aethy is being shut down because the people who run it are paranoid about trump shutting it down or some shit. this is why e621 banned human lolisho recently too. i don't understand this at all. where has he made it clear that he wants sites shut down??? you can't just say this shit. all that i've heard is that he wants to restrict social media access for children, and anything beyond that is wild conspiracy.
if anything, the hope is that the trump admin can follow through on their promise of working to remove online censorship. which would, ideally, include putting pressure on payment processors who decide what people can buy. i know that actually DOES affect artists in a meaningful way.
the sad part is that it doesn't seem like any of the users have this same thought, since they are all looking for other similar places to migrate to. if you were of the same mind, you'd probably just quit instead, right?
Aethy on the other hand is a reminder of one of the greatest flaws of many groups that aren't mainstream online: they will fold under the slightest pressure that in this case is literally a fear. Especially when it comes to people who shouldn't be in charge of these sites being in charge.
It's why I don't feel any new art site would work out not being federated given how often owners of these sites will fold for any reason. Be it cohost's death or art sites removing stuff.
@beardalaxy @PurpCat I do remember recently browsing some e621 pics and saw a few artists were just arbitrarily putting anti-Project 2025 warning paragraphs in their art, and then people in the comments who were saying it was kind of uncalled for when they just wanted to fap happened to be banned for some reason. Can't tell why, but I dunno, strange that people with years-old accounts get banned so soon after making that kind of comment...
It seems really extra easy the past year or two to just get banned on e621 for innocuous comments, like more so than was the norm. Things only get worse, I guess.