#mlblackout

Art was my escape from being bullied and ignored by my classmates while growing up. So getting bullied because of my Art threw me off the edge. I can take criticism well, I went through Art College and taking more Art Classes right now where my anatomy and compositions get ripped apart, but getting attacked this way... I will try to get a hold of my emotions, please forgive me for not updating.

Jumping in on this Miraculous Blackout in protest of art theft in the fandom.

This is a two-week long protest (July 2 - 15) that I am 100% standing with. Art theft is becoming a huge problem and I want to help spread awareness. Fellow artists please stand with me - fellow fans please reblog and help keep original artwork safe. 

I feel like artists in the fandom are slowly becoming endangered, take a stand before we become extinct.

Woah, ok. First of all, RUDE. 

Second. I don’t owe you anything Anon. You want a comic? You want ML art and LadyNoir fluff? 

THEN TREAT ME WELL AND ASK NICELY. 

Harassing me will only make me NOT want to post anything, blackout or not. I might even decide that I don’t wanna post anything ML related ever again (like many artists before me have). And it’d be your loss, not mine. I enjoy drawing and I can continue to do so without having to share my art publicly. I post when I want and I post what I want to post. I won’t churn out art just because you come whining to my inbox about it. If anything, I’d even risk it to say it is you who owe me.

Third. Everyone knows the blackout won’t stop reposters completely, and that’s okay. We’re not targeting reposters anyways. We’re targeting fans. Fans who are incredibly kind people and who will support content creators because they are smart enough to know that a community where content creators feel safe is a community that will live on despite hiatus or the show being canceled or whatever. We want to reach those who can gain awareness of the problem within the fandom, those who we are sure will care and who will start to help each other out when a reposter does his thing. People who will hopefully join the fight against reposting culture no matter the fandom they see it in.

Because yes, reposting is bad. But reposters thrive and are popular because there’s people who follow their pages and give them likes. (Most of times without those people knowing the pages they follow are not of an original artist). But thank you Anon, thanks to people like you going around we can start discussion. We can make example of rude people to teach others what not to do.

People will learn to see the difference between a page with original content and a reposter’s page… Between a kind person who makes an art request and a cowardly and entitled whiny dumbhat who hides on Anon because they are not getting what they want. 

Those who like what we do, and want us to keep creating stuff for them to see will support the original creators, always. 

After all… reposters can’t keep a fandom alive. That’s a job only content creators can do.

Hi, guys! Just an announcement that I am participating in the ML Content Blackout and I highly recommend joining if you are able and/or wish to help spread awareness of rampant art theft in the community. 

Gif and graphic courtesy of @squirrellygirlart and @miraculousblackout.

So as I am sure many people have noticed there has been a lot going on in the fandom lately. Yes I am talking about the ML Blackout. Seeing as how it is on it’s last day, and I am STILL seeing so much arguing on the subject, I figured I should give my 2 cents. 

This was an effort to raise awareness of the growing problem of art theft in the fandom and even more so the effect that it is having on content creators. Many artists are pulling out of the fandom in frustration. Its heartbreaking to see. 

I could talk to you about why the blackout happened. But I think most of you already know that. I could talk to you about my thoughts about it- (for those paying attention I did not personally participate and was on vacation for the majority of the event, but did share a lot of posts relating to it and issues regarding fan content theft in general), but that isn’t really important at the moment either. 

Here is the thing I think we need to be talking about- 

Regardless of the blackout, regardless of how you think art theft could or should be dealt with, regardless of if you think that it doesn’t apply to you and you shouldn’t be dragged in or punished or however you viewed what happened in the last 2 weeks there is one thing I want you to think about and to remember. 

The people who make this art for the fandom- for ‘you’- they are people. They are people who have a right to their feelings, who have a right to protest, who have a right to want support and respect. Its not about you- it’s about them.  And you should respect that. 

We as a fandom need to remember to take the time to listen to our artists, to praise them, to support them, to take the time to listen to what they have to say- regardless of if we agree or disagree. That’s called common decency. 

If you really love the art- tell them. Find and follow artists sites, don’t get your images from repost sites. If an artist is upset because they have been hurt by art theft don’t blame the victims! Show them love and be patient. Respect their feelings and their needs. If they need to protest LET THEM. If they need to be heard listen. If the art thieves are making creators feel like they have a reason to leave then you should be doing everything possible to give them reasons to stay! Give feedback! Tell people you appreciate them! Teach people who are new to the fandom how to be good supporters! And for heaven sake don’t think that anything gives you the right to be mean and rude to your fellow fans. 

Art theft doesn’t just rest on the shoulders of the people who are doing it- they survive because they have a market that is content to reap the fruits of their rotten labor. They survive because we think that creators owe us something, instead of seeing that every piece of art, that ever work of fiction is a gift. Something that we should feel honored by- not entitled too. 

Take the time to be smart, to be empathetic. To look at yourself and see what you can do to be a positive influence in the fandom. Because making fandoms great isn’t just on the artists, it isn’t just on the thieves, it’s on all of us. 

Thank you so much. You have no idea how much it means to me. 

I’ll be honest, I struggled with the decision to join the blackout. I love producing content for this fandom, but I have seen so many great artists and authors struggle with having their content stolen and disrespected. As many of my followers have probably seen, I have had my own serious issues with art theft. I have so many personal stories to share from each repost practically, from my one serial reposter (reposted a video seven times just to spite me), someone misinformed about “fair use” of fan content, twice my artwork has been converted into coloring pages, and other shenanigans. Fortunately, I have received nothing but the utmost support from my followers and friends. I also have some people who have reposted my art who I have talked to and they learned and understood and were very respectful. 

I decided to participate, because if this makes a difference, if this blackout successfully helps educate some reposters about respect for content creators, than it is worth it. We shouldn’t see people’s hard work monetized, edited, claimed as someone else’s work, or taken without consent. Its widespread throughout every fandom, but if some people learn in our little corner of the internet, than hopefully it’ll make a difference with other content creators and fandoms too.