#i don't want to lose the site that worked well enough for art and more obscure games but destroying that is what tumblr is doing

[datastate]

in light of new changes: do not give tumblr your money if you disapprove of what they are doing to this site, this encourages them to continue implementing changes at the expense of their userbase. use the feedback feature on /support to submit complaints, as attempting to mention staff/humans/any personal blogs from there may be falsely flagged as harassment (lest we forget partyjockers) & tank their ratings on apps stores with your same complaints over the new features they are implementing. please, feel free to bring up their insensitivity to disabled people regarding visual overload or epilepsy; tumblr live making it a dangerous place for american individuals, especially kids, as it shares their location and there is no permanent way to turn it off; instances of transphobic or racist harassment that has gone unmoderated despite reports; or of the fascist problem they have on here, which they do not censor in the least. they have the ability to make tags unsearchable and completely erase posts, yet never apply it to these violent groups. there is so much they could be doing, which the majority of the userbase has requested they work on, yet they refuse to. make your complaining productive and share it where it'll actually be heard.

[geopsych]

re: the tumblr ai stuff, please don’t wipe your blog!! your blog has been so important to me and many others as a place of authentic light and beauty and i would hate to lose it forever 💕

there is a way to download the contents of a tumblr blog (it’s in settings, i don’t remember rn, but i’ll find it if you need it) maybe you could upload to another site or a personal site?

i know this is very serious, and i hate how we are unwillingly contributing to synthetic art, but the world would be poorer for me without your pictures <3

Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me.

This is a dilemma for me. I have loved doing this blog and going out to look for pictures and interesting things to bring here has given me motivation and meaning through years of struggle with depression and several kinds of grief. Going out to look for pictures has put me in situations where I have seen incredible beauty, much of which I never really managed to capture. Also, the many warm and kind messages I've received from people all over the world have given me heart and made me feel less meaningless as a person and more connected. Sometimes I've been criticized for buying the checkmarks and giving money to Tumblr but I wanted to do what I could because Tumblr has been my one happy and safe place online. But now this. To me AI in relation to creativity is just a way for well-to-do but untalented people, the proverbial tech bros, to profit from other people's hard work and creativity. It has no redeeming value in relation to creativity and is actively harmful to artists of all kinds. <trying to figure out how to put a read more link here> I don't even count myself among the real creatives, artists and writers and others who have worked hard and put years into honing their crafts, into learning to translate their hearts and unique spirits into their creative expression. I just see beautiful things and take pictures of them. But it would still make me sick to see AI works based on my pictures, on these times and places that have meant so much to me. Recently I saw a set of cat 'photos' on here that everyone was reblogging and exclaiming over but that to me seemed to just be AI art that was more convincing than most. As time goes on more and more output of AI is going to be almost indistinguishable from real works and unscrupulous people will pass them off as real, getting credit for what was actually created by others. Whether they profit from them becomes almost irrelevant at that point because what's worse is that we will have less and less sense of what is real. And as some have pointed out AI will now also be scraping from AI, muddying the waters further from here on in. This is an apocalypse of sorts, an apocalypse of creativity, ultimately likely to kill the joy of artistic endeavor for many who would otherwise produced brilliant, beautiful, funny, and/or shockingly original things. I'm still parsing and dissecting my thoughts and feelings about what Tumblr has done and how to react. Staying and leaving my blog up feels like consent. I am not confident in the integrity of anyone connected with scraping sites for AI. I'm not convinced that a little toggle in settings is going to make much of a difference in the long run. On the other hand I like posting here and I have received enough messages over the years to know that my blog is a positive influence on some lives. I was looking forward to May and June and posting pictures of the incredible beauty of eastern Pennsylvania in those months. And I was planning on making a side blog for posting some poetry I've been working on. It will break my heart to leave.

I haven't decided yet. Believe it or not this whole thing has given me awful physical symptoms. I'll let you know when I decide. Thank you again for your kind and lovely note!

[ivysangel]

I am dead serious when I say that you guys need to start giving writers feedback more often. I have a fic here that has a total of 4015 notes and only 218 aren't likes. So, let me break this down for you a bit.

Of 4015 notes, 186 are reblogs and 32 are comments. Two reblogs, as well as comments, are mine so I'll subtract them from the equation making the total number of notes 4011 (184 rbs, 30 comments, 3,797 likes).

Of the 184 reblogs, 16 are private, meaning they're absolutely useless in spreading and sharing the piece. The remaining 168 consists of 136 reblogs falling under "other reblogs" while only 32 fall under "comments and tags." And of the 32 under "comments and tags," only 9 have something besides a copy of the tags that I included in my initial post.

The 184 reblogs make up 4.6% of the total notes, the reblogs under "comments and tags" make up 0.8% of the total notes, and the reblogs under "comments and tags" with anything besides tags copied from the initial post make up 0.2% of the total notes.

At one point, I reblogged the post, asking if anyone wanted a part two. That's when I got my first comments. The first 6 comments were in response to that, and of the 30 total comments (excluding my own), only two were unrelated to a part two. Which means I can guarantee that I wouldn't have had that many comments had I not posed the question of a sequel fic.

And if I add those 2 comments to the 9 reblogs, I get 0.3% of the total notes on my post that make up the portion of notes that aren't likes, empty reblogs, or comments about a part two. And that's me being generous because two of the reblogs actually do mention a part two.

I also posted a poll asking what people wanted in part two, and that poll got 238 votes. That is 54 people more who voted for what they wanted in a part two that didn't reblog or help push part one.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing people in my notifs liking my posts, but sometimes it's just not enough. It is utterly exhausting waking up to multiple hundreds of notifications and not seeing a single person compliment your work. You guys will like stuff, follow, and then head straight to the inbox asking for more. I know it's been said a hundred times before, but we are not machines; we do this for free in our spare time.

The post in question was written when I was tired out of my mind, and I ended up not liking it, so I let it sit in my drafts. I briefly mentioned it on my blog and was met with one of my followers showing interest in the idea, which prompted me to revise, edit, and post it. It was a gift, as are all fics and pieces of art by writers and artists on this site, and yet it was treated like a commodity.

When people say it's unmotivating they're not kidding. When I had 100+ asks in my inbox, all of them being requests, I felt like I had the worst case of writers block known to man. I would open my inbox and immediately close it because the idea of posting anything knowing the only response would be more requests, was awful.

When people leave little messages in the tags, full-blown commentary, or kind messages in my inbox referencing posts, I feel more motivated than ever. Those responses are what drives me to write more. But when I, and other writers, are being treated like we're here to cook up whatever fantasisies you have in mind, I can't help but side-eye a little.

We wouldn't write if we didn't enjoy it, but the moment it feels like a job, it becomes that much less enjoyable, and then everybody loses. Just send a kind message to your favorite writers every once in a while. I promise it'll make their day.

I would also like to say that as I've written this, I've seen more people like that post. So, there's that.

[hypocriticaltypwriter]

Taking A Break!

Hey guys! I think I'm going to be leaving tumblr and social media for a bit to work on myself for some time. I don't know when I'll be back- but I know it won't be too long so don't fret!

I just wanted to let you guys know I love you all very much, and every supportive comment, interaction, and follow to get me to 500 followers on here has really been amazing. Each and every single one of you silly little goofballs who decided to take the time to check out my work and my blog make my day and I can't thank you enough for giving me this milestone.

[Kinda venty/rambles below!!]

As happy as I am, I'm VERY burnt out. I'm tired. I thought it would have gone away a long while ago, but I'm still stuck in a rut, and I think social media has a big role in it. I feel I spend more time on my phone scrolling endlessly than I do with my family when I get the time with my over worked schedule.

And it feels so weird to say, but I think I put myself through so much stress and anxiety with losing my hyperfixation of Lost Boys that I feel so hurt and guilty about it. I still love it more than anything and it's still such an amazing movie, but I'm not ready to give it up, but it's obvious pressuring myself just stressed me out over it more. 😅

I've also just felt like I'm on uneasy ground with my art, and I want to be better and practice on it to be better! I felt guilty for my art dine as gifts for friends and moots and it just... Didn't feel good enough in comparison for the things you all did for me. You deserve the best and I want to be my best! That includes my writing as well.

And overall I just need to get my health in better shape, I need to take a break and get some work weight off my chest so I can enjoy my social life on here more.

I love you guys and everything you've done for me, I'm very lucky to get the experience I did on this site and I'm excited to come back when I'm in better shape!🩷

Thank you for reading my woeful tragedies and here's a Kiefer for making it this far 🥺 my lovely little man...🩷🩷🩷

[damazcuz]

I've only had this account for about 5 years now. But I've been on tumblr for 13 years, since I was 16 and just starting to learn who I was, what transgender meant, what the world looked like at the time for a group I was swiftly realizing included me.

And for 13 years I have consistently used this site and stayed on, occasionally blog hopping when things felt stale or if things got bad. And things got bad sometimes. You'd get people calling you nasty things in your ask or replies or reblogs or tagging your username to sic their followers on you. And tumblr has always treated targeted harassment as a "Sorry you feel that way. That's not against tos though! Was this answer helpful?" issue whenever it's reported. They've never cared against abuse on their website, IN THE EXCEPTION of cases in which radfems and nazis have maliciously mass reported users for MAYBE hitting their breaking points and MAYBE snapping and saying something stupid that could be used as an excuse. Could be something today or four years ago in your archive but at some point, you had a bad day and posted something that could make tumblr say finally, we can get rid of a pest! or you were just transgender and said as much. A little too loudly in front of the wrong mod.

And this sounds so silly to say. But when you live in a website for 13 years and it's where you have your primary interactions with so many people and where you've met so many of your friends! It starts to feel like your community. Like an apartment building we all live in and visit each other's apartments and talk and decorate and laugh and play. And it's a bit of a dump and we all laugh about the crumbling peeling wallpaper and the slumlord that runs the place. We know the landlord isn't our friend, they just want us to pay rent until we're no good for it anymore. Produce the posts that make this site anything more than a hate forum, make the memes and the art and the posts that end up everywhere from your little sister's pinterest to your mom's Facebook to your uncle's meme subreddit. Keep up the garden and don't pile trash on the curb or you're out. This is "the queerest place on the net" only because queer people live here and hung on with our fingernails to stay here because if you have to leave, what's your fallback? You like your neighbors. They can't all come with you. They won't. Even the kind of crumbly parts feel like home after a while.

Like I want to clarify that Tumblr's reputation as a funny place to chill and scroll and meet people and see new things is not from the transphobes working on staff. Their job is to turn a profit or at least keep it LOOKING profitable, so the site can sell to the next moron to buy it out. The fun and joy of Tumblr is us. WE made this place. When you tear down our decorations and rip out our furnishings and toss us out on the street and look at what's left to show the next prospective tenant, it's a fucking dump. There is nothing left but the shittiest people in our neighborhood who are allowed to stay and make hate posts about us. There's the framework for "someone could make pretty posts here! It's a fixer upper!" But it's shit. It sucks.

I've been spiraling since yesterday over a couple of things I'm not taking well. One is work. "They can't fire us all!" I always joke. And people laugh. Last night my boss and I spent an hour and a half in this miserable fucking meeting, talking about the pressure pushing down on our load bearing team. We fantasized over all 8 of us being able to say "that's enough. I'm better than this. We are all walking out today and we will not come back. Don't text." And we can't. None of us can lose the stability of a full time job that pays kind of okay even though it's killing you. None of us can face that uncerainty. I left with chest pain. It was my first day back after major surgery. I went home and sat in one spot for over six hours almost unmoving, crying and just in disbelief of how unfair it is. We can't leave. But something has to give before my team dissolves and one of us puts a gun in their mouth. And then we all still have to make our shift. Who else will do all that? Who's going to cover, huh? Clock in.

And I spent the rest of my day, which ran to 4 am before I was able to sleep, wishing I could quit and hating what's happening on tumblr just as much. On a fucking blogging platform. Because this has been my fun sandbox for over a decade and it's always kind of sucked, it's full of cat shit and people throw sand at you and you're getting sunburned but it's fun here. You find your people to play with. And then it's like you remember oh yeah, other people here want me dead. The owner of this place wants me to die. He wants everyone that makes this place cool and fun to die. And he'll turn around and say "yeeeah well you shouldn't have joked about being mean to me." And it's like why am I here! Why am I making posts for YOU?

I can't leave employment. I'm only a couple of weeks, maybe a couple months away from homelessness at any given time, with how tight finances are. "Shoestring budget" would be generous. We're making it through sheer force of will. But I can't quit my job, and neither can anyone else.

But I can leave this place that I've hated and loved for so, so long. The other massive drain on my life that wants to see me shrivel and die. I can get up and go. We could all just go. Mass exodus. And I know it won't happen. Give it a week, ten days. People move along. Yeah, that sucked. Well, here we all still are. Still posting. Still tumbling. Still complaining about the landlord. But most people won't leave. How can you walk on your friends and community, knowing they won't all follow? But how do you continue to stay here watching this happen? I'm already listening to people tell me "so? that doesn't affect me. it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. and of course this happened, duhhhh." It's like, feel stupid for getting comfortable here. You should feel stupid for settling in and making it a home and thinking it would be fun here. If you are transgender you are not safe and you are not wanted. Not in the queerest place on the web, either.

It's not about the funny hammer car explosion """threat.""" It was never about the hammer car explosion. That was a dogwhistle through a megaphone to transphobes. Tumblr's darlings. Don't worry. I'll take care of this one that thinks she can speak up against me. And against you. And now there's a defined "REASON" for the ban. Why, Matt hardly knew he was banning a trans woman. All he knew was fear! He had no choice! And you can ignore the ACLU and the claims of systemic transphobia, that's something else. We fixed that!

I want this place to die because it is already rotting. We are scraping at the bones at this point. Walls are crumbling and there's a hole in the floor to the room below and the windows have long been knocked out and the boiler hasn't worked in years. They aren't going to fix it. It has never been the intention to fix it. They want you to leave or die. Whichever. Don't matter. Just get lost. I will find another tenant. I will find another person who will give me more ad revenue. You are replaceable in that sense. Someone else will join tumblr tomorrow. And tumblr will make a buck off them instead.

But they cannot replace the ways in which you and I have made this site livable and bearable and fun. And I want us to leave so that the husk of this place can collapse and blow away in the wind. I want tumblr to take a major hit and I want the loss of ad revenue to HURT THEM. I want a mad scramble to figure out how to fix it all. They can't. They won't. The fix has always been there and it's always been refused. Terfs will never be turned away from tumblr. Neither will nazis. "Sorry you feel that way, but that's not against our tos. Was this answer helpful?"

You know how they say, "it there are ten people at a table and one is a nazi and no one stands up, you have ten nazis"? This feels like that to me. If 20,000 of us wait a week, shrug, and resume joking and playing and say, well, yeah, it's sad that another dozen trans fems were banned last night. But I like it here...

It feels like that. Why are my trans sisters' archives of 5, 10+ years of life and joy being wiped clean? I can't even tell you how many posts I've seen from an op whose url I recognize from last week, but whose username is grey and icon default, because she posted something less than a day ago to say "yo this sucks. Fuck this place and fuck this guy." They've never ever found the terfs and nazis to ban them because they DON'T CARE. Those are the ones they prefer. That they cater to. Post about the ceo being a dumbfuck and in 12 hours, risk losing your community and the ability to look back at your life online. Clean slate. As if you never lived there. Oh, but tumblr isn't a transphobic place. We fired the one and only naughty transphobe on staff who was taking bribes to send out bans. Pay to win moderation. That person's gone. So it's okay and you don't need to worry. It's okay, I promise. It's the queerest place on the web. Get comfortable.

I love my job and I love this place. One of them is going to push me to the edge. But I can choose to leave one. You can choose to leave with me. They can't fire us all.

[olderthannetfic]

While on the topic of monetizing hobbies… I'm a professional artist, and I've done commissions on the side for extra money. I've always viewed it as smaller scale client work-- they pay me for my skills, and I'll draw what they want. Sometimes it's their blorbo, most often it's their OC/fursona or their dog/kid. I've never really had an opinion when someone would request fandom art, and all it meant to me was that reference was easier to find. So, I generally viewed all commissions as service-for-hire, writing commissions as well. You pay for the skills and pick a direction for them to go in. I understand why it's a problem on Ao3, that's simply not what the community is about, but I've always been a little confused why people were so high-strung about it in general. Yes, yes, there's money being exchanged for fanworks, which have dubious legality, but the real exchange is paying a person to use their skills in a way the commissioner requests. It's not exactly losing Disney money if someone pays me to draw Darth Vader foot fetish art-- Disney wasn't going to do it for them, and it's not like this is going to be such high profile art that it will ruin their brand. But then I stumbled onto some truly weird commission pages: artists and writers who would only do fanworks, sometimes even restricted to one fandom of choice. And it clicked that I was being a little too naive about the whole thing; this wasn't about professionals offering their services broadly, this was about people who wanted to make a significant profit doing exclusively fanworks. I kinda get the complaints now. That's a very weird situation, since Disney is still not going to be making Darth Vader foot fetish art, but if your entire thing is being paid to do unofficial Star Wars art, you're now trying to make a living exclusively off this brand you have no ownership over. That's very… risky, and that's not getting into how soul-crushing it has to be to turn this fandom you love entirely into a job.

--

Yeah, that's just it. We might say we object to any and all monetization of fandom, but I think most people just aren't thinking of professional artists who do a wide range of commissions at all.

Even if people don't add on enough caveats, what they usually mean is more like "I saw someone doing something annoying in my fandom social space", and that usually means somebody who wants to earn a living doing more or less the fandom shit they were already going to do on their own.

Artists who are treating this truly like a profession often have their own standalone site where they lay out commission prices, and they advertise via... IDK... instagrams full of original art or whatever. Or they sell shittons of anime character keychains and pins on etsy or something (and inevitably get taken down). There's a lot less invading someone's fandom discussion discord with cries to support them.

[itsbenedict]

Last year, rather than pick a new years' resolution, I made over a dozen new years' resolutions and tried to get them all done. I paced myself with the objective of fitting them all into the year, but... ran into an unexpected obstacle where I kind of didn't have an October, November, or December due to my company abruptly getting sold and my life turning into a nonstop living hell. With that in mind... how'd I do?

get star seeker sequel adventure thing up and running and through the first case

Didn't finish this one! I did start it in September, and I was making good progress and probably would've had it done by the end of the year if I'd had three months to work on it.

get datasouls combat toy complete up to the first miniboss combat

Did it! Tutorial section combat toy is playable on the site.

catch up on TFJ recap logs

Didn't do it! There were a lot of them, and I kind of got bottlenecked on one where I wanted to wait for an art commission to come in that got put off for most of the year. I got sixteen of them done, but more sessions than that happened during the year, so overall I'm behind. Womp womp.

become an accredited AWS Certified Solutions Architect and get that raise my boss has been talking about for ages

Ha ha ha ha did it technically. I did get certified, and I did get the raise, but the raise was more a product of aggressive salary negotiation when the company got sold and my boss got fired. Also accomplishing the second part of that one resulted in me losing a quarter of my year to nightmarish IT bullshit. Oops.

get an adjustable standing desk and under-desk elliptical thingy, and otherwise get an ergonomic workstation set up

Kinda did it. I did, technically, get both things, but the elliptical I got turns out isn't rated for standing use, so I couldn't combine them into a standing workflow the way I wanted. Gotta get a new one and actually put this into practice.

fix the light situation in the bathroom

Yeah just had to call an electrician. Did it no problem.

get through The Sekimeiya and really go to town on that mystery until it’s solved

Nope! Again, probably would've managed it if I'd had time, but I put it off till last since I figured it'd be an easy thing I could fit in around the busy holidays, and it turned out there was a lot worse than just the holidays going on at that time.

also finally play Disco Elysium

This one though- did it, that game is fucking phenomenal.

finish TFTBN character portraits

Did it! Proud of how those turned out.

get a beatrice portrait for my poster wall

run some TPIVW games

Didn't do it, mainly because of an awkward social situation with one of the server participants involving my role as a mod on a different server. Still working that one out. It's rough.

badger the condo association landlady until she does something about the junk clogging up that basement storage room i’m supposed to own, and clean unused bulky stuff out of my house

Did it! Mostly. Still need to get rid of this huge elliptical- it's not selling on craigslist for some reason.

clearly this waitlist thing isn’t working out so take some steps to see an actual doctor for the first time in like three years (and maybe get a cancer screening, or do something about that closed sinus)

Did it! Didn't get the cancer screening mainly because my doctor insisted it'd be unnecessary until I was at least 40, which sounds fake but I don't know enough about cancer to dispute it. I tried various nasal sprays for the sinus thing but I'm pretty sure mucus overproduction is not the issue and I'm gonna need to get surgery, which I didn't get yet. But I did see a doctor finally!

get through the remaining 7 WaniKani levels

Did it! Still need to finish off the remainder of the reviews and do a practice pass and get back on the horse with grammar, but I'm pretty happy about that accomplishment.

Overall, despite a weak finish due to factors mainly outside of my control, I think I did pretty well, and I think having the big list meant I had a much more productive 2023 than I would've had otherwise. Probably gonna make this a recurring thing!

[copiousloverofcopia]

💖💗 Happy Valentine's Day!!!💗💖

Here is my FINAL Lupercalia/Valentine’s Day fic for 2023!

Don't worry I still have some letters to post!

Hope everyone is indulging in lust and love today! I know I will be 😏

Without further ado here is my Valentine's commission from the wonderful @kawaiic featuring her OC Saccharine and Copia!

This Night Was Made For Us

Some NSFW below the cut!

Also available HERE on AO3!

Commissions are still open! Please see pinned post for carrd info with heart mug site.

art of Sister of Sin Saccharine by @kawaiic

The sun was shining brightly in from the window of the sisters’ dormitory and the sound of Primo’s song birds twittering away, trickled in from just outside. Saccharine stretched out in bed, waking up with a huge smile on her face and a warmth inside her heart that was unmatched. The sister always had a sweet disposition, but today was a special day. It was the first day of Lupercalia.   

Tonight was the beginning festival dinner and everyone would be there for the celebrations including Papa Emeritus the Fourth. Since their confession of love for one another had been spoken, it made this year’s Lupercalia more special than ever before. It was always a magical time, one that Saccharine held the most dear to her heart. This year, she had decided to go all out. Her plans and preparations would include a fantastical display, one she was sure would wow them all. Especially one very timid and sweet Papa. 

She got dressed in an adorable deep red pinafore dress and corset. Straightening out the line of red lace along the bottom, before pulling the corset laces to perfection over her white puff sleeve blouse. A beautiful bow—adorned at its center with a golden grucifix brooch, was perfect to finish off the look. Saccharine gathered her long brunette hair into a delicate braid. Crimson red bows the base of her neck and at the tail. Adding a bit of flare to her hair, before reaching for just a small touch of blush and a bit of gloss on her lips as she smiled in the reflection in the mirror. 

“I got this!” she reminded herself, taking a deep breath. She slipped on her red pumps and grabbed her wicker basket before heading out the door. Bounding out to the hall, minding her step, she was ready. Keep close watch over her basket so as to not lose a single Valentine. 

She had spent weeks making them. Each one, cut from layers of cardstock by hand, decorated in lace, topped with small crystals, and sprinkled with just a touch of glitter. No two were alike and each made with love for everyone who resided within the Abbey—ghouls and siblings alike. Saccharine wanted to let everyone know how much she cared for them, and as she made her way toward the kitchen she handed them out to everyone she saw. The recipients’ faces, lighting up at her generosity and being touched by her joyous spirit as she passed them by. 

When finally she arrived, Saccharine burst through the kitchen doors. Immediately grabbing her apron and gathering up all her memorized ingredients. The sister was intent on making enough pies to feed the entire Ministry for the night's celebrations. She promised to single-handedly bake them all–plenty of cherry, strawberry, and even raspberry ones for Primo, for all to indulge. 

Before she knew it, a cloud of flour, sugar, and determination was thick in the air. Suddenly Saccharine could hear the scurrying above on the overhang of the oven. "Ah! Buongiorno Gnocchi, Rigatoni. I hope you both are well this morning. Although I must say you best not let Sister Imperator catch you in the kitchen." She giggled. The little rats, watching her intently as she worked on her pies. "Oh before I forget these are for you." 

Saccharine reached into her pocket and grabbed two tiny cubes of cheese, each carved into the sweetest little hearts, and handed them to the rats. "Surely I couldn't forget you guys today. After all Lupercalia is for everyone." She smiled. Gnocchi and Rigatoni, more than happy to nipple away at her gifts. Saccharine took a moment to wipe some flour from her cheek, taking a quick glance at the clock before panic set in.

“Oh no!” she said, scrambling to get on her oven mitts on before pulling a pie from the oven. The sweet smell of strawberries, and pastry crust, hitting her nose with exuberance. “Oh thank Lucifer it’s alright.” she sighed, relieved, exhaling through pursed lips. 

“What are you doing all alone in here sorella?” said a voice from behind her. It was Terzo preparing to stick a finger into one of the settling pies. “Whatever it is, it smells delicious.” he purred until Saccharine gave his hand a friendly swat. He quickly pulled his hand back shaking off the pain a moment when she spoke. 

“Papa, you no better than to sneak a taste. The pies are for dessert tonight.” Saccharine chided. Terzo sucked in his lower lip, a wicked smile pulling at the sides of his mouth as he continued. 

“But sorella, surely just one taste won’t hurt?” he hummed.

“Uh…” Saccharine began before catching sight of Nova appearing in the doorway. She was a new ghoulette in the Abbey, bound by Terzo, and already so in love. She was extremely sweet and already such a good friend to her. The sister couldn't help but think the ghoulette had the most beautiful wavy hair. She had even loved to brush it, as the two of them spent time together in the sibling common room. 

Now that normally sweet face was scrunched into a scowl as she approached them. “Papa! So this is where you’ve run off to!” the ghoulette hissed, realizing that of course he had been flirting—an Emeritus speciality.  

“Ah si amore, you see the smell called to me.” Terzo laughed nervously as Nova furrowed her brow, her tail whipping back and forth so hard it cracked the wind against it. “She loves me, I swear.” he laughed once more as Nova rolled her eyes. 

“The pies smell delicious Saccharine, I can’t wait to see you tonight for the big reveal.” Nova wiggled, sending a smile and booming with excited energy.

“Big reveal?” Terzo asked, looking back and forth between them, completely confused and covered in flour from a bag he managed to spill over. 

“Oh no worries Papa, it's just something I have planned for Copia. A surprise so no telling ok?” the sister explained, hoping that she would not have to explain more. Nova shook her head letting Saccharine know there was nothing to worry about. 

“Ah well that makes two of you. I hear mio fratello has a surprise planned too.” Terzo explained.  

“Oh?” the sister exclaimed, her heart immediately beginning to pound inside her chest. What could it be, she asked herself. Her fingers tracing over the hem of her apron. Nova broke the silence between them.

“Well I guess we will find it all out tonight, see you later sister.” she said, sending a wink to her as she yanked on Terzo to come with.

“Oh no wait! I have these for you!” Saccharine called as they went to leave the kitchen. She handed them both their Valentine’s from the basket, a big smile spreading across her face as they took them. 

“You are simply too kind, sorella, I don’t know what mio fratello did to win the affections of such a charming sister, but he is a lucky man indeed.” Terzo admitted as Nova nodded, pulling him out of the kitchen, leaving Saccharine to finish tending to her pies. 

Copia was pacing in his office. A well worn spot in his expensive antique Serapi rug, picked out by Sister Imperator. He wondered if she would notice. One of a million thoughts flying through his mind as he palmed the square box inside the pocket of his crimson red swallowtail jacket. 

He adjusted his black Victorian-style shirt, pulling down on his ruffled sleeves to even them out before looking at his paint, for the tenth time, in the mirror. Everything tonight must be perfect, he told himself. His nerves set on edge as a knock came at the door. It was Primo. 

“Ah fratellino! I knew I would find you here.” the eldest Emeritus brother applauded. He brought himself over to the black wingback chair in the corner of the office and made himself comfortable as he spoke, “Still nervous I see?” 

“Wouldn’t you be?” Copia admitted, the look of concern ever present on his face. Unable to be completely hidden by his Papal paints. 

“No and If you think about it I don't think you would be either…well maybe not as much.” Primo chuckled. Copia sat opposite him on the lounge, tapping his gloved fingers and bouncing his leg. Primo reached out to place his hand on Copia’s knee, halting his movements and bringing his attention back to him. 

“Listen you, have the ring I gave you, si? It was my mothers fratellino so I should hope you still—” Primo began barking at his younger sibling. 

“Si, of course of course.” Copia said, giving his pocket another pat. Primo’s face once again relaxed with reassurance.  

“Then you are set.” Primo shrugged. Copia became quiet for a moment. His brother made everything sound so simple. Could things really be that easy? Nothing else in Copia’s life had ever come to him as easily as his feelings for Saccharine. His whole life, he had struggled to prove himself. Even his ascension within the Ministry had been fraught with trials and tribulations, never knowing he was an Emeritus until after the miter had already been placed on his head.

“But what if she says no. I mean we haven’t exactly known each other long but I just…”

“Just what?” Primo remarked, convinced that Copia was overthinking as he always did. 

“...can’t live without her.” he confessed, the words hurting his heart as they left his lips. A truth he could no longer deny.

“Then that is all that matters. You will see. I think the sister will surprise you.” Primo said, standing up from the chair. His old bones cracking and popping as he made his way back to the door. 

“Maybe you’re right…” the reigning Papa hummed under his breath. Primo smiling and shaking his head. 

“I am always right. I will see you tonight for the festival dinner.”

“Ok.” Copia replied, his gaze falling back to the floor at that damned rug. 

“Oh and fratellino…do NOT lose the ring.” Primo groaned as he left his brother to his thoughts.  

The smell was intoxicating as Saccharine made her way through the labyrinth of rose bushes that lined Primo’s garden. The beautiful shades of red, pink, and white—a testament all on their own to the celebrations that were to take place this night. The garden was a magical place and one that held the most precious of memories. As Saccharine made her way deeper inside, she stumbled upon the just person she was searching for—Sister Rosemary. 

The sister, who also went by Rose, was a convert that had arrived at the Abbey a few years before Saccharine. Her forehead was adorned in a brand, she herself made, after averting from the Catholic church. She had to be one of the most friendly siblings within the Abbey and was the go to person within the infirmary. Always mixing and concocting new salves and potions to help others with their ailments. Tonight however, she would help Saccharine with a different request. 

“Ah Sister! Give me just a moment.” Rosemary said as she set down her mortar and pestle before disappearing into the greenhouse. She reemerged only a few minutes later with a large sack that held out for Saccharine to take.

“Oof, is this all of them?” Saccharine asked, amazed at how heavy the bag was. Sister Rosemary began nodding her head. 

“Well actually I sent another bag off with Cumulus earlier. But hey, they are all freshly plucked and none of them wilted as requested.” she assured her. “Do you need any help carrying that back Saccharine?”

“Oh…no thank you. I think I will be just fine, but I have something for you too.”she told her as she handed Rose her Valentine. 

“This is very kind of you sister. I am sorry I dont have one to give you in return.” Rose sighed. 

“Oh! It’s no worries. You have done so much for me already. They were a perfect idea, I can’t thank you enough.” 

“You’re welcome, but I should tell you the roses were Primo’s idea. He said he wanted things tonight to be special for you.” Sister Rosemary admitted. Saccharine did a double take, did Primo know about her surprise? 

“Well thanks again I must get ready, I will see you inside?” Saccharine asked, lifting up the heavy bag and gently tossing it over her shoulder. 

“Of course.” Rose nodded, sending the sister a smile as she headed back through the garden maze. 

All of her preparations had been made. The valentines all handed out with the exception of one–Copia's. Saccharine wanted to save his for after the surprise. Her beloved Papa had been detained for most of the day, caught up in his own preparations and obligations to the Ministry.

It was almost time. She touched up her makeup in the first floor restroom, hearing the hum of the ghouls tuning their instruments in the Great Hall. A smile spread wide across her face–dinner was starting. She walked quietly down the hall through the crowd of ghouls and siblings. 

Everyone was dressed in their best Lupercalia attire. Decked out in dresses and suits, like a sea full of black, red, and pink as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t often that the siblings were allowed out of their clerical clothes, and Saccharine couldn’t help but enjoy getting to see everyone’s personality shine through in their chosen garments. She smiled at everyone as she walked, her heart pounding in anticipation of the one person she had still yet to see. 

She looked forward to the moment they'd see each other. Her heart longing for him somehow even more today than ever before. This thing between them had only grown, multiplied, and flourished since the night of their dance under the light of the moon. Their romance, having blossomed so much that Saccharine no longer could see a future without him in it. 

She found herself drifting as she navigated the hall, her mind swept up in daydreams of the two of them together. It wasn’t long before the haze of her thoughts cleared and the vision of her Papa’s office door filled her view. Finally, she thought to herself as she knocked gently on the door. When there was no answer she carefully began to open it, “Hello?” 

“Sweetheart? Is that you?” Copia said as he locked eyes with her. His demeanor, changing from the nervous and fretful man he was moments ago, to the love sick Papa that only had eyes for her. Saccharine ran to him, arms wide open as Copia scooped her up in his. Spinning her around and planting the softest kiss to her lips.”Amore you are truly breathtaking today.” he smiled. 

Saccharine’s face flushed a delicate shade of pink. A color that only added to the beautiful features of her sweet face. “I can already hear Aether and Mountain getting the band in order for dinner. Are you ready to head over?” she asked him. Copia smiled once more, gently feeling the box inside his pocket and nodded to her. 

“Bene, mia principessa, sono pronta se lo sei.” Copia replied, holding out his arm for Saccharine to take.  

“Absolutely,” she began, “I just hope Rain remembered to bring all the pies.” she laughed, Copia joining her.  

“We can only hope.”  

The couple entered into the Great Hall, equally as embellished as the siblings. With its lavish display of romantic colors and flowers that filled the room with the most wonderful scent. The mood was definitely set for a perfect evening. Saccharine and Copia quickly made their way to the head table. The two of them, taking their seats beside Secondo and his Prime Mover Ren.  

“Oh Saccharine you look absolutely beautiful!” beamed Ren at their arrival. 

“Oh my, so do you!” Saccharine smiled back. Secondo’s Prime Mover was heavily pregnant with the fourth of their children. She glowed despite being tired, having been busy in the infirmary all day with her own responsibilities. Yet somehow found time to help with the evening’s surprise. She was so kind and Secondo, normally the hard and stoic Papa, was a huge softie in her presence. The man doted on and protected her as if she were made of glass.

“Soon, si?” Copia asked as the ghouls placed the plates of pasta in front of them. Secondo smiled, taking Ren’s hand in his before giving his reply.

“Very. We are so close, we have been trying to get things going.” he smirked, Ren turning to whisper in Saccharine’s ear just what exactly that meant. Her words, sending a flash of redness over the sister’s face. Neither Ren, nor Secondo were ever shy about their own personal enjoyment of the cardinal sin—their bountiful family proof of that. The forwardness, a bit much for Saccharine as she laughed it off and twisted up a fork up of pasta from her plate. 

Dinner was going wonderfully. The conversation between those at the table was full of energy and intrigue. The smiles and hearty meal had made the room filled with satisfaction and happiness. Saccharine finished her last bite as she caught sight of Sister Rosemary and the ghouls out from their seats. It was finally time for her to give Copia his surprise. 

“I will be back in a few, I must go powder my nose. Please excuse me Papas, Prime Mover.” she said as she stood up from her seat. 

“Okie dokie.” Copia smiled as she dismissed herself from the table, but not before Sister Ren grabbed her hand.

“You’ll do great.” she whispered, sending Saccharine a wink as she made her way to the front of the Hall. The sister nodded with determination in response. Copia tried to watch as Saccharine walked away, but Ren called his attention back to the table to help distract him from the real reasons she had taken leave.

“Papa, so when are you going to pop the question?” Ren asked, Secondo shooting her a look, “What? I want this to happen before I go into labor and miss it all.” she laughed, Copia joining her.

“Tonight is the night. I have never wanted anything more in my life.” he said. Secondo smiled over to Ren and placed his hand on the swell of her belly.

“I know the feeling.” the second Emeritus son hummed as he planted a kiss on Ren’s forehead. Before they knew it the lights began to flicker. The whole room, looking around in confusion as to what was going on when finally lights remained off, leaving them in blackness. Only the small candles adorning each table, illuminating the room. 

Copia went to stand up and see what was the matter when suddenly the band began to play once more. Prime Mover Ren, pulling him back down in his seat as his curiosity began to grow. The lights turned back on and suddenly Saccharine was front and center before the Hall. She stood, flanked by Cirrus and Cumulus on one side and Sunshine and Nova on the other. Copia was taken back and unsure of what to make of everything until she began to sing. Her voice, energetic and full of passion as she and the ghoulettes standing beside her started to recant in song the tale of the moment that changed everything.  

 🎵I was so new— unsure of what I would do–🎵she sang, spinning around. The ghoulettes, leading in to hang on every note as they left her lips. She hopped on the piano at sat in the corner normally used for practice as Cumulus sat down to play. A performance unlike anything they’d seen more in front of the whole Abbey.  

🎵To the garden I made my way, as the flowers called to me. My known destiny not far away🎵

“Destiny? In the garden?” Nova asked, giving the crowd a wink. Saccharine, singing her response. The story of her and Copia’s first encounter unfolded in melodic bliss. A group of siblings joined them. Swirling and twirling around her as she continued to sing her heart out. Copia’s own heart swelling inside. He could have never imagined something so wonderful. His beautiful sorella’s voice, filling his soul with all the love that Lupercalia could ever hope to hold.

 🎵The roses were in bloom that day🎵she continued, the words belting out of her with so much power and love. The ghoulettes, beginning to clap to the beat when suddenly a cascade of rose petals fell from the rafters like the confetti at Rituals. Copia looked up only a moment to catch Dewdrop and Rain, hanging above, waving down to him from above as the red petals shone in the lights like glitter. A brother of sin went to take Saccharine’s hand, helping her to spin. Copia could feel a bit of jealousy creeping up as the sibling went to dip her but instead she  bopped his nose. Tonight—no doubt she would truly be his in all ways. 

🎵”I never knew a Satanic Pope could be so charming.” I said as you stepped away. I knew then I would love you for all always….🎵 

She finally began to walk towards the table. Copia’s heart was pounding harder and harder as she made her way towards him. His whole body, responding to her beauty as only a lover’s could. He knew that he wanted her always and in all ways there was to want someone. Longing to make her sing more, and more in his own way. She stopped before him, finishing off her song.

🎵After all it's true— I’m in love with you.🎵she finished, tears pricking at her eyes as she pulled out her Valentine to give to Copia. Without a second passing, Copia pulled Saccharine in and kissed her. His tongue, dancing with hers as he held her so close. Their hearts, syncing in their embrace. He pulled back a moment to catch a breath, his mind already drunk in thoughts of things to come. 

“Oh sweetheart, così incredibilmente bello, Lucifero stesso è stato serenato dalla tua voce. I have something for you too.” Copia smiled, his eyes beginning to well up with tears.

“Oh.” Saccharine replied when it dawned on her that Copia had dropped to one knee. She took a deep breath. The sister, hardly able to believe what was happening right before her eyes. Copia pulled out the small box from his jacket pocket. Saccharine now unable to hold back the tears that spilled over her cheeks, knowing what was coming. 

“There is nothing I want more Saccharine than to spend the rest of my days with you as my wife. My lover, my partner, my Prime Mover. Would you do your Papa the honor of marrying me?” Copia asked. His words, filled with conviction and desire. There were never two lovers that fit as soulmates as much as Copia and Saccharine. 

“Yes! Papa—Copia!” she answered, Copia once more pulling her in to kiss him. The whole Abbey cheered and clapped around them as Copia slipped the ring onto her finger. Bringing her hand to his lips, kissing it. She would forever be his.

“You have made me the happiest man alive dolce.” 

“And you have made me the happiest woman.” Saccharine smiled through her tears. 

The rest of the night was a blur, nothing recalled but their love, the faint hum of celebration, and the lingering taste of champagne as Copia walked Saccharine back to the Papal suite. It was unspoken between them, but the desire had been building up and was on the precipice explosion, as the dewy-eyed lovers heading inside. Not moments in, Saccharine caught sight of the roses that trailed across the floor.

“Seems I’m not the only one who owes Primo some more roses.” Saccharine giggled marveling in the romantic gesture.  

“Seems not.” he responded as he watched her light up, taking in the Papal suite for the first time. 

“Oh Copia, it's beautiful here. So elegant and fancy…almost too fancy to touch.” she laughed, Copia taking her hands in his. 

“Sweetheart these rooms are just as much yours now as they are mine. We are to be wed, partners in all things. There is nothing that I have that I don't wish to share with you.” 

“My love.” the sister cried, the two of them gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. They had somehow made their way back to the bedroom. Saccharine could see the blanket of rose petals spread across Copia’s bed. Candles lit all around the room, setting a romantic atmosphere with an intent that was too obvious to deny. “Copia?” she asked him, waiting for him to tell her what he had planned. 

“Sweetheart I was hoping, you know since it's Lupercalia…and well you are to be my wife…that..ah…we could…that we could worship in lust. Becoming one in his name. Do you…do you know what I’m asking you?” Copia stuttered, the light freckles on his face brought out more with his blushing. Saccharine’s breath hitched within her chest. Her eyes shimmering in the candlelight. 

“I–I do Copia and I…I want it too.” she replied, blood swirling around in her veins and settling in her core. The heat between them, burning intensely as Copia’s eyes fell over her body. Without another word he lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. Their eyes locked as the two of them carefully undressed before each other for the first time. 

“Tu sei veramente la creazione più bella di questo mondo. Sono stregato dalla tua bellezza amore mio. I thank Lucifer every waking moment for bringing you into my life.” Copia vowed. 

“As do I.” Saccharine cried, feeling her heart pounding away as Copia stripped himself of the last of his garments. Copia hovered over her in the bed, her breathing labored and skin ignited with a stroke of his fingers between her breasts. "Are you nervous?" Copia asked, noticing her trembling.

"A little." Saccharine admitted, biting her lower lip as he smiled down at her. She lay there, in their now shared bed, all the dreams and imaginings of what this moment between them would be like, flashing through her mind. 

"I am too." Copia confessed, "but there is nothing I want more amore...nothing." The waves of desire overwhelmed them both as Copia brought his mouth down onto hers. His body, warm against hers, sending a quiver down her spine. Their bare flesh pressing into one another's for the first time. 

She could feel his sex hard against her. His need for her, growing as she melted into his kiss. He gently caressed her breast, Saccharine letting out a moan against his lips. Copia, pulling back a moment, looking over Saccharine’s body. His gaze committing every curve, freckle, and mark to memory as he drank her in. 

“Can I touch you?” he asked her, his eyes trailing to the space between her thighs. She nodded yes, wanting him to touch her just as much. Copia’s mouth returned to hers before his hand sank between them, running gently over her folds. The heat inside her radiating with his touch. Copia and Saccharine, both letting out a moan as his fingers slipped inside. She was already so wet for him, so ready as he gently glided through to her core and pressing up into the spot he knew would send her hips up from the bed and a moan from her lips. A delightful sinful feeling, washing over them as he continued his ministrations. Saccharine’s body, responding to his touch as if she were an instrument played by expert, yet delicate hands. Her hips, lifting to help guide him where she needed him to touch her. Craving more and more friction between them. 

“Oh Copia…I need you.” she moaned, her fingers entangled in the sheets. Petals of roses, staining her skin as she pressed hard against the bed. Copia ceased all movements to listen to her. Hear her pleas before his animalistic need might cloud his judgment. 

“Are you sure amore…sweetheart if you aren’t ready, we don't have to continue.” Copia assured her, but Saccharine pulled his lips back to hers. Kissing him hard and wrapping her legs around him to pull him down close to her. 

“I am very sure.” she said with conviction. Copia didn’t need to be told twice, immediately pressing into her most intimate flesh with his own. Both of their mouths, falling open as they became one. His sex, pushing deep inside her as Saccharine held him close.  

Copia's mouth was brought down to her breast–kissing and nipping as Saccharine gasped and mewled. His mouth, quickly returning to hers once more. The two of them, dancing together, bodies wrapped together in lust. Copia filled her out inside as Saccharine conformed around him.

Their bodies, fitting together perfectly as if they were made for one another. It wasn’t long before she felt the pleasure building up inside, her body shaking and trembling with him inside her. Feeling Copia this way was unlike anything her imagination could conjure. A thrilling sensation beyond anything she ever had known before, now promised to be hers forever. 

“I love you.” Copia said as he got close. His movements, once soft and gentle, gained pace and depth. Worshiping her with every ounce of his being. Saccharine began writhing beneath him, crying out his name as she began to tumble down. 

Before she knew it, Copia had flipped her over on top, both of them giggling as she slid back down onto his length. "Ah…" she sighed as her thighs held tight around him. 

"I love you too...Oh Saccharine, you feel so good around me." Copia purred. Saccharine, herself was unable to control the moans that left her. She rolled her hips in time with his thrusts, Copia began panting and groaning. Her body pulsing and squeezing around him so deliciously. The two of them, reveling in the sensations made between them. 

Copia brought his hands up to cup and knead Saccharine's breasts, her head falling back in pleasure. There was an intense surge, a crash of lust and desire hitting them both hard until they could no longer contain it. Loving making together, wrapped up in each other's arms, two becoming one in the name of Lucifer. Copia's rhythm began to falter as he got close, grabbing tight to Saccharine's hips

She moved up and down on him, with her hands on his chest. Fingers buried deep in his nest of hair. Her body unable to hold back from her orgasm any longer, she came hard around him, crying out his name into the night.

“Sì, sto venendo per te…ah!” Copia whined as he released deep inside her. They continued to move, slowly returning from the heights of passion climbed. A consummation of their feelings for one another made complete. As the wave of their efforts dissipated and they held each other close, Copia ran his fingers through Saccharine’s long hair. Picking rose petals from it as she nuzzled her against his chest. 

“You know I have been waiting to do that with you for so long…but I am kind of glad we waited until tonight though because it was more perfect than I ever thought it could be…” Copia began.

“Me too.” Saccharine smiled up at him. Her beautiful face, glowing in the candlelight. 

“Really?” he said, a tone of disbelief in his voice. Copia, still amazed that anyone could truly love him, but more so that this gorgeous creature somehow could.

“Oh Copia I have wanted to be yours for so long too. What took you so long to ask me that?”

“I didn’t want you to think this was a passing thing. That I only wanted you for carnal conquests. I am not my fratelli. I have never wanted something that was meaningless. And while they both have that now, this has always been what this has meant to me and I wanted it to be special. For you to know, as I took you, that you were truly mine and I, yours.”

“Tonight…my love, everything was perfect. Best Lupercalia ever.” Saccharine assured him, giving out a lightheaded laugh as Copia went to kiss her forehead. His eyes filled with love and adoration as he gazed upon her in their shared post climatic bliss.  

“You know sweetheart, Lupercalia, Valentine’s Day… no matter what anyone chooses to call it…this night—-this night was made for you and I.”

Notes: 

Bene, mia principessa, sono pronta se lo sei.- Well my princess, I am ready if you are.

così incredibilmente bello, Lucifero stesso è stato serenato dalla tua voce.-so incredibly beautiful, Lucifer himself was serenaded by your voice. 

Tu sei veramente la creazione più bella di questo mondo. Sono stregato dalla tua bellezza amore mio.- You are truly the most beautiful creation in this world. I am bewitched by your beauty my love. 

Sì, sto venendo per te- yes, I'm cumming for you.

[astraltrickster]

A guide to crediting art for Reddit users

Because this isn't Pinterest, okay? Like, as an artist, I know damned well I can't STOP people from making memes of whatever they want without credit or permission...but most artists find it really, really rude, at best. I know it's normalized over on Reddit, but that's, uh, something a lot of us have been aware of and HATED for a while.

So, here's the deal.

Things where credit is optional according to the typical rules of etiquette:

Official assets from well-known published games. Screenshots of real anime and movies and TV shows. Big name published manga scans (but make sure it really is an official manga scan - just because it's a well-known character and on-model doesn't mean it's official; some doujin are VERY on-model). Arguably, official art book scans, but that one is a bit more controversial. Basically, if it was made to be an official part of a big name Thing, credit isn't considered to be necessary, because we all know where it came from, or if we don't it's only a matter of checking what tags someone has reblogged with once it gets more than like 20 notes.

But anything else? You need to credit the artist, and before you even do that, you need to make sure they're okay with reposts in the first place.

Now, this is common sense to most people on tumblr and other sites with a large artist population, but I've learned the hard way that it's...really not to a lot of people on Reddit, or Pinterest, or many other communities: most art you find online is not done by Recognizable Industry Professionals, and even a lot that is, well, they're not recognizable enough that even people who care about art in their circle are going to see a repost - even with the artist's signature - and go "oh, yeah, I know that guy!" Many artists rely on online traffic to bolster their careers. In fact, reposting can hurt starting professional artists - there have been plenty of cases of artists accused of plagiarism because their work got reposted so far and wide that no one believed they made it anymore!

Even outside of that, many artists don't want you reposting their work, even with credit, for many reasons - not least of which being because it's easy to lose creative control in some truly horrible ways. Remember what happened to Pepe the Frog? Did you know about the similar case of Trash Doves? You may say "ew, wtf, I'd never do that, I'm not hunting for stuff to bastardize into a hate symbol, I just want to make silly memes" - but that doesn't ultimately matter. It's not about whether you'd do it or not; it's about the fact that there are people who would.

Therefore, if you see a piece of art you want to use for a meme, you have to check the source. If it's already a repost, reverse image search it. If you still can't find it, don't use it. If you can only find it on Pinterest or some other repost-heavy site, don't use it.

Check to see if the artist SAYS "DO NOT REPOST" or "REPOSTS OK WITH CREDIT" somewhere on their profile. If they don't speak English, machine translation will probably suffice. If they don't specify, ask. If the answer is no, find a different piece of art from someone who allows it or a "safe" source as listed above.

Now that you have permission, make your meme, and LINK TO the original piece in the post body. Remember: "Credit to the artist" is not credit. "I didn't draw this" is not credit. Link to where it came from, there is no substitute.

So, with that, go forth, and happy memeing!

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Scripting: Bar Stop-Off

In One More Hero's fourth chapter, CR!Sonic came back into Dimension MP-2021, immediately going to find OMT!Tails and OMT!Mina.

CR!Sonic: Tails!

OMT!Tails: Huh? Sonic?

CR!Sonic: Look, I... I'm really sorry about earlier. I've got a lot on my plate, and I want to make it up to you however I can.

He noticed Tails was just looking at him.

CR!Sonic: Uh, what are you doing?

OMT!Tails: Making you feel guilty proper. ...Is it working?

He was making puppy-dog eyes at CR!Sonic.

CR!Sonic: How could it-? No. Look at me, does it look like it's working? No, it's... no it's... ohhhh...

He covered his face in embarrassment.

CR!Sonic (muffled): MMMMPH! DON'T LET HIM WIN!

He uncovered his face after a moment, having given in.

CR!Sonic: *sigh* Alright, kid. You win.

OMT!Tails: Oh, yeah! This is Mina, by the way. I thought she had undergone the name "Mairead", though she told me it was just an alias.

OMT!Mina: Hello!

CR!Sonic: Oh, you guys know each other? Very cool. Well, c'mon, then! No time to lose!

Cut to them sitting in a bar area at McLovely's.

OMT!Tails: So, remind me what we're doing here again.

OMT!Mina: Dang, the menu here's appetizing!

CR!Sonic was having a breakfast chilli dog for himself.

CR!Sonic: Just a quick snack before we get down to business.

OMT!Tails: Before we continue, by the way, I was looking for petitions on behalf of a friend who wants AI-generated art outlawed around here. You guys alright with giving signatures?

CR!Sonic: Huh! I'm down for it!

OMT!Mina: Me too!

OMT!Tails: Sweet! Just be careful not to get any chilli stains on the paper.

The two put their signatures on CraftyCorn's petition sheet.

OMT!Tails: So, got any advice you can share with me now that we're back to equals?

He had to keep CR!Sonic from pilfering his burger while asking this.

CR!Sonic: First off, train your body to become immune to motion-sickness, or doing any of my stunts will suck. Uh... Definitely don't go crazy when you're full on chilli dogs, like me. Threw up like a water hose last time I did that.

OMT!Tails: Right, got it. Anything else?

CR!Sonic: Uhh... I dunno. Not really the... mentor type of guy. I'm more of a... action type.

OMT!Tails: Ah, I see. So, what's the plan once we arrive at the crashed Death Egg site off South Island's coast?

CR!Sonic: Easy! Step 1: I break in, Step 2: infiltrate the lab, Step 3: sneak in, destroy a couple of robots while I'm at it. Step 4: you two come in and help me gain access to the computer, Step 5: download the important stuff, Step 6: grab a sandwich from the cafeteria, and Step 7: dip it outta there and fix everything!

OMT!Tails: Okey-doke! Also, just to let you know, the head scientist at that place is that brown-haired lady with the bike. I saw her in one part of a documentary at my new school's taster session.

CR!Sonic: ... Got it. Step 8: re-evaluate my personal biases.

OMT!Tails: Well, that's our plan, right?

OMT!Mina: We could practice jogging somewhere on the way!

OMT!Tails: Sure!

After they paid for the meal, they got on a bus on their way to Emerald Coast.

CR!Sonic: Just to be clear, we're not running all the way over to the shore just from the city. Not after a hearty brunch. Keep your legs fresh, kid. You're gonna thank me later.

OMT!Tails: Fair enough.

CR!Sonic kicked back.

CR!Sonic: Gosh, helping out this alternate Tails is actually kinda fun. I wonder how the guys back home are doing?

(Cue everything going to shit in Crossover Realm's Knothole and Newtropolis, fire everywhere, buildings tipping over, everyone screaming and running in chaos)

Gary: (screaming in hysterics) WHERE'S MY WISH?!?! I WANT MY WISH!!!

CLE: Oh BEC, PLEASE hurry up with those wishes!

Back with the main crew...

CR!Sonic: Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine.

OMT!Tails: What is it like at your universe?

CR!Sonic: Long story. It'd boggle you just processing it if I told you.

Elsewhere (for whatever reason)...

Exegod: The nerve of that Pico (yep, he means me). Inviting me to go Into, Across and Beyond for another scene. On such short notice! Even if I wanted to go, my SCHEDULE WOULDN’T ALLOW IT! (Looks at schedule) 4:00, wallow in self pity. 4:30, stare into the abyss. 5:00, fix the Sonic franchise for good (tell no one). 5:30, pics of Sally_ALT in incognito mode. 6:30, dinner with me, I can’t cancel that again. 7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing… I’m booked! Of course if I hold the loathing to 9, I can still be back here in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But WHAT WOULD I WEAR?!

[bondsmagii]

Man if we are talking about bad takes I have one for you: this whole eat the rich movement

And you know why? People can't discern who the rich are!! Like they are coming after doctors and lawyers and artists, people who made their money working, instead of focusing in the people who made their money by exploiting people like businessmen which is the whole point and my god people are goddamn stupid like the whole point of eating the rich was to go against exploitation "boss makes a dollar I make a dime" and like thats 99% of rich people yet Tumblr users see a doctor with a vacation house and lose it completely like my dude having money is not the problem, the problem is when people have money because they took it from you!! Anyways the whole thing has become such a joke and if I see one more person talking about celebrities when they say eat the rich imma legit lose it because taylor swift might be rich but she's rich bc you bought her stuff my guy not because she made you work and took about all of your profit

So yeah a lot of bad takes on this site that come from good places but have zero critical thinking behind it

people not being able to identify the Actual Rich terrifies me. like, they do realise that they're reinventing the concept of kulaks, right?

to an extent, I can get the idea of people being pissed off at very rich doctors in countries like America, where the healthcare system is there for profit. that's exploitative and fucked up, and while I understand that not all doctors are in it for the money, granted some of them are and they are using an exploitative system to get it -- but the real issue there is the healthcare system, rather than individual doctors. (in the UK, the idea of a rich healthcare professional is actually laughable, unless they're a private practise, which isn't as loaded here as you choose to go private and pay money; if you don't, you still have access to healthcare.)

as for everything else, especially when it comes to the arts... shit, man. it worries me, how so many people on this website will wax poetic about how art is worth so much, and artists are angels, etc, but boy howdy they sure don't want to pay artists. people are out there thinking the price of a book is exploitative because it prices out poorer people, without considering the fact that the whole £8.99 doesn't go to the author's pocket -- it pays the author, and everyone who marketed the book, and who edited it, and who did the art for the cover, and who bound the book, and who organised its distribution, etc. it's the same with singers, or movie stars, as well as fundamentally forgetting the fact that you consensually part with your money in order to have something you enjoy. it's not the same as having your wages literally stolen from you by a billionaire.

generally speaking, these people make their money because they're good at something. enough people think that Taylor Swift is good that they've bought her songs and made her rich. enough people like Stephen King's books that they've bought them and made him rich. movie stars are rich because they make good movies and people want to see them. they work. and none of these jobs are easy! they're hard fucking work, and a lot of people are involved in the finished product and they all need to be paid. super-rich billionaires and multi-millionaires, who hoard wealth and underpay employees and cut corners, are usually only talented at making money, and this is because they're despicable human beings. they also have more wealth than they could ever use even in a dozen lifetimes, and they remove it completely from the economy, and they use its influence to seek power and undercut laws and generally make the world a worse place, and they're in a whole different league. the kind of wealth we're seeing right now is supervillain levels of rich.

when there's issues like that, I really don't give a shit if someone who did 12 years of college and residency and who's worked 12 hour days minimum for 25 years has a vacation house. we'll discuss the ethics of multiple houses in a housing crisis when we've dealt with the bigger problems, like the multi-billionaire born to a blood emerald empire hoarding insane amounts of cash and contributing precisely nothing to society, for example. a large chunk of society's problems could be solved or at least on their way to being improved if we didn't have hoarding billionaires and starvation wages.

[mariellewritesalot]

It's my 9th anniversary on Tumblr 🥳 (since December 2014)

Almost a decade, wow! Excelsior by mariellewritesalot is a writing blog I started as a teenager to fully embrace the fact that I wanted to become a writer. I wanted my own "website" or at least a home for my words. "Excelsior" is my favorite word, and I was a bit obsessed with it back then, given that it meant going ever upward. "mariellewritesalot" was just something I thought of while watching cartoons where one of the characters had "a lot" attached to their name (I believe it was Sir Yipsalot). I could cringe, but honestly, I'm not too bothered enough to change it. Maybe it's part of its charm.

Suffice it to say, this has been my longest relationship so far, haha. We've had our ups and downs, terrible lulls of writer's block when I would be too busy with life or too paralyzed with fear that I'm not good enough to actually post something here.

I started writing early on because I was the kind of child who read everywhere and owned a Kindle since I was 12. I joined essay contests and wrote fan fiction until I was in the middle of my teenage years. I loved Total Girl Philippines, and eventually became a Jr. TG Staff Writer for one week in the summer of 2012. I won a Palanca when I was in senior high school. I dabbled, of course, in campus journalism for many years. Editor-in-Chief for some publications. I wrote news, features, opinions...even UAAP sports! I then created a Facebook page for my blog to expand my audience. I was fortunate enough to land a spot in UP Diliman where I took a certificate course on Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino (loved working on my Filipino writing skills) and eventually, my Bachelor of Arts degree in Philippine Studies, where I also majored in History. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Filipino food in Filipino-American restaurants based in the United States, guided by my love for Doreen Fernandez essays and curiosities about the diaspora; so I could also help these restaurants map out their histories. During the pandemic, I worked on a practice Young Adult novel called, Don't Write Me Off.

I started working freelance and interning for some publications like PhilStar Life and Esquire Philippines. I've been a part of college organizations in UP Diliman, where I honed my skills in leadership, writing, and research so that I may be able to do talks and workshops about writing in different schools and provinces in the Philippines. Last year, I became a Creative Nonfiction fellow for the 61st Silliman University National Writers Workshop, which has been a dream of mine since, well, I was in high school and deeply obsessed with 'the scene.' I got to belong with my chosen family in the fellows with whom I shared the once-in-a-lifetime experience in Dumaguete. We have since joined the Cebu Art Fair last year with our zine, Saudade: A Study on Longing, which features two of my works. As a collective, we're always collaborating on something. Watch this space!

Nowadays, I'm living somewhere in Spain, and I'm working on my first book. It's a collection. It's (too) vulnerable. I think you'll like it. I believe that I will probably be in pursuit of more knowledge and skills as a writer for the rest of my life, so despite my wanting to be a mysterious private person, I think you'll be hearing (reading?) a lot from me on various platforms. Hopefully.

While we're here, I have something new. Since we're losing Tinyletter next month, which was where I used to send out my newsletter of truly vulnerable, exclusive pieces, I have decided to "move houses" and finally join Substack. I'm going to talk about some facets of my life here in Spain, food, and the usual prose. Essentially, a lot of my stuff will be free to read there, but I would appreciate pledges if you can. I will still update my Tumblr from time to time, of course, seeing as this is my main site. No worries!

This year, I'm also going to work on creating an Instagram account for my writing. I have beautiful plans I can't wait to share with you. I'm hoping you'll come along for the ride.

Thank you, lovers, for this milestone.

Always,

Marielle

[mood2you]

Welp

I actually haven't gotten the desktop update yet but the way Tumblr's denizens have been complaining about the looming algorithm reminds me that Tumblr was made as a blogging or micro-blogging platform. I know the difference does matter, but it hasn't enstated a 256 character limit (although, fanfiction writers are vexed by the limits of characters/lines, a limit is here!) so it must be a blogging site.

No one remembers what blogging is, since now it's a thing influencers do to become copyrighters, doing free influencing to "gain experience" which sounds just miserable. But I think blogging is like having a diary entry, not like Tweeting, which admittedly a lot of my posts read like. They are one or two lines, sometimes with mangled punchlines, or just a mean observation of the day.

There is also art which I believe in spreading. That's the one thing that reblogging as probably been turning this site into something it wasn't from the beginning, because if the next few paragraphs is more personal, you may be confused on if I want it to go viral or just be widely spread, (as opposed to just posting art without blogging, but then, why are you on Tumblr? Because somehow the users of Tumblr are kind of unique, and blogging would be good for showing the WIPs of a long piece or showing off a portfolio) but after all I am publishing it, so I must want someone to see it. This week has been slow on art and I will get to why, but I did one ArtFight Piece, which I am proud of, mostly because of the background as the form was hasty. That doesn't mean no one can think the form is good, it's just about how I produced the piece. I got the pose completely wrong, so stiff, and then fixed it real quick.

No matter what, it's cartoonie and loose. It is a drawing of SundaePlaza (Sp on AF and Sp on Twitter) The pose was the most inspired part, hand-in-hand with me seeing Super Mario in the character description and erroniously pulling Kirby and then going back and seeing Kirby explicly called as an inspiration they would love to see in Blondie (the character) art. Really a star would throw you around quite a lot unless you leaned into the turns, something I was reminded of earlier this month subway surfing.

I meant to work on JPB every other day besides ArtFight, and Undermoon on the other days since I was jumping into it so happily I thought I should spread the love onto my preexisting comic. But Stardew Valley has eaten my brain. And I'm reading more this side of the month because things have settled down compared to earlier. It's really hot out, and I like to read outside, and lately I've been so conscience of heat exhaustion, but my hair has gotten long enough to wash it in the morning, and then go out with a cool head. I used to wash it at night and wake up with it sticking straight up, well ordered enough naturally, I never gel it.

I've also been working on learning to crochet but it's going slowly.

My poor old cat didn't eat this morning because I was carpet-cleaning with the loudest machine ever. He has been losing weight. I took an oddly shaped matt of his knee last night and he seemed more sore than grateful, and he left a big hairball in the bathroom last night. He hates to be brushed. Who knows what to do with him, give him a Lion Cut I guess, but I don't want to trust groomers with him. The kittens are alright.

I've been catching up on Reading Glasses, which has a lot of ads.

[tacobellebandit]

Saw a post that was like, the actual important part of the debate in AI use isn't/shouldn't be copyright or stealing, but consent, and personally I think framing it around consent is... a very weak argument.

Because people have differing beliefs on what level of explicit consent is needed for certain things. You could make the argument that, by posting something online, where anyone can just save, print out, trace, do anything with it short of reposting elsewhere (or posting a traced piece, but the tracing is not the infraction in that cast), then that is implicit consent to do anything up to transformative use of it, in which case the argument suddenly hinges on whether AI art is transformative enough. Which, basically, would just swing the debate around to square one.

I mean, personally I think it should be an opt-in thing, and consent may play some role in that, but to me it's more protection of the work artists put in, and throwing in consent into the argument makes the waters murkier rather than being a good line. Do you need consent to make fanfiction, fanart, etc? You're using the ideas and work someone else came up with. You know, fanfiction.net iirc had a list of authors and media that you couldn't post fanfic of because they specifically said not to. They are explicitly withholding consent for that but... I still wouldn't say it's wrong for people to make transformative content involving those works.

I also see a LOT of screenshots of tweets on here, and no way to see if consent was obtained before the reposting, and I see very little backlash when it's directly ripping from another person. News articles use screenshots of tweets too. Posting them on a public site seems to be implicit consent for this use.

Tbh the post also talked about ownership and theft as fake ideas, which, I mean, I agree that they're social constructs, but so is the concept of consent and morality, as well as money and gender and everything that makes up different cultures, so idk why those in particular would be considered fake. It's all fake, we've made up all of it. Language is entirely made up, too. That's really all an aside tho, like I agree with the idea that AI art is a problem and artists are being exploited, but I don't think consent is a good metric to use in arguments because it's not actually that clear a boundary. We'll just be arguing about the reasonable level of explicit vs. implicit consent (and I think unfortunately, that artists are the one who'll lose that debate, especially when this is something that must necessarily be regulated on a legal level, and artists generally aren't the ones with the money or power here)

idk anyway, I didn't want to reblog and argue with OP about it, just wanted to get my thoughts down. i don't think it really matters anyway, like i really don't think AI art is going anywhere no matter how people argue about it and all you can really do is 1. try and get some legislation passed to regulate it and 2. improve economic conditions for everyone so people don't fucking STARVE because suddenly art becomes unviable with the AI shit, in an ideal world art would come from the desire to create over the desire to not die under capitalism, regardless of whether it is something artists can make some money from or not

[yvesdot]

I got my Tumblr Year in Review! As you know, I always make my own for my personal writing, but it was just so heartwarming to see how many people liked my posts this year that I had to share this with you. Thank you, as always, for stopping by.

I posted 1,459 times in 2021

200 posts created (14%)

1259 posts reblogged (86%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.3 posts.

I added 685 tags in 2021

#txt - 318 posts

#important writing updates - 70 posts

#not my writing - 67 posts

#digital art - 44 posts

#monsters - 38 posts

#writeblr - 37 posts

#words - 36 posts

#asks - 31 posts

#writing - 22 posts

#lgbt art - 22 posts

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

yves. Teaches You How To Read

270 notes • Posted 2021-07-05 07:54:07 GMT

#4

483 notes • Posted 2021-08-12 02:56:56 GMT

#3

The longer I stick around in progressive circles the more I’m convinced that the answer to everything is just meaning well and having love in your heart...

705 notes • Posted 2021-05-28 23:28:36 GMT

#2

me when i started writing: oh haha i don't really think about symbolism...

887 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 01:06:36 GMT

#1

Today is Purim!...

4178 notes • Posted 2021-02-26 21:42:24 GMT

Some commentary (longer than the stats):

I was so surprised to see the Purim post up at the top! Obviously I understand why in a logical sense-- people want to be informative and social justicey and all that-- but today I will finally reveal a secret I have been harboring ever since I made this post... it's not Purim anymore!

I never listed the date on my post, and Tumblr is notoriously bad at telling you that sort of thing, so this post tumbled about all year-- since February-- picking up steam here and losing it there. I've seen reblog notifications as recently as yesterday, and I just didn't want to ruin anybody's fun! Purim is my favorite holiday, so if you want it to last all year round, by all means, keep spreading that post.

I am, above all, floored by the response to my blog in general. I couldn't believe that just this year I had put out anything that garnered so much attention-- even if everybody touching the Purim post personally reblogged it ten times, that'd still make over four hundred people who saw it and liked it! Seeing that my How To Read post helped enough people to get 200 notes is absolutely incredible and so reassuring after the work and worry I put into it.

If you enjoyed any of my posts this year, I want you to know that I deeply appreciate your readership and interaction with me. I've messaged so many people (Tumblr doesn't show the amount of love I've felt for everybody!) and answered so many asks, and every one of those sparked so much happiness and gratitude in me every time I saw somebody reaching out. I can't stress enough how happy I am to be in a place where what I write is of interest to so many people. As always, I love you all, and here's to another beautiful year.

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[itsclydebitches]

Here's a quandary I've suddenly found myself in: where do you stand on writers deleting their own works, fanfiction or otherwise? I've had this happen to me on more than one occasion - I go to look for an old favorite and find it's since been deleted from whatever site I read it on.

On the one hand, I'm inclined to think that, "Sure. The author wrote it, it's their call. I don't own the work - I certainly didn't pay for it. It's their decision, even if it's disappointing."

But at the same time I can't help but consider the alternative - if I believe in death of the author (and I do), that an author's work fundamentally isn't solely theirs once it's been published, posted, etc., then it also seems wrong to have a work deleted. Stories aren't the sole property of their creator, after all.

But then I circle back. D'you think there are different obligations between authors and readers and the works being made in fandom space? I know if I had bought a book and the author decided they wanted it back, I would feel pretty comfortable telling them no, given I'd paid for it and whatnot. But that's a different world from fanfic and fandom space generally.

So. You're insightful Clyde, I'm curious as to what you'll have to say here (and to all y'all thinking about it, don't flame me. I haven't decided where I stand here yet - haven't heard a good nail-in-the-coffin argument for or against yet).

Val are you a mind reader now? I’ve been thinking about this exact conundrum the last few days!

(And yeah, as a general disclaimer: no flaming. Not allowed. Any asks of the sort will be deleted on sight and with great satisfaction.)

Honestly, I’m not sure there is a “nail-in-the-coffin argument” for this, just because—as you lay out—there are really good points for keeping works around and really good points for allowing authors to have control over their work, especially when fanworks have no payment/legal obligations attached. In mainstream entertainment, your stories reflect a collaborative effort (publisher, editor, cover artists, etc.) so even if it were possible to delete the physical books out of everyone’s home and library (and we're ignoring the censorship angle for the moment), that’s no longer solely the author’s call, even if they have done the lion’s share of the creative work. Though fanworks can also, obviously, be collaborative, they’re usually not collaborative in the same way (more “This fic idea came about from discord conversations, a couple tumblr posts, and that one headcanon on reddit”) and they certainly don’t have the same monetary, legal, and professional strings attached. I wrote this fic as a hobby in my free time. Don’t I have the right to delete it like I also have the right to tear apart the blankets I knit?

Well yes… but also no? I personally view fanworks as akin to gifts—the academic term for our communities is literally “gift economy”—so if we view it like that, suddenly that discomfort with getting rid of works is more pronounced. If I not only knit a blanket, but then gift it to a friend, it would indeed feel outside of my rights to randomly knock on their door one day and go, “I actually decided I hate that? Please give it back so I can tear it to shreds, thanks :)” That’s so rude! And any real friend would try to talk me out of it, explaining both why they love the blanket and, even if it’s not technically the best in terms of craftsmanship, it holds significant emotional value to them. Save it for that reason alone, at least. Fanworks carry that same meaning—“I don’t care if it’s full of typos, super cliché, and using some outdated, uncomfortable tropes. This story meant so much to me as a teenager and I’ll always love it”—but the difference in medium and relationships means it’s easier to ignore all that. I’m not going up to someone’s house and asking face-to-face to destroy something I gave them (which is awkward as hell. That alone deters us), I’m just pressing a button on my computer. I’m not asking this of a personal friend that is involved in my IRL experiences, I’m (mostly) doing this to online peers I know little, if anything, about. It’s easy to distance ourselves from both the impact of our creative work and the act of getting rid of it while online. On the flip-side though, it’s also easier to demean that work and forget that the author is a real person who put a lot of effort into this creation. If someone didn’t like my knitted blanket I gave them as a gift, they’re unlikely to tell me that. They recognize that it’s impolite and that the act of creating something for them is more important than the construction’s craftsmanship. For fanworks though, with everyone spread around the world and using made up identities, people have fewer filters, happily tearing authors to shreds in the comments, sending anon hate, and the like. The fact that we’re both prefacing this conversation with, “Please don’t flame” emphasizes that. So if I wrote a fic with some iffy tropes, “cringy” dialogue, numerous typos, whatever and enough people decided to drag me for it… I don’t know whether I’d resist the urge to just delete the fic, hopefully ending those interactions. There’s a reason why we’re constantly reminding others to express when they enjoy someone else’s work: the ratio of praise to criticism in fandom (or simply praise to seeming indifference because there was no public reaction at all), is horribly skewed.

So I personally can’t blame anyone for deleting. I’d like to hope that more people realize the importance of keeping fanworks around, that everything you put out there is loved by someone… but I’m well aware that the reality is far more complicated. It’s hard to keep that in mind. It’s hard to keep something around that you personally no longer like. Harder still to keep up a work you might be harassed over, that someone IRL discovered, that you’re disgusted with because you didn’t know better back then… there are lots of reasons why people delete and I ultimately can’t fault them for that. I think the reasons why people delete stem more from problems in fandom culture at large—trolling, legal issues, lack of positive feedback, cancel culture, etc.—than anything the author has or has not personally done, and since such work is meant to be a part of an enjoyable hobby… I can’t rightly tell anyone to shoulder those problems, problems they can’t solve themselves, just for the sake of mine or others’ enjoyment. The reason I’ve been thinking about this lately is because I was discussing Attack on Titan and how much I dislike the source material now, resulting in a very uncomfortable relationship with the fics I wrote a few years back. I’ve personally decided to keep them up and that’s largely because some have received fantastic feedback and I’m aware of how it will hurt those still in the fandom if I take them down. So if a positive experience is the cornerstone of me keeping fics up, I can only assume that negative experiences would likewise been the cornerstone of taking them down. And if getting rid of that fic helps your mental health, or solves a bullying problem, or just makes you happier… that, to me, is always more important than the fic itself.

But, of course, it’s still devastating for everyone who loses the work, which is why my compromise-y answer is to embrace options like AO3’s phenomenal orphaning policy. That’s a fantastic middle ground between saving fanworks and allowing authors to distances themselves from them. I’ve also gotten a lot more proactive about saving the works I want to have around in the future. Regardless of whether we agree with deleting works or not, the reality is we do live in a world where it happens, so best to take action on our own to save what we want to keep around. Though I respect an author’s right to delete, I also respect the reader’s right to maintain access to the work, once published, in whatever way they can. That's probably my real answer here: authors have their rights, but readers have their rights too, so if you decide to publish in the first place, be aware that these rights might, at some point, clash. I download all my favorite fics to Calibre and, when I’m earning more money (lol) I hope to print and bind many for my personal library. I’m also willing to re-share fic if others are looking for them, in order to celebrate the author’s work even if they no longer want anything to do with it. Not fanfiction in this case, but one of my fondest memories was being really into Phantom of the Opera as a kid and wanting, oh so desperately, to read Susan Kay’s Phantom. Problem was, it was out of print at the time, not available at my library, and this was before the age of popping online and finding a used copy. For all intents and purposes, based on my personal situation, this was a case of a book just disappearing from the world. So when an old fandom mom on the message boards I frequented offered to type her copy up chapter by chapter and share it with me, you can only imagine how overjoyed I was. Idk what her own situation was that something like scanning wouldn’t work, but the point is she spent months helping a fandom kid she barely knew simply because a story had resonated with her and she wanted to share it. That shit is powerful!

So if someone wants to delete—if that’s something they need right now—I believe that is, ultimately, their decision… but please try your hardest to remember that the art you put out into the world is having an impact and people will absolutely miss it when it’s gone. Often to the point of doing everything they can to put it back out into the world even if you decide to take it out. Hold onto that feeling. The love you have for your favorite fic, fanart, meta, whatever it is? Someone else has that for your work too. I guarantee it.

So take things down as needed, but for the love of everything keep copies for yourself. You may very well want to give it back to the world someday.