ANNOUNCEMENT: Regarding Picture Posts
🕑 Added 2024-10-18 19:08:21 +0000 UTCHello my wonderful patrons! You might have noticed that, as of the time of posting this, there haven’t been any picture posts for a little while. While I’d love to be able to chalk that up to some combination of keeping a busy schedule and my own forgetfulness as I get on in the years (okay, I’m just shy of 40, but still feels like I’m getting on in years), it’s a little more complicated than that. While there’s few things I hate as much as sharing bad news, this time it’s kind of necessary, because it will affect how pictures are going to be handled on this page moving forward.
What’s Happened?
In the ever-evolving world of discussions about AI art, Patreon has recently updated their guidelines regarding Sexually Gratifying Works (full text available here) regarding AI generated artworks to as follows:
“Specifically for AI-generated Adult/18+ works, hyperrealistic depictions of people must be of real humans who have documented their explicit consent (see “Age verification and consent documentation” for details). AI-generated Adult/18+ figures or characters that are animated or illustrated — as opposed to hyperrealistic — and otherwise comply with Patreon’s Sexually Gratifying Works policies, are permitted on Patreon. Criteria to distinguish between AI-generated figures or characters that are hyperrealistic as opposed to animated or illustrated include: Anatomical consistency with human features (e.g. not part-robot or part-animal), mimicking natural lighting and movement, detailed texture (e.g. skin pores, wrinkles, individual eyelashes, lifelike shadows), and composition (e.g. three-dimensional, high-resolution, with intricate backgrounds and foregrounds).”
Honestly, I get where they’re coming from on this, as AI artwork can be used in some distinctly bad faith ways, even if it does mean there are going to have to be some changes around here.
What Does This Mean for This Page?
Well, here’s where we get a little bit of that good old-fashioned good news, bad news, and a little bit of “eh” to consider.
The Bad News:
Starting in alphabetical order (and for the sake of tearing this band-aid off), let’s start with the bad news. As I have tried to come up with a number of realistic pictures to represent the various SYM Girls you’ve come to know and love, and they definitely fall under Patreon’s definition of hyperrealistic depictions of humans, the pictures I’ve already posted here are unfortunately going to have to come down. While I had a lot of fun creating them, and I know you had a lot of time enjoying them, considering my prior experiences running afoul of Patreon’s guidelines and not wanting to do so again, this is what must happen to keep this page alive. I am truly sorry for any and all inconvenience it may cause.
The “Eh” News:
Fortunately, Patreon has placed a grace period for creators who have put up AI-generated artwork that runs against their new guidelines, so these will not have to come down immediately. You will be able to enjoy these works that I have already posted until November 2, 2024, at which point I will be removing all the original picture posts.
The Good News:
While this announcement is inconvenient in its way, it’s not one that I was wholly unprepared for, as these policy changes are ones they’ve told us creators were ones they’ve been considering for some time. As such, I have been preparing and generating new character images that are in line with Patreon’s amended AI policies, using generators that offer a variety of more “animated” styles. I have generated pictures for nearly every character that I have already posted here, and will be trying to post new sets daily until I’ve offered replacements for all the pictures that I will be taking offline in November. The styles will, to be sure, be different, but I’ve had some fun generations that I can’t wait to share with all of you in the appropriate tiers.
There are going to be some changes in the coming days, and I want to thank you all, as ever, for your patience, understanding and support, and I look forward to being able to turn a new page into a new era for this Patreon. Should I have more updates on this matter, I will happily share them around here to let you know what’s going on.
-aimingtomisbehave33
Comments
aimingtomisbehave33
While I understand your position, that likely will not be the case for reasons that were previously stated regarding any potential ambiguity about character ages.
AlpineFox
I'm sad about this, but could this mean you could have more variety in the depictions, and perhaps we could have more in-line art for those girls who are less "well-endowed?" I much prefer the "tight and small" look...
aimingtomisbehave33
At the moment, unknown, mostly because I'm still figuring out how their publishing software works.
Dan E
What are the chances that you would include the old art into the special editions?
Evan Bistram
Better safe than sorry
aimingtomisbehave33
It's better to be safe than sorry, and I understand and respect why they're doing what they're doing. I'm confident with the new images I've been generating, and though they are different, I think they've offered fun new takes on the classic characters.
aimingtomisbehave33
While I respect your knowledge on this matter from other sources, I am following Patreon's guidelines on this matter and respecting their policies within my best overly cautious judgment, and I do not anticipate wavering on this matter.
Lee
Man, that stinks. I get it, because deep fakes are becoming a thing with AI and it's essentially a likeness without consent, but this is the pendulum swinging the other way. Reminds me of being stationed on military bases overseas, one person gets drunk and arrested out in town, so 10k personnel get confined to base. Sorry that your artistic outlets are being handicapped. Maybe you can make an illustrated collection on Smashwords with more AI pics.
aimingtomisbehave33
A fair question, but to play things cautiously after last time and remove any ambiguity, I'm thinking the answer will likely be no for now.
Tyler Wallis
If they're more anime styled does that mean we will get to see characters like Brooke, Noa, Alyssa, Kitty, and Riley nude?
aimingtomisbehave33
Thank you for your understanding.
Dan E
That sucks but it's seems necessary. Go for it. It's better than getting your page taken down.
aimingtomisbehave33
Honestly, I've never really viewed any character illustration to be completely "canon", but general ideas of the characters that I thought would be fun to share.
Pat Reon
I suppose the new images will be the ‘canon’ version of the character illustrations?
aimingtomisbehave33
As these are policies in regards to content posted to Patreon, I do not anticipate any issue with the ebooks.
Pat Reon
How will this affect the cover art for the Expanded Editions of SYM?
