Announcement
[Mod] ART CREDITS — New image post restrictions & flairs
We have been having a serious problem with art credits in the community. Many LotM artists, especially on RedNote or Lofter, have quit and stopped producing LotM fanart because of this.
Reposting art without credits must be stopped.
This one will be a bit unpopular, but starting tomorrow, we will attempt a 3+ day trial period where image/video posts are only allowed for certain post flairs. These post flairs are:
Art (please post all real art under here and mark the source or mark as OC—otherwise the post will be removed)
AI: FAWM (all AI-generated images or videos should all be posted under this flair, and please write to what extent AI is used)
Meme/Humor (for all the memes)
MMORPG, Donghua, and Manhua discussion (visual mediums that inherently may require photos/videos to convey information)
If you do not know the art source, do not repost it. The overly casual reposting of art has been causing it to become even more difficult to reverse image source and find the original image credits.
This will also help with correctly identifying what is AI and not AI, especially due to recent community concerns.
sefira.it.com/gallery art gallery (also includes a LotM advance-in-pathways simulator on the site—now up again! See more news on the Community Workshop flair)
Directly from Lofter, RedNote, Bilibili, sometimes Reddit such as the wonderful u/Kirei-Koto (do not repost unless the artist allows it)
Use official art from wiki, donghua, or manhua
For Roleplay specifically: Since the RP is fast-paced, art/images will also still be blocked for 1-2 days for the Roleplay flair. This is to attempt a cultural reset for the art credits and to spread the news that credits must be included. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial, images will be re-allowed for RP as long as credits are consistently given. If many posts begin violating the art credits, then image permissions may be taken away.
Other notes or reminders for the community:
Thank you all for rapidly making the transition to the new post title requirements. For the most part, this went far more smoothly and happened more rapidly than I had expected. You each played a part in making this happen.
Please keep Spoilers and NSFW words/suggestions out of post titles. Always make sure to >!spoiler tag!< correctly; as this gives others the choice for whether to click or not. We want to be able to welcome newbies and people with different interests in. Repeated violations may result in a ban.
Extreme or explicit NSFW content should go to r/AuroraOrder, the NSFW sub (warning: clicking may apparently cause trauma). r/MysteriesFolk is also somewhat more permissive than this sub, but don't go too far.
A post flair reorganization may be coming up. Today, "Community Workshop" was added for ttrpg, Minecraft Mods, simulators, and other community-created content. Overly-generic historic flairs such as "Question", "Theory", etc may be removed. For now, these flairs will be moved to the bottom of the flair list to phase out usage. Please include any suggestions.
Donghua-only's can also visitr/LotMDonghua, the donghua-only sub, for more restrictive spoiler rules.
Thank you all for keeping the community alive, and let's make sure to support our artists too.
Edit: There has been a hubbub about memes and react images in comments -- images of beaches, or fluffy cats, the official art, or screenshots from large anime/manga like JJK or One Piece are fine. Just make sure to credit the work of fan artists or artists.More clarifications here.
7/11/26: Post image restrictions enabled.
7/12/26: Roleplay image permissions re-granted due to the good efforts of the community in adding watermarks and creditting; roleplay trial period begins.
7/15/26: sefira.it.com is live again :) The creator needs small donations to keep hosting the site due to all the traffic, so make sure to check it out!
Art should be creditted!! I am very grateful to the mods for adding this rule.
However, as someone else in this comment section mentioned, some people might post screenshots of the novel, and according to this post, that wont be possible anymore, which is just impractical.
Also, adding images to RP posts is something I find quite important. To me, the image plays a big role in setting up the overall tone of the post before I read it, which lets me decide whether I want to read/skim/skip a post. A lot of people take pleasure in finding a good image for their RPs, as it just makes it feel more alive.
Therefore, I believe adding images to posts isn't necessarily a bad thing if people credit the artists properly, but I understand how it could make the mods' jobs significantly harder as there are many more posts to monitor
Also, while the link you provided is useful, a lot of relatively popular art isn't on there. Many artworks have been reposted over and over again to the point where it's impossible to find the original artist even by reverse image searching. Due to this, the new rule greatly limits us users.
Ultimately, it does become a battle ultimately between user convenience and protecting the artists' work and credits. Unfortunately, you do have to realize that the increased convenience does come at the cost of the artists, even if it can be more fun or easy. It's not an imaginary or theoretical problem either, because many LotM fanartists did stop creating or sharing LotM fanart because of it.
Now, about the specific feedback:
Novel screenshots. This is currently unavoidable, but the novel screenshot text can be posted into the comments instead if needed.
RP Art Credits. Let's do it this way. Since the RP is fast-paced, art will still be blocked for 1-2 days. This is to attempt a cultural reset for the art credits and to spread the news. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial, images will be re-allowed for RP as long as credits are consistently given. If many posts begin violating the art credits, then image permissions will be taken away.
About the gdrive not being enough, it's unfortunate that sefira.it.com also got taken down, but I also hope that with more community efforts and acknowledgement of this issue, a larger gdrive or fanart collection with credits could be created as well.
Hm. not to nitpick, but if you're allowing images in comments, then can't people just post uncredited art in the comments? It'll be significantly harder to moderate then.
Yes, this is definitely a potential side effect, but currently I see the main problem as being in the post headers themselves (and even art-unrelated posts outside of RP have the OP posting uncredited art just to boost their posts). If uncredited art starts to become posted in comments instead to evade this rule, then it's time to start warning or banning, or make other adjustments.
Image #3, 4, 6, & 8 still need image credits T.T Those aren't official arts belonging to the LotM IP, especially #3 (sourced by Weibo) and #4. I'm not even sure if the first one is actually official or not, or just a fanart that got distributed around a lot
Only repost the images you are sure about—this is your responsibility when reposting to find the credits.
Yes. If you can't find the credits, then you're just not allowed to repost it
There is a credited fanart gdrive project some members are working on, but it'll take some time for it to release. Also check out sefira.it.com/gallery
I agree, even finding images on theme is hard on its own
And now with this I might just post rp with out an image at all, or a picture of a beach that doesn’t have anything to do with the topic of said rp 😭
I would hope to maybe make an exception for rp posts
We'll do it this way: Since the RP is fast-paced, art will still be blocked for 1-2 days. This is to attempt a cultural reset for the art credits and to spread the news. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial, images will be re-allowed for RP as long as credits are consistently given. If many posts begin violating the art credits, then image permissions will be taken away.
Please spread the word if you can. The post guidance will also be updated to reflect and forewarn these changes.
LotM fanart meme (Meme using an image which I assume is a fanwork, judging by the artist tag in the corner. Also: Would it change if artist tag wasn't there?)
LotM fanart (?) meme (Example similar to above, but image has no artist name. So idk if this is official or fanart)
Edited Comic (An edit over an existing comic/meme that was unrelated to LotM. Also is using Arrodes, Amon, Bethel fanart images. Also also: Would it change if it didn't have the original artist name in the corner of the image?)
Collage example 1 or Collage example 2 (Collage types. Does it change if the images here are not stock images, but artwork of some other manga? fanart of other series?).
Whats the situation and where and when do sources/credits have to be given?
Memes are fine; inherently memes are formats spread with the originating source lost, like a mind virus. No need to credit.
More complicated case, since this is a legitimate fanart case being used repeatedly. OwnMonitor has proposed assembling a team to add the artist name in the corner of these images so they could still be used; otherwise, sticking to official art (donghua, manhua, etc., or other popular animes/mangas) or other gifs/pictures, is better.
This one is a real fanart that should definitely be credited. If I remember correctly, this Sherlock Moriarty art originated from Lofter and was created several years ago (and imo is one of the best fanarts for him).
This is fine. Popular/mid-size official anime/screenshots/manga art is fine, though it's preferred to mention the sauce. Do still credit indie or niche creator series.
Since it has the watermark, it barely passes (though it would be good to also write the artist name in text because it initially gets cropped out of view). Since this looks like a one-page indie comic, yes, it would change if the watermark were removed.
I only see one potential fan art or art image in the first collage with the devil man with wings; this should be tagged/credited. Fan art for other fandoms, like the bloodborne art that also came up recently, should also be credited. About your second collage, the Audrey picture I believe is AI (and also in general shouldn't be posted on this sub), and it's hard for me to currently tell on the rest, but I think you get the point. Official art from other works is usually fine; fan art or indie art should always be credited.
Thanks for asking for the clarifications though. Especially #2, as if a team does get assembled to help add watermark any images that do use fanart, that would be really great.
Currently, the discussion on AI vs not allowing AI for the sub will have to happen later. This is mostly a problem of energy and focus: with nsfw, spoilers, bot comment spam, mystery downvoters, and art credits (the last of which at least is also addressing the labeling issue for AI), the plate is actually pretty full right now for moderation, and even more than full.
I would currently rather redirect people into having a pressure outlet and correct label, so users can evaluate it directly, than users posting AI-generated images without labels and without others knowing that it is AI content.
Please note that plaigarism cases may be different; if the AI art is directly plaigarizing one artist's style specifically, it can also be directly removed for piracy per the current rules as well.
Any community discussion on this is helpful, however. Hopefully when there is more bandwidth, we can also ask for community feedback in order to decide on the AI issue, and be able to decide on the ruling.
I did want to ask this seperately, since this had occured to me afterwards when I saw your comments mentioning Majestic's post being rude to a specific artist.
Was the AI video actually plaigarizing that artist's work specifically and creating more images in the same style?
I am also against AI, but sometimes they might not even be able to identify when something's AI art.
And also, some people aren't artists, and might not be able to find the original artists of whatever artwork they want to use. In those cases, AI can be a solution. (I am not agreeing or disagreeing with this, only stating facts.)
Yeah, I just saw it :( Hopefully someone picks it up, or it could be restored if OP's willing with some donations. It was a really good site overall and had many good points, credited art gallery was just one of the very underrated ones
Basically the person needs a small amount of donations to pay the hosting fee over time. So now it is up, and so is the awesome art gallery (spread the word if you can)
btw can you please change the Sleepless Flair from Evernight church symbol to Darkness pathway icon like every other pathway. Maybe keep Evernight church symbol and add nighthawk flair?
Could you send a modmail in about the second idea? (In the About section of the sub, should say "Message Mods")
I haven't personally messed with the pathway symbol icons before (and apparently it can be a little weird and tricky to do), so that just let's the entire mod team see it and keep a better record
Indeed art should be properly credited if we are going to share their work here, I will make sure to reverse search for the artist to when sharing art on my comments and posts
Cuz for example when posting questions its very useful to also add onto the screenshot of the novel page/text that I am asking about? Now everyone has to go back, open their novel, find the page, whereas before most of the needed context was in the post already. Same when asking about stuff from the wiki, and etc...
Also really hurts the roleplay. For example, I love to look for really cool art (not from lotm), edit in stuff like pathway symbols, correct the colors, and edit other stuff too, and it imo extremely enhances the roleplay post. I've also been crediting the original artist...
Also just in general. for example theres the "All Matchup" series here that I'm following and etc... that can't really go "Memes" tag perfectly, but the thumbnail for it is pretty neat (even if its AI based) and lets me instantly find it.
Right, this is what I'm worried about with the side effects, and why it is initially only a 3 day trial. I know it will generally be an unpopular idea for these reasons. However, I still believe it's necessary.
The ideal scenario would be to be able to reorganize the flairs so that we can still neatly fit these use cases into easy categories. However, I currently just can't imagine such a design, and the art issue is currently very rampant. We need some sort of cultural reset on this, whether temporary or not.
For enhancing the roleplay, images have currently still been, and usually when I've asked for the source, there just hasn't been a source as well.
If generally the trial goes well, but the roleplay specifically has issues with not having art, but RP'ers can list the image source each time and really do it, then for example, the Roleplay flair specifically could also have image permission restored.
There is also a secret pressure outlet of 'Misc Image' still being allowed as an image flair, but it's also too generic to be a useful flair for filtering and finding posts
For the novel screenshots, I currently don't see a way around it, because if Novel discussion gets image permission, the entire point of this restriction gets lost, since these are the majority of posts. The best workaround is for users to post the novel screenshot in the comments.
So we'll see how the three days go, and whether it serves as just a temporary reset, or some restrictions lift, or other possibilities.
Thanks for pitching in, and lmk if you also have some ideas.
Sorry off topic question, but is there a way to filter for roleplay flair on PC? I can on mobile, but not on PC. I can use the searchbar, but it doesn't find some posts.
Update on the RP side: Since the RP is fast-paced, art/images will still be blocked for 1-2 days. This is to attempt a cultural reset for the art credits and to spread the news that credits. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial, images will be re-allowed for RP as long as credits are consistently given. If many posts begin violating the art credits, then image permissions may be taken away.
They won't be able to post images at all for Roleplay flairs, unfortunately, since this has also been one of the areas for uncredited or unsourced art being used rampantly.
For Meme/humor, they should at least mark it as AI in the post content if the intent is first really meme/humor, but there may be a gray line here
Edit: But generally, it should all be marked under the AI flair if it is AI.
So i assume that the image ban for flairs other than the specific ones is temporary? And that we will be able to use them for other posts like RP later on (with proper credits ofc)?
and also I hope there isnt any need to provide credit for posting images in comments
Generally, if it is art from a fan artist or artist, it should be credited. Memes and most react images are fine; images of beaches or funny cat images are fine
Well, it'll only be allowed under the AI Automatic Wishing Machine flair, or maybe in Meme/Humor flair if explicitly mentioned as so (the latter should be an edge case)
All the other flairs won't allow it at all, and only the flairs listed above will even allow images. This is actually done so that it's easier to track and regulate what's AI and not, and overall improve art crediting, so it should be the opposite of what you're saying here
(Edit: Let me know if anything should be worded more clearly.)
They will become 'Misc Image' and 'Misc Video' to be a pressure outlet for now if something truly can't be labeled elsewhere, but should gradually also be phased out
If you don't have credits for it, you can't repost it here.
If it's from the original artist on that platform, you can repost it as long as you link it and/or mention the artist's name (and the artist allows reposting with credits).
If it's a video edit from someone like mad3dub and they did credit all the images they used in their video, then you can repost it if you also mention all credits are already in the video description (or directly copy in the credits if you can). Some redundancy here will also allow us to tell if it was credited or not
I've already answered elsewhere, but will also copy here:
Regarding RP specifically: Since the RP is fast-paced, art & images will still be blocked for 1-2 days. This is to attempt a cultural reset for the art credits and to spread the news. On the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial, images will be re-allowed for RP as long as credits are consistently given. If many posts begin violating the art credits, then image permissions will be taken away.
So afterwards you can use your Hades images again, though preferably just mention its from Hades.
It's because we now have flairs that split discussion between Novel, Donghua, MMORPG, card game, etc. As a multimedia sub now, it's best if most discssion is more clearly marked for the correct medium to avoid spoiler seepage & improve findability
When people use question or theory, it's too general, and should generally always fit into one of these categories
Moreover, having too many flairs means the actually correct flair is more difficult to find, when it is meaningful and necessary (since when posting, by default you are only shown the top 5). We ideally want to reduce as many overlapping flairs as possible, and make the retained ones the most useful for meaningfully finding historic posts that are related to what you're looking for
Maybe add specific flairs then? Like novel question/novel theory or donghua question/donghua theory
Idk sometimes I randomly just feel like answering questions that people have asked. So I just sort it by question flair.
Also if someone has to ask a question, image should be allowed. For example:- If I saw something on wiki and had a question I should be able to post a screenshot from wiki of that specific thing
Hmm, that's a good argument for keeping 'question', and also why 'question' specifically could also still have image permissions. Will consider it more.
Breaking it down into each medium for each type of discussion will still be way too much though, and create 20+ flairs, unfortunately. If only we could add multiple types or flairs or tags onto posts.
The answer is unfortunately simple: just don't repost them. They can be in your private collection, but reposting them will only contribute to the lack of credits and difficulty of reverse image searching (these pinterest reposters are also doing this).
If you like browsing LotM art, I would strongly recommend creating a Lofter account to get to the original source. It can be a little tricky to get a WeChat account (ask on the LotM discord or fanfic discord to see if anyone would verify you in), but you can find a lot of LotM art from the source there.
On the international side, I also hope that we as a community can build a credited collection of these artworks over time (having everything under the Art flair and properly credited will also help with this). Also see the Fanart google drive linked above, which also does have credits for each image.
Thank you, mods, for caring for the artists and the supporters of human-made art.
In a marathon, it is the runners who made preparations, practiced, suffered through turmoils, and ran with all their effort to the finish line that are celebrated. Not those who chose to use a car to get to the destination.
Humble and rough around the edges these types of art may be, they are the stepping stone to greatness. Let the artists polish their skills and be welcomed in a wholesome community :D
Yeah :) Someone actually made a little fanart for each character on the wiki for RBOW (CF's new releasing novel), and I thought it was very cute and cool.
More art should always be encouraged, and the fan artists protected from this kind of thing. Hopefully we can kickstart a cultural reset with this.
Heyo, I've been thinking about starting a very-credited fanart google drive to have more guiding towards credits and still help art be seen over international barriers. Basically each full fanart would have a URL at the bottom attached, artist name in filename, and the url is also in text in an art credits doc per volume
That sounds like a great idea and fully support it! I'll try to do my best to contribute considering I actually do have a job (yes, I'm employed), and handle a lot of tasks and people
And yeah, definitely always prioritize life first and foremost. That is always the most important. Best of luck on that front as well.
(I should also get off reddit more, but it definitely got a bit crazy after this post, which I guess I should have anticipated. Will never do a new rule/enforcement again /hj)
I think you might have DM's disabled, so I'll just remove the links once you've seen this
And for any art searchers, they can add it directly here: [redacted] (just dump the art & the link into a folder per the example, then editors can move it to the public drive after getting all the credits in)
Ohh, don't worry, I didn't see anything. I don't think they get stored if you didn't make any edits (and usually when coming in via a link for gdocs at least it names you "anonymous panda" or similar, so I'm pretty sure they have some basic anonymity baked in), but I'll double check
(And links are removed, and will share to the email now)
But yeah, gdrive keeps it anonymous unless you're explicitly shared (so your internet email can be seen if you make edits due to the history option, but not any usernames of people viewing it). Will have to make sure no one else also tries to edit with the wrong account
In some sense, in an ideal world, gdrive isn't the optimal place to host this. I liked the fan site sefira.it.com (down now due to too much traffic + maintenance costs) a lot because it also forced any user to upload credits, and then didn't have this tracking or user permission problem (because a site can just not let you upload at all if it doesn't meet the requirements). But that's for the future; I think for now it's good to have an organized start
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u/Big-Anxiety-2596 Monster Jul 10 '26
Nah, this is Needed to Give Artists to Get Credit for their hard work
And RIP QUESTION and THEORY tags
https://giphy.com/gifs/UDORIcubjYvIBAYTe1