aggressive over reblogs. and i have seen some REALLY nasty posts before. it's an unhealthy mindset that it would do you good to unlearn. and honestly: im going to call you a hypocrite if you make ANY posts like this. because there is NO WAY that you as an artist are reblogging every piece of art you see. there is just no way. youre reblogging art that you like enough to share with others. and that is simply not every art piece you see. if you understand this for yourself, then you NEED to accept that this is the case for others: people are not reblogging your work because they do not want to. we all know what the reblog button does. we can all figure out that clicking reblog shares the post with all of your followers and gives the post more chances to be seen and reblogged again and again. WE KNOW. if people arent reblogging your work then they just don't want to. accept it! you need to deal with the fact that not everybody likes your art! work on yourself instead of demanding that others cater to your ego.

there is no problem with asking for reblogs. there is no problem with wanting to grow your account. there is no problem in letting people know why reblogs help artists. there is no problem in encouraging people to comment on or like your work. there IS a problem with being rude and entitled about it though

and for artists whos jobs rely on internet attention: you still don't have a pass to behave this way sorryyy... i understand being numbers-focused if you rely on commission work or ad work. but lashing out at others is STILL never okay even if your income relies on it. if you cannot game the algorithm, that is NOT your audience's fault. you have to learn to play the system if you want to make posting online your job, and if you CANT do this (like so many cant), it is not fair to blame it on the people supporting you for "not doing enough". it is nobody's obligation to make your living for you! if you cant convince people to reblog your work and spread your work based off of the content of your posts, that's a YOU problem. people share what they want to see: if your income relies on shares. make what people want to see. and even then it might not work because of how social media algorithms work. this is the risk you take being an online artists and its NEVER your followers fault for not doing enough.

anyways if u like my work i <3 you if you reblog my work i <3 you i never expect notes on my art so any attention i get is much appreciated and i treasure every compliment i get SO much that i screenshot them all and put them in a google folder so i can look at them forever and ever <3

[countessofbiscuit]

continually baffled by how fandom ~creators~ who objectively have pretty damn good ~engagement~ are THE most vocal about how fandom is increasingly apathetic and awful and entitled and how if you feel unloved because your ~content~ isn’t getting love you should just … stop? or change fandoms (as if that's something you can just do at the drop of a hat, lol)? like that is supposed to teach other fans a lesson? personally, i don’t see how that mindset results in anything other than a net increase in overall dissatisfaction, especially for the person who is disengaging with creativity or forcing their energies in certain direction because they have some secondhand idea of what reward should look like (and those goalposts keep changing based on what some BNF is feeling that week).

'Resilience' has gotten a bad rap because it’s been co-opted by capitalist shills, but man on every level but corporate, it's no bad thing. Continuing to do what you love and seeking to improve regardless of how your ""output"" is received carries its own reward.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Tech platforms' playbook inevitably produces dumpster-fires

Very rarely, I find an article that I want to share, but whose every line so so perfect that I can hardly bear to summarize it because I just want to repost the whole thing, peppered with “HELL YEAH”s. That’s how I feel about Anil Dash’s “That broken tech/content culture cycle.”

https://anildash.com/2022/02/09/the-stupid-tech-content-culture-cycle/

Dash lays out a playbook for firms that claim to be “tech companies” but rely on cultural production to grow and profit — a playbook that we’ve seen used so many times that it’s impossible to credibly call what emerges from it an “unintended consequence.”

As Ian Fleming wrote: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.” If you follow a playbook that has led to series of dumpster fires, you can’t credibly claim to be surprised when you end up presiding over a dumpster fire of your own.

Dash’s playbook starts off: Build a platform that relies on culture, but call it a “neutral tech platform,” except in your ads, “where the message is entirely about creativity and expression.”

Step two: Pay your employees solely based on growth. Fire anyone who demonstrates concern for culture or creators over growth.

Three: Grow, but pay no attention to the norms of the people using your platform.

Four: When you discover that your platform has a bunch of really gross stuff going on, make it the responsibility of your org’s “least resourced, most marginalized team.” Fire anyone who suggests you need structural changes.

Five: Half-ass your moderation. Build a system where bad actors thrive and push everyone else off the platform.

Six: When the marginalized creators who built up all the value for your platform leave, do not “reflect on how you could have amplified them instead of just letting them wander off, exhausted.”

Seven: Get serious about monetization. Realize that much of your platform’s content is illegal. Panic. Do some deals with big entertainment companies. Seize control over your platform’s most popular creators’ output.

Eight: “Surface great content” with an algorithm trained on the stuff that’s successful, foreclosing on the possibility of making anything different. Treat the algorithm as a sacrosanct oracle except when right-wing trolls work the ref and insist that their garbage’s obscurity is “woke bias.”

Nine: Overpay for exclusive deals with creators from your platforms and creators you poach from rivals. Forget about creating a pipeline where you nurture new talent. Become totally dependent on your exclusive superstars.

Ten: Commit the same abuses of talent that were perfected by studios and labels. Insist that it’s better this time because you’re a tech company.

Eleven: When your workers complain that their work is making society worse, ignore them. Listen to right-wing pundits and VCs who insist the problem is entitled “Millennials” (“anyone born after 1970, or who has school loans”).

Twelve: When your platform is inevitably implicated in a murder, address it with a single board meeting. Hire “a really good crisis comms team.” Have a single town-hall meeting. Cut a check to “whichever organization your board member’s spouse started to help deal with the problem.”

Thirteen: “Cut an even bigger check in order to keep the creator of the violence-inspiring content on your platform as an exclusive.”

Fourteen: Tell everyone that this is “growing pains” and that murder and fascism inevitably occur once a platform attains scale.

Fifteen: When you learn about really disturbing content on your platform, bump the Trust & Safety team’s budget by 5% and ask your executive coach for a compliment.

Sixteen: Pursue growth through “emotionally engaging content.” Under no circumstances should you reflect on whether those are positive or negative emotions.

Seventeen: When former workers call you out, feel briefly guilty, then get your board to remind you that “cancel culture” is the real problem.

Eighteen: Fund the most toxic users of your platform. Call it “free speech.” Under no circumstance should you reflect on the free speech issues raised by letting these people chase everyone else off your platform.

Nineteen: Use “free speech” as a “rhetorical bludgeon” against anyone who points out that you’re not just a platform, you’re publishing the people you pay for exclusive deals with your platform.

Twenty: These trolls now own your platform. They will get even more extreme and harmful. Respond by “entrench[ing] yourself even further in the necessity of enabling their depredations.”

Twenty-one: Start taking a bigger cut of the revenues generated by other creators on your platform. “Rig the algorithm, payment system, and advertising infrastructure in your favor.”

Twenty-two: Push dissenters out of the company. Paint external critics as extremists or part of a conspiracy funded by your competitors. Include the families of people who died because of your platform in this conspiracy accusation.

Twenty-three: Once regulation finally seems in the cards, team up with your sole surviving competitor in a duopolistic lobbying push to undermine the regulation. Team up with lawmakers who insist “the ‘real problem’ is that the algorithm isn’t giving their shitty content unfair amplification.”

Twenty-four: “Claim full victim status.” Ignore the billions you made from all this. Weep that “the vicissitudes of running a big content platform are just too exhausting, especially when people are blaming you for societal problems that have always existed.”

“Buy a yacht. Don’t consume any content on the yacht, you were never really into all that crap anyway.”

We call it…The Aristocrats!

My summary of Anil’s post doesn’t do it justice. It’s so good. Go read it.

https://anildash.com/2022/02/09/the-stupid-tech-content-culture-cycle/

Image: Open Food Facts (modified) https://world.openfoodfacts.org/cgi/product_image.pl?code=0080878189229&id=ingredients_en

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

Hugh D’Andrade/EFF (modified) https://www.eff.org/about/staff/hugh-dandrade

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

[decepti-thots]

I absolutely understand this feeling, and yes, I have been on this side of it myself to an extent: a beloved old fic lost to time, etc etc. Hell, I've done a lot of amateur archive-old-fandom-shit work for this very reason, things that disappeared due to linkrot and changing platform usage trends and the like, stuff which I think privately collecting to create a snapshot of a period of fannish culture otherwise fading from memory... well I find it really valuable, for sure. (Obviously. I haven't spent dozens of hours trawling for this stuff because I think it's worthless, haha.)

On the other hand, I want to give an explanation to readers and the like as to how it is creators can know this is the case for so many people, and still delete stuff without it really influencing their decision making. I have deleted so many fanworks in my time. Ones I know people wanted to read again, and missed, because they (kindly!) contacted me saying so, and asking if I'd reconsider. In some cases I sent out private copies, in some cases I declined out of personal preference.

Here's the thing. They wanted to see it, but sometimes, I didn't want them to, and at the end of the day I didn't feel I "owed" it to them at the expense of my own contentment. I write for me, and while it is lovely when other people also enjoy it, readers who get demanding about being "entitled" to keep things that I decide no longer bring me joy are not persuasive. Having things up that nagged at my anxiety because I no longer wanted them publicly available made me not want to write new things. Feeling mildly second-hand embarrassed every time someone earnestly commented and praised something I cheerfully thought was really bad that I wrote ages ago, and then feeling bad about rolling my eyes at their sincere enjoyment... well yeah, it wasn't something encouraging me to continue creating. I found that keeping stuff up I hated and constantly fretted about made me want to interact with fandom less, write less, contribute less. When I deleted stuff I no longer wanted to be easily and immediately linked to my name or even found at all if possible, I breathed easier, and creating new stuff got fun again.

I knew people wanted to see it. That's why I deleted it. Because I felt like people seeing my "tree rings" was invasive and unwelcoming at a certain point, and I didn't want them to. It's nothing personal, and usually if people asked for copies of stuff to reread in private and I had 'em, I said yes. But for a lot of people what they do creatively is really linked to their self-presentation and identity, it's a part of themselves they have put out there, and it is good and healthy to practice curating that presentation and identity as a personal, deliberate decision! My relationship to my creative output became so much healthier when I realised it was under my control and for me to prune and curate, and while I know some people get very upset they unfortunately lose easy access to stuff they might otherwise love to read, know that it quite possibly put that creators' anxieties to bed and had quite the opposite effect on those folks.

Sidenote: this is why saving fanworks (for private use) that you love is a really good idea. If you read a fic you like, download the .pdf and keep it. If they delete it, you will not have lost it. Reblog art you love on tumblr and tag it for indexing; save art to your harddrive. AO3 especially has this feature built in and if you love a fic, you should 100% be downloading that shit! It's a great feature. Use it liberally, haha.

it genuinely makes me sad and kinda upset when someone purges all their old art off the internet like. barring harmful content what if someone liked that. What if someone would have. And now nobody will ever know and it's just gone. even people's old invader zim askblogs or whatever getting deleted feels like a micro alexandria to me and that's just something I made up. I wasn't even thinking of a specific one it just stresses me out. Is this the autism I don't get why nobody else seems to freak internally abt it like I do. I see artists whose blogs I've never even looked at go like "man so glad I deleted all my old stuff it's so clean" or saying they throw out art from when they were kids I'm like. how are you not hurling. How is that not distressing that is literally your tree rings why would you do that. I want to see what's out there. people want to see it I promise someone out there likes it

...don't they??? Does everyone get quietly irrationally upset by this as me, or is this just hyperfixation/autism/some amalgam of the two. I'm not a hoarder or obsessive compulsive or anything like that so i wonder..

Anyways. reblog if you had a favorite amateur youtube animator in your childhood whose channel got nuked without a trace one day that you still think about.

[deliriumsdelight7]

A plea for audience engagement

Hoo boy.  I did NOT want to do this.  At all.  But I feel like the Rumbelle fandom has reached a fork in the road.  One path leads to years of wonderful stories and content for the fandom to enjoy.  The other leads to a slow death for this wonderful community.

This rant is probably going to come across whiny, bitchy, and completely entitled, so if you’re not up for reading that, feel free to scroll past.

There has been a sharp downturn in audience engagement in the fandom as a whole lately.  I’ve been seeing fics get just as many views as they did last year, or close to it, but fewer and fewer likes, reblogs, and AO3 comments over the past few months.  At first, I thought it was just me: either my imagination, or maybe my writing was starting to stagnate (or worse, starting to suck).  But no - I’ve had multiple authors mention how their work over the past few months will get few interactions, or worse - none at all.  Combing through their Tumblr and AO3 pages confirmed my suspicions (yes, I am being THAT flavor of creep).

This issue extends to weekly author Tumblr posts, such as TMI Tuesday.  For the past few months, I (as an example) have been extremely lucky to get a single Ask in my inbox.  Most weeks, I get nothing at all.  Other writers have reported the same thing.  It’s gotten to the point where other writers have stopped making these weekly posts altogether, because... why bother?  Why take the time to write that post inviting interactions?  It’s clearly adding nothing to the fandom, so all it does is open you up for disappointment when nobody responds.

Now, I know that nobody is entitled to comments/kudos/likes/reblogs/whatever.  And anybody who creates art for no other reason than to get compliments is going to have a bad time.  But here’s the thing: without input, there can be no output.  As our favorite scaly wizard says, everything comes at a price.  Writing fic is a creative, joyful, freeing thing - but it’s also work.  It’s stressful, it’s time-consuming, it’s exhausting... For those of us who are constantly putting out content, it’s basically an unpaid second job.  So when you pour your time, energy, and soul into a work and get little to no response... it’s discouraging.  Really discouraging.  I know for a fact that I’m not alone in feeling this way.  Multiple other authors are starting to feel both disheartened and unappreciated, to the point where they’re considering becoming much less active in the fandom and moving on to others.  I’m talking about die-hard fans who put out multiple entries a month - sometimes multiple a week!

Look, I get it.  Life really sucks right now for a lot of us.  Many members of the fandom don’t have the time/energy/spoons to go on Tumblr or AO3 to read.  This post isn’t aimed at them.  But for those of you who still check the Rumbelle tag daily, weekly, monthly, whatever, please - please interact with your content creators.  They pour so much of themselves into their work.  Hours upon hours go into each and every one.  So please - if you read someone’s work, just take thirty seconds out of your day to send them a comment.  It doesn’t have to be an essay.  It can be a sentence.  Or a word.  Or an emoji.  Anything!  And if they solicit Asks, send them a quick one!  Ask their characters questions.  Ask the author questions about themselves as a writer, or about who they are as a person!  I promise, it absolutely makes their day.

I love this fandom, guys.  In the Rumbelle fandom, I feel like I’ve found a sense of belonging I never knew before.  I’ve been pouring my energy into keeping the fandom alive through discussions, taking over popular events, trying to create new events, and yes - writing fic.  I would gladly bleed myself dry for this fandom.  But all of that comes to nothing if several of our most prolific authors become too discouraged to contribute.  So I beg you - please, please, please let your content creators know how much you love their work!

[witch-hazels-musings]

it’s been a long day of work and sitting at your desk.

you didn’t have to complete the usual round of commissions you would accept from the adventurer’s guild, but today you decided to take the day off to write: a hobby of yours you unfortunately have been neglecting since your trip to inazuma.

and yet, today was exhausting. an activity that once brought you so much comfort and pleasure felt more like a chore as writers block shackled both your creativity and ability to write.

as such, you found yourself nodding off in the plush office chair in diluc’s work room. he had left earlier in the day to check on the taverns stock of dandelion wine, much to your dismay. even as he left, diluc sighed, heart breaking at the pout you gave him: “duty calls, darling. and that pesky alcoholic of a bard seems to call even louder.”

you don’t know when you drifted off, but you were awaken by a warm hand brushing the stray hair out of your face. as you slowly opened your eyes you could make out a familiar mop of red hair situated at your left.

“hehe. good morning dear.”

diluc gave a small smile in return.

“morning? i could hardly call it morning anymore. it’s past midnight, love. did you get a lot done today?”

had time really passed that quickly? feeling more awake now, you looked out the window. the stars and the moon greeted you. the familiar feeling of guilt began creeping into your stomach, and you could feel your heart began to beat at twice its normal speed. a whole day, a WHOLE day you allotted yourself to sit down and finish the story that you were able to make such good progress on weeks ago: what had changed? you felt the beginnings of tears coming on.

noticing this, diluc frowned.

“are you okay love? is something the mat-“

“no. i’m not fine,” you half sobbed out. “i-i, i barely got anything done today! it’s like my brain froze and the paper STAYED blank, whatever i did write was awful and i crossed it out and threw it away! i wasted so much paper and i, and i..!” you sniffled, trying to catch your breath as you recalled your unproductive afternoon.

diluc stayed silent, as if waiting for you to finish your train of thought. although when he noticed another wave of fresh tears ready to fall, he could stay silent no more. bringing you close to his chest, he wrapped an arm around your shaking body and used his free hand to lift up your chin to pull you into a chaste, sweet kiss.

the effect was immediate. you instantly felt your anxieties began to seep away, but a part of your guilt remained. sensing this, diluc frowned.

“darling, regardless of how much or how little you’ve accomplished today, i am proud of you. im proud to call someone as hardworking as you as my partner. there will be days when work will not go the way you want, and today happened to be one of those days. do not worry, there are endless opportunities for you to continue writing. but for today, you did what you could: and you did well.”

you felt more tears coming on, not out of anxiety, but of gratitude. you managed a watery smile, and diluc kissed you once again.

“thank you diluc, i truly don’t know what i would do without you.”

“of course my love. now let’s get you to bed.”

(p.s!! the moral of the story is! it’s okay to have some days where you don’t feel like creating!! when you’re a content creator, the output of your work isn’t something mechanical! you are entitled to your own downtime and days to relax!! just wanted to remind you of that since you’re so giving to all of your followers :)) all of us love you and want you to happy above everything else!! so, miss hazel (and anyone out there) remember that you’re valid and you shouldn’t base your self worth off of how “productive you’ve been” throughout the day!! that’s so capitalist and icky!!)

-💖💖

( ᵒ̴̶̷̥  ‸ ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥  ✿)

don’t mind me, just over here in feels town as I read this lovely message. Please, i’d so easily break down if he asked me what was the matter and then feel silly for getting so worked up (i’m so emotional T.T) 

literally I don’t even know how you always know when to send me something - are you in my heart!? because you have to be at this point!!!! 

(( I even tell myself that it’s okay to take a break but the GUILT and this stupid feeling of being unproductive -- you got me so good -- am i truly giving enough to you all when I know I could give you more. ugh idk ))

[kpopscape]

KPOPSCAPE PRESENTS: The 21st Purge

This is not a test.

These are your folks from Kpopscape announcing the details for this month’s event entitled “The 21st Purge”. Commencing at midnight on the 21st (KST), we will be featuring all content centered around this month’s theme: The Purge. 

This month’s concept revolves around The Purge, a fictional event in the movie franchise of the same title in which all crimes are made legal for 12 continuous hours on the eve of March 21. Along with that, services such as police, fire and paramedics are made unavailable until the event concludes. Your task is to put yourself in the situation and let your imagination run wild.

The one-day event is open to all types of content creators and both members and non-members of the network. Participants are free to choose whichever artists they want to center their content on. 

For fanfic writers, any type and length of content is welcome—be it a timestamp, a lengthy one-shot or a social media AU so long as it revolves around the theme. Given the theme, we are expecting genres like horror, thriller, suspense and mystery. However, we strictly advise the writers to be mindful of their output and label their fics with the appropriate warnings. Though, if you could find light in the situation and write a fic in an unorthodox genre (i.e., comedy, crack, fluff), those fics are welcome as well.

A list of prompts have been listed below to let you get a grasp of what the theme is all about. To use them or to come up with your own is completely up to you! In addition to that, here is a playlist of songs you could also draw inspiration from: [spotify link] [youtube playlist]

For gfx creators, all content inspired by the theme is welcome, so long as your content will abide by the theme. Please be mindful of giving credits to the rightful owners of your content and seek fansite and fancam creator’s consent and rules regarding their works before using them. Provided below are color palettes you can make use of when creating your edits.

All content must be posted on March 21st (KST/GMT +9). Any time of the day is completely fine.

Below are a few more reminders to keep in mind.

Should you consider joining, please reblog the event post. 

Feel free to check our publication rules HERE in order for us to reblog your work; and

Post your contents with the tags #kpopscape & #21stpurgescape !!

For inquiries and concerns, send an ask or contact @neo-shitty​ and @the-romantiques.

Join now and unleash the beast with us. We’ll see you all on the 21st!

prompts made by: @neo-shitty​ graphics by: @ethaeriyeol​

[askshivanulegacy]

OP is very much barking up the wrong tree, clutching pearls at "how dare you call AI images not art!"

Well, AI images are NOT art. The person who inputs the prompt for them is very much a lazy button-pusher and NOT an artist. If the prompter is akin to anything in the art world, it would be an art commissioner, because that's exactly what they do. And yet, the AI tool is just a tool. There's no artist involved.

A "broke, disabled hobbyist" using the AI tool is still a lazy button-pusher no matter how you want to look at it. Doesn't matter how broke or disabled they are. None of that will magically transform them from a button-pusher to an artist via AI. None of that will make their AI output into real art. Full stop. You can't wishful think that reality away just because you want the title of "artist." Is that unfair? Well, do you think typing prompts into a machine actually qualifies you to be an artist? Ever? No. You will need to find some other method of creation that doesn't outsource the process to a machine, if you want to be called an artist. The quality of being "unfair" doesn't make reality change.

Does it matter to anyone at all if that "broke, disabled hobbyist" wants to generate pretty images for their home? NO. Nobody cares! It will impact no one. Personal use is fine.

But you can't turn around and sell those images. You can't turn around and suddenly market yourself as an artist. You can't go to corporations and demand to be paid as a button-pusher to sideline real artists who devote time, effort, and skill to create real work. You can't tell an artist that you didn't want to pay them so you used the AI to mimick their work and get your art for free.

I mean. You COULD but that would make you a selfish, entitled ass.

I've seen other comments on this post talk about "fair use" and "collages" and "data collection."

When you collect data from people to use for published purposes, those people have to give permission. No permission was given; AI is theft.

When you make a collage, you don't sell it. If you want to sell it, you must legally source and seek permission from all your sources for their original work to be used in your derivative thing and sold by you. AI is theft.

When you make fanart under fair use you are also legally not allowed to sell it! All the fanart and fanfiction operate in a very gray zone. Fanartists assume that they're chump change and no one will go after them, and that they provide free promotion. It's a fair assumption! Legally, the real creators are allowed to take issue with it, if they want.

AI is theft. At the very minimum, it is theft of the data, because there is no legal basis for these giant corporations to make use of personal art and writing for the purposes of training an AI which they turn around and profit from.

AI is theft, AI is NOT art, and those lazy-ass button-pushers are NOT artists.

Economic anxiety has a way of bringing out reactionary sentiment in anyone if they're not careful.

It is deeply, deeply frustrating to watch it play out in front of me in leftist spaces such that self-proclaimed leftists are using actual, literal fascist arguments about Real Art vs. Fake Art and Real Labor vs. Lazy Button-Pushing.

These things don't become any less bad when you SAY your enemy is "some rich techbro" while calling broke disabled hobbyists "evil soulless automatons".

The central logic doesn't become true when you SAY you're targeting an inhuman machine while you screech obscenities about a great replacement at its operator.

When you say one minute "there is no unskilled labor, only undervalued skills", it doesn't magically absolve you of saying "nooo, you were supposed to automate away the BAD and DEMEANING jobs with no financial safety net for the workers, not THIS one I consider RESPECTABLE" in the next breath; it only makes you a fucking hypocrite.

"Fair use for me but not for thee" is not a rational position to prevent plagiarism and forgery; it's just a means to codify an ingroup and an outgroup.

"Degenerate art" is always, ALWAYS reactionary and proto-fascist thing to believe in, even if you wrap it up in other fancy words because you know "degenerate" is a Bad Word. "There is Good Art that makes society better and Bad Art, if you can even CALL it Art at all, that will rot our brains and turn us all into mindless drones if it's allowed to survive" cannot be made into anything but a reactionary position! Period! End of!

"Lazy button-pushers" are EXACTLY what corporations want you to think ANY automation operator is, so they can take credit away from those employees and criminally underpay them. They said the same damned thing about digital artists back in the early days of Photoshop. They say the same thing about overworked VFX artists today. You are DIRECTLY helping them make it worse with this argument.

The same old fucking trick of making you uncertain of your financial future so you lash out at other victims of the system because you "can't take the risk" of coming together to fight the actual enemy? Is working a FUCKING treat on way too many people who pride themselves on Not Being Like That - and it's even worse because a lot of the time pointing this out will get nothing but denial because maintaining pride in a leftist, progressive, pro-labor, pro-human Identity is more important to way too many people than ACTUALLY identifying the root of reactionary sentiment and the strategies used to spread it.

It makes me genuinely feel like I've fallen into a Fox News convention, hearing all these blatantly reactionary arguments and actively self-defeating strategies to Protect Labor.