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philipkindreddickhead · 3 years

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I often seen critiques of make up from an existential/philosophical perspective, but I rarely see criticism of cosmetics from a stand point of the very physical bodily harm it does. I think this is because the number of dangerous ingredients is so massive, and overlapping its an absolutely daunting task. So I've compiled the information I've found and bear with me its a lot. (This is from an American perspective. Sorry, thats what I know. However I would love it if people from other countries had things to add.)

First I want to get the "simple" stuff out of the way. I think almost everyone has heard about bacteria and fungi in makeup and that makeup causes acne from clogging pores. Makeup has a pretty strict shelf life, yet consumers are entirely supposed to self-police as Ive never seen a single expiration date on any cosmetic packaging. (I guess consumers are meant to pull this knowledge out of the ether or something. I only found out about it in a tumblr PSA. I did read that expirys are on products in Europe.) Beauty blenders are the worst offender because theyre almost always moist. When I was taught makeup I was told to wet my sponge so it would soak up less product. If you apply makeup daily your sponge is likely constantly damp. USA Today had an article which said that 96% of sponges had fungi and over 60% had E. Coli in them. But I think what people talk about less is the complication of problems from using other products in conjunction with dirty beauty blenders. USA Today warns its especially dangerous to use beauty blenders if you have damage to your skin like acne, cuts, or dry skin. However the most popular beauty products for washing your face contain walnut pieces for literally scrubbing your skin and creating microabrasions. If youre a frequent makeup user you probably know about the cyclical nature of applying foundation, breaking out, and then applying more foundation to cover the breakout. You may even be using scrubbing cleansers more frequently to combat the acne creating more tears. This can lead to "blood poisoning" and, though neither USA today or Forbes mentions this, blood poisoning (not a medical term btw. Its sepsis.) according to numerous medical sites has the potential to be extremely lethal. The symptoms are so similar to a regular flu its nearly impossible to self-diagnose.

The very first thing I was told when a friend handed me a jar of finishing powder- popular with many beauty gurus for the "baking" technique and considered a must have- was a joke about "clown lung." This was a reference to the main ingredient talc. Talc causes lung problems including cancer and respiratory illness. If anyone remembers the large Johnson and Johnson lawsuit from 2019 it was because theyd been putting talc into baby powder. Talc is dangerous because it's impossible to mine and seperate from ASBESTOS. Some high-end finishing powders will try to sell you on safe talc-free formulas but all the products I looked into contained mica instead which causes pneumoconiosis, colloquially known as "black lung disease." Like fucking coal miners get. Its not just present in finishing powder either. In my research it turned out that talc/asbestos are also present in many eyeshadows and other powder products. [Googleable, evidenced in J&J lawsuit]

Another industry to examine is nail salons. Toluene, Formaldehyde, Dibutyl Phthalate, and Methacrylate compounds are all dangerous ingredients and present in various salon products. These ingredients cause a range of problems from dizziness, drowsiness, birth defects, slow fetal growth, future intellectual disabilities in the fetus, eye skin and throat irritation, coughing, allergic reactions, asthma-like attacks, short-term memory loss, nausea, dermatitis, cancer, and misscarriage. Some nail products advertise that they are 3-free meaning that toluene, formaldehyde, and DP should be absent but often the labels are found to be completely inaccurate. It should be noted that the risk is mainly to salon workers and not patrons but ask yourself if it is right to place other people at serious risk for your aesthetic. OSHA does make an attempt to mitigate these risks however not once in my years of makeup queen did I see a salon following these directives which include constant air monitoring, half mask respirators with chemical cartridges, gloves, long sleeves, and safety glasses. (And Im not even going to touch issues of human trafficking/slave labour out of nail salons one case of which occured 5 days ago two hours away from me) It should also be noted that formaldehyde can also be found in hair relaxers and hair dyes. [Found articles in Scientific American and NYT]

I also found on the FDAs website that many cosmetics include heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, and lead. (Usually accompainied by a picture of lipstick so I assume that is the product most likely to contain it, however campaign for safe cosmetics lists foundation as containing heavy metals, and The Guardian has an article about skin lighteners from Asia and Africa containing mercury.) The website stated that the amount of these heavy metals in cosmetics is "safe" if used as intended. (and I'm going to come back to the concept of "intended use" later because thats a can of worms too) However, when searching for info on heavy metal safety I found this quote in regards to metals in food:

"Certain metals, such as arsenic, lead and mercury, have no established health benefit, and have been shown to lead to illness, impairment, and in high doses, death. Understanding the risk that harmful metals pose in our food supply is complicated by the fact that no single food source accounts for most people’s exposure to metals in foods. People’s exposure comes from many different foods containing these metals. Combining all of the foods we eat, even low levels of harmful metals from individual food sources, can sometimes add up to a level of concern"

So like, which is it? Is it a "safe amount" or is no amount of metal safe? I understand that in the case of certain foods like fish some amount of mercury poisoning is always expected but fish is also something you feed yourself and nourish your body with while cosmetics are completely unecessary to your survival. The mercury problem in fish is also mitigated by health warnings when mercury levels are particularly high but cosmetics have no such warning. Another warning on the site indicated that children should ingest NO amount of lead AT ALL because it is particularly harmful for kids yet theres no effort to stop children from using lead-containing cosmetics. I worked next to a Five Below where I was shocked to find they sold Jeffree Star and Anastasia eyeshadow dupes for five dollars which amounts to fucking pocket change for a lot of kids and kids do buy that stuff. I also think its ironic the FDA would have anything to say regarding cosmetics because in the very same article about heavy metals in cosmetics the FDA says that they DO NOT REGULATE cosmetics beyond the color additives.

Mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, and brow tint often contain carbon black. This is a color additive that is an incomplete combustion of carbon-based products. It can cause lung disease, cancer, and organ system toxicity, and eye, nose, throat irritation. The effects are mainly studied in rats and those at biggest risk are industrial workers but why do other workers have to endure lung problems for something so unecessary? [Easily googleable, NIH, CDC, WHO Europe]

This next bit I only want to mention briefly because I didnt find any particularly reputable sources about it, but its a claim that cropped up repeatedly and I think its an interesting one. Parabens, estrogen, phthalates (again), and pesticides in cosmetics are apparently linked to endocrine disorders and hormone dysregulation. Im not entirely sure what is meant by this accusation. Endocrine disorders include female diseases like PCOS and possibly endometriosis. None of these diseases is very well studied and the female endocrine system itself is not well studied either. Im not saying "cosmetics cause PCOS" because we dont know if PCOS or these other endocrine/hormonal disorders are genetic or environmental or both (it appears that PCOS is largely genetic and Endometriosis is likely autoimmune related) AND we dont appear to know for sure that cosmetic ingredients cause endocrine disorder. But I include anyway for a number of reasons:

If you happen to struggle with hormonal problems you may want to know cosmetics is a potential environment factor.

These conditions are incredibly painful. It will be a battle getting your doctor to even acknowledge that pain for diagnosis. PCOS is linked to diabetes, and heart disease. [Thanks @mother-of-pearl ] There is no cure and the treatments are often throwing hormonal birth control at it and hoping for the best.

I dont anticipate the link between cosmetics and endocrine disorders being studied any time soon or any endocrine disorders studied at all because the medical/scientific field is sexist. I dont want women to suffer in the mean time.

Now again, take this with a grain of salt because I couldnt find scientific or news sources for it. Dont fucking come for me. Im not gonna respond to you. [Most reputable source was a paper from the library of medicine at the national institutes of health but it was behind a paywall and I dont have 39 dollars to be right on tumblrdotcom]

Avoiding these ingredients is not as simple as scanning the label for them. As many beautubers and the community are no doubt aware considering multiple scandals over veganism. Products advertised as vegan or cruelty free but contain non-vegan carmine or are sold in China which legally requires the products to be animal tested. Cosmetic companies will hide ingredients claiming they are "trade secrets" or they will be placed under "fragrance." Many ingredients will be known by six or seven different names and asking consumers to be aware of seven different names for multiple ingredients requires consumers to be aware of innumerable different, often complicated ingredient names. I shouldnt have to point out that's a ridiculous burden to place on women. The EU banned 1,300 hazardous ingredients that the US did not. Cosmetic companies rely on women being unwilling/unable to bring in a list of 1,300 ingredients- with multiple names- every time they pop in to the drug store, sephora, or wherever. Buying "natural" products will not help you either. Theres no established criteria for natural/organic in costmetics, the FDA doesnt test these products, and "natural"=/= safe anyway. Plenty of plants and minerals are poisonous. One good example is traditional kohl products which advertise their natural status but also naturally contain lead and reiterating that natural powders contain mica. US courts are rarely on the side of consumers either. I found an interesting lawsuit against St. Ives for their apricot scrub taken to court for their "dermatologist tested" label despite it causing breakouts and cuts to the skin. The courts ruled that this label was fine because it only indicated that the product was TESTED not APPROVED by dermatologists. However I think any rational consumer would look at this label and assume the tests concluded it was safe for use or else why put the label on there?

[Googlable XMONDO drama, googlable laws wrt china and eu, already stated about FDA, FDA website about Kohl. Googled St. Ives lawsuit.]

I want to return to the idea of "intended use." This is sort of a fucky concept a lot of companies have ways of getting around. My "last straw" with makeup had to do with a run-in I had with Anastasia over their "Riviera" eyeshadow palette. In this pallette they had two colors that were the real feature of the palette, an electric neon purple and a radioactive pink I mean every photo, every promotion has these two colors swirled together around the eye. Because again, its an eyeshadow palette. When I buy the eyeshadow palette of course there's a little insert warning in the package that says these two shades are not intended on the eye area. In an eyeshadow palette. Contacting their customer service they told me that these two shades were meant to be used as a blush. neon purple blush. Not only that, but their website and instagram featured NO models wearing the shades as blush while EVERY model one or more of the shades as eyeshadow. When asked about this discrepancy ABH stopped responding. What I find egregious about this is the amount of people who dont know, and then more staggeringly; dont care. The sephora clerks didnt know, the in store abh representative didnt know, their customers didnt know, and when I told them they would respond with "oh, [brand] did the same thing with their [shade]." Sure enough, when I demanded that store clerks open the packaging to look for warnings nearly every product had an "eyeshadow" that was not intended for use on the eyes. Relegating dark, red-toned teal to "contour" and neon grean to "highlighter" US-based cosmetic junkies will say that these pigments have been approved for use by the EU however I found absolutely NO evidence of that. I googled it a thousand ways but all I ever found were blog posts, reddit comments, and one quote from an apparently nonEuropean layman in an Insider article. I even changed my location to France on ABH's website and the Norvina palette still contains the same warnings (not to harp on ABH in particular. I just know which shades in particular are the problem there). The Insider article noted that brands who were selling pressed pigments declined to comment. If the pressed pigments were EU friendly, I would think companies would be clamouring to say so. It also still makes their market as eyeshadow colors illegal in the US. (If any Europeans would like to chime in I'd love that.) Another problem I find with cosmetics companies and their reps is the claim that the worst thing that could happen is eye irritation for those with sensitive eyes and staining. How could they possibly know? The FDA doesnt test, or approve these cosmetics in the eye area, so ostensibly no one should be using it that way.

The next one is a bit of a "duh" but I'm going to talk about it anyway. Counterfeit cosmetics are a booming market full of untold dangers. Untold primarily because these products could contain literally anything. Ive read about glue, arsenic, lead, feces, staph, and horse urine to name a few. The labels and ingredient list on these products are fake. Legitimate brands often unintentionally play into the counterfeit market. They create artificial scarcity by making less of the product than is actually needed for consumer demand to create an even higher demand. If consumers miss out often their only chance at getting the product is to turn to counterfeits. I found examples of women who had their lips superglued, lips "turned to goo" and burned to blistering, throat closures, women with stys, contact dermatitis, eye infections. I think we as a society turn a blind eye to this problem because we think "hey, if youre buying counterfeits for a discount and you get hurt you deserve it." We imagine idiots buying products for 4 dollars from ebay or perusing Canal street for FEИTY beauty. But these counterfeits can be really convincing. I myself received a gift of a huda palette that I only recognized something was weird about it because I'd swatched it at sephora about five times earlier that month. The person who bought it for me actually paid MORE than the usual cost for the palette because it was advertised as a newer, better edition. The websites can be disturbingly similar. For instance Kylie Jenner's legitimate website is KylieCosmetics.com but you can find fakes at kyliecosmeticsshop.co.uk. These fakes can buy ad space and be one of the first sites that populate when you google the products instead of typing the legitimate site into the address bar. Counterfeits can also be bought and sold through third parties on websites like ebay, wish, and amazon. (My gift actually came from Amazon.)

[Netflix doc "Broken" ep "Makeup Mayhem" Corroborated by personal experience and google]

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traumacatholic · 2 years

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Hey, sorry if I’m bothering you, but do you have any links or websites on anxiety and panic attacks, more specifically on how I can manage them myself? I don’t think I’m ready to go to doctor yet (mainly from fear) but they’re getting worse and I’ve no idea where to start looking for what I can do. Thank you so much if you answer this, and please remember that you’re in my prayers!

Thank you for the prayers, I really appreciate it. Sorry if I took so long to reply.

The first place I'd recommend is finding local mental health charities/organisations. A lot of them should have some leaflets and stuff on things like anxiety and managing panic attacks. I recommend them also because they tend to be geared towards providing information about accessing help in your country. Some resources from elsewhere, although helpful, may be more geared towards how you'd access help in that country.

As for other resources, hopefully some of these will be helpful to you:

Anxiety and panic attacks: Explains anxiety and panic attacks, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family.

Self-Help Strategies for Panic Disorder [PDF]

Calm breathing [PDF]

How to do Progressive Muscle Relaxation [PDF]

Panic: An NHS Self Help Guide [PDF]

Panic Workbooks

Anxiety CBT resources

The Anxiety Skills Workbook [PDF]

Anxiety Toolbox: Student Workbook [PDF]

You can find some worksheets available for free on this Google Drive.

This is a free collection of books on trauma, PTSD, and the like.

Here is a small collection of DBT books.

This post has some recommendations for apps that you can use based around developing habits, mood tracking etc.

You can find some free DBT and PTSD workbooks here.

I personally don't find meditation helpful, but if you're interested in a Catholic Meditation App then Hallow is one that I've seen. I do believe some of it is behind a paywall though.

It's worth mentioning that although a book might be titled for 'PTSD' or for 'trauma', it might still be helpful when it comes to developing helpful coping strategies when it comes to anxiety / panic attack management. Don't be afraid to use those resources to get a better understanding of anxiety - people with these conditions can absolutely experience panic attacks and a lot of the advice will be applicable for anyone that experiences them.

Some of these techniques, such as grounding techniques, can take a while to adjust to. There's a period of trial and error as you find out when best to start bringing in these techniques to prevent anxiety spiralling or to calm you down in the middle of a panic attack. Some of these techniques might feel 'weird' or 'strange'. That doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't work for you, it just means you have to get used to them. I really would recommend trying persevering with techniques for a little while before discarding them unless you feel as though they really aggravate your anxiety.

Also things like sleep hygiene (combatting insomnia or poor sleep scheduling) might feel unrelated. But when you're sleep deprived, you can be less equipped to deal with anxious feelings and environments. I know that I'm way more anxious when I'm sleep deprived compared to when I get a better night's sleep. Developing a good routine might feel completely unrelated to anxiety management, but it's about preparing yourself better for dealing with anxiety.

If you're not in a position to speak to a doctor. Then there are alternatives. Some mental health organisations will offer free or low-cost counselling that do not need a formal doctor's diagnosis to access. They may also put on things like workshops on anxiety managing etc. Worth being aware of these things, because they might feel less intimidating to access. Some of them may be offered over Zoom as well, so you can be in a more comfortable environment

God bless!

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renorasims · 5 years

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Sooo you've arrived at the post where I'm lining up some of the alternatives you can use instead of adfly! Missed my first post? It's HERE! Let's get to it shall we? =) before we continue I'd like to express my gratitude to a group of people who helped me out in lots of ways! <333 English is not my first language so their help has been highly appreciated!

Patreon.

In my opinion the best method to monetize CC if you want to be sure you get something in return for your time and effort! Patreon has become a widely accepted way in the community to donate money towards some of their fav creators. As a creator, it does not cost you a dime in advance! Their fees will be extracted from the donations you received. I am very pleased with what you get on their site! You can go all out; upload HD images, video's, create goals you can reach with you patron's, etc. The interface is easy to use and the best part is (to me) that you don't have to spend any time worrying about collecting payments, etc. It's all taken care of. You have to find a workflow, balance that works best for you and your followers. Some creators release their cc after patreon every week, 2 weeks, and some once per month. This is completely up to you. I personally try to release stuff not later than 2 weeks after Patreon. This is what works best for my personally.

NOTE: Patreon Exclusive CC tends to get re-uploaded by other people since it's locked behind a paywall then. It's also against EA tou but hey... it's all up to you! Best way to avoid all this (In my opinion!) is to be transparent about when you will release your work and don't go exclusive.

PayPal / Ko-Fi.

a completely different way of trying to get something back for your time and effort since it's an optional donation. I used (still use) PayPal a lot in the past / present and it's a very safe way of getting something back. Ko-Fi is very similar and friends tell me lots of positive things about it.I use both of them a lot to donate to creators I love! I really hope I can expand my donating ways to Patreon as well! I know that it is a non-committal way of monetizing CC which can make it less attractive for some creators to use but the donations I got from when I started with it (when I was a smaller simblr) till this day far exceed the $0,02485 dollars you get per click (highest payout rate, USA) on Adfly.

I personally do not donate to a creator that uses adfly-only links. My mindset behind that is; you're apparently satisfied with the funds you raise with Adfly. I'm not going to support you on that. What I mean with this sentence is; creating goodwill towards your followers is sooo much more valuable! It has definitely paid off for me, from when I was a smaller simblr, till now.

Adsense.

Last but most definitely not least! Adsense can have 2 scenario's depending on your tech levels I will explain both of them;

You're unable to code your own website (me too!). I mean, I know html a little but I'm far from able to create my own website! If you're like me, you most likely have to purchase a package at one of these companies; Wix, Wordpress. There could be more options out there but i'm only talking these about 2 since I have experience with those. You need to purchase a paid package to be able to run Adsense on your website, the free packages do not allow you to do that. The fees are very different between Wix and Wordpress! I believe that Wordpress is cheaper(!) than Wix. I've been at Wix from the beginning and moving a website out of their company is made really hard for customers (to prevent them from leaving of course) + I would loose my URL. That being said; Wix has a drag and drop html editor that lets you customize your site endlessly. Wordpress however provides better care for wordpress sites via plugins etc. Pro's and con's you have to decide whats best for you!

NOTE: Blogger is also an option. I have no personal experience with it unfortunately but loooong ago I looked into it and i thought it also has a free option + running Adsense? This is speculation at best! I'm not sure about this! Though it's worth mentioning it. Google is your friend in this case =) Add-on infoby Jennie, thank you! <3 Adsense for Blogger is free, but you need to fit the criterias set by Google to be able to use it (Blogger is owned by Google).

You're a solid coder that can code your own website. I've looked into this in the past and to me it seems that you only have to purchase a domain in that case. With Adobe Dreamweaver or other coding softwares for websites you then create your own website and include the main code for Adsense. Along with the codes for the ads itself (where you want them, which size, which sort of ads, etc)

From this point it's the same for both scenarios! To be eligible for the program your site needs to be around for a few months and have generated some traffic (visitors)! I don't know the exact numbers Adsense expect to see before letting you into their program. I also read on their forums back then it depends on more factors than just pageviews. It depends on what kind of website you have, what kind of content it hosts, etc. But when I started I had maybe 2000 followers on Tumblr? So its definitely not 100,000 pageviews in a month or something like that. Sucks that I installed my Analytics account only a year ago otherwise I could look up what my monthly traffic was back in the days. Bottom line of Adsense; In the long term this will generate income even if you're not releasing stuff everyday. Which is why I am so fond of Adsense. You need to put in so time and effort + money in my case but it has paid me back every penny I put into it! some months I generate 50 bucks and sometimes more or less. It depends on your own activity and factors you can't always control. For example; I just saw (in Analytics) that my Chablis Coat Product Page has spiked yesterday. This can be due to; Tumblr picking up on my Chablis Coat post or someone on youtube doing a CC haul video. These are estimated guesses tho! In 99% of the cases I have no clue why something gets flooded with visitors.

Some perks of NOT using Adfly / Short.e / Shorteners

Create sustainable bond with you followers for the long term.

Increase chances of people donating / supporting your work.

Increase your download count.

Increase site visitation levels & possible Adsense revenues.

Indirectly; increase you're followers count.

which leads to; more people who will likely support you / donate.

this upwards cycle does not have an end to it if you make the right choices! points 2. till 7. can repeat itself endlessly.

Meaning; every positive change you make affects the next step in this cycle. Same as it works for a downwards spiral I guess. One thing for sure; Adfly users won't experience the perks above to its full extend than users that don't use it. Adfly stagnates blog growth in general.

Sorry for the long post but I really hope I was able to give you guys some insights on other alternatives for Adfly / Short.e / Shorteners in general. Most importantly; it's all up to you! Do as you see fit. All I wanted to say with these 2 posts is, try to be mindful to your followers when you make a decision. Only they made it possible for you to monetize your CC in the first place!

#ts4 #s4 #ts4cc #s4cc #alternatives for adfly #no adfly #adfly

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knadire · 5 years

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Art Theft Committed by CreepypastaDotCom and Chilling Tales for Dark Nights

Hey everybody. I just wanted to tell an important story to anyone out there that’s an artist or a fan of horror media. In the wake of the mess last weekend surrounding Twitter account @RareHorror failing to attribute art they reposted to the creator and having a massive and embarrassing meltdown (which you can read more about here, language warning: http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/rare-horrors-twitter-meltdown-ignites-debate-over-artist-rights.php), I want to share a similar experience I’ve been having. It’s going to contain some disturbing (but fake) Photoshops and paintings so I’m sorry in advance if this sort of thing upsets you.

So about a month ago, while talking with some friends, one of them drew my attention to how the Twitter page for CreepypastaDotCom was tweeting out about a story on their main website using an image that looked a little familiar. There was no credit to be found. After a little digging we realized that it was the work of a rather well known, found footage-style artist who goes by SlimeySwampGhost, which many of us were familiar with. After discovering this, we collectively began filling their comments section with remarks about this lack of attribution. SlimeySwampGhost himself eventually asked for credit.

After a full day with no further response from CreepypastaDotCom, I decided to scroll deeper. I discovered that for the past few months, ALL their Twitter content was made up of uncredited artwork. Every post contained an excerpt, a link to the story it was from, a handful of hashtags, and an uncredited piece of artwork. Through this, I found another account called Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. They themselves are a horror audio drama/narration channel I’ve known about for a while. Not only did they have posts identical to those made on CreepypastaDotCom’s Twitter page, but they had made even MORE promoting their podcasts, audio recordings, and YouTube videos, still using artwork that they had no ownership of.

I want to put it into perspective how much of a profit these websites are making. If you visit CreepypastaDotCom (which I do not recommend), it is filled to bursting with ads. Their most recent story, which is only 1500 words long, contains four standard and one video ad to the right, a banner across the side and bottom, and three built right into the story, between every four paragraphs or so. I have seen an even higher number on longer stories. Though not an exact number, the site Worth of Web estimates that nearly 10 000 people visit CreepypastaDotCom and it earns nearly $150 USD daily. Though their site’s lack of ads is a little less apparent in its source of income, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights offers a subscription service starting at $5 USD a month and capping at $79.99 a year, locking many of their stories and recordings behind a paywall . On top of this, Social Blade estimates their channel earning between $144 and $2.3K USD monthly. These are not small groups making a mistake; these are large companies making the active decision to omit credit, at times going out of their way to do so.

So, I decided to spend a free afternoon going on a little crusade of using a combination of Google Images and other backwards image searching services to find and credit nearly ALL of the art they reposted in their respective comments section.

The most disturbing cases I’ve seen are:

-a few artists that I was able to tag directly that stated that they hadn’t permitted them to use their art nor was it free for anyone to repost or use (at bare minimum without credit)

-multiple artists who were selling the piece they used or others as a print

-several drawings that had logos, names, signatures or watermarks cropped out of the image to even further remove credit

-a handful of concept art from indie games

The most disgusting one I found was an advertisement featured on both Twitter feeds for a book on Amazon by K Banning Kellum. Attached to this was a piece that I discovered was hand painted by François Baranger for a crowdfunded book, cropping out the full resolution to hide the space where the text was meant to be placed. They were using art from an unrelated book to advertise another. Both Banning and Baranger have made statements asking that the advert be taken down.

It took a few hours before I heard any word from either of them. CreepypastaDotCom initially excused all this to Twitter’s word count, citing that their Facebook page properly attributed the specific artist I was referring to (which they mentioned was a “friend” of theirs). I pointed out that though yes, they did credit that very specific artist on that other social media, they failed to do so with a good majority of the art they were sharing, and that they had no issue adding an additional tweet to that chain after I mentioned it but still to none of the others.

Both pages did eventually remove all of the incriminating posts, but not before blocking me immediately after this interaction.

I had this on the back of my mind until a month later, when I decided to check up on both of them after the RareHorror incident occurred. When plugging their most recent text-based stories they began using (what I hope to be) stock photographs, and most of CreepypastaDotCom’s Facebook feed now consists of memes. But all of the images that they had removed on Twitter had not ben touched on this social media page, and I also discovered an Instagram page for Chilling Tales doing the same thing. While going about making similar remarks on these respective pages, I recognized the watermark of Omega Black, who’s work was stolen by them before, directly used in a thumbnail for their podcast, which is one of the ones currently hidden behind their paywall. In fact, a majority of their recent thumbnails on their website, as well as on YouTube, have art done by other people that they have not credited. They only credit the artists that they commission art from, which they can, have, and CONTINUE to do. I have made efforts to properly attribute and ask that they remove these images as many places as I have been able.

In the middle of writing this, CreepypastaDotCom has removed ONLY the post about post about K Banning’s book, leaving up everything else, and has banned me from commenting on their Facebook page any further. Chilling Tales yet to make any sort of statement about this behaviour. Since posting this to Facebook, I have now been officially blocked on both Chilling Tales for Dark Nights and CreepypastaDotCom on there, as well as CTFDN's Instagram. The posts that got the most negative feedback over theft (belong to Francois and OmegaBlack respectively) have all been completely removed, BUT all the others are still there. All my comments linking back to their respective portfolios, ArtStations and DeviantART profiles have been wiped clean and they are left uncredited once more.

In the end I just want this sort of thing to end. It’s not right that these pages are piggybacking off of the artwork of others to generate more interest and clicks, to earn a profit that the original creators will not see a cent of. As an artist myself who has had their art mistaken for free clipart in the past I can’t image what it must be like to have your work used on a much larger scale. So if anyone from the CreepypastaDotCom or Chilling Tales for Dark Nights team is reading this, please consider removing all these. It’s neither legally nor morally right.

If anyone following me is able to, I ask that you consider addressing all this yourselves on your social media of choice. I don’t want any outright harassment, but it seems like as with most large corporations, a large group of people expressing their dissatisfaction is the only way to incite any change. As only one person there’s only so much I’ve been able to do.

Any artists following me should be extremely cautious of who is using your art and for what purpose. If this is happening to anyone I know personally I’ve got your back and I’ll do everything I can to get it removed or appropriately attributed.

If you intend on doing anything like Chilling Tales in the future, even tangentially related, the Creepypasta Wiki is a better while still expansive resource for stories. Here are also some resources you can use for royalty free or public domain photographs and images:

https://pixabay.com/

https://unsplash.com/

https://stocksnap.io/

https://www.pexels.com/

If you want to use art that you like, at least ask permission first. The worst they can say is no, and no response is NOT approval. Credit the artist, and Google Images is not a source.

Below is a list of all the artists I was able to find who’s work has been stolen and left unattributed. It is not completely comprehensive since backwards image searching only goes so far, and as only one person I have only been able to track their posts back to the beginning of January due to their absolutely massive backlog of images.

https://www.deviantart.com/drfaustusau

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2331644373749140/?type=3&theater

Gary Pullin

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2330164767230434/?type=3&theater

Joe Webb

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2329562920623952/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/jflaxman

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2328831980697046/?type=3&theater

*https://www.deviantart.com/koidl

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326650480915196/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326647174248860/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsnqEW_lpsc/

https://www.deviantart.com/almanegra

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2326866630893581/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2445654418787737/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxYy84xFsc6/

Masahiro Sawada

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324896661090578/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/daverapoza

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324062071174037/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/chromattix

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2324881584425419/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2440420665977779/?type=3&theater

Emil Melmoth

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2322323768014534/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/kumpan/

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2322322098014701/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2433247106695135/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/jasonedmiston

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1955865917993656/2313320382248206/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/panchecco/

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2290413431205568/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2349352058417974/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2294791423874038/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2255315011155013/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/loish

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2286125321634379/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2338187819534398/?type=3&theater

Ares Dragonis

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2284644478449130/?type=3&theater

Matteo Ascente

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2282149892031922/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2327855437234303/?type=3&theater

Klaus Wittmann

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2274267342820177/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2307437519276095/?type=3&theater

Miklós Ligeti

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2272191189694459/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2302082193144961/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2442398692446643/?type=3&theater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiT77ezGfzY

Eric Felten

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2271754523071459/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2301019089917938/?type=3&theater

Jay Zhou

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2268483903398521/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2292754607411053/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/danielgrzeszkiewicz

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2265915273655384/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2286888337997680/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/nrjin

https://www.facebook.com/creepypastadotcom/photos/a.1890769041170011/2260490967531148/?type=3&theater

Alex Monge

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2354560677897112/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvIqWUTl76c/

OmegaBlack

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2433720263314486/?type=3&theater

https://www.deviantart.com/dloliver

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2414995095187003/?type=3&theater

Fernando Acosta

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2262643733755474/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bss96BaFaC1/

Pedro Silvia

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2238916129461568/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsEgbuqFJRD/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVeESsQbBl4

https://www.deviantart.com/dominikbroniek/

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2458696254150220/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxsD7zXli7y/

https://audioboom.com/posts/7265417-the-art-of-imitation-chilling-tales-for-dark-nights

https://www.deviantart.com/eemeling

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2454194474600398/?type=3&theater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zvU9u1epc

https://www.deviantart.com/s-caruso

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2346953118657868/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu7Wkr1FseL/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jae1pm4ui0

Dario Puggioni

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2326173137402533/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuWnJ93lLjp/

https://youtu.be/kaLO87La0q0

Clint Nitkev

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2309484632404717/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt7iHxDlFzm/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ZFM1EyBFQ

https://www.deviantart.com/emerald-depths

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2273329246020256/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs_DQ9nlKMe/

Blaz Porenta

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2249680588385122/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWkhdDldGI/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd0o6Lfac9o

https://www.deviantart.com/jflaxman/

https://www.facebook.com/chillingtalesfordarknights/photos/a.684108731608990/2244718002214714/?type=3&theater

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsOEvcVleCu/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qOOCS49RVM

#arttheft #art theft #credit the artist #creepypasta #chilling tales for dark nights #ctfdn #creepypastadotcom #horror #rarehorror #please stop #stolen art #art plagarism

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thisdiscontentedwinter · 7 years

Text

hunger - chapter 6

Hunger master post

The animal clinic is closed when Stiles sidles up to the door the next night. He knocks, and shoves his hands in his pockets while he waits. Scott opens the door a few minutes later, a grin splitting his face.

“Stiles! I’m really glad you came back, dude!” His expression falls. “I’m sorry about last time, with my mom.”

“S’okay.”

Scott lets him and the dog in, and locks the door behind them. That’s when Stiles realizes they aren’t Scott’s only visitors. Allison appears from behind the counter.

“Stiles!”

“Hey,” he says, and raises his eyebrows. “Am I interrupting something?”

They both go interesting shades of red.

“Uh, no,” Scott says at last. “Allison and I are working on a project, and we figured we could throw some ideas around while I cleaned up and fed the animals.”

“I also wanted to see the kittens,” Allison says, dimples appearing when she smiles. Stiles tries to picture her holding kittens, and figures his brain would melt with how fucking adorable that would be. A part of him wants to tell her that, to make a joke of it, but he doesn’t know her or Scott. Not really. He’s not their friend. He’s a kid who lives on the street. He’s a charity case, which is probably the best he can hope for.

“Can I use the computer?” he asks, nodding at the one on the front counter.

“You can use mine again.” Allison offers, and tugs her slim laptop out of her bag.

“Thanks.”

Stiles sets up in the waiting room, sitting on the floor and using one of the chairs as a table. The dog flops down beside him and puts his head on his knee.

Allison and Scott leave them to it. Stiles is aware of them talking and laughing in the background. It’s nice, not to have to jump at every sound. It’s nice to be around people he’s not scared of. Scott reappears once and sets down a Tupperware container. Chicken sandwiches.

“Thanks, man,” Stiles says. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Scott’s answering smile falters a little, and Stiles figures he’s not used to that phrase being as literal as it is.

Stiles goes to the Beacon Herald website. He skims the front page story about some animal attack in the Preserve where some guy has been ripped apart by a mountain lion—Stiles will not be wandering out there again—and goes to their search function. Luckily the Herald isn’t one of those newspapers where everything online is behind a paywall. He gets four hits on Kate Argent’s name. Two are related to some incidents she attended—a big traffic crash last year, and the evacuation of the Beacon Hills mall because of a smoke hazard that turned out to be a malfunctioning air conditioner unit. The third hit is one of those soft community stories, where she went to the Kindergarten and gave the kids a talk about stranger danger. The fourth hit is talking about the four new officers employed by the Sheriff’s Department, after what the paper calls the recent corruption scandal.

The article is three years old.

Kate wasn’t a deputy when Stiles’s dad was Sheriff.

Okay. So that explains why he didn’t know her voice.

It doesn’t explain how someone planted those drugs in his office.

Stiles closes his eyes and breathes deep for a moment.

There were drugs found in his dad’s office, and drugs and money found at the house. The house would have been easy enough to break into, Stiles supposes. But his office at the Sheriff’s station? It had to be an inside job. One of the men or women that his dad worked with for years did that to him.

And apparently it wasn’t Kate Argent.

Or Jordan Parrish either. Stiles recognizes him as the earnest fresh-faced deputy from the diner. According to his smiling photograph in the Herald, he was hired at the same time as Kate Argent.

He opens another page and Googles Kate Argent. The links to the Herald are the top hits, and there’s not much in the rest. There’s no listing for her under the white pages or anything. Of course there isn’t. Cops don’t publish their addresses or phone numbers online.

There is a G. Argent in Beacon Hills though, and a C. & V. Argent. Stiles gets a piece of paper from the front desk and writes down their addresses and phone numbers. There’s also a Christopher Argent, probably the same person as C. Argent, who owns something called Argent Tactical Solutions.

From the back room, a ringtone blares out. A moment later, Stiles hears Allison.

“Oh my god, Dad, no! You don’t need to come in and meet Scott! I’ll come out when you get here, okay?” She steps out into the foyer, and rolls her eyes at Stiles. “Because we’re project partners, that’s all! Fine. I’ll see you then. Fine.” She ends the call. “My dad is being a total jerk lately.”

Stiles’s smile wavers, and his heart aches. My dad, he thinks, and wishes those words could fall from his mouth without somehow tearing a gaping hole in the universe. He wants a dad who is a jerk sometimes. He wants a dad who calls him on the phone. He wants a dad who sticks his nose into his business.

He wants a dad.

The dog nips at his fingertips gently.

“He’s coming to pick me up because my mom borrowed my car today, and apparently some guy gets eaten by a mountain lion in the middle of the woods, and my dad suddenly thinks the town is overrun with them.” She sighs. “Ugh.”

Stiles closes her laptop, and climbs to his feet. “It also sounds like he thinks you and Scott aren’t just study buddies.”

Allison gives him a cheeky smile, and lowers her voice. “Right? And if he scares him off too soon, there’s no way we’ll ever be anything more than study buddies!”

Stiles smiles, but he’s out of step with this conversation. He doesn’t remember what it’s like to play the part of a friend or a confidant. Of an equal. This is what this is, right? A confidence? An overture of friendship? Stiles has been to a lot of schools in the past four years, and met a lot of kids, but he’s always been the newcomer, the outsider, the kid who’s there one week and gone the next, forgotten.

Allison’s encouraging smile falters.

Stiles is out of step with friendship. He drops his gaze. He gives Allison her laptop back, and folds his piece of paper up and slips it into his shoe for safekeeping.

***

The wolf pads back and forth in the waiting room of the clinic while Stiles finishes the sandwiches. The wolf is hungry too, but there are rats in the alley that will fill his belly later. His boy should eat now, if he won’t eat the rats later. The wolf wants his boy to be strong. He doesn’t want him to be sick again.

He pads back and forth, listening to his boy talking with Allison and Scott.

Listening to his boy’s heartbeat.

His ears prick when he hears a car outside.

It has a whine in the transmission.

Hunters.

***

The headlights from the car arc across the walls of the waiting room.

“It’s my dad!” Allison announces. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Scott! See you, Stiles!”

She lets herself out the front door.

Scott waves at her. He’s wearing a goofy smile, as endearing at it is awkward, and Stiles thinks it’s lucky that Allison knows what she wants, because Scott is way too awkward to actually make a move.

The dog tugs at Stiles’s sleeve, growling as it tries to tug him away from the open door.

Stiles sees a black SUV parked outside. A man gets out of the driver’s side door as Allison approaches.

He’s in his forties, maybe, but he’s in good shape. Better shape than Stiles, probably. He’s wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that pulls tight across his chest as he moves. He has graying hair and a stern expression.

Stiles’s heart clenches.

It’s the man from the Preserve. The one with the tactical gear and the guns. The one who saw Stiles and the dog, and stared at them, before he stepped back into the line of trees.

It’s Allison’s dad.

At the moment his focus in on Allison. He’s watching her approach with a frown, like he doesn’t know what the hell she’s been up to tonight, but he doesn’t approve on principle.

Stiles steps back from the door before the man sees him.

***

“How do I know I’m not going crazy?” his boy asks as they walk back toward the alley behind the diner. “That’s a thing. Going crazy.”

The wolf’s ears flick as he listens for the hunter’s SUV, but he can’t pick the sound of it from the rest of the distant traffic noise. He and the boy stick to the back streets. A dog barks at them from behind a fence. A cat streaks across the road in front of them. The night smells like cars and people and decay.

“Once is an incident. Twice is a coincidence.” His boy exhales heavily and scrubs his knuckles over his head. “It’s twice. Just twice. Coincidence. Synchronicity. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

The wolf whines.

Hunter.

It means hunter.

But also, I might be going crazy.” His boy chews at the strings of his hoodie. “Might be making connections that aren’t there. Like with the phone call. What if it wasn’t her voice? What if it was just that she happened to say the same thing? It’s not a smoking gun, is it?”

The wolf huffs.

“But also, I shouldn’t ignore instinct, should I?” His boy spits the strings out. “I just need some proof first. Or a confession.” His expression darkens. “But also, she’s a cop. The chances of fucking this up and getting shot are, like, higher than I’d prefer.” He laughs, but the sound is sour.

The wolf growls low in his throat.

“I wish I could call him, you know?” His tone wavers, and his throat clicks as he swallows.

The wolf looks up into the sky. The moon is a tiny sliver of light, riding high above the gray wisps of cloud that trail across the sky. Death is walking with them, silent and pale-faced. She smells of ashes. She has walked so long beside him wearing Laura’s face that the wolf thinks he would mourn her if she left.

But he sees the path that he and his boy are on.

Death will not leave them.

“I have to act,” the wolf’s boy says. “ I have to act.”

The wolf nudges into his side as they walk.

“They lied to me.” His voice belongs to a younger boy now. To a child. “They said he could call me. They said I could visit. They said if I was good, then I could see him.” His mouth twists up. “But then they said, no, you got in a fight at school. No, your counselor says it’s not the right time. No, it will be too upsetting for you. So fuck them, right? Fuck them.”

The wolf whines.

“I just want my dad,” Stiles whispers, and his voice dissolves into tears.

The wolf walks beside him, head hanging.

He and the boy are pack, but they cannot fill all the spaces that their losses have left behind. The wolf’s loss, and the boy’s, has been made by a piercing wound in his heart. It will never heal. It will always ache. Both the wolf and the boy have learned how to breathe through the pain, but it is still there. It is as present as the moon, as the whisper of the wind, as death.

The wolf isn’t sure whose injury is worse. His pack is dead. Dead is gone forever. But his boy’s father? Alive, but kept away from the boy? The wolf understands the light in the boy’s eyes now. He understands the boy’s need to rend and tear, to burn the world down. All that rage, just waiting for a target.

And, he thinks, the boy is very close to finding one.

He will need a wolf at his side then.

The moon was right to lead the wolf to his boy.

The wolf, and death.

#sterek #teen wolf #fan fic #hunger #discontentedwinter

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