Aethy is a safe haven for creative and unique people and communities to flourish! This server is for people to be able to express themselves by sharing their creations, talk about their interests, or just be themselves in an environment that doesn't allow harassment to flourish. In contrast to other environments online, we also want to be a safe space for marginalized individuals including queer folks, people of color, and women by disallowing hateful speech and ideals.
As advertisers become prevalent in online spaces, many sites limit what type of content is allowed in order to appease them. From banning nudity all the way to banning strange and niche kinks! By contrast, Aethy embraces and loves the human body! We love when adults get kinky and sometimes downright strange with their sexuality! We don't believe in regressive ideologies that limit creative speech and content between consenting adults. With that belief in mind, we made Aethy. The policies were envisioned and sculpted by people who've dealt with hate all their lives, as well as experiencing mental, physical, and sexual abuse (both as minors and as adults). It's extremely important to us that we create a safe space for our community so we've built the site on the principles of inclusion and consent.
Instead of continuing to be squeezed out of spaces because perhaps we're too weird, too queer, or too kinky... we've made our own space! We don't think there's any wrong way to express ourselves as long as we adhere to the principles of consent and inclusion! We no longer want to inhabit spaces where we're beholden to advertisers, puritans and those that wish to spread hate!
Check out our Matrix Space!
Here's the cost breakdown for running Aethy:
- Server hosting: $72 per month
- Domain name: $14.76 per year
- Email: $48 per year
- Storage: ~$30 per month
- Translation Services: ~$40 per month
- CDN: $280 per year
- PO Box (DMCA Requirement): $166 per year
Content Warnings
What is a or "CW?"
or a "CW" is short for "Content Warning". When a user is making a post, they have the option to click a button that has a symbol. This is used to warn other users about content they might not wish to see (such as sexual or violent content).
What content needs a ?
Public and Unlisted Posts that contain sexual themes, gore, and depictions/discussions of sensitive topics require warnings. Any media where the intent is to arouse is included in this (even if a censor bar or a blur effect is applied). This also includes images where the subject is posed in a sexual manner, or if a body part is framed in an attempt to be arousing. Light blood doesn't require a but beyond that, a is most likely required. Finally, sensitive topics include politics, religion, spirituality, niche belief systems, abuse (including relationship which would be abusive in reality), current events and other topics that could potentially upset someone.
Just do your best though! No one is gonna get in trouble unless they're intentionally trying to upset other users!
What happens if I forget to add a ?
The best thing to do is to quickly edit your post and add one. Otherwise, you'll receive a reminder from a staff member reminding you to add one provided the post content isn't deemed to be too upsetting! Staff members will also typically give suggestions as to what tags may be appropriate. However, if the lack of a on a post could be extremely distressing to viewers, the post may be deleted and need to be redrafted from your email. Accounts that ignore staff warnings may also be Limited so the posts don't appear in public timelines and all images will be marked as "sensitive". To have the Limited status removed, simply edit your posts to include a and then appeal the Limited status. Punitive action will never be taken, we will simply put measures in place to protect other users from content they may wish to avoid!
What if my s aren't good enough?
Try your best! If the s aren't comprehensive enough, the staff's course of action will be similar to the above. As a general rule of thumb, try to avoid simply marking a post as "NSFW" or something similar. Ask yourself why it's NSFW and list those reasons in the CW. Also avoid overly broad CWs such as "Nudity", "Age Gap", "Dead Dove", etc. Be specific about the subjects and what content is involved!
What's an example of a ?
Examples for sexual content are "Kink", "Sex", "Sexual Nudity", "Boner", "Erection", "Het", "GL", “BL”, “MLM”, “Anal”, “Blowjob”, “Boner”, “Blood”, “Gore”, “Vore”, “Macro”, "Age gap", “Underage”, "Shota", "Loli", “Minor/Adult”, "Teen/Adult", etc.
An example for a heavier topic could include "Politics", "Hate Speech", "Harassment", "Discourse", "Syscourse", etc.
When it comes to religion, spirituality and niche belief systems and frameworks, some examples are "Spirituality, "Religion", "Otherkin", "Therian", "Christian", "Jesus", etc.
Basically, the more specific you can get, the better! But you also don't have to make an essay out of it! However, please avoid using loaded words that can be used synonymously with real abuse as s. s are meant to allow people to avoid content they don't wish to see and should do so without causing distress to others.
Does simple nudity require a ?
Nope! Content warnings are not required for non-sexual nudity (e.g. images that don't feature close-ups of genitals, boners, or sex acts). Basically, if it's an image you'd find in an art museum or if the intention of the content isn't to arouse, it doesn't need a . This policy doesn't discriminate against age or body type either. If the subject is a real adult and has consented, or if it's a fictional drawing, then nudity is no different than if the subject is clothed! This also means images that contain nudity can be used in profile icons and banners!
You’re still free to use content warnings when they’re not required, however!
What counts as sexual or erotic?
Any image where the intent is to arouse or where the subjects featured are engaged in a sexual act. This may even include images that don't feature sexual nudity such as images that contain bodily fluids or where the subject(s) are posed in a sexual nature. It also includes images that attempt to censor the sexual content (e.g. placing a bar over a boner or blurring it). Basically, if it's obvious what's going on, it needs a !
Can I boost content from another server that doesn't have a ?
Yes! We don't want to discourage interacting with other servers even when their policies relating to s differ from ours. Users are encouraged to proceed with caution when viewing posts from other servers. However, if a post isn't marked as "sensitive" when it would be required to have a on Aethy, please report it so we can mark it ourselves!
Acceptable Content
Can I post content I don't own the rights to?
This isn't legal advice but typically screenshots, cropped comic panels, clips from television, etc. fall under Fair Use in the United States. This also includes fan art, fan fiction, and other such content. Staff members will not typically remove content from mass media properties that we believe to fall under Fair Use. However, if a user uploads full television episodes or movies, copyrighted music, and other such content, it will be removed and the user suspended as it is not Fair Use. Also, when it comes to independent creators, we ask that you do not repost their creations (e.g. artwork, photos, videos, etc.) without the creator's permission. We also ask that you don't include their characters in your creations in a way that could cause duress (e.g. drawing sexual imagery of someone's mascot character without their permission).
Can I upload works created with AI?
Yes but it must be disclosed. AI assisted works (such as art where background elements are created by AI) simply require disclosure of the tool used in the post body. However, when posting works created entirely (or nearly entirely) by AI, a must be added indicating that it's AI generated and what tool was used to create it. However, works that were created by directly modifying someone else's copyrighted content may not be posted unless the original content falls under Fair Use. The AI used must also have been trained in a clean room environment that wasn't trained using real human subjects. Especially in the case of pictures featuring underage characters.
Our policies are available on our Policies page. There you can find our:
- Privacy Policy
- Acceptable Use Policy
- Law Enforcement and Legal Compliance
- Copyright Enforcement
- Our blobcat emojis were created by Nitro Blob Hub and are licensed under Apache 2.0
- Our shroom emojis and Grumpy Wolf emojis were created by MeowStreamShop
- Our wolf emojis were created by BryanGeeDesignsLLC
- Our wuff emojis were created by PupTeaArt
- Our dragn emojis were created by khr and Ember and are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International with the exception of drgn_hug, which was made by t3rminus
- Our penis, vagina, and breast emojis were created by Iconixar
Here's the cost breakdown for running Aethy:
- Server hosting: $72 per month
- Domain name: $14.76 per year
- Email: $48 per year
- Storage: ~$30 per month
- Translation Services: ~$40 per month
- CDN: $280 per year
- PO Box (DMCA Requirement): $166 per year
Servers on the fediverse generally allows you to view content from and interact with users from any other server in the fediverse. These are a few of the larger servers that have made an exception for us and have disallowed all interactions from our users. This is typically due to our stance on creative fiction and kink. Nothing can be done to re-enable access from our end so if you have friends on these servers, we suggest either reaching out to the admin of the server they're on or requesting your friend move to a less restrictive server.
bark.lgbt
mastodon.art
mastodon.online
mastodon.social
mastodonapp.uk
meow.social
mstdn.games
ohai.social
peoplemaking.games
sunny.garden
tech.lgbt
techhub.lgbt
thicc.horse
todon.eu
tooot.im
toot.wales
union.place
universeodon.com
ursal.zone
wetdry.world
woof.group
