rules of engagement

the general rules

Please abide by all of the below and assume it all applies.

• No harassing or bullying. That includes abusive behaviour such as doxxing, death threats, and dogpiling.
• No hate speech of any kind. That includes but is not limited to transphobia, homophobia, racism, and ableism.
• Do not promote, defend, or voice support for extremist movements such as National Socialism.
• Do not post images associated with hate movements, extremist ideologies, or groups.
• Do not spread conspiracies or known misinformation (anti-vax, 5G, that sort of thing).
• Adult and sensitive content must be flagged. Use the adult flag and a content warning; the site does the hiding for you. Hardcore content is not allowed yet (see age and adult content).
• Any kind of CSAM or content of that sort, explicitly including "lolicon" and "shotacon" artwork and sexualised writing featuring fictional characters under 18, is strictly forbidden. It results in instant account termination and an IP ban.
• Do not spam, and do not post links to scam or phishing sites.
• Do not use the site to push commercial products. Small, non-corporate self-promotion is fine if it follows the rules.
• Do not "mini-mod". If you see a post that breaks the rules, report it to the admin rather than starting a fight.
• Respect other people's privacy. Never share personal information without their explicit consent.
• When you talk with people here, try to be constructive and respectful.

For more on whether this is the right place for you, keep reading.

forward

Unus mundus is meant to be a space of expression and safety for grown-ups from fandom communities of all stripes, with a mild focus on JRPG, gaming, and anime culture. The vibes are nerdy. We are going for your favourite early 2000s forum, the golden days of Tumblr, or your favourite subreddit, with room for the long stuff: chaptered fic, oekaki, essays. Topics of all kinds are welcome so long as you follow the rules. We hope to be a comfortable and creative hub, pub, and online club for all your fun and creative posting needs. If you're geeky, open-minded, and thoughtful, we'd like you in our corner.

ethos, art, engagement, and fandom

• We aim to be a fairly chill, inclusive, open-minded community. For most scuffles, be your own advocate: self-moderate and curate what you want to see. You are the master of your dashboard. If you don't like something, scroll past it and move on. This includes:
  • media and fandoms you don't like, including (legal) ships, hot takes, and other people's readings of a fandom you're in;
  • art, writing, or opinions that make you personally uncomfortable, so long as they don't break a rule below.
• You are welcome and encouraged to block people who bother you. Tag your posts so they can be found by people who want them and avoided by people who don't, and make liberal use of your own tag filters.
• People of every skill level post here. Everyone is a work in progress. Give folks a little grace. That covers differing opinions, and it covers criticism and commentary on what gets posted.
• If you post, keep an open mind about the intentions of the people who comment. Flying off the handle at someone with good intentions says more about you than about them.
• If you're critiquing a work, remember that people post with varying skill and varying intent. Not everything is meant to be a grand work of art. Meet people where they are and keep constructive commentary civil, well-meant, and preferably where it's welcome. Don't be the guy who critiques someone's shitpost like they're applying to CalArts.

age and adult content

• The site's owner is in the United States, so all rules about age follow United States law.
• For these rules, an adult is a person who is 21 or over and comfortable handling themselves. No, not 18. You are not fully an adult until 21 in the United States.
• Lying about your age results in a permanent ban.
• To repeat the general rule: absolutely no adult content featuring minors. This is a hard and strict policy and breaking it means an immediate ban. Here a minor is a person or fictional character under 18 for depictions of sex and smoking, and under 21 for depictions of alcohol and other drugs.
• For now, no hardcore adult content. Most soft NSFW is fine as long as it is accurately flagged adult and warned: drawn erotic art that doesn't show full nudity or sex acts (boobs and butts are allowed; please no genitalia or anything that reads as hardcore), and written erotica, which may include sex acts with the proper warning. If you have a portfolio of harder work, share it with an explicitly labelled link.
• This is a for-now rule, not a forever one. Properly age-verified adult tiers are on the roadmap, and when they land the line will move. Stay tuned.
• The flag is doing real work: readers only see adult posts after switching them on in their account, and even then they stay blurred until clicked. An unflagged adult post is a rule break, not an oversight.
• Depictions of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis are allowed as long as they're tagged. The same etiquette as the sexy stuff applies. You can discuss or allude to other things, but please don't be a dummy and post anything that would get you or me in trouble.

censorship and balance

• We welcome nuanced, adult discussion. Please warn for anything that could commonly be considered triggering so people know what they're engaging with: sexual assault, suicide, murder, religion, drugs, and so on. There's a lot of room for nuance here. If you're joining us, I trust your judgement.
• But no over-labelling, please. What counts as offensive varies from person to person, and some people have triggers others find odd. That's fine and we don't mean to disparage it. But when everything is censored, nothing is censored. So please don't warn for generally inoffensive things like "eye contact", "tables", or "hand holding"; use tags and filters to avoid what you don't want to see. If you feel the need to pressure others into censoring the mundane for you, this is probably not the space for you, and we'd ask you to find a server better geared to your sensibilities. A warning for discussion of eating disorders is reasonable. A warning for a picture of lunch is not.
• Part of why this place exists is so there is room for grown-up conversation where we don't have to say childish things like "unalived" or "grape". In that spirit, avoid childish euphemisms and say what you mean. There is no algorithm here. People rely on filters, and being straightforward keeps the filters accurate.

buying and selling

• You may link to places to buy your art or creative work on your blog, including in your description or a pinned post.
• You may occasionally post your off-site shop to give yourself a boost. Incessant advertising can get you banned.
• Crypto, NFT, or bitcoin shilling of any kind results in an immediate and permanent ban.
• Do not sell anything illegal here, even if it's linked off-site.

statement on AI

• We are not against every use of AI, but to keep this place human and interactive, and to keep out late-stage internet sludge, please limit your use of it and follow the rules below.
• No low-effort "AI art", generated images, or generated writing posted as a serious work. Posting something wholly generated by AI as your own work is a bannable offence. We're not going to go off on you for a meme here and there, especially if you've made it clear you're using AI for a low-effort post, but no: you did not draw that slop. Cut it out.
• Some people are disgusted by generators full stop. Whatever your view, do not post any AI content, meme or not, that uses the work of an artist or creator who has explicitly forbidden it, such as a voice actor who has said no to AI use of their voice.
• You may follow and reblog from bots, but do not create bot accounts here without prior permission from the admin, Jessi.
• If AI was anywhere in your creative pipeline (reference images, writing prompts, mixed-media assets, and so on), say so and say where. To keep things fair: when someone does this, do not chastise them for being transparent. Scroll and move on.
• If we find an account abusing or over-posting AI or bot content, we reserve the right to ban it. AI can be a tool for inspiration and for shortening busy work, but this is a community for human content, by and for humans. Anything that breaks the spirit of that cannot abide.
• All discussion on the topic must stay civil.
• This issue is heated, nuanced, and evolving. Unus mundus reserves the right to change any of these policies at any time.

politics, hate speech, heated discussion

• We are a mostly left-leaning space. There's a lot of nuance in how you define "left-leaning", but as outlined above and worth repeating: we don't tolerate bigotry against any group, including racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, or transphobia, under any circumstances.
• Which is to say: if you're far right, you're not going to have a good time here.
• We do welcome nuanced, friendly discussion, debate, art, and writing about spicy topics, so long as it's tagged so that people who want to avoid it can.
• We support freedom of speech here generally, but that includes our freedom to show you the door. This is our lawn. If you don't vibe with it, find somewhere else. The internet is very large.