ANNOUNCEMENT: Regarding Picture Posts

Hello 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