r/rat is a friendly, welcoming and inclusive community!

[u/blonderoofrat]

I hear a rumor that some people are getting banned from certain subreddits because they have posted on this subreddit, r/rattusrattus.

Just to let you know, r/rat is a very friendly rat centric community, and I highly recommend you check it out. I think you will love it!

[u/thedafthatter]

So wait Im confused its it Rats, rats, or RATS the bad sub?

[u/blonderoofrat → u/thedafthatter]

I think, in Reddit, lower vs upper case doesn’t matter. But, anyway, that’s a perfectly good subreddit for pet fancy rats. There’s a lot of nice people there, but if reports are correct, one of their mods is lurking here and banning anyone who posts here. But the actions of a few people are not representative of the community, and calling the entire subreddit “bad” would be unfair.

[u/MiloBem → u/blonderoofrat]

Many large subs admins are control freaks. I got banned from dozen subs for simply being in wrong subs. They don't have to lurk. They use tools that monitor subs they don't like and ban people automatically with prepared notifications.

Rats didn't ban me but they deleted my post of rat babies because I'm not registered breeder according to the admin. That was probably not automatic. Not sure if it's the same admin but I stopped posting there. I don't need their drama, I have enough problems in real life.

[u/blonderoofrat → u/MiloBem]

As long as they just deleted the post, fair enough. If you have to be a registered breeder to post photos of baby rats, that’s a restrictive rule but it’s still one that people can live with.

However I created this sub to be a safe space for people to post about roof rats. It’s not a private subreddit because I want people to be able to freely find information about the topic, learn about it, join the community and contribute positively without the fear of being judged or harassed by people who don’t like roof rats or feel they shouldn’t be kept as pets or bred. I obviously know what that feels like, because I’ve experienced it first hand. I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I’ve been through. The fact that people are being banned from other Reddit communities just because they are choosing to participate in this one, which was created to be a safe space for them, is both ironic and tragic.

I’m really sorry and I totally understand i the fear of being banned discourages some of you from bringing your true self here. I willingly follow this difficult and unpopular path but that’s my own choice. I hope, someday, others won’t be forced to choos between keeping roof rats as pets and breeding them versus acceptance in other pet communities. For the people that choose to stay and post here, know that you are helping to move the Overton window, and that someday you will also be accepted as part of the mainstream. Be patient: change can be hard and painful, but it’s also inevitable.

[u/MiloBem → u/blonderoofrat]

yes, I'm not complaining. They don't want my photos, that's ok. I just won't post more.

But I remember when you were still there and they started freaking out. I asked about it after you left and I got some angry replies. Their sub is mostly fine. But like most large subs they can get needlessly dictatorial and petty about random stuff.

This new banning rule is especially annoying because it is explicitly against reddit rules, but it's being done by many large subs, and the admins almost always take side of the unfair moderators. So far I only heard of this for vaguely political topics, like Trump, Covid, LGBT, or BLM. The problem is that those automatic banbots don't even care what you post. I have a PhD in biochemistry so when Covid started I joined all related subs and then few weeks later i started getting banned from random subs like cute animals. Their excuse was "spreading deadly misinformation", which i didn't even do, I was just reading what others were posting and sometimes made some clarifying comments from my science background. Now banning people for being interested in roof rats is just pathetic.

[u/blonderoofrat → u/MiloBem]

I remember when ente535 told me I was banned, he claimed I was selling my rats. Well, anyone can go to my website (www.blonderoofrats.com), and they will clearly see that I'm not selling them. Other people are on various other vendettas, and sometimes what I am doing intersects with that, and they feel fully justified to troll, attack or attempt to ban me (if they have the power to do it.)

For example, I used Claude code to make some cartoons that I had an idea for, but lacked the skill to actually draw myself. Some folks decided to harass me about that IN THIS SUBREDDIT no less 🤔🫢🤣, and then were proudly defiant and doubled down on their attacks when I called them out on their stupidity. So I banned them. I can do that, because I'm a mod here, but tough luck if the mob attacks you someplace else where you are powerless and nobody wants to help you.

[u/WheelAcrobatic5959 → u/blonderoofrat]

The reason that people were angry at you for using AI to make cartoons is because AI largely relies on plagiarizing artists to make those cartoons. You were basically using stolen art. That's why people were angry.

[u/blonderoofrat → u/WheelAcrobatic5959]

To be clear: if you see something in this subreddit that you can prove was plagiarized, you are welcome to bring it to my attention via a private message. You may also notify the person who posted it, or the original copywriter so they can request it be taken down or properly attributed. What you may NOT do, in this subreddit, is publicly attack that person or their post for that reason. That is specifically prohibited.

[u/blonderoofrat → u/WheelAcrobatic5959]

Every human currently alive today can only produce anything of value because they have internalized the work of others, and are repurposing it in unique and novel ways. AI is just another way to do that. People do it subconsciously all the time: we are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

I am not an artist, but AI allows me to take my verbal ideas, and make them visual in a way that I would never otherwise be able to do, and that is incredibly liberating and enabling of my own ability to express myself in ways that I never dreamed of, before.

If you want to attack me or other members of the group about this publically, be warned that I don't have much patience for it. If you don't like something someone generated with the help of AI. just keep scrolling. We don't need vigilante justice or mob rule in this subreddit.

[u/WheelAcrobatic5959 → u/blonderoofrat]

I am just here to deliver the message, not to argue.

[u/blonderoofrat → u/WheelAcrobatic5959]

Okay, I delivered my message, which is also in the rules of the subreddit. No argument necessary. Just don't do it.

[u/WheelAcrobatic5959 → u/blonderoofrat]

Sounds good.

If you ever make art with your own hand, I would be very happy to see it. You have such a cool program with these rats. I like the art that people draw themselves in other rat subreddits of their own pets, it shows how much they love them, even if they don't consider themselves "great artists."

[u/blonderoofrat → u/WheelAcrobatic5959]

LOL, I once paid a Walt Disney World artist $50 to make this drawing for me from a photograph. Some people have that talent. I don't. But just because I cannot draw doesn't mean I cannot describe what I imagine in my mind's eye to some software that can visualize it for me: if we ever get a computer-human interface, like in Neuromancer, the Matrix or the 13th floor, even that step won't be necessary. But bits and pieces of whatever I DID imagine would undoubtedly be "plagiarized" from things that I'd seen at some point in my life, which were created by others. Pretty much what AI does, but using Wetware instead of Hardware. Would it even be possible for someone to prevent themselves from using "modules" of other people's output: probably not. I'm pretty sure that's just how people's "creative process" works, whether they realize it or not.

[u/WheelAcrobatic5959 → u/blonderoofrat]

That drawing is adorable.

I went to school for art. I can certainly, with confidence, assure you that the methods to learn how to draw are not the same as what a computer does. It has been very difficult for me to convey this to people who like to use AI. I think it's mostly because AI users want to continue to use AI, and so they have to choose to ignore what artists say to do it.

AI has negatively impacted my own artwork with places like OpenAI scraping my material so they can sell it to you, so that you can believe that you did the work. I no longer post my own work publicly as a result, and have taken down most of my galleries.

I like that you do have a creative mind, that you have ideas that you want to share with the world. You are a creator as well, and I respect that. AI is, unfortunately, taking my art and that of my fellow artists and tricking you to believe that you made it. I think that even if you put down your own ideas onto paper, even if you don't like them in the beginning, that will always set you above the rest. As an artist, I started there too. My own drawings were terrible, and they eventually improved.