#at my co-op

[dacuslucy]

amelie htats so insane. do you remember your outfits everyd ay for the past month????

yes bc every day is incredibly important and there is something significant that is cemented into my brain and my clothe (if on period day) will be a factor (good or bad) on how i remember it

[mysillycomics]

[genericpuff]

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.

[thebibliosphere]

Oooh, who’s bright idea was it to meal prep 25lbs of potatoes into frozen hash browns. (Mine, it was my bright idea but I’m still going to bitch about it.)

[pillowspace]

ISATfrin: You can hang out with Odile and Mira this time, and I'll take Bonnie and Isa. Sound good? // SAAPfrin: Mmmgh... it gets boring when I have nothing to do at night though. // ISATfrin: Oh. Well... You can take-- // OUTER TEXT: Unconsciously leans towards each other

SAAPfrin: Hey, why don't WE hang out? // ISATfrin: Huh? / But aren't we always together--? // SAAPfrin: In the house, yeah. When was the last time we did something in Dormont though?

SAAPfrin: Siffrin, hang out with meeeeee! // ISATfrin: B-but Isa's skill! // SAAPfrin: We'll get it next loop! // SAAPfrin, internal: (You don't even get to keep that skill on your Floor 3 anymore, what use is it to you?) // SAAPfrin: No one goes to the Favor Tree after Isa leaves, we could go there tonight! // ISATfrin: Ahh, fine!!

(Their hangout is very normal touch therapy between two normal people.) // (Also they accidentally fall asleep and the Party gets blasted Loop Hangout style but dw about it. We're getting Loop Hangout one way or another lol.)

Memory of Touch ...Therapy!

A local SAAPfrin has unlocked the Loop "aheem heem pity me" dialogue options

( AU )

[dystopiansewerrat]

Rodimus (and team) highlights!🏁

previous

“Hot Rod” Rodimus’s team has a lot of members, but Megs and Mags are always the heads of the team! Megs, the legendary racer has retired, and is now babysitting coaching roddy. The manager, magnus was actually the mechanic for Megatron’s rival team back in the day. And, coincidentally, megs old time rival and mags old colleague is actually roddy's family member.

Also Bee, the current world driver's champion! Him and roddy are in different motorsport categories, but still (not really) support each other.

[listranz]

ᴊɪᴍ ʟᴀᴋᴇ ᴊʀ. | ᴛʀᴏʟʟʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀs: ᴅᴇғᴇɴᴅᴇʀs ᴏғ ᴀʀᴄᴀᴅɪᴀ

[rewvyu]

Bruh... CN Stylists doing x17 Momo group photo in co-op!! 🥹

EDIT: I found even more!! 🥹

[coolio69420]

Shen Yuan learns that it’s very easy to hate on a character and wish for their demise in the most brutal way possible when you aren’t in the story.

Because he’s helping Ming Fan improve his guqin playing. The same Ming Fan that he wanted to be shoved into the dirt of the burning Qing Jing peak. He’s just a boy with a little too much pride but he has his loyalties, Shen Yuan didn’t know this before.

Qing Jing peak disciples were described to be stuck up brats and rich kids, flexing on Binghe and bullying him relentlessly. Shen Yuan cheered when their dead bodies littered the peak. He’s teaching them poetry as they all shuffle nervously to the front to read aloud their poems to the class as he gives them silent encouragement.

Yue Qingyuan was an enabler, turning a blind eye to the way the original goods was handling things. Shen Yuan wrote praise as the arrows bit into his skin and sent him falling. Yue Qingyuan brought him sweets and tea, always asked how he was doing after the peak lord meetings. He was a good man.

It’s very easy for him to forget that he’s in a story. These people weren’t real, they aren’t supposed to be real or complex; but they are. Somedays he can’t get out of bed curling up as he remembers the paragraphs describing how the peak burned to the ground. Ming Fan’s skin peeling off, disciples littering the once green ground. Binghe stands above it all Xin Mo in hand with a smirk on his lips.

Binghe brings him congee that afternoon with worried glances, he asks if he needed to see Mu Qingfang. Shen Yuan shakes his head and let’s Binghe set the congee on his desk.

Binghe lingers, Shen Yuan doesn’t dismiss him. He stays in his room for a long time. An esteemed immortal cultivator shouldn’t have a disciple in his room like this, but today Shen Yuan wasn’t one. Today he was scared and tired and feeling like the age he died as (Shang Qinghua said he was way too young to die but Shen Yuan has long grown numb to it with doctors in the past constantly estimating his chances of survival).

Then Binghe asks if he can hold him. He immediately backtracks profusely apologizing for his rude behavior and almost bolts out the door like a startled rabbit. He stops in his tracks when Shen Yuan whispers a small “please.”

Binghe lingers at his bedside before hesitantly joining him. He is stiff as he slowly wraps his arms around Shen Yuan’s torso. Binghe is no longer a disciple at the moment, he is a boy one year older than Shen Yuan; his friend that wants to comfort him. Right now Shen Yuan doesn’t have to pretend to be a wise old teacher with responsibility crushing him, right now he can lay in bed with Binghe and be held so softly and tenderly.

They lie in bed together for many hours. Him and this person who was so much more than the paragraphs upon paragraphs written about him. So much more than anything that Shen Yuan can conceive with his mind. Binghe was so much more, and so deserving of a better ending.

Shen Yuan cries at the abyss with the System’s timer ticking down. Sobs that wrecked his body and made him shake, his eyes puffy red as he watches Binghe with the glowing sigil on his forehead. Shen Yuan fall to his knees.

Binghe holds him, even at a moment like this. Throws his arms around him and squeezes so tightly like Shen Yuan was the one about to be thrown into this world’s version of hell. Like Shen Yuan was the one deserving of comfort in this situation.

The abyss arc was his all time favorite in pidw. It was the arc that his 12 year old self marveled at with all the unique monsters and flora. Eyes glued to the screen at all the challenges, women, and strength Binghe had received. He was eager for when he enacted his revenge.

Now he wished it never happened, never created, never thought up of. The disciples older and younger than Shen Yuan didn’t deserve to die, the peak lords he had grown close to didn’t deserve to die, Binghe didn’t deserve this fate. No one did, real people or not.

At least when he died in this life he would be in Binghe’s arms instead of alone like in his last one. He rested his head on Binghe’s shoulder as the countdown reached zero.

His heart stops and Shen Yuan dies.

Something glitches, his body convulsing.

Shen Yuan pushes Binghe off of him with strength he definitely didn’t have. He tries to control his limbs but they don’t budge. He was being controlled by something.

“STOP, STOP, STOP!” Shen Yuan tries to yell as his body robotically steps towards a scared Binghe. He knows what’s about to happen.

“BINGHE—BINGHE, RUN!” Shen Yuan tries to warn, get Binghe out of here. Luo Binghe stays put staring up at him so close to the edge of the abyss.

Shen Qingqiu’s body kicks him and he goes tumbling into the darkness. Shen Yuan screams until his throat is raw.

“So you’re the brat who’s been in my body.” A disembodied voice says as it seems to scrutinize Shen Yuan.

It’s very easy to hate the PIDW Shen Qingqiu, with or without being in the story.

[false-siffrin]

twin flames

co op au by @pillowspace

[charmac]

Logically, this is the next progression in Mac and Dennis' relationship

[nazumichi]

sleepover…….

[plu-mo]

the siblings,,, these atlas and p-body designs belong to @shrimperini >:o)!!!

[aashidoodles]

shiguang cosplaying as a couple at a con

Thanks for the prompt! 🦇

[pillowspace]

No one:

Tumblr user pillowspace: hey y'all mind if I drew another ISAT au that's going to occupy your brain forever? No? Okay! *Blasts with co-op ISAT*

(It's so cool I need more on my hands and knees)

The House has the prologue's wine! And since SAAPfrin and ISATfrin are both a split of the "original Siffrin" for co-op... You could say that some aspects go to one Siffrin that the other might lose

(This was drawn with the help of one of the poses from this post by @albanenechi)

[stonesense]

ended up giving wyll the permanent ability to summon shovel (as in, shovel, the murderous quasit who says “it’s fisting time!” at the start of combat, not a shovel) and the whole concept is so so funny to me i really love having it in my life