#support small platforms

[genericpuff]

CHAD ANON-

Alright so I've been meaning to post about this for a couple days, but we gotta talk about what's been going on in the /r/webtoons subreddit the last couple days.

Every now and then, the heavens part and an anonymous creator will descend with their experiences with Webtoons. And they're almost never good. And that's good in the long run, because that means we have more ammunition to support Webtoons being an ass platform that benefits no one :))

Obviously the anons here are risking a lot posting this sort of stuff, so before I go ahead, let it be known that I'm gonna try and keep speculating to a minimum and just touch on what anon has provided. When it comes down to it, this post hasn't been verified in any way, so it might not even be 100% real, though there's a lot of evidence to suggest it is based on the responses from other users that validate many of the points anon makes.

I will also mention that any opinion I have regarding the contract outside of what's been provided by anon is from reading other accounts from creators who have spoken up and just generally being a community member for a long time who's been around the bend and heard a lot of shit from Originals creators. I am not an Originals creator and I have never been offered any of these contracts.

So let's get into this!

The contract 'evolving' over time was definitely something that a lot of us were at least semi-aware of, as it seems that a lot has changed since 2020 as verified by many creators who have spoken up on their contracts (or at least said what they could in light of the NDA's that WT uses to prevent them from saying anything). But I had no idea the extent to how far WT was going with it, how much they were trying to get away with. Automatically having the ability to buy 100% of the creator's IP? That is a huge, massive no-no. I've had some creators heavily imply to me in the past that they've sold off portions of their IP, but WT being given the automatic pass to buy 100% is severely unethical.

For anyone out of the loop, IP means Intellectual Property. It means whatever content is being made, it belongs to the person making it. Lore Olympus is Rachel Smythe's IP. City of Blank is 66's IP. Of course, copyright law gets dicier when it comes to stuff like fair use, trademarking, etc. but for the sake of this topic, IP just means "if you made it, you own it". Webtoons typically buys digital print rights, meaning if you sign on as an Originals, that means you can only post that comic that you sold to the Originals section. It doesn't mean you can't use other platforms for other comics, just that for the comic you sold, you have to post exclusively to Webtoons.

Webtoons is essentially trying to take that from creators by going "if you sign on as an Originals creator, you don't just lose your distribution rights, you lose all of your rights." They might still be able to run Canvas comics separate from Originals, but whatever they sold to Originals is no longer theirs to own. And the kicker is that it's, of course, for a very low fee. Buying out 100% of someone's IP should NOT come cheap, but WT is undoubtedly offering pennies in the hope that someone bites for that 'exclusive' Originals offer.

This. This is a big one. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure this is massively ILLEGAL.

Just like with the IP rights, creators should not automatically have their printing rights taken from them by a digital publisher. They can make offers, sure, but they can't force creators into giving up their rights for physical publishing when they themselves are not a physical publishing house. Some series do get physical prints through other publishers like Random House (ex. LO) but a digital printing platform should NOT be able to restrict the printing rights of a creator who has only sold their series for the purpose of digital distribution. Especially because, again, printing rights are usually sold for massive gains for the person selling them - not a portion of month's rent for people living in a shitty New York apartment in 2024. That is what Webtoons thinks your printing rights are worth.

This is one that I've been very certain of for the past little while, particularly due to my past discussions regarding LO's merch. Because let's face it... it isn't good.

But I don't hold Rachel accountable for this shit because she's not the one making it, it's almost certainly some in-house designer at Webtoons or some other third party through Random House Worlds. Sure, it says "By Rachel Smythe" but that's more so just for marketing at this point, because no one wants to buy merch made by Chuck the Penguin House merch guy.

Remember when I said LO's partnership with Inklore / Random House Worlds was gonna be purely for cheap merchandise in the realm of cookbooks and card decks?

Yeah.

Point is, it's clear a lot of creators who are part of Webtoons' merch program may not even have any say or choice in the matter. Of course, I don't know what Rachel's contracts specifically are like, so I won't speculate on that too much, but there's a lot of evidence to suggest that she may not own as much of LO as she used to. She was definitely a part of the older contracts from 2018 at one point that didn't have the more predatory tacked on bullshit like the Minimum Revenue Threshold, but... she's renewed her contract since then. So it begs the question of how much LO has suffered not just on her account of being bad at managing a team and writing a long-form story, but at the hands of Webtoons dipping too much of their hands into her work.

Oh look, another highly unethical if not outright illegal thing! Digital print publishers can't be your agent! Repeat after me -digital print publishers CANNOT be your agent! As anon explains here, it would make it far too easy for publishers to steer their creators into directions that only benefit the company. Agents are like lawyers for artists, their job is to protect writers, actors, artists, anyone who's trying to enter some kind of media industry. Most publishing agencies won't take unsolicited manuscripts for publishing, which means writers need agents who are willing to vouch for them and help them connect with publishers. Webtoons being the publisher AND the agent for creators... seriously, that's fucked up. It means Webtoons can direct creators to do whatever benefits the company itself, not the creator. But hey, we already knew that was the case as soon as we saw "Webtoon would be able to automatically buy 100% of your IP" LOL But if you needed more to support the sheer predatory audacity of Webtoons as a company, there it is.

This is the sad reality for a lot of content creators. Comics aren't a new industry, but webcomics are and a lot of the people going into them are either extremely young or just never learned how to navigate the professional world. We talked about this issue last week and now here it is in action - a lot of creators don't even realize they're supposed to hire lawyers for contracts like these, and those who do... can't afford them.

And again, I'm very aware that this reddit post isn't exactly substantiated by anything beyond anon anecdote (such as a copy of the actual contract) but a couple other people in the thread who were offered contracts also came forward to express the similarities - and differences - between what they were offered and what OP was offered.

(these responses are actually gone now but that's why we have the power of screenshotting as the thread was happening LMAO yay me)

This thread is also being discussed on Twitter:

For those who are as old and falling apart as I am (/hj) and remember when Youtube was still coming into its own as a platform, what Webtoons is doing to webcomic creators is very similar to what businesses like MakerStudios did to Youtubers back in the day - signing creators into predatory contracts with the promise of fame and fortune, just to pull the rug out from under them with shit pay, shit management, and less perks than they had just doing it all on their own time and dime.

Webcomics, as a blooming industry, are now going through the same problem as Youtube did back in the late 2000's/early 2010's. No one knows how to navigate the industry. A lot of people and businesses don't even know how to profit off it, at least not sustainably (and for some platforms definitely not ethically). Very few people have come out of this industry with the money and fame they were seeking in the long-term, both because it's easy to burn out quickly but also because there is no long-term yet due to this being such a new industry... and those who have come out with those victories are often people who are still just pursuing the traditional comic publishing ways of glory, by seeking out agents, signing print deals, and doing everything that any other freelance or contracted comic creator would do, because it's safer and offers more structure than what webcomics are offering on their own. There are no regulations, no protections in place looking out for creators, it's basically just a free for all of young people looking to monetize their creations and businesses willing to take advantage of those people for a quick buck.

I don't think any of this means that webcomics have to be exclusively relegated to being a "stepping stone" for traditional print comics or grander media like film and television. They're a medium in and of themselves, a very accessible medium to boot, that welcomes anyone regardless of their status, technical skills, or background. They're wonderful for that and I think more people should be willing to give webcomics a try as a medium if they want to express themselves on their own terms.

But as I've talked about in the past time and time again, there's still going to be a separation between doing webcomics as a passion project or a hobby, and doing them as a profession. When it comes to the latter, you have to be willing to treat it professionally. You have to recognize that there will be those out there who will take advantage of you for money, because that's what the professional world is all about. This is unfortunately something a lot of creators just don't realize, because we're going through those same growing pains a lot of Youtubers have gone through (and still go through) - learning how to navigate our passion as a job, with all of the legal mess, dotted lines, and legal stipulations that come with it. And we're in the midst of that learning now, by seeing the actions of companies like Webtoons that only seek to exploit creators rather than foster them. It unfortunately will take more creators getting screwed over before anything changes. But we have to be willing to talk about it, every single time. We have to be willing to separate the creator and their own faults from the faults of the platform that's hosting them - a creator can be both lacking in their own skills as a creator as well as lacking in support which makes it impossible for them to hone those skills.

And yes, I say all of this because it concerns the criticisms I make of creators like Rachel Smythe. I think there are a lot of things she does that are indicative of her as a creator and her inability to act professionally in this industry, from LO's rampant misogyny and objectification of women to her own misfires when interacting with her fandom. But there are also just as many things that can be potentially traced back to the platform - it's hard to make better content when you're constantly being exploited and hung out to dry.

Like anon, I too hope that more creators will be willing to stand up and speak on behalf of themselves and their peers, to push back against these contracts. It's gonna suck. It's gonna be hard to want to make those moves when just about every creator is just trying to put food on the table. But for every anonymous creator who stands up and speaks, for every person who isn't willing to sign those contracts and talk about the reasons why, for every storyteller who uses their skills to spread the message, the power they have grows. We have to make it impossible for Webtoons to continue to ignore.

After all, it would be a real shame for more of these stories to come to light just as Webtoons is seeking an initial public offering in the stock market. Wouldn't that just be so unfortunate for them? :)

[kamodofilez]

HWAT, W-WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM??!

WAIT DOES THAT MEAN I SHOULD MAKE SOMETHING FOR THIS?? OH UH FUCK

[dollist444]

SMALL ARTIST!

DOLLIST

On ALL platforms🕷️

New album coming out NOVEMBER 1ST, 2024!

1535 (SPOTIFY)

This is one of the songs on the album! Please support me and give it a listen, it would mean so so much<3

[loelett]

anyone can unfollow if they think it's cool to post or purposefully interact with ai art btw

[jimalim]

There are so so many reasons I've decided I'll be phasing out my etsy in the new year, but one that's very high atop my list is when customers who buy a single sticker ask me if there's tracking information cause "it's been a while" and they haven't gotten it.

1. As stated in my store policies. All FREE SHIPPING items mail in a self addressed stamped envelope. Unless you want me to have to charge an extra 5 dollars (cause yeah that's how much it would cost to send a mailer) there's no tracking.

2. The USPS is running on fumes due to government underfunding, cuts to employees as well as service centers etc. It's gonna be slow any time of the year, ESPECIALLY so around the holidays.

3. I'm not Amazon. I can't guarantee 2 day shipping, and send out free replacements anytime it isn't delivered ASAP. Have some damn patience.

[kangpingyu]

why is gif making becoming a lost art in fandom spaces

[cryptic-paw]

Toree 2 | Part 1 on YouTube!

Become Part of The Pack on the official Cryptic Paw website, YouTube, and Patreon!

https://www.crypticpaw.com

https://youtu.be/IK88BNYHAgc?si=8Dz4Vlq55wyBYilt

https://www.patreon.com/CrypticPaw_Official?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator

Join me in playing the cute, indie platformer Toree 2 by Siactro!

[genericpuff]

All the cool kids use ComicFury 😘

Hey y'all! If you love independent comic sites and have a few extra dollars in your pocket, please consider supporting ComicFury, the owner Kyo has been running it for nearly twenty years and it's one of the only comic hosting platforms left that's entirely independent and reminiscent of the 'old school' days that I know y'all feel nostalgic over.

(kyo's sense of humor is truly unmatched lmao)

Here are some of the other great features it offers:

Message board forums! It's a gift from the mid-2000's era gods!

Entirely free-to-use HTML and CSS editing! You can use the provided templates, or go wild and customize the site entirely to your liking! There's also a built-in site editor for people like me who want more control over their site design but don't have the patience to learn HTML/CSS ;0

In-depth site analytics that allow you to track and moderate comments, monitor your comic's performance per week, and let you see how many visitors you get. You can also set up Google Analytics on your site if you want that extra touch of data, without any bullshit from the platform. Shit, the site doesn't come with ads, but you can run ads on your site. The site owners don't ask questions, they don't take a cut. Pair your site with ComicAd and you'll be as cool as a crocodile alligator !

RSS feeds! They're like Youtube subscriptions for millennials and Gen X'ers!

NSFW comics are allowed, let the "female presenting nipples" run free! (just tag and content rate them properly!)

Tagging. Tagging. Remember that? The basic feature that every comic site has except for the alleged "#1 webcomic site"? The independent comic site that still looks the same as it did 10 years ago has that. Which you'd assume isn't that big a deal, but isn't it weird that Webtoons doesn't?

Blog posts. 'Nuff said.

AI-made comics are strictly prohibited. This also means you don't have to worry about the site owners sneaking in AI comics or installing AI scrapers (cough cough)

Did I mention that the hosting includes actual hosting? Meaning for only the cost of the domain you can change your URL to whatever site name you want. No extra cost for hosting because it's just a URL redirect. No stupid "pro plan" or "gold tier" subscription necessary, every feature of the site is free to use for all. If this were a sponsored Pornhub ad, this is the part where I'd say "no credit card, no bullshit".

Don't believe me? Alright, look at my creator backend (feat stats on my old ass 2014 comic, I ain't got anything to hide LOL)

TRANSCRIPTS! CHAPTER ORGANIZATION! MASS PAGE UPLOADING! MULTIPLE CREATOR SUPPORT! FULL HTML AND CSS SUPPORT! SIMPLIFIED EDITORS! ACTUAL STATISTICS THAT GIVE YOU WEEKLY BREAKDOWNS! THE POWER OF CHOICE!!

So yeah! You have zero reasons to not use and support ComicFury! It being "smaller" than Webtoons shouldn't stop you! Regain your independence, support smaller platforms, and maybe you'll even find that 'tight-knit community' that we all miss from the days of old! They're out there, you just gotta be willing to use them! ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

[theindiemaniac]

“We are a great egg! We are going to make a great omelette one day!” 😂

[dogwittaablog]

do you think nolan will play hockey again or he’s officially retired? I like to think that he’s off taking care of himself now to get better and get back to nhl

I guess most can argue he’s not actually retired even tho we all know how it seems to be in that direction.

He’s going to be out the league for 2 years once it hits March…

Doesn’t seem to be keeping up with a strict diet or workout regime by the seems of it (Random observation taken from a video of him in Calgary before Kale Clagues wedding, you can tell he’s put on some happy weight).

Him doing that coaching program also indicates to me he’s probably looking at other career options to move forward. (I feel like he’s lowkey not doing it anymore but thats a different discussion…)

Anyways… He’s way too high risk with his head injuries doesn’t seem like the type to want to be playing at any pro level and going against his health and fucking with his quality of life, most people are not the same by one concussion… so I can’t imagine being in his situation where he took multiple pucks and hits to the head. Also with his luck even if he was magically healed from all his head trauma, I bet it’d just happen again.

[turncapitalpartners7]

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[aishuglb12]

Tony Xu’s Grand Delivery: How DoorDash’s CEO Is Shaping the Future of Food Delivery Through Bold Consolidation

A New Chapter in Global Food Delivery Led by a Visionary CEO

In a rapidly evolving digital economy, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu has redefined leadership by transforming a once-humble startup into a nearly $90 billion tech titan. His bold strategy to consolidate the fragmented food delivery market through major acquisitions—including Deliveroo for $3.9 billion and SevenRooms for $1.2 billion—is rewriting the industry’s playbook. As food delivery faces economic headwinds and increased competition, Xu’s aggressive expansion reflects a clear vision: strengthen the core, own the edges, and empower small businesses. At the heart of it all lies a founder whose values are embedded deeply in the company’s DNA.

How a Dorm Room Dream Turned Into a Billion-Dollar Movement

DoorDash was founded in 2013 by Tony Xu and a team of Stanford University students, driven by the goal of helping small businesses grow through delivery. What began as a class project in Stanford’s “Startup Garage” quickly scaled from suburban deliveries via a Google Voice number to a nationwide operation. Unlike many rivals that focused on dense urban centers, Xu saw an untapped opportunity in suburban markets, delivering where others couldn’t or wouldn’t. That insight helped DoorDash achieve product-market fit early on, fueling growth that would make it a dominant force in U.S. food delivery.

Leadership Tested: Slashing Fees During the Pandemic

When COVID-19 devastated the restaurant industry, Tony Xu made a counterintuitive decision: cut commission fees to help partners survive. Chief Business Officer Keith Yandell feared this would derail their IPO, but Xu held firm, arguing that “if restaurants don’t thrive, we cannot.” The move cost DoorDash over $100 million, but earned immense goodwill and loyalty. More importantly, it highlighted a key value proposition: DoorDash isn’t just a platform, it’s a partner. The decision solidified Xu’s image as a long-term thinker willing to sacrifice short-term profit for strategic resilience.

Acquisition Spree: Consolidating the Future of Food Delivery

In recent years, Tony Xu has moved to centralize the food delivery ecosystem, acquiring complementary platforms and services. From the $410 million purchase of Caviar in 2019 to the $8.1 billion acquisition of Wolt in 2021, and now Deliveroo and SevenRooms in 2024, Xu is playing the long game. DoorDash also announced $2.5 billion in convertible debt, with proceeds earmarked for future acquisitions. Each deal has expanded either geographic reach or product capabilities, underscoring a core business strategy: scale efficiently while diversifying offerings to both consumers and restaurants.

Values Built into Code: Tony Xu’s Unique Leadership Style

Tony Xu’s leadership approach is hands-on, values-driven, and deeply personal. He regularly joins his employees in completing delivery orders through the company’s WeDash program. His origin story—from mowing lawns in Illinois to founding DoorDash—resonates in every aspect of the company culture. He personally approved offers for the first 4,000 employees and insists that “character is more important than credentials.” Even now, he answers customer complaints, drops his kids to school, and maintains a rigorous schedule that includes calls with global teams—a routine that reflects humility, grit, and relentless work ethic.

Read More : Tony Xu’s Grand Delivery: How DoorDash’s CEO Is Shaping the Future of Food Delivery Through Bold Consolidation

[sublimerascal]

Been making a habit of liking any youtube vids people try to share on tumblr because if we're their intended audience then that's gotta be good shit

Also like it's an easy way to support small creators

[carltonlassie]

I took today off of work because people I don't know kept on messaging me on slack. Scary stuff out there

[thunderlina]

In the wake of the TikTok ban and revival as a mouthpiece for fascist propaganda, as well as the downfall of Twitter and Facebook/Facebook-owned platforms to the same evils, I think now is a better time than ever to say LEARN HTML!!! FREE YOURSELVES FROM THE SHACKLES OF MAJOR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS AND EMBRACE THE INDIE WEB!!!

You can host a website on Neocities for free as long as it's under 1GB (which is a LOT more than it sounds like let me tell you) but if that's not enough you can get 50GB of space (and a variety of other perks) for only $5 a month.

And if you can't/don't want to pay for the extra space, sites like File Garden and Catbox let you host files for free that you can easily link into NeoCities pages (I do this to host videos on mine!) (It also lets you share files NeoCities wouldn't let you upload for free anyways, this is how I upload the .zip files for my 3DS themes on my site.)

Don't know how to write HTML/CSS? No problem. W3schools is an invaluable resource with free lessons on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and a whole slew of other programming languages, both for web development and otherwise.

Want a more traditional social media experience? SpaceHey is a platform that mimics the experience of 2000s MySpace

Struggling to find independent web pages that cater to your interests via major search engines? I've got you covered. Marginalia and Wiby are search engines that specifically prioritize non-commercial content. Marginalia also has filters that let you search for more specific categories of website, like wikis, blogs, academia, forums, and vintage sites.

Maybe you wanna log off the modern internet landscape altogether and step back into the pre-social media web altogether, well, Protoweb lets you do just that. It's a proxy service for older browsers (or really just any browser that supports HTTP, but that's mostly old browsers now anyways) that lets you visit restored snapshots of vintage websites.

Protoweb has a lot of Geocities content archived, but if you're interested in that you can find even more old Geocities sites over on the Geocities Gallery

And really this is just general tip-of-the-iceberg stuff. If you dig a little deeper you can find loads more interesting stuff out there. The internet doesn't have to be a miserable place full of nothing but doomposting and targeted ads. The first step to making it less miserable is for YOU, yes YOU, to quit spending all your time on it looking at the handful of miserable websites big tech wants you to spend all your time on.

[heliotrope-journey]

The Trek to Dracula's Castle Begins

Good evening, vampire hunters.

The prologue level of Heliotrope Journey: Passion of Rancor is now available for you to play. Choose between Florentin Chinezu and Angela Pendragon to experience their respective stories in the year 1962 as they find each other at Dracula's castle. Both have a common goal to take down their landlord and save their neck of Wallachia from destruction. If Florentin and Angela can take on a horde of creatures of the night and soldiers from the RSR army sent to the village, it'll be a hopeful sign that they're ready to explore the castle that has terrified onlookers for centuries. Who will you play as in the prologue and why? Let us know in our Ask button. :)

My gratitude goes out to a dear friend of mine, Total Stranger, for sketching Florentin's and Angela's portraits for the character select screen. He does remarkable fantasy sketches as a hobby and he was excited to pitch in so we can finally get the prologue released just before the holiday season.

We still plan to add Janessa's portraits of our heroes to the character select screen, but due to her busy schedule, they'll be framed at a later date as soon as she's available and Total Stranger's portraits will be moved to Passion of Rancor's hub area when its first level is released. Photo by Adriana Sas on Unsplash.

We hope you enjoy playing the prologue of Passion of Rancor and have an excellent few days leading up to Thanksgiving. Just don't serve turkey if Gobblet crashes your feast. <_<

Sincerely,

WN