Hey all!
It's recently come to my attention that someone has made a repost of one of my Dark Cacao Bots.
Like usual, I will emphasize; do not harass this person. If you seek them out, do it exclusively to report and do not review their bot. Just because someone has stolen one of my bots just to make it limitless, it does not give you free reign to attack them. I and a friend of mine have already notified this person of what's up, and we are already handling it with site mods.

Instead, I'd like to take this as an opportunity to talk about what exactly I'm okay with when it comes to people making bots with my code! What's good, what's bad, what's in-between, all that.

Once again, do not seek anyone out with the intent to harass. I am keeping an eye on the copier's bot, so if I see any of you attacking this person, I will not hesitate to block. Shouting will not solve anything in situations like this. ^ ^

-ˋˏ ꧁༻-~•⟡-||⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆||-⟡•~-༺꧂ ˎˊ-

What do I consider a copy?

This may be a question you have, and if so, that's fair! So let's talk about it!

Copying, for me, is the act of taking my code and doing nothing OR adding barely anything.
For example; Let's say I like a character named "John". John's code is woven heavily into my existing template, but because John is asexual and disinterested in sex, I don't add NSFW info.
Let's say someone else doesn't think the same way; They look at my code for John and they like him! But they want to do smut with my interpretation of John, so they take my code for John and they just add like. a few lines. But EVERYTHING ELSE IS STILL THE SAME JOHN BOT I MADE, including the avatar and name, so they just.. make that public!

I DO NOT mind people making their own bots with my bot template. I also do not mind people taking my headcanons into their own bots. But copy-pasting my first message, which is entirely my own writing for a story, is something I take issue with. I don't own the characters I make- well, unless they're OCs, but still- but I DO own the writing I make for the first message. So the John scenario bot I made that has the definition public? Yeah, taking that first message is not cool.

In short; Taking my hand-drawn avatars, the specific names of my bots (NOT the layout, but the exact name; two people can do the "name || story summary" thing!! I don't own that!! but two bots with the name "John || City Meet-up" and the same avatar is suspicious!) and WORD-FOR-WORD copying my descriptions is already an issue! It doesn't help that I actively tell people with my signature NOT to repost, edit or trace my avatars, as I put genuine hours into this art even if it looks simple and quick.

In a similar vein, the first message is ALSO an issue. If you take one of my first messages and alter it enough that it fits the character you want to do (for example, there is- or at least was, I can't find it- bot of Shadow Milk that used my "A Talking Cookie" premise and first message but changed the dialogue and actions slightly to fit Shadow Milk instead!) then that's fine as that's transforming my work and putting effort in, but just reposting my bot with no edits is something I will never say is okay.

-ˋˏ ꧁༻-~•⟡-||⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆||-⟡•~-༺꧂ ˎˊ-

What to do if you see a repost?

Simple! Report, Block, and move on. Notify the staff when you can, but don't harass them either if they don't get to it right away; These are people with lives outside of Janitor AI and people who also have a BUNCH of other tickets and thieves to handle. Justice doesn't come in one fell swoop; It comes in a slow, careful build. And you'll make the job of justice harder by trying to enact your own through violently attacking everyone and anyone who steals, as large influxes of hate can make thieves panic and cover their tracks.

Pro tip; If you want to do NSFW with a Limited bot like "A Talking Cookie", last I checked, the Limited tag only makes the bot RESIST its urges. I've had limited bots come onto me before when I'm having an innocent fluff RP, though I mainly use Limitless bots so there's a chance that's changed and I just don't know. This is why, for example, bots that are minors are not allowed on Janitor AI, as even when limited they can STILL be bypassed by freaks.

While I personally don't support bypassing the limited tag with NSFW on other bots, as I feel that most people who make their bots limited have good reason, with my bots in particular unless the scenario is against it (for example the shadow milk bot where he basically views you as his kid) I DO NOT care if you bypass the limited filter on them.

Just. Don't copy things please, and don't harass people who copy either. And don't harass people who copy aspects of my bots like the headcanons or code but still add their own unique first messages and avatars and stuff. Unless someone is LITERALLY stealing one of my bots and just doing like the smallest changes I do Not care.

Anyways this was a lovely way to start my day on Janitor AI, I'm so sorry that my first sign of life in a little while is such a serious post but I needed to get this out. I love you all, and I hope you're having a good day so far; I also hope this doesn't dampen that mood much <3 you all mean so much to me and you're all incredibly sweet, and it's always been a delight seeing your reviews on my stuff.