essential-randomness

[essential-randomness]

"these researchers published a paper on something that literally any of us could have told you 🙄" ok well my supervisors wont let me write something in my thesis unless I can back it up with a citation so maybe it's a good thing that they're amplifying your voice to the scientific community in a way that prevents people from writing off your experiences as annecdotal evidence

[essential-randomness]

# yaaaaay another fun and thoughtful read from bobaboard

💖💖

Rebuilding Community on the (Fujo)Web, pt. 2

This part (my favorite) is all about why "getting help from your community members" is not a straightforward way to exit the Downward Spiral of Indie Projects Burnout. The answer is "simple": power dynamics

Many Indie Projects start from a desire to flatten the hierarchy of power between platforms and users. Many project runners are uncomfortable with wielding power at all!

But wishing power away is not enough: the US vs THEM always lies in wait, ready to rear its head—especially in moments of crisis.

Above all, power is not as simple as we make it: while we all understand the power that flows from top to bottom of a hierarchy (power-over), we rarely talk about power that flows FROM the bottom of a hierarchy to the top—even though we see it all the time!

Power-under is all around us online.

Changing the power dynamics that happen in Indie Projects and our Community Spaces means understanding that it's not enough for people who build them to give away *their* power, we MUST figure out how to get people to take on the power that's given away. Reaching shared power requires both sides.

There is a lot more to this talk that would make this Tumblr post way too long. You can read more in the article itself, or a longer summary in this Bluesky thread.

Come to @citruscon this Saturday to watch me give (and discuss) its spiritual successor! 👇

[essential-randomness]

It's that time of the month(s)!

The FujoCoded Mune (Jay?) newsletter is out

Find the table of content in the pic👇 or go straight to the site for all our work in the past month+!

Are you a hobbyists HTML/CSS dev looking to build your skills and get some extra cash? Are you a more experienced developer wanting to contribute to a FUN project, with a mission you can stand behind?

This month, we've added a "small-gigs" webdev recruitment form to our line up! Check our opportunities out and 🏦💰🥖 Come join our fight for a better web 💪🌐

✏️ Writers assemble! Do you want to help with our NPM articles? Or maybe, you want to help us sell the lore behind our catboys (and beyond) to the wider public? Our Writers Intake Form is for you!

💻 WebDev Gigs incoming! There is a lot going on in the FujoVerse™ and many pages (like the one on FujoGuide Volume 0) could use some TLC from entry-level HTML/CSS-wranglers. We also have a few other challenges at different levels we’ll be looking to take care of as we grow. Join the fight here!

🖼️ Art(ist) Archive! We’ve got some character art needs in the pipeline (don’t we always?), and we’d love to have even more artists on tap for when that gets firmed up—monsterfucking tendencies appreciated but not required. Add your info here!

Read the full newsletter, help us spread the word, and see you next month!

[essential-randomness]

Rebuilding Community on the (Fujo)Web, pt. 2

This part (my favorite) is all about why "getting help from your community members" is not a straightforward way to exit the Downward Spiral of Indie Projects Burnout. The answer is "simple": power dynamics

Many Indie Projects start from a desire to flatten the hierarchy of power between platforms and users. Many project runners are uncomfortable with wielding power at all!

But wishing power away is not enough: the US vs THEM always lies in wait, ready to rear its head—especially in moments of crisis.

Above all, power is not as simple as we make it: while we all understand the power that flows from top to bottom of a hierarchy (power-over), we rarely talk about power that flows FROM the bottom of a hierarchy to the top—even though we see it all the time!

Power-under is all around us online.

Changing the power dynamics that happen in Indie Projects and our Community Spaces means understanding that it's not enough for people who build them to give away *their* power, we MUST figure out how to get people to take on the power that's given away. Reaching shared power requires both sides.

There is a lot more to this talk that would make this Tumblr post way too long. You can read more in the article itself, or a longer summary in this Bluesky thread.

Come to @citruscon this Saturday to watch me give (and discuss) its spiritual successor! 👇

[essential-randomness]

[staggering to my feet and wiping a single perfect drip of blood from my mouth] i have to get back on my bullshit. no matter the cost

[essential-randomness]

we doin' it folks

(you can check out last year's talk from yours truly here, second part tomorrow!)

The Citrus Con schedule is now LIVE! Check out our 2025 programming and make sure you don't miss out!!

[essential-randomness]

i don't know why we should care if the actors "don't see it" that's because you're trained in acting, whereas i am trained in the ancient and noble art of shipping. get ready to have fake sex with someone who reminds you of your sister, actor boy

[essential-randomness]

do you guys wanna see my favorite video on the internet yes you do

[essential-randomness]

Rebuilding Community on the (fujo)Web — Part 1

It's (finally) time! A year after my CitrusCon24 talk & 10 days before my next, Part 1 of my "Rebuilding Community" series is on my blog.

This part explores why many indie social projects are caught in a "Downward Spiral" of disillusionment and burnout.

What's the "Downward Spiral"?

It's the vicious cycle where project runner burnout, user disillusionment, and impossible expectations feed each other. This makes it harder for the next project to get off the ground, and breeds resentment even within aligned communities. On… and on… and on…

I also look at the common "solutions" we desperately want to believe would work, but that are anything but straightforward:

Reducing scope (doing less)

Raising more funds

Relying on volunteers

Featuring: one of my favorite charts 👇 as they say, "ouch"

In the next part, we'll explore THE core issue we must fix, one that (once you see it) explains so much of… everything: our relationship to power.

You can watch the full original talk on YouTube, or follow along as I post the rest in the next days!

See you soon at @citruscon for my new talk (and spiritual successor): "Working Together in a Dying World"!

In the meantime, if this presentation convinced you I know what I'm doing (I do), support my work to fix this whole mess on Patreon

[essential-randomness]

Rebuilding Community on the (fujo)Web — Part 1

It's (finally) time! A year after my CitrusCon24 talk & 10 days before my next, Part 1 of my "Rebuilding Community" series is on my blog.

This part explores why many indie social projects are caught in a "Downward Spiral" of disillusionment and burnout.

What's the "Downward Spiral"?

It's the vicious cycle where project runner burnout, user disillusionment, and impossible expectations feed each other. This makes it harder for the next project to get off the ground, and breeds resentment even within aligned communities. On… and on… and on…

I also look at the common "solutions" we desperately want to believe would work, but that are anything but straightforward:

Reducing scope (doing less)

Raising more funds

Relying on volunteers

Featuring: one of my favorite charts 👇 as they say, "ouch"

In the next part, we'll explore THE core issue we must fix, one that (once you see it) explains so much of… everything: our relationship to power.

You can watch the full original talk on YouTube, or follow along as I post the rest in the next days!

See you soon at @citruscon for my new talk (and spiritual successor): "Working Together in a Dying World"!

In the meantime, if this presentation convinced you I know what I'm doing (I do), support my work to fix this whole mess on Patreon

[essential-randomness]

hey sorry not to be an asshole but I saw someone say that a sports team posting about pride month was "pandering" and I need you to log off and touch grass because now more than EVER it's important that large institutions (and especially those that could easily be right wing like sports teams) show the fuck up for queer and trans people. especially trans people. so no it is not "pandering" to take a stand for a marginalized group of people that are currently under attack for trying to play sports. be so fucking for real

[essential-randomness]

Rebuilding Community on the (fujo)Web — Part 1

It's (finally) time! A year after my CitrusCon24 talk & 10 days before my next, Part 1 of my "Rebuilding Community" series is on my blog.

This part explores why many indie social projects are caught in a "Downward Spiral" of disillusionment and burnout.

What's the "Downward Spiral"?

It's the vicious cycle where project runner burnout, user disillusionment, and impossible expectations feed each other. This makes it harder for the next project to get off the ground, and breeds resentment even within aligned communities. On… and on… and on…

I also look at the common "solutions" we desperately want to believe would work, but that are anything but straightforward:

Reducing scope (doing less)

Raising more funds

Relying on volunteers

Featuring: one of my favorite charts 👇 as they say, "ouch"

In the next part, we'll explore THE core issue we must fix, one that (once you see it) explains so much of… everything: our relationship to power.

You can watch the full original talk on YouTube, or follow along as I post the rest in the next days!

See you soon at @citruscon for my new talk (and spiritual successor): "Working Together in a Dying World"!

In the meantime, if this presentation convinced you I know what I'm doing (I do), support my work to fix this whole mess on Patreon

[essential-randomness]

Bake Sale #2: The (limited edition) Re-bakening

tl;dr: missed our fandom cookies? Buy them AGAIN for a limited time!

Friends, fujin: production is ready! Our fortunes are chosen, our packaging is selected, and only one foe remains—alas, the most terrible of them all: minimum order quantities.

As we discovered when placing the final order, minimum order for Gluten Free cookies is per flavor. This means we need to sell 5 more packs for each Gluten Free flavor to meet the threshold!

Know someone who hates gluten? Curious about what gluten free flavored fortune cookies taste like (we're told, delicious)? Want to help our founder not meet a terrible fate and have to eat a bunch of unsold cookies herself?

Buy our cookies now for the very last time!

...and don't forget to send this to your friend who hates gluten!

Already bought cookies? Get free shipping at checkout with code ENCORE! Want 15% off? Check out our latest Patreon post!

[essential-randomness]

Bake Sale #2: The (limited edition) Re-bakening

tl;dr: missed our fandom cookies? Buy them AGAIN for a limited time!

Friends, fujin: production is ready! Our fortunes are chosen, our packaging is selected, and only one foe remains—alas, the most terrible of them all: minimum order quantities.

As we discovered when placing the final order, minimum order for Gluten Free cookies is per flavor. This means we need to sell 5 more packs for each Gluten Free flavor to meet the threshold!

Know someone who hates gluten? Curious about what gluten free flavored fortune cookies taste like (we're told, delicious)? Want to help our founder not meet a terrible fate and have to eat a bunch of unsold cookies herself?

Buy our cookies now for the very last time!

...and don't forget to send this to your friend who hates gluten!

Already bought cookies? Get free shipping at checkout with code ENCORE! Want 15% off? Check out our latest Patreon post!

[essential-randomness]

tl;dr: No stream today!

My talk at CitrusCon nears, and between coordinating the hiring of writers, the production of cookies, and regular @fujocoded operations, I can use all the head-down time I can get.

This talk is timely and necessary, and I hope you'll all enjoy it a lot. Time to go make it all it can be ✨ Wish me luck!

[essential-randomness]

Bake Sale #2: The (limited edition) Re-bakening

tl;dr: missed our fandom cookies? Buy them AGAIN for a limited time!

Friends, fujin: production is ready! Our fortunes are chosen, our packaging is selected, and only one foe remains—alas, the most terrible of them all: minimum order quantities.

As we discovered when placing the final order, minimum order for Gluten Free cookies is per flavor. This means we need to sell 5 more packs for each Gluten Free flavor to meet the threshold!

Know someone who hates gluten? Curious about what gluten free flavored fortune cookies taste like (we're told, delicious)? Want to help our founder not meet a terrible fate and have to eat a bunch of unsold cookies herself?

Buy our cookies now for the very last time!

...and don't forget to send this to your friend who hates gluten!

Already bought cookies? Get free shipping at checkout with code ENCORE! Want 15% off? Check out our latest Patreon post!

[essential-randomness]

Bake Sale #2: The (limited edition) Re-bakening

tl;dr: missed our fandom cookies? Buy them AGAIN for a limited time!

Friends, fujin: production is ready! Our fortunes are chosen, our packaging is selected, and only one foe remains—alas, the most terrible of them all: minimum order quantities.

As we discovered when placing the final order, minimum order for Gluten Free cookies is per flavor. This means we need to sell 5 more packs for each Gluten Free flavor to meet the threshold!

Know someone who hates gluten? Curious about what gluten free flavored fortune cookies taste like (we're told, delicious)? Want to help our founder not meet a terrible fate and have to eat a bunch of unsold cookies herself?

Buy our cookies now for the very last time!

...and don't forget to send this to your friend who hates gluten!

Already bought cookies? Get free shipping at checkout with code ENCORE! Want 15% off? Check out our latest Patreon post!