#I've been dealing with a lot of stolen art recently

[furiousgoldfish]

Hey :) Anon from this post: https://furiousgoldfish.tumblr.com/post/713489488821862400/hey-hope-youre-having-a-good-day-today-or-at here. I wanna start this off by saying thank you for the response you gave, it really helped me a lot. I'm trying to come to terms with what I've gone through, and I've discovered that I may be some sort of dissociative system, which would likely explain the large gaps in my memory and lack of knowledge about my childhood.

Going through the list of potential reasons for my parents' treatment of me shifting, I definitely think it's a combination of the first (me getting closer to being an adult, I'm 20 now) and the third (getting opportunities to get away from home, I've got a partner who loves me (and is helping me with a plan to get out of here) and I've been pushing for more freedom to go out places, and I do keep bringing up the idea of me getting a job and/or my own place, which always provokes an...interesting reaction, certainly, which I do want to talk about here).

I feel like the physical abuse would've stopped around the time I turned 13, or maybe a couple of years before that, considering that that was when I start getting clearer, non-fragmented memories, and then a lot of the verbal and emotional stuff (at least, the obvious stuff that I could easily pick up on) stopped at the start of 2020, when I started talking more about how I was excited to start learning to drive (I was 16, soon to be turning 17, and I'd always been told I couldn't start learning to drive until I was 17)

With your description of the narcissistic split between kids, with one being the golden child and the other being the scapegoat, that very much feels like what's happening with me. I've always felt like I was an outsider in my own family -- a memory recently surfaced from when I was 9 years old where I remember contemplating if I was secretly some sort of monster or alien pretending to be a human rather than actually being a human within the family, and I remember writing a song when I was 13 where one of the lines of the chorus was "someone's daughter on somebody else's family tree", and those are just two of the instances I can recall.

I'm not sure if I'm discriminated against for a disability -- my brother's autistic, something that was always brought up by my parents, and while I am in the middle of getting screened for autism myself I don't know why they'd discriminate against me for autism but not him? -- but I do know that my brother's always been very talented when it comes to music and coding, and while I do have a few talents myself (I do art, I write, I used to be in an acting club for a few years) I only feel like my parents care about me when I'm doing something they can be proud of? Meanwhile my brother seems to be cared about all the time, even when he's angry, even when he's stolen from me, even when he does things like delete all my save data on video games. I suppose that would tie in with what you said about how the golden child can always get away with bullying the scapegoat, but it still sucks.

Regarding the...interesting...response I would get from my parents (well, really only my mother, I've never talked to my father about this) about getting a job and moving out -- whenever I have, my mother will always bring up how I ended up quitting my last job due to stress (I was 15 at the time, and working in a busy cafe, as well as trying to deal with everything at home, is it any surprise?) and how my sister tried moving out and had to move back home, and it honestly just feels like she's trying to scare(?) me into abandoning the idea under the belief that I'm not capable of doing it? Even when I've brought up the idea of trying to get some sort of online work so I wouldn't have to go out, she still seems to think I'd get too easily stressed out and/or overwhelmed by it. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I can't shake the idea that if I did manage to find something, she'd just try to sabotage me to "prove her point".

That, coupled with the fact that she's so controlling of where I can go as well -- she used to have a tracker on my phone that I had to fight to get taken off, I was never allowed to walk to/from school (when I was even still going there, I was pulled out when I was 9 because of my brother, which is another story) on my own as a kid like all the other kids did despite practically living next door to it, I never got to have sleepovers with friends (because "what if something happens with [brother] and we need to come and get you?" (which, um, do I look like his fucking caretaker? Leave me out of his shit please) and later on my tendency to get homesick was weaponized against me (which, gee, wonder if that'd've been an issue if I could've gotten to have sleepovers with my friends as a kid)), and a few months back I had to fight to even be allowed out of the house to go for short walks around the neighborhood on my own? As an at-the-time 19 year old, so, a legal adult? When our neighborhood is pretty safe and quiet? And the reasoning she always gives is "what if something happens to you?" which...well, considering that a few of the suspected alters appear to me as inmates in a prison, I think speaks volumes about how I feel about all of this treatment.

I suppose I want to close this out with a question of sorts here, relating to your post about abusive parents separating kids from human rights -- number 10 on that list is "They threaten you with court, institutions and government", and it reminded me of how as a kid, if ever I was crying too loud or screaming or yelling, I was always told to keep it down in case the neighbors called CPS (well, my country's equivalent anyways), it was always framed that if CPS were called for then they'd come and take me away, that I wouldn't get to keep any of the things that my parents got for me, that I'd be sent to live with strangers, it was always made out as this extremely bad, extremely scary thing that had to be Avoided At All Costs because We're Not Abusive But If You Don't Shut Up The Neighbors Will Think We Are, and...I suppose I'm just trying to figure out if that falls into that category? I've just been very confused about it ever since I recalled it, and I can't figure out how I'm supposed to even interpret it, let alone feel about it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope you have a good day :)

(🌟) (signing off so I can better identify the ask later)

Hey thanks for coming back and giving me feedback about the reply!

I'll respond to your question first: Yes, it does fall into that category, and I've been told the exact same things. My things will be taken away, I'll be sent off to live in a place of poverty with strangers where I will not be allowed to own anything and I won't have my own room, they would describe it as the worst possible thing that could happen to me and instruct me how to act so I would not get taken away. And of course when you're a child, you believe that and act like they tell you to, there's no way to know they're doing this to keep you in abuse.

it's really interesting how they all use almost identical tactics and it's only when we form a community and talk about these kinds of abuse and when they happen, that it makes sense and it becomes clear what they're trying to accomplish. I've been so scared of 'homes' for children all my childhood, only to find out later, that children raised there had way, and I mean WAY more things than I did, way more legal protection and their every need paid for. I could not have imagined that. (I don't know if it works like that in every country though, apparently in my country it does.)

It makes sense for the physical abuse to stop at the age 13, you're about to remember things very well at that age, and about to learn how to fight back. They do not want a child who resists them.

The separation of the scapegoat and the golden child is usually stronger than any talent you might have. No matter what you did, you'd always be the scapegoat. And yes they love to show off and get attention even if it is from the scapegoat's accomplishments, but it's unlikely they'll ever acknowledge it to you, or start valuing you for that. Narcissistic abusers need a scapegoat and to them, this need comes first, before any needs of a child. I'm so sorry you felt like an outsider, your song feels very powerful and cuts to the point. It really is like you're somebody else's child, intruding into that house.

From what you're describing your mother is very set on discouraging you from getting a job, or even outright sabotaging you, attacking your confidence and making it clear that she doesn't think you can do it. She's also insisting you should exist only as a convenience and resource for the rest of them. She's doing those things because she's scared of you succeeding and getting free, then you could talk about the abuse freely, and they could do nothing to you. I'm so glad you have a partner and a possibility of escape, I hope you make it, and manage to distance yourself completely from parents who treated you so unfairly and cruelly.

I'm sorry about the dissociative symptoms, it's definitely worth looking further into that, lost memories, being unable to put events together, these are dissociative symptoms. Here's a link where you can read more about the symptoms and see if anything clicks. (it's just for dissociative disorders in general, not DID, if you think you have DID or OSDD, look for more resources please!)

#ask #narcissistic abuse #golden child #scapegoat #child abuse #narcissistic parents #trauma #escape sabotage #trying to cover up abuse

[themeeplord]

You prob don't recognize me cause I have a diff username here than on instagram but a while ago (2020) I had told you of some of your art that had been reposted on pinterest and sent you the links to it. I remember one was one of your dragon oc and another was the ankylosaur piece. I saw the ankylosaur one again recently so either someone else reposted it again or it was not removed.

Yea,, my art has been stolen a lot, especially that ankylosaurus piece.

I have dealt with a lot of reposts, and I mean A LOT. (I've been posting my art on the internet for soon 10 years, believe me there's been a lot..) But there's also been a lot that I've not had the energy to deal with. It's very, veeery mentally draining for me to get all the reposts removed, especially the ones where you have to talk to the person and hope they'll remove the repost after you've asked them to. It really is a gamble of what answer you'll get.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that you care and let me know about the reposts! I appreciate it so much!! Thank you <3

I just.. don't always have the energy to deal with them.

Posting art on the internet is a double-edged sword. I wish it was different.

#sorry for the rambling #I'm just.. tired.. #asks #thank you again for letting me know <3

[itsabirbthing]

Can I repost your art (with credit) on instagram please?

I have an instagram account where my comics are posted weekly. However, you can share the instagram posts/moments (with credit, like you said), if you’d like!

#not a comic #ask #anon #it means a lot to me that you added with credit though!! #I've been dealing with a lot of stolen art recently #Anonymous

[ohnoitsthebat]

What I'm Reading: Graphic Novels Edition.

I've been reading a lot of graphic novels/comics lately (Most of them of the indie persuasion), so I thought I would list the ones I've been reading and what they're about. I miss reading books, but at the moment all I can read are graphic novels, comics, and middle grade books. So, without further ado, here are the graphic novels I am currently reading.

The Final Girls (ComiXology Originals, a 5-part series)

Written by: Cara Ellison Synopsis: The world's most powerful working hero, Scathach, asks her retired peers to punish another hero for a crime. Her friends Kogarashi and Bavanshee secretly agree to pay a visit to this hero, Claymore. But Claymore is very popular and famous... And all the kids want to be him when they grow up.

This comic gives me Watchmen vibes. It's very dark, not at all like your average superhero comic. If you're looking for something cutesy and childlike, you certainly won't find that here. I'm still undecided as to how I feel about it. It takes place in Scotland, which I love, and the characters are all very different from one another. But I'm not loving the story so far.

The Backstagers, Vol 1 Written by: James Tynion, IV Synopsis: James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, The Woods) teams up with artist Rian Sygh (Munchkin, Stolen Forest) for an incredibly earnest story that explores what it means to find a place to fit in when you're kinda an outcast. When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he’s taken in by the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Hunter, Aziz, Sasha, and Beckett become his new best friends and introduce him to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain that the rest of the school doesn’t know about, filled with strange creatures, changing hallways, and a decades-old legend of a backstage crew that went missing and was never found. Collects the first four issues.

The Avant-Guards, Vol 2 Written by: Carly Usdin Synopsis: Welcome to the Georgia O'Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, an historically all-female school whose population is decidedly more drama geek than jock. Liv, aspiring actor and basketball enthusiast, doesn't understand why she can't be both, but she seems alone in that belief...until Charlie. Charlie is a recent transfer, a star basketball player, and the answer to all of Liv's problems. She'll stop at nothing to get Charlie to join the ragtag group of misfits that make up their fledgling basketball team. Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and Noah Hayes (Goldie Vance) present a touching tale about finding what you're looking for... on and off the court. I'm really enjoying this one! I love the amount of diversity (characters of color! Queer characters! Bisexual characters! and so much more!), and i love how the story is building up. I'm not a big fan of the art, but the story is so good that it really doesn't matter.

And, finally.....

Heavy Vinyl, Vol 1. Written by: Carly Usdin Synopsis: New Jersey, 1998. Chris has just started the teen dream job: working at Vinyl Mayhem, the local record store. She's prepared to deal with anything—misogynistic metalheads, grunge wannabes, even a crush on her wicked cute co-worker, Maggie. But when the staff's favorite singer mysteriously vanishes the night before her band’s show in town, Chris finds out her co-workers are doing more than just sorting vinyl… her local indie record store is also a front for a teen girl vigilante fight club! Heavy Vinyl is my favorite of the bunch. As someone who is obsessed with music and record stores, the general aesthetic of this is music to my ears (pun intended). It also takes place in the 90s, and as someone who grew up during this time, reading this book gives me a much-needed shot in the arm of nostalgia. i can't wait to read the entire series. Hopefully you guys enjoyed! Maybe you'll even pick up one of these books and decide for yourself if they're good or not. Till next time!

#booklr #bookblr #books #graphic novels #comics #comic books #indie comics #bookish things #lgbtqia+ comics #fantasy #horror #slice of life #humor #the final girls #heavy vinyl #the backstagers #the avant guards #comixology #bat.txt #the bat reads

[yukipri]

I never experienced art theft until one of my works became unexpectedly popular- since then, I've found my work reposted, redrawn, and used as reference for cosplays. It's been exhausting, both seeing it, and not knowing WHERE I should stand on the issue. I've let redraws slide (with credit), but I plan on not allowing future ones from occurring. How do you deal with art theft? How do you continue drawing without thinking about the disrespect thrown at you during bad/failed confrontations?

I am so, so incredibly sorry this happened to you, and empathize very strongly with you. Art theft SUCKS, few things can be quite as demotivating as a creator than having something you’ve worked your ass off on swiped by someone else. And unfortunately, given the current internet culture, if you continue as an online artist it’s inevitable that it’ll happen at one point or another.

Because sure, of course part of the reason why we create is because we want to, but a large part of the motivation for sharing it is to hopefully get some response that people like it, whether it be in the form of likes, reblogs, comments, asks, tags, or anything else. That is the tangible PROOF that our work touched someone, and for someone who put in zero effort and has no idea how we felt while creating to receive all of that instead of us…sucks.

I think where you stand on the issue is up to you, and it’s okay for it to change. YOU always have the right to decide how you’re comfortable with people sharing your art, and your feelings are valid regardless of how they change.

Ironically enough, I just had another art theft on Instagram (my Anniversary post) super recently, so I was like HAH when I got this orz

This rant got a bit long, so the rest beneath cut but here’s a rundown about how my feelings towards art theft have evolved over the years.

For example, over the years I’ve gotten much, MUCH stricter. My earliest online art, I just put it up, no url, oftentimes no signature, no warnings in the comments or my blog bio. Admittedly I was starting out and didn’t have much viewers anyway, but the point was I still had Trust at the time.

Then the art thefts began. I started adding my url to all my illustrations, even if it was just small in the corner, as this’d let people at least find my website. Most people are too lazy to type out a url though, and I’ve seen people asking “Who drew this??” on art theft comments EVEN WHEN THE URL IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE…

And then people started cropping my watermarks. I made my url bigger, and started adding an additional “DO NOT REPOST” to the image itself. I used to allow reposts with credits on platforms I’m not on, like fb, until I realized that people were then reposting from THOSE communities without credit and putting them into their videos and fics and I just…decided it wasn’t worth it.

I switched to no reposts PERIOD. I have lengthy disclaimers on all of my art that leads to an even lengthier FAQ post that, should people wish to look, leads to even an even more detailed post about WHY art theft sucks, as I’m explaining now.

(EDIT: ALSO, reduce the quality of the images you upload, and NEVER upload the full resolution, and try to keep you unmerged original files. This is for several reasons: no matter how much an art thief reposts your work, they’ll never have access to the higher resolution, and if they ever decide to try to print to sell for profit it’ll be shitty quality compared to anything you make with the original. ALSO, you having the maximum resolution with no watermarking with additional unmerged psd files will be proof that you are the true creator should you need to prove it, which I’ve heard is sometimes necessary to show when your art is stolen at say, an artist alley)

I also used to bother trying to talk to art reposters. I’d comment on the post, try to send messages, etc. It’s fucking exhausting, and while there are some exceptions, the VAST majority of art thiefs will feel attacked and immediately get rude and defensive. (the failed confrontations and disrespect you mentioned orz) If it’s a large community, they may even try to gang up on you. I’ve unfortunately experienced this most frequently in communities centered around other languages (mainly Spanish) because of different mainstream attitudes towards art reposting etiquette combined with a language barrier.

You will, and no doubt already have, encountered people who will argue with you, like the people I describe above. “You should be grateful for the bigger audience!” “We just want to appreciate your art, how can you be so horrible?” “We’re all fans together!” “This is fanart and doesn’t belong to you anyway!” Etc. etc. etc. It’s exhausting, it’s repetitive, it’s neverending, and you already felt awful before it even began and the stress just continues to build.

So I personally have just begun reporting people, if the service allows it. Use DMCA takedown request forms (and YES, even if it’s fanart it’s still yours if you drew it). This is stressful too because it sends your real name + info to the reposter (and wow I clearly can’t trust these people to begin with, why would I want them to have that???) but most sites (facebook, instagram, certainly tumblr, twitter) are very efficient and responsive, and in the end the relief of receiving that email that the art has been taken down is worth it. Especially with facebook, they also send a scary official warning email to the reposters which I sincerely hope will help educate them and discourage future art thefts.

I try to avoid posting public urls because yes I’m aware how mob mentality Tumblr can get, but sometimes it’s just too much. There’s no convenient form of getting my content removed (perhaps bc it’s in a compilation with a ton of other content), or for some reason my attempts to communicate have failed. In those times I have occasionally asked my followers to help, with a reminder to PLEASE always be polite and respectful, regardless of the offense. Y’all have been amazing, and this has saved me many nights of crying in the past.

I will sometimes also write lengthy posts (like this one!) to help educate. Because I do feel that art theft will continue so long as people don’t understand what it does to artists, and it’s up to the community as a whole to make that change, which also depends heavily on the consumers not just creators. A lot of art theft really isn’t intentionally meant to harm, but IS super ignorant.

But in the end, all I’ve ranted about so far is how I’ve dealt with actually removing/dealing with the shit. But the emotional pain, it builds. Sometimes, when it’s too frequent and the stolen art gets way more attention than my original that I worked my ass off on that basically flunked on my own platforms, I feel a bit of me break.

And in the end, it’s up to you what that threshold is, where posting art and feeling good about it is overwhelmed by the pain, fear, and anxiety of art theft. I’ve crossed my own threshold too many times, and once had to take an art hiatus because of it (fandom was BH6). This lead to a break in my productivity and motivation and my eventual complete departure form the fandom. I’ve seen many other artists just stop posting art entirely or moving everything to private. It’s terrible, but my feelings are with these artists, and I feel so, so sorry that they were hurt so much to the extent they had to do this.

With my current fandom and followers, I feel that regardless of how niche an audience my content tends to be geared for, I have a community that is really satisfying for me to create for, one that is responsive to me and gives me tons of feedback. This is the number one reason why i continue to feel motivated to post a ton of online content despite the risks.

The takeaway form this long meandering post: Posting online is a hobby, it’s for fun, and I don’t make any money off my public audience (unless they come to Patreon! LOL!), so I’m a firm believer that once the anxiety + misery starts outweighing anything positive you personally may get from sharing online, which for me heavily depends on my audience and their responsiveness, there’s no reason to subject yourself to that anymore and you are in no way obligated to stay. There are various methods to more efficiently get rid of art thefts without dealing with them in person which is stressful AF, and also ways of marking up your content in ways that may look less aesthetically pleasing, but will hopefully discourage art thefts, and at the very least give them very little leg to stand on should they do it anyway. How forgiving you are in art thefts also depends on you, but the more forgiving you are, the more it can get away from you. And in the end, YOU as a human are more important than any complaints about art looking less pleasing or the feelings of art thefts who don’t get to do what they want with YOUR hard work.

Sorry this was so disjointed and literally just me spewing at you, but I hope some of it was helpful ^ ^; Please let me know if I can give you any other advice, and I’m sorry again that you have to deal with this ;_;

(and to respond to your second ask, I do try to respond to most of my asks, but sometimes it takes a while (sometimes even months orz), especially if it’s one that requires a lengthy detailed answer like this one ^ ^; thank you for your patience!)

#YukiPri replies #Anonymous #art theft #I hope this was helpful ^ ^; #started getting really distressed myself writing this haha #in general i'm okay with my art getting little to no attention #i just asked that i don't get hurt for the trouble of posting which i feel should be fair #and sometime yeah it does get to be too much #hopefully won't happen in the near future for this fandom but #we'll see sigh #another reason i like drawing niche hyper specific content LOL #fewer people tend to want to reblog/share it #but fewer reposters are also interested in it haha #long post #longpost

[fromthedeskofelizabeththird]

Your recent reblog made me realise how mistreated artists are. I've seen many people simply reposting arts and not complying with the wishes of the artist. Far too many people just find a pretty picture on the Internet and either illegally use it or claim as their own. As an artist myself, I know how much effort goes into each piece. Especially digital art because I've seen many people saying that it's not real art. Far too many people don't care and they won't stop reposting no matter what.

Hi Nonny!

Firstly, I want to thank you for messaging me because I actually feel really strongly about this topic and I have a lot to say about it so. 

I’m going to sound old and crotchety when I say this (and I’m 28, which I know for a fact IS old and crotchety to some of ya’ll), but when I read about how badly the internet has damaged the music industry, the anime industry, the publishing industry or the movie industry, it always makes me think about fandom. Internet and social media have done us dirty too in a lot of ways.

The same exact arguments for why the movie, anime and other industries are struggling so much at present can be made for fandom creators. Too many advances and changes in too short a period of time. The fandom landscape changed so much in so few years that we are still dealing with the fallout. 

Fanzines, as just ONE example, date back to the 30s, but they are something of a rarity now in their original form and one big reason for that is the internet’s impact on the availability of content. The internet has encouraged the consumer culture we’ve developed, where it’s easy to right click and save a picture and save a fic as a pdf to your kindle without ever acknowledging the creators.

I’ve been lurking around internet forums since 2004/2005, though I first got involved properly in fandom in 2007 and I want to make it very clear that reposting and the general mistreatment of content creators is not new. When I first skirted on the edges of the Naruto fandom, reposts of fanart to catchy tunes on YT was a very big part of the fandom community in ways the Vine repost culture kind of is now. 

And obviously in retrospect, I personally didn’t know a thing about reposting at the time. I wasn’t the one uploading them, so I don’t even know if the artists gave permission (though…I doubt it). 

But reposters often claim one of three of the above as a reason that they should not be judged for their actions when the reality is that they didn’t know and should learn better.

The judgement for reposting doesn’t come from a place of being angry at ignorance. It’s from the unwillingness to learn. From deliberation and the actions of individuals refusing to not only read disclaimers but to ask questions of those who would be only too happy to answer their questions.

And I’ll be honest, it’s CRUCIAL that fandoms (not only Mysme) learn better.

It’s crucial that we as a generation move on from this.

I’ve been on tumblr specifically since 2011 and I’ve watched so many fandoms come and go. A significant weight for a fandom’s lifespan rests on the shoulders of content creators and when those same content creators are disrespected in a multitude of different ways, exactly why should we (I am including myself, by the way, as a writer) stick around?

If the fanbase reposts art often enough without credits, questions commission prices all while begging for free art etc etc, doesn’t it make sense to leave?

This is a problem that goes beyond Mysme Fandom. It stretches as far as Pixiv, where Japanese speaking artists place English disclaimers for Western fans asking that they do not steal, having had their galleries picked clean.

I’m not going into the BS writers face because that’s a whole other topic tbh

Content creators work for free and are usually not professionals. All they ask is respect. It is an enormous disrespect to take something of theirs and claim it as your own. Reposters lose the right to victimhood when they are inherently in the wrong. A lot of times I see people confronting reposters and it makes me uncomfortable, since the reposter flips the blame on the artist so quickly that it verges on gaslighting, which is-by the way- an abuse tactic.

Time for a game of reposter bingo:

“It’s online, it’s your fault!”

“I just wanted to have fun!”

“I just wanted to give X artist exposure!”

I think every fandom forgets that its content creators are fans too. They create from a place of love, but they share because they want their work to be seen and they are not in the least bit obligated to do so.

Sourcing that art properly is an obligation though and it is not difficult. 

I will also argue that it is our obligation to educate reposting etiquette in the same manner that we do tag etiquette. There is something very wrong with the shape of a fandom where every artist I know has had their work stolen at least once and has to literally beg and plead in the face of people who -by and large- ignore them. I want to say that it should go unsaid that stealing art is wrong and people should not NEED to be taught otherwise, but it is becoming so ingrained in fandom dna that at this point it feels I’m being condescending by saying otherwise.

Here are some sourcing tools:

Google Reverse Image Search

SauceNao

IQDB

These do not count as sources:

-Pinterest

-WeHeartit

-CREDIT TO THE ARTIST

Here is a tool to disable right click

It’s important that we move past this and get our collective shit together, because this is not only a fandom exclusive problem, but it is for damn sure one that arrived with social media and it’s impacted everyone in a lot of unforeseen, harmful ways. 

If we fandom bloggers don’t protect one another and learn from our mistakes, then who is to stop the bigger corporations from taking advantage of us.

Elly out

#Anonymous