DragonArmada - flight rising

Alright, by now plenty of you are aware that Tumblr has decided to axe (most) NSFW content from its site. Here’s their statement, in case you haven’t seen it yet. Figured I’d address some of it before I start migrating.

What’s happening?

Tumblr is drastically altering its policy on NSFW content. The change will be enacted in December 17, 2018.

Is all NSFW content forbidden now?

Not quite - their new terms state that all sexual content featuring real people (i.e. photos and videos of a sexual nature, including non-artistic nudity) is forbidden. However, illustrations are only explicitly stated as forbidden if they “display sexual acts”. Written erotica is specifically mentioned as allowed.

So, written smut, and NSFW art that doesn’t feature sex acts would in theory still be allowed. Weirder fetish stuff that can’t immediately be catalogued as explicit could also fly under the radar.

However, the site has also seen a change to its search and tagging functions, which means that even if you continue to produce the above-mentioned allowed content, you are likely to have your blog tagged as explicit, which would take it off search results (both through tumblr search and via google). In practice, even if your NSFW content is not outright banned, there’s no incentive to post it, as you will likely gain no followers.

Why are they doing this?

The official statement mentions a desire to foster a more welcoming community and a safer place to be yourself, yadda yadda. Also, this would supposedly be something they’ve been planning for a long time.

The more likely explanation, however, is related to Tumblr recently being kicked out from mobile apps due to their blatantly incompetent job at monitoring adult content - specifically the presence of child pornography, though the massive influx of porn spambots has also been mentioned.There’s a good chance they found proper monitoring too expensive, and cutting off NSFW content entirely had the added bonus of making the site more ad-friendly, which is desperately needed in a company that has failed to turn up a profit after being bought by Yahoo.

Any chance they’ll retract?

Unlikely. I mean, Patreon did recant an extremely impopular announced change to their payment system due to massive user outcry, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility. Feel free to contact Tumblr support about it (be polite, but if you plan to stop using the site due to this change, make sure to say so). But I wouldn’t put my money on it.

So where do we go now?

That’s the question! A lot of alternatives have been mentioned in the past few weeks. I might do a follow-up on this post later with some more details, but for the time being, here are some alternatives:

PILLOWFORT is a tumblr-like platform that’s currently still in beta. In addition to that, by the time I was writing this post their site was down due to maintenance. However, I’ve seen some good things said about it, so if they manage to get the site running soon, give it a try. You need a $5 key to enter the beta, though you can find some folks giving them away here and there. Try checking the notes on their Tumblr page (lmao)

TWITTER is also a popular option. A lot of your favorite NSFW artists might be posting there already (here’s mine!). Twitter’s image compression and timeline format make it far from ideal for posting art, but these problems tend to be offset by the massive audience.

MASTODON is largely known as “twitter minus the nazis”. I’ve found the interface a bit tricky to get into, but it’s something to consider if you want more control over your timeline, since it has some features that could be pretty useful if you want to keep your horny off main. Still nowhere near the userbase Twitter has, though.

Booru galleries like Gelbooru or Danbooru offer huge amounts of views, but posting your own content is frowned upon, reposting other people’s works without credit is rampant, and engagement is extremely low. I don’t particularly recommend them.

If by any chance you’re a furry NSFW artist, you’re probably in a better position than, uh, non-furries. Skinnies. Humanies. Fur muggles. I’m not in the furry community myself, but most NSFW artists know that furry sites offer much better engagement than most NSFW sites open to the general public. Then again, it’s extremely unlikely you’re not already a member, so I’ll skip mentioning them. Feel free to add them in the notes if you think it’d be helpful!

NEWGROUNDS allows NSFW content with no particular restrictions. However, bear in mind that its current userbase is far removed from the community you might have been accustomed to on Tumblr.

HENTAIFOUNDRY is a site for general adult art. (here’s mine!) Despite the name, it’s open for all drawn smut, regardless of style. However, keep in mind it has a quality filter (and corresponding submission queue), its userbase has been declining as of late, and, just like Newgrounds, might not be an audience fit, depending on the content you’re creating/interested in.

If getting started on all these sites seems overwhelming, I suggest giving POSTYBIRB a try - it’s a simple program that allows you to post on multiple sites simultaneously, saving you a lot of time.

replying is how you make friends! reply to anything you want and be friendly. don’t make rude jokes if you’re not friends already though!

quote retweeting is a no-no. when you “retweet with a comment” it’s not liked by content creators because it makes a new tweet out of their tweet and they don’t get the likes and retweets they would get if you’d just retweeted it straight up. if you want to comment on a retweet, reply to it or post a new tweet starting with “LRT” which stands for “last retweet” (it’s fine to quote retweet dumb memes and so on.)

you can make your tweets private. this means no one but your followers will be able to see what you post and no one will be able to retweet your content.  you can switch back and forth between private and public at will. some people make a separate private account to tweet personal stuff and let mutuals follow it only. it’s a good way to keep things separate.

what is privatter? privatter is a third party web app that content creators can allow to be attached to their twitter. it lets them tweet content that they can make exclusive to logged in users, followers, mutuals, or a specific list of users. as long as you are logged in to twitter and fall into the intended category, you’ll be able to see it. 

you can mute people you follow. (and those you don’t, ofc.) you can also mute words and phrases and entire conversations. if you mute someone you follow and they reply to you, that reply will still show up in your notifications. it’s a good way to keep the peace!

you can limit notifications to people who follow you or to mutuals. (notifications from people you follow will still show up regardless of which option you’ve selected.)

miscellaneous tips and warnings: if you accidentally unfollow and refollow someone, it won’t show up in their notifications as long as it’s within a couple minutes. no more accidental stuff. everyone can see who everyone follows so watch out. people will know if you unfollow. if you want to report someone and want them gone forever, report a tweet where they used a curse word. screenshotting tweets for harassment is a no-no and can get you banned. don’t be lame. don’t be a dick. vaguing others is generally really bad form and so is complaining about content within a fandom you’re in. use the mute tools at your disposal and don’t be a spoiler. you won’t come back from a rep like that and everyone sees everything.

so i was looking through old FR videos and i have to say there are so many things making me uncomfortable about this (blast from the past, eh)

flight names

sidebar fonts

actually most of the sidebar

the fact that the flights have different fonts (like seriously look at earth’s font it’s got a gigantic T)

the username pinkerton

no food

who’s online

there’s only a notifications icon

pinkerton

GLADEKEEPER HAS A NAME

Edit: found them

A little tribute to anyone going through a long transition in their life! It may feel like a long time, but you’ll become that new you before you even know it! Keep going strong loves!

My first instinct said that a part 2 to the Genteel apparel sets would be next. Red/green/white/gold colours to go with the pretty dresses. Shortly before Rockbreakers

I was spot. Fucking. On. Gold, white, red, AND GREEN. Before Rockbreaker’s.

If you are transphobic, a trans medicalist, believe only in a strict gender binary, are not ace/aro supportive/inclusive, are homophobic, or xenophobic/anti-immigration- please unfollow and leave me alone.

if you need binders/breast forms/makeup/etc but don’t want your parents to know, now is the best time to get it. 

Alright, I managed to gather up a few more after my last post! Still haven’t managed to get the Vista, so I’ll definitely be getting more familiars after this unless something weird happens >_>

So I’m gonna attempt to give some of these away so one, people can have some that they might not have been able to get in one way or another (like they don’t coli much/haven’t had the time to or the familiar’s been stubborn… know how that goes) without having to pay for them!

The ones crossed out are the ones I am not giving away, because no matter what, they’re my only copies, including the ones not from the venue. Some with multiples have one crossed out to show I have one less to give than it shows, since those ones are the ones that aren’t attached to my dragons in any way.

First come, first serve (for free), don’t really have a limit except for one specific familiar per person for now! Just comment below, preferably with your FR UN and Number so I know who to send it to.

Gonna list them out uuuunder a cut, to make it easier for me. So I can strike out taken ones and all.