The Grundle Gheist, or the Taint Haint, is a type of spirit that lives in symbiosis with creatives. This is because the Grundle Gheist (GG, or TH) feeds off of the misery and suffering of art thieves, AI slurry goons, plagiarists, and all similar individuals. In order to reach their prey, GGs and THs possess creatives. But they remain in a dormant state, biding their time until someone steals that person’s work. Then, they ‘jump’ to their new host.
Using an image for reference, homage, or other forms of Fair Use do not cause the Taint Haint to awaken. They cannot move by any method other than art theft with the intention to benefit from said theft. They do not harm anyone who is not an art thief.
Symptoms of an active Grundle Gheist can include, but are not limited to:
- A Rat King equivalent of varying types of infections in the perineal region of the host that can and will expand to include to the urinary tract and/or genital region at will.
- Extreme and wild misfortune.
- Dreams about your perineal region rotting.
- A Bad Smell
- Everyone around you realizing that you weren’t as funny as they previously thought you were.
The spirit may only be banished by some or all of the following, depending on the severity of the theft:
- Total public acknowledgement of the theft INCLUDING INTENT TO STEAL and apology to the artist, which cannot be taken down from social media. Otherwise the banishment is null and void, and the Taint Haint is IMMEDIATELY invited back into your grundle.
- Payment of a licensing fee to the artist including retroactive licensing payments if applicable.
- Surrender or all monetary gain from the stolen artwork to a charity.
Note: these are the spirit’s terms. The contracted artist has no control over any contracted spirits, Taint Haints, Grundle Gheists, etc that are activated by someone stealing their work. These spirits also grow in power when discussed, made fun of, or otherwise communicated about.