#(< does not have any money to buy merch)

[veevoosh]

THEYRE SO SILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[worm4brainzz]

i opened an etsy shop to sell my arts and jewelrys.... and also a patreon where i will be doing commissions.........soon

[swordfright]

this might just be because i'm a bit older than your average mcyt fan, but it makes me kind of sad to see all these younger fans scramble to wipe their mcyt fanworks off the internet the second a content creator is revealed to have done something awful.

don't get it twisted, I'm a big believer in rescinding financial support to ccs you no longer agree with or admire by unsubscribing, deciding not to buy merch, or refusing to give them ad revenue by watching their content. if you don't feel comfortable giving someone money, don't give them your money. material support isn't what i'm talking about here - I'm talking about fanfic, fansongs, fanart. yknow, content that fans create for themselves and each other, stuff that's not for ccs.

in the past year (and especially the past week, obviously) i've seen tons of mcyt fans saying they're planning to delete their art (or that they already have deleted) because they don't want their work to be associated with content creators who behaved badly, and that they want "a fresh start." I've seen fan writers say the same thing about their fics. and like, this is fine, do what you want with your stuff, but i'll be honest...it does make me sad that so many younger fans seemingly have been made to feel such a high degree of responsibility for ccs that they're unable to enjoy fandom (a thing that is FOR US! FOR YOU!) or take any measure of pride in their past fanworks.

again, at the end of the day you should do what you want with your own shit. but what i will say is, if what you want to do with your work is delete it, at least think first about why you're considering the nuclear option. you aren't responsible for a cc's behavior, and that goes for literally anyone who's ever had a hand in making anything you like: books, movies, games, anything. you shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of having created fan content for a piece of media that a shitty person was involved in making. straight up, this kind of shame isn't something i believe should exist in fandom, because it's parasocial in the same way that positive emotions towards media/creators can be parasocial.

and also, as someone who's been involved in fandom for a long time, i can say with confidence that creators will keep disappointing you like this. there are shitty people out there. if you're searching for a piece of media with zero shitty people ever involved in the project, you will not find it. i'm not saying this to normalize shitty behavior on the part of creators, I'm saying this to emphasize that bearing the shame and guilt of every creator to this degree is not sustainable or healthy (and it's not how fandom used to operate, but that's a conversation for another day, perhaps.)

i understand why so many folks are considering deleting their fanworks, and if that's you...think about it before you do it. that's all i'm asking. you don't want to create a habit of divesting yourself of all evidence of having been passionate about art created by someone who sucks, because if you do get into that habit, then your chances of ever truly enjoying a fandom again are, unfortunately, pretty slim.

[trashfangirlsworld]

Hello! I've been inactive due to the current events in the mcyt community, but I've been keeping up with the qsmp admin situation and I thought I'd share some opinions because the amount of doomposting I've seen the last few weeks has been more than I've seen in any fandom in a while and I feel like it's reached the point where people really need to chill the fuck out because they're not thinking straight and actively not helping. Everything I'm gonna say is based on stuff I've seen on both tumblr and twitter.

they should not promote/release merch! : one of the things that baffles me the most tbh; how do you expect any employee to be payed then? Merch is so far the only big source of income for the server besides q's own cc salary or whatever income they get through the official qsmp channel on twitch and youtube (which I don't think is a lot). "I get that they said they have no funds, but still it doesn't feel right"... sorry but at this point I don't know what to tell you, do you expect them to pull money out of their asses? You can't demand that they stop making merch and then complain that they can't afford the twitter admins at the same time. If you don't feel comfortable buying anything from them it's fine obviously, but if your reason for it is that you're helping the admins then I have bad news for you. I have seen people propose that quackity sets up a patreon, and while I think it would be a good idea, I understand why he's not doing it, since with the merch he can at least give something back to the people that choose to support his project instead of people just giving him money for free, especially with what's happening now. Also with how much hate he's been receiving simply for the merch I can't imagine that a patreon would be recieved well.

we don't know if the money is going to the admins/ they should not use pomme's likeness! : the money is definitely going to go to the employees and admins because otherwise the server would not last. And as much as I understand people feeling protective over pomme's admin, quackity studios is very much allowed to sell merch of the character because it is not the likeness of the admin, it's a minecraft model made by the people that work there. Would you have rathered they skip her character entirely? Do you really think that would have been okay?. Also correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen posts and tweets saying that pomme's admin has been confirmed to come back with the other eggs whenever it happens by pierre, who talked with her admin.

the admins of the update accounts got fired, it means they want to fire everyone, they aren't making things better! : it sucks that the updates accounts had to end and I feel bad for every twitter admin that clearly cared a lot about the project, but unfortunately it had to happen if there simply isn't enough money to pay them adequately like they deserved and ultimately the update accounts were not essential to keep the project going, so it makes sense that they were let go unfortunately. This is not gonna be the case for the egg admins because if they got fired (which they didn't), the server would basically end. Just because a cc does not know when they will be back does not mean it's not gonna happen. Just because tubbo randomly said that he's not sure if they will be back does not mean they were fired; tubbo is normally not a reliable source of information, even less so when he's been live nonstop for the past 20 days, which is prior to everything happening. If you genuinely didn't expect a reduction in non essential staff considering everything, then you have unreasonable expectations on how this stuff goes. As I write this, I'm seeing people saying that "they would understand this decision if q had set up a patreon to pay the admins", and once again I don't understand how people don't realize why quackity might not be keen on the idea of having his fans pay his own employees for his own project instead of, you know, doing it himself; and, again, do not fool yourself into thinking it would be recieved well. That being said, it's fair to criticize how everything was communicated to the admins, but I'll get to this in more detail later.

quackity should not have uninstalled social media, he's trying to avoid everything! : he's not avoiding anything, he's been off social media for a while now, which is why it took him that long to remove wilbur from the server. He has every right to not want to look at social media, as his focus should be on restructuring his server instead of doomscrolling on twitter because people think he needs to see how much people dislike him. The only people that he should talk to are those that have important information to tell him, like josè with the document. He explicitly said on stream where to contact him if you have helpful information and I'm sure that despite multiple well liked posts saying not to spam his email, people are definitely doing it anyway, which is probably gonna slow the whole thing down even more. I hope josè's document is able to be seen with pierre's help as well.

quackity studios is not communicating with their employees and leaving them in the dark and that's not okay : I agree with this. i think a huge chunk of doomposting lately has been due the lack of communication not with the audience, but with the admins, and they deserve to know what is happening behind the scenes more then us since this is about their current or future job.... that being said, I do kind of understand why they're being so secretive and shutting everyone out, and that's due to all the "leaks" that have been spread online. I understand the anger but I really wish some people would realize that discussing leaked bts lore stuff in ccs discord servers does not help the situation at all and instead makes it seem like they're only doing this to rile up the fandom against quackity studios by using the lore of people's fav characters.

At the end of the day, I think people just aren't used to dealing with a situation that does not have a clear cut solution and someone to clearly hate, so the result is this doomposting and the over aggressiveness toward anything related to the project. Personally, I haven't witnessed anything that made me lose faith in the qsmp like some people have been saying, as every change that we've seen so far coincides with what quackity said on stream a while ago. I only wish things were communicated properly to the admins clearly, as they're the ones most affected, so I hope that's resolved soon. Ultimately quackity is singlehandedly restructuring the server from basically zero, has had to fire people that were misusing money and power and, depending on what josè's document said, is probably gonna have to fire some more. This is not an easy process, nor a quick one, you're not gonna hear about sunshine and rainbows for a while and doomposting about everything you hear because you expected quick change is useless. Think before you speak, have a clear head and most importantly have empathy.

[ioniansunsets]

please just a crumb of heartsteel sett 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

✖ Heartsteel!Sett Headcanons ✖

✖ Word Count: 876

✖ Tags: Established R/S

✖ A/N: Just crumbs! I am UNINSPIRED! Aaaa it's just very domestic headcanons. Feel free to ask for more specific things if any of these make you excited!

----

- He likes picking you up, he's strong enough to. You cant reach something? No, he's not helping you, he's picking you up so you can do it yourself. Huh, walking is tiring? He's carrying you. Oh damn there's a puddle, alright up we go. Sett makes sure he can lift your weight. There is no instance you would catch him lacking, man will hoist you.

- Sett is always looking for you. Like actually turning around to make sure you're in the room. Waiting and searching to see if you are still following him. Walking around a store to make sure he has his eyes on you. He likes knowing you are there, that you are near so every so often you can see his head rise and turn as he looks for you, making sure you are there. The same for when he performs! Sett is constantly scanning the audience to find your face. Hoping to see you. Smiling widely when he does. He loves you! He WANTS to see you as often as possible.

- His ears get cold! He likes it a lot when you lightly rub them, actually being able to feel the warmth of your hands heat it up. Because he works out so often he is just a natural warm guy, so he feels the cold when the wind blows at his ears. Its why Ma made him the beanie anyway. If you kiss his ears they twitch. When he blushes they get warm. When you scratch them you might hear him purr, its a deep rumbling, a warm tone.

- Sett thinks its adorable if you want to work out with him! He will spot for you, give you advice, help you every way he can. Meal plans, tips and tricks, your personal trainer and motivator. Soft kisses when you hit a goal. Big hugs when you survive a gruesome set. He loves spending time with you and if you follow him to the gym he can do just that. Tired after? He's carrying you out.

- He likes body contact. He likes when you sit by him, lying on his lap as he practices singing or rapping. He likes you holding his hand as you walk around on dates. He likes to hug you from behind as you do things. He likes the physical reassurance that you are by his side. A hand around your shoulder as you two sit and chat. The gentle touch of his hand on your thigh when you talk to him. His arms wrapping around you when he falls asleep by your side. All the small things. He loves feeling You.

- When he gets the chance he always tries to buy you thoughtful gifts. He remembers! Ma taught him well. When you talk about needing a new bag because your old one is breaking? He find the best one and buys it for you. You talk about your favorite colors and animals? He remembers! He buys you cute little gifts that remind him of that. Damn, winter is cold, you forgot you lost your old gloves? He already bought you a new pair in fall. There are cuter moments too. You bringing up snacks you miss from childhood? He learns, he bakes them for you, buys them for you, finds Someone who sells them to get them for you. He is attentive. He is an idol with money, he will do what he can for you how he can.

- If you can and show up for his shoots or practices he gets excited. Doing his best, making sure to get things done as soon as possible so he find you during a break. Happily chatting with you while he hydrates. Laughing and joking at his mistakes with you when he fumbles. You warm his heart. If you get along well with everyone else in Heartsteel he gets happier. They are like family to him afterall.

- He refuses to have you spend money on him when its band related, he gives you all his merch. He gets a copy anyway and they are YOURS. Sett is happy to see you wearing a tee with his face! Have posters of him (signed) in your room. He likes if you show him off as much as he shows you off. He loves loving you and loves being loved.

- If you get hurt or get sick he's is nervous and frantic. He wants to be there for you at all times, making sure you are ok. He frets over you, genuinely worried that a little cold will be life or death. He doesn't know how to actually help you thought, it takes help from messaging his mother and Yone to realize he needs to keep you cool, get you food and just let you rest. Which he hasn't been doing cos he's been in and out of your room non-stop. But he's learning.

- He hums a lot! You can catch him singing or humming songs while working out, showering, doing chores. He is a rockstar and music is important to him, it shows. He doesn't get embarrassed if you point it out, its more like a " Eh? I didn't realize it was even doing it. Must be a good tune." Moment.

[mareastrorum]

These are just initial thoughts, and perhaps I’ll learn something that changes my mind on it, but I’m glad to see Critical Role making the leap to their own subscription service with Beacon.

As a lead in: I’m an attorney that has some background in IP law, though it isn’t what I practice currently. I’ve kept in contact with several active practitioners, particularly those that represent small-time creators either in their own independent practice or via nonprofits. I do not have an extensive Rolodex of IP peers, nor do I spend the money to keep up on IP CLEs. I’m just someone who used to know a ton because I did heavy research and work in that space, and that hasn’t been the case for years.

So here’s my thoughts a bit on the IP angle:

The primary reason I’m happy to see this leap is that CR is taking active steps to keep control over its IP. It’s a boring thing to most people, but when I start paying attention to a specific creator (authors, directors, companies, etc.), I tend to be very attentive to how they use their IP. How freely do they license their marks to partner with other creators to make merch? How often do they allow others to make adaptations or derivatives of their copyrights? What is the quality of those products? What is the supply chain like? Are those third parties objectionable in some way? Were the other parties faithful to the original works or marks? Was this a cash grab or an earnest effort to make something worth the price tag?

Honestly, I like how CR run their business. They have a history of tapping fans and fellow small businesses when making new merch or spinoffs. They embrace the culture of fan-made derivative works, both by featuring fanart/cosplay and by sharing their success. Do you know how rare it is for a company to pay fan artists for their already-made and freely posted work and then sell books of it? Let me be clear: CR bought a limited license from each artist so they could print and sell each work in a physical book, then paid the cost of publishing that book with no guarantee that CR would make that money back, let alone profit. I have a copy of the collector’s edition art books: they’re actually very well made and the packaging definitely cost a pretty penny. That’s not a rainmaker idea, that’s genuinely risking financial loss to sell something people could access for free if they wanted to.

The art books aren’t a one-off either. Darrington Press is CR’s separate LLC for tabletop games. (It’s good business practice to split off companies that handle products in different industries.) CR has also made shows based on those games, and the Candela Obscura series has quite a dedicated audience. Everything about Candela belongs to them: the game itself, the rule book, all the art in the book, the web series based on the game, and merch. It’s so successful that they invested in scheduling a live show for Candela later this month. That’s HUGE.

Contrast that with the distribution of Campaign 1 and the first 19 episodes of Campaign 2. CR cannot host those videos themselves; Geek & Sundry still exists and still holds what I presume to be distribution rights (but I don’t have the contract to review). So G&S gets to host those videos on YouTube and reaps the advertising. I can’t speak to whatever share CR gets from that, but considering that CR is locked out of hosting their own copies of those videos, I doubt it’s much, if any, revenue. (If you’re wondering why CR just didn’t buy those rights back, I ask: what incentive does G&S have to sell something that’s making them money for no cost?)

Knowing that background about G&S, I was wary of CR choosing Amazon to host and distribute The Legend of Vox Machina. Originally, TLOVM was not the plan; CR had a kickstarter for an animated special based on C1. It was only because they blew past the goal that CR was able to make an entire season. The reasonable assumption is that choosing Amazon had to have secured CR additional funding for future seasons of the show, which seems evident from how quickly season 2 was announced, Mighty Nein Animated is also going to be a thing, and that season 3 of TLVOM is scheduled for fall 2024. CR had the option of just doing 1 season and keeping it purely in their control, but going with Amazon meant they could animate more of their works. Animation is expensive. I cannot stress enough how doubtful I am that CR would have been able to afford this many episodes and both campaigns if they had not gone this route. As wary as I was in the start, it paid off, and it’s going well—so far. Hopefully CR doesn’t regret that decision if Amazon tries something sleazy. But, as before, we don’t have the contracts and can’t know how secure CR’s position is if any dispute came up.

CR also partnered with Dark Horse Comics to make Vox Machina comics and Might Nein Origins comics. What’s especially surprising is that each of the cast had a hand in writing the MNO comics for their characters, with Matt listed for multiple. That isn’t very common with comic adaptations. Often times, IP owners let comic companies go ham with minimal oversight. Being listed as one of the authors comes with IP rights that have to be negotiated. That means that Dark Horse had to talk with CR about whether that warrants more or less revenue going to which party in exchange for that—or, alternatively, whether the comic gets made at all. That’s a ballsy move. You think people can just demand to write the comics that a publishing company is going to pay to print? Pffft. CR wanted some creative control, and that is a big ask. However, Dark Horse still has the distribution rights, both digitally and for physical copies. You couldn’t buy the comics from CR until they came out with the library edition, a book bound compilation of 4/8 comics. But the publisher is still Dark Horse; CR is just allowed to sell the book directly from their own site as well.

Contrast that with the novels about CR characters. CR partnered with Penguin Random House to publish novels about Vex and Vax (Kith & Kin), Lucien (The Nine Eyes of Lucien), and Laudna (What Doesn’t Break). Liam and Laura were vocal about having some say in K&K, whereas Madeline Roux said in an interview that she had full control over TNEOL. Both of those novels were narrated with CR voices, but narrating a book doesn’t come with IP rights, it just brings in a paycheck. There’s a lot less IP control in there compared to the comics, but this isn’t abnormal for book publishing. To be blunt, I doubt PRH would have agreed to publish the novels if anyone from CR had been a co-author or had heavy oversight over the author or the editing. I don’t think PRH even considered that as an option. Either an author that has already managed to sell X number of copies or nothing. Creative control over a book a huge ask, asks come with reduced revenue, and switching to books from a web series is already a leap. The fact that Laura and Liam had any say is surprising, really.

That was a long meandering tour of what we’ve seen CR do with its IP. The reason I bring up each of these things is that navigating the way to protect an IP in this space is rife with challenges. Different types of IP warrant different strategies because of the cost involved in creating each medium and the challenges placed by industries that have already sprung up around them. Any time that a third party is tapped to create an IP, it’s usually because they already have the funds and resources to create the work, and CR has to negotiate for revenue, creative control, distribution, and—the big one—who gets to be the owner. These are not easy, quick, or fun conversations, and CR is always going to be the smaller company at the table.

Knowing that, I’m not surprised or worried that CR is creating its own independent subscription service with Beacon. It tells me that they’re being careful with their IP whenever they can. A subscription service means they don’t have to trade away distribution rights or give up ad revenue to a third party. They’re in this for a long term investment, and that requires solid income not tied to third parties that can definitely outspend them in litigation in the event of a dispute. A subscription for bonus content is one of many parts in a diverse revenue stream.

(All that said, this isn’t meant to criticize creators that cant afford to do this type of thing. It took 9 years for CR to get to the point where Beacon is financially feasible and a desirable business decision. They have enough ongoing, popular content to warrant paying for a subscription, and they’ve built sufficient trust with their audience that more will be added. That takes time and an awful lot of money.)

As a final note, I take this step as a sign that CR definitely intends to stick around. This isn’t a move people make when they plan on ending the business after the current campaign. I’m glad to see CR is taking steps to secure their foundation and keep making new content.

I’m sure people will chime in on other issues (cost, content exclusivity, etc.), but I hope my perspective gives an idea of why this sort of thing is good for business generally and why it would be good for CR.

[i-cant-sing]

Uncle naoya after baby fushiguro burned his hair : you know what? That's it! No allowance for u, good luck trying to buy that MSG loaded about to go stale ramen!

Baby fushiguro just walks by the zenin uncle's and aunts rooms and just being handed money for no reason : ^-^

No cause its really like that. Naoya may be your primary caretaker in the Zenin estate, but ain't nobody listening to him. When he punishes reader and cuts off her allowance, then she isn't worried one bit because really, what does she even need an allowance for??? She can just ask for whatever she wants directly. MSG ramen? She just asks aunty Zenin to add it to her grocery list and it's there by the hour. Any toys or hello kitty merch she wants? Grandpa Naobito just hands her his phone so that she can order anything she wants with his black card.

Really, even if she does need money, she doesn't have to do much to get it. Initially, she'd go and help bring lunch with the servants to her uncles and aunts and they'd just hand her envelopes full of cash as a reward for "cooking" for them. Now, all she needs to do is go and sit with them, maybe a kiss ok the cheek if you want extra cash, and the men of Zenin clan will happily hand you their wallets. The women of the clan would give you their allowances and gold coins if you were to simply spend some time with them and maybe let them do your hair.

Now when Naoya has to punish you, he specifically tells everyone that you're being punished and not to give you any money or rewards. But the Zenin clan can't say no to you, they give up easily the moment you give them those big doe eyes and your chubby cheeks just make it so hard to resist, so they'd try to sneak you some money behind Naoya's back, hiding the envelopes full of money in your kimono and telling you not to tell Uncle Naoya.

But Naoya finds out of course, probably when you're running around and these envelopes just start slipping out of your clothes💀 and he is marching behind you to tell you and whatever member who's been giving you wads of cash off when suddenly he sees you sitting in-

Grandpa Naobito's lap, happily munching on 7/11 ramen.

Naoya: you're not supposed to give her money. She's being punished-

Naobito, without looking up: you're going to get punished if you don't take your nasty ass face out of here. And if you ever cut off her allowance again, I'll make sure I cut off yours!

Naoya:

Baby Y/n: 🥰🥰

Naoya, leaving and mumbling under his breath: stupid ass baby that none of them wanted before I took her in

[abbyshands]

I can't even lie; I think a lot of the reason that TLOU fans specifically seem to be so angry about the strike and annoyed at having to hear about what's going on in Palestine is because they don't want to be reminded of the reasons why they should no longer buy anything in relation to the game. They don't want to be made to feel bad if they bought the remaster, or merch, or just bought the games in general even after finding out about Neil being a Zionist and sending money to Israel. It's sad, honestly.

anon. THIS! 100% percent. people are too full of themselves to want to feel responsible, to be held accountable. and it’s not like we’re saying to never play the game again, you know, never like it again? i don’t think people realize that it doesn’t even work like that. you can very well play the game (or watch someone else do it) or watch the show n’whatever, just make sure you’re getting it secondhand or pirating it, etc. what’s so hard about that? i hardly own a video game i didn’t buy secondhand, and i know i’m not the only one who’s watched a movie or show on some random ass site. it isn’t that difficult. and if you want to get merch? places like etsy have a million things you can buy, things even better than nd’s actual stuff (and, obviously, you’re not funding a zionist in the process).

like, it’s one thing when you’ve already purchased things before you knew. okay, well now you do, and here’s your chance to compensate for that, at least a little bit. but going out of your way to buy the remastered or saying you’re gonna keep watching the show & whatever (from hbo, i mean), when you know all of this? that shit’s just fucked. neil druckmann does not need you to dick ride him for being an actual pos. like, what?

i can’t even get what’s so hard about remaining aware of the media you consume, especially in our world. it’s not even just the last of us you need to do this for: it’s any show or movie you watch, any game you play, any book you read. you can’t just not do that considering the world we live in today. i believe that’s incredibly ignorant, and to be less scholarly, dumb. i never believed i’d see the day where a genocide wouldn’t be enough to make someone’s heart break. to make someone fucking cry. to make someone not want to speak out about it, to do their part to get it to end. god, i can’t believe it.

but on a bit of a better note, it makes my heart swell to see people on here, especially most of my mutuals, using their voices and followings to spread awareness about this. can’t even explain how much i love you, how much you deserve the world. or to people like this anon, who aren’t attacking me or anyone else for doing the right thing, & speaking actual common sense ♡

sorry this was such a long response, but you really spoke to me on this one, anon !!! keep spreading awareness about these people suffering before our eyes, backlash & ridicule or not. FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE.

[genericpuff]

Scamlords is at it again.

A few nights ago, there was a sudden blow-up in the /r/webtoons server showing a new announcement from Snailords -

For anyone unaware, Death : Rescheduled has been on mid-season hiatus since October. And it's now, and only now, that Snailords has suddenly decided the comic is ending after it returns, but readers can get an extra 20 episodes... if they fork over $1k in merch sales.

Now, this could be a lot worse. They could be threatening not to return to the series at all unless their readers hand over money. But considering it's practically just one degree away from that, it's still pretty nasty. Not to mention, the further they divulged in their reasoning around this "idea", the more confusing it got.

They also even revived their @snailordsrant account on IG which, for those of you who were there and can recall, was the same account they used to put one of their own fans on blast over some very mild criticism.

None of this makes any actual sense, for several reasons:

1.) I literally fail to see how getting $1k in less than 24 hours is worth shoving in an extra mini arc of 10 episodes if you don't even have it planned out. Why do that to your audience or to yourself? Why drag things out just to scrounge up an emergency $1k? Why not just be honest with your audience and run a GoFundMe or just say , "Hey everyone, I've run into some financial troubles, I would really appreciate it if you could FastPass my newest episodes or donate to my Patreon or buy some merch so I can cover the costs". It's really telling that this shithead doesn't have enough confidence in themselves or their audience that practically worships them that they have to resort to this kind of underhanded shit to get the money they need. I wanna make it clear that this is NOT like a Kickstarter stretch goal or anything that incentivizes readers to support their work, they're instead holding the length and future of their series over their audiences' head (which they've done before) for money. That's not an incentive, it's an ultimatum.

2.) Maybe I'm misreading / being stupid (someone pls explain if I'm missing something here) but I literally don't see how their comment about working 50 hours a week explains why they're suddenly getting their fans to pay out $1k worth of merch in less than 24 hours. For anyone who doesn't know, $1k per episode is an example Webtoons uses in its post discussing how they pay out creators (this came after the platform got called out 2 years ago for paying creators too little, there are undoubtedly creators getting paid less). And yet for some reason $1k is apparently the difference between 10 episodes and 20? How does that add up? And is the bit about them wanting to buy boba supposed to be a joke? Where's the punchline here?

3.) They say they have writer's block and they want to use the money to "motivate them", but then just a few slides later they say 10-15 episodes is what would make them the "happiest" so which is it? Do they want to write 10 episodes or do they want people to pay them to write 20 episodes so they can draw the fluff scenes that they apparently want to draw? If you have an ending planned out, why rush it or drag it out depending on how this "fundraiser" goes? Why not just write the ending you want to write that will serve your story best? Why shove in an extra mini arc that you don't even have full confidence in writing and then try to compare it to a "super expensive cake"? What are you doing? Speaking as someone who's had trouble getting motivated in the past, suddenly getting a month's rent worth of money to do it doesn't necessarily solve that, it just turns up the pressure, and if you're not someone who deals with pressure well, then you're more likely to wind up just burning out entirely rather than fulfilling that goal.

4.) The fact that they did, in fact, hit their goal just makes it all the shittier to think about because their audience is mostly made up of teenagers who worship the ground that they walk on. It's horrifying that they keep pulling these stunts with their audience, and getting away with it to boot - and Webtoons, as a company, keeps enabling it by allowing it to happen by hosting and promoting people like this.

Anyways, there's already a lot going on here that's sketchy, but then... they went and deleted their posts. At the time of this happening (as I was there to witness it all play out in real time) I assumed this meant that they had hit their $1k goal - especially as they had been showing their progress on their IG and they were already at $900 after just a couple hours - but it gave me a sinking feeling seeing them delete it because they had also been called out by some brave readers telling them that it wasn't exactly a good look to essentially blackmail their audience through their own content into giving them money.

Snailords deleting it gave me a stronger impression of "burying the evidence", especially now that they had the money. By all accounts, they could do whatever they wanted now.

So what did they decide to do?

. . . Huh?

Okay, take a second to actually think about what Snailords has done here. Because I know some of you will go "oh, it was for charity all along! that was nice of them!" but . . . I don't know about the legalities of collecting donation funds under false pretenses, but morally speaking, it's a really shitty thing to do. They stripped away the choices - limiting them to three - of what their readers could donate to, and what I think their readers don't understand - due to being mostly teenagers - is that they're tax-exempt individuals and they just unknowingly gave Snailords an easy $1k tax write-off. You really, really shouldn't collect donation funds like this without being honest, it's just a shitty thing to do, especially after you've already collected the money. It mostly just comes across as damage control on Snailords' part to make it seem like they were always planning to donate to charity, when in reality, if they wanted to donate to charity, they would have been honest about that at the start. Again, even if they wanted to do that from the start, it goes to show how little confidence they have in themselves or their audience that they have to stoop to methods like these instead of just doing it honestly.

And do you really think Snailords will actually do those extra episodes? Or donate that money? This is the same asshole who has manipulated their readers for money not once but twice, and now seems intent on doing it a third time just for the charm. This is the same person who practically sabotaged their own comic, Freaking Romance, because they apparently didn't like the romance genre and may as well have only done it for clout / views / etc.

What was especially odd - and I found this out from folks who actually read Death : Rescheduled (I do not) - was finding out that it wouldn't make sense for D : R to end in as many as 25 episodes, because apparently, the plot has basically just gotten going.

So it does seem like this is foreshadowing that D : R will wind up just like Freaking Romance, rushed into an ending that wasn't expected. And this, of course, has the people who read their work confused because D : R was supposed to be Snailords' passion project, their magnum opus, the project they wanted to do. So them holding the timing of an ending that shouldn't even be happening yet for ransom contradicts that original intention. Really, it just goes to show that Snailords has no passion, they're just in it purely for the money, to a degree that I can't even cheer them on for being a hustler because it's missing the honesty and integrity.

And of course, every single time Snailords finds a way to backpedal and take his audience for a ride, they hop right in without a single thought for themselves.

And no, none of this is to hate on the readers directly, I hold Snailords entirely responsible for this - they have an audience of impressionable, naive, gullible teenagers, and they know it, and take advantage of it every chance they get. It's why they weren't just honest about wanting to collect money for charity from the start. It's why they resorted to basically holding their own comic's progression for ransom during its midseason hiatus. It's why the deadline was 24 hours and why the posts are now gone.

Thankfully the Internet does what it does - any evidence that Snailords was trying to bury is now all over reddit, and hey, just for good measure, here's a post on Tumblr that's been sitting in my drafts for days now, days after people have already seemingly stopped talking about it. Don't let anyone bury or forget about the stunts Snailords is pulling on their audience, with a platform that they've been consistently given by Webtoons, because that's what they want you to do.

[zorosbeau33]

Courting Gifts Part 1~ BNHA/MHA Omegaverse headcanon

Starring: (aged up college or older) Midoriya, Bakugo, and Shinso x omega reader G: Fluff, some humor, sfw The guys are alphas for this part as that is just how I picture these three~ Tw: none for this one! W: 1,510 Masterlist~

This timid alpha does not understand courting gifts

He gets the tradition, however he doesn't understand why he can't just…buy you and gift you only All Might Merch

It takes several of his friends sitting him down for him to understand that not everyone's dream nest would be their boyfriend's mentor

He is so red and shy when he comes to you about it with a bouquet of lilies and some non-All Might-themed blankets of your favorite colors

Despite the initial All Might gifts from the time you started courting he is constantly getting little treats and putting them in your locker or if you catch him handing them over as he babbles about how pretty you are and how much he loves you (shaking the entire time)

Not huge on non-All Might name brands. It's not that he doesn’t care or isn’t willing to spend the money he just doesn’t really know anything about them and is more likely to get small things that remind him of you.

Baby loves to get cute couple things, matching pajamas, especially with mugs to match each other with sappy nicknames or quotes or designs on them

Clumsily wrapped hand picked bouquets from when he was on mission in another part of the country (yes he stayed up the night before to pick them in the moonlight)

Once he figures out what are your favorite foods he is going to bug the daylights out of Kacchan to teach him them. May even do something embarrassing to get him to agree to it. Don’t worry Kirishima assigned himself as a referee to be there so no one would get hurt

Once he sees you buy any of his own merch expect to be gifted every single thing that you comment you like when he’s reviewing the merch prototypes. 

It's embarrassing for him, and he does whimper he feels silly gifting them to you, but they make you happy. 

Seeing you curled up cuddling plushie him on his couch wearing one of his actual hoodies with “hoodie” written on the front, when he comes home from a mission? Oh his bawling woke you up, he couldn’t help it he was so touched 

Bakugo

This man? Oh he started with the courting gifts before you were even courting

No of course you didn’t notice he’s smooth af

Its cold out “Idiot tt, you really are helpless” shoves handwarmers into your hands. 

Somehow procures a blanket from his den when on mission and wraps you in it while on stake out on the roof…in another town…and yes it makes you smell just like his heady alpha scent 

Your stomach grumbles? Suddenly theres a snack in your hand/pocket

You yawned? Oh my somehow you took a nap on his shoulder. And no he didn’t get violent with anyone after for teasing him. He merely nodded at your thanks and went about the next task…yes Kirishima has photos of him looking lovingly at you. And Yes he may have scented you and taken a nap breathing in your scent.

You don’t recall when but several of those blankets of his ended up in your nest and he loves to mention that he’s missing them but not to you, no he enjoys seeing you blush and if you try to bring it up or apologize or return them to him he finds some other pressing matter and tells you to talk to him on it later…later never comes

When he asks to court you? Oh he makes you dinner picnic by the river, somehow gets you into some clothes of his or a jacket of his, and after dinner brings out some nice drinks for you and asks permission (not for you to be his oh no) if he could be yours. 

Yes he gives you a necklace or earring if you say yes he may have even made them

He is not stingy, will leave things for your nest everywhere. Constantly wants to scent you and things for you, expects you to scent him too and better be thorough about it

He tells the others to shut up they wish they were him if they ever try to tease him for it. He is so proud of your scent

This man is all for a clean house but gods having your blankets that you had him scent all over does not count as mess, those are all possible nest spots in his mind and he respects and protects them

He bought guest blankets because he buys you all the plushies and blankets and pillows you want for your nests and does not ever want someone to use those if they visit even if youre okay with it, those are your nest and he will protect your safe place with his life

Not huge on designer presents, but thats because he’s looking at the quality of a product. He will spend 1,000 on a blanket if he thinks the quality is worth it and it would make you happy. But 1,000 on a bookbag/bag you may only use three or four times and looks like one villains blow will ruin it? Nope

He is big on learning to make things, so expect him to build you furniture, or get Best Jeanist to help him so he can make you the worlds cutest and one of a kind bags and accessories (he makes some subtle couple bags his bookbag matches your bookbag/handbag)

Flowers are always on your dinning table and they always look perfect and fresh its his pride

Calm exterior, panicking internally. His first courting gifts are subtle like Bakugo but a bit more intentionally evident

“You were cold yes? Here use mine.” gives you his gloves and chuckles shyly “Dont worry I have more at home you use them”

Brings you little cat themed things because he hopes they’ll remind you of him. A little kitty keychain, some cat shaped onigiri in your favorite flavor with a little “You did well make sure you rest” on your work desk

Once you're courting he gives you everything, he would give you his soul if he could

Flowers? Everytime you meet up until you warn him theres no more space for more flowers

Plushies, bet lets go pick some out together. Turns the brightest shade of red when you compare them to him or if you ask him to scent them. A mess trying to hide his face in his hands or jacket collar.

Surprise presents are a thing too, they don’t happen often but when the thought occurs he will send presents to your job (even if you work together) to surprise you. Is gummy smiling when you talk about them later, he loves seeing how you melt with these

Loves having his scent on you as much if not more than Bakugo, though he is much more calm and lowkey about it

Would offer you his clothes and things to wear but will not just…put them on you or wrap you in them. He’s very soft and gentle when he offers.

Absolutely melts to see you in his oversized clothes, theyre huge on him-they swim on you and it ruins him. He's both horny, melting, shy, and falling in love all over again.

He bakes

You get a little bento box of baked goods (Eri is thrilled because she got to taste test everything) every so often

Makes you cake or pie or bread whatever you prefer for special events or home dates

He also likes to treat you to homemade ice cream, just leaves it in your work or home freezer with a little kitten on it for you to know its a gift from him

Another one that likes to make his gifts

They are a bit clumsy but he likes to make little clay figurines for you whenever he goes away on a long mission or has to go undercover and can't see you

You could have a whole shelf of the tiny watcher cats hes made (some of them are themed after your friends or dates you both have gone on like the grey cat with a tiny sakura on its head for when you both went to see them bloom)

This comes with the unexpected side gift of one or two cats from Eri she begged him to teach her to make for you (she also made him some so technically you both have couples cats made by Eri)

Shinso would love to give you designer things and he does. From brands that he knows or if he thinks you will like them~ Especially smaller brand concept artist stuff. 

Was given the idea from a job commission and thus has recorded his voice for you once while drunk to use as your morning alarm, ringtone for him, and alert message (yes it's him meowing thats the only meme one the others are scalding hot and yes he did record his alpha purr/growl)

[dead-dove-yandere]

OC Intro - Laura

Fangirl Yandere

Female ♡ 22 ♡ Human ♡ Baker

TW: Obsession, unhealthy parasocial relationship, stalking, implied violence

♡ - You’re her whole world. You don’t even know she exists.

♡ - Laura leads an ordinary life. She has good friends, a good family. She works for a family friend in a cute little local bakery. She goes home and watches her favourite anime. She adamantly supports her favourite idol online, and that idol happens to be you.

♡ - Her love of the band you’re in, and especially of you is no secret to anyone. She has every album, keeps a small collection of photocards of you. She has posters and merch. She reposts fancams of you and makes wholesome heart edits, just like any other devoted fan.

♡ - She has a perfectly charming life. She never started out as a yandere.

♡ - But something is missing.

♡ - She’d always been the single friend. The last to leave the club, alone. The one buying the discounted chocolates the day after Valentine’s day. She never quite understood why, and her friends assured her it was just bad luck.

♡ - She really did try to believe that for a while. That one day her luck might change, and she’d find the one. But it didn’t stop her heart aching.

♡ - One day, luck does strike - your band is performing a concert near to where she lives. Her and her friends are ecstatic, planning what to wear, how to get to the venue, what to eat. Laura is buzzing with excitement.

♡ - The night comes and Laura is having the time of her life, screaming along to every song, whooping and cheering and applauding. She dances with her friends almost the entire night, just happy to be there.

♡ - Then it happens.

♡ - She swears she saw you make eye contact with her and smile. Even when others tell her it would have been nearly impossible for you to see her from the stage, she is adamant that she saw it.

♡ - Her whole world stops in that moment at the concert. She stares with an awestruck wonder, hardly able to believe it. Her heart is pounding so loud in her ears she can no longer hear the music.

♡ - In that moment, she realises why she had such bad luck with love. It’s because you’re her soulmate, and she is yours. You two were meant to be each other’s true love.

♡ - None of her friend and family notice at first that anything is different. The change is subtle. Watching music videos more often. More posters, more merch. She spends even more time posting about you on social media.

♡ - Even at work, she takes to sneaking to the back to check her feed to see if there are any new fancams or pictures of you.

♡ - It’s impossible to scroll through any tags about you without every other post being made by Laura.

♡ - Her friends first start wondering if something is wrong when her cutesy style of editing starts to warp. They’re still wholesome on the surface, but something about them is off. Too dark, somehow. They can’t quite put their finger on why though.

♡ - Laura tries to send a message introducing herself to your official page. You never even knew she’d sent anything - your social media manager wrote it off as spam and deleted it.

♡ - Laura’s a little upset, but not surprised. She understands there is still a lot of distance and obstacles between you both. But she knows you love her the same way she adores you, and that everything will fall into place as soon as you meet again.

♡ - There’s a meet and greet taking place soon near her home. She’s already spent far too much money on a ticket. She plans to confess her love to you right there and then.

♡ - And if her confession doesn’t work? Not to worry. Of course a fan as loyal as her will have a Plan B to finally be with her idol.

Personality

Laura started off as a normal girl but became a yandere after a perfect storm of heartache and an obsession with her darling, an idol. Very few would be able to spot that she is a yandere without a closer look, as she keeps it well hidden, but something always seems off about her. She seems withdrawn, stuck inside her own head where she dreams of her idol darling being with her. She’s sweet and caring, and loves to dote on her darling, often spending her time at work thinking about what pastries she’d bake to spoil her darling with. But she’s also determined and not afraid to get more aggressive if she needs to in order to get with or keep her darling.

Divider Credits: See Pinned Post

[fl3shm4id3n]

Bₑᵢₙg ₐ ₛᵢₙgₑᵣ/ᵣₐₚₚₑᵣ ₐₙd ᵢₙ ₐ ᵣₑₗₐₜᵢₒₙₛₕᵢₚ wᵢₜₕ: ⱼₒₕₙₙy Cₐgₑ

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴊᴏʜɴɴʏ ᴄᴀɢᴇ x ꜰᴇᴍ! ꜱɪɴɢᴇʀ/ʀᴀᴘᴘᴇʀ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Tw: Age gap (Johnny is 58 and reader is 28), mentions of fans/people being weird.

A/N: Reader is heavily inspired by Doja Cat, I may write more stuff about this. I'll read any feedback of any kind.

Masterlist

When the public found out that you and thee Johnny Cage were in a relationship, a lot of people lost it. Some assumed that the only reason he was in a relationship with you was because so that he could still be famous or whatever other things they say. All you both did was just ignore those people comments.

That wasn't the first time some of your so called 'fans' tried bashing you for the decisions that you make. Same with Johnny. He isn't with you because of your fame and money, you and him actually had chemistry.

You and him were made for one another believe it or not. You both were like soulmates, literally. They were times where you and Johnny shared a braincell.

The thing about Johnny, as much as self absorbed that he is. He actually a very caring and sweet person to be around. He also is very good at making people laugh and get them to be flattered. That's what made you fall for him. He is a himbo in a way, but he is your himbo.

He is very supportive of you. He knows how much potential you got and you should show share it with the world.

Johnny likes to listen to your music, he's the type to listen to all kinds of music. At times you may hear him humming to your music and even singing under his breath while he's doing something.

He may not know very much about music, but he'll help in any way you need help in. For example, if you're having a difficult time trying to come up with lyrics or a beat for your song, he'll try and help. He loves to help you in all ways possible.

If that doesn't work with your writers block, you'll stop what you're doing and do something with Johnny. Whether is watching a movie, cooking together, simply just lay together in bed, or whatever you can think of.

A thing that he likes about you, is how you call out your some of your 'fans' on their weird and toxic behavior. He's had his fair share of his strange over the top fans. But he's never really had the guts to tell them off. He liked that you did, that gave him some sort of courage for him to do so as well.

You and Johnny have blast reading comments and watching videos in how you have become 'satanic'. It was funny because it all started when you began to work on other projects, that aren't what you normally do. This stuff isn't new though, every time a music artist does something new and is successful at it, then they've become a 'Satanist'. That's old news, probably as old as Johnny.

He's goes to your concerts and even on tour with you. He becomes your personal assistant in a way, because he knows you like the back of his hand. He doesn't mind it at all, he enjoys being your personal assistant. (He takes your kisses as payment.)

He also makes it his mission to record all most everything about the concert, mainly you since you're the star of the show. His star.

Johnny buys your merch. He doesn't have a shame in wearing it. He'll wear it 24/7. Whether is a shirt, hoodie, sweater, socks. He wears it.

Most of his social media, is of pictures of you and him, sometimes mainly just you. He also posts in his Instagram story your posts about your new album or shows. He loves to show you off to everyone. (He's probably do that one Will Smith meme when he is with you in public. Specially when it comes to events.)

Johnny is a dog person, but if you have pet cats. He'd end up spoiling the hell out of your cats. He'd also refer to them as yours and his kids.

[bonesox]

OM! Brothers and What They Do When They Miss You

a/n: Sorry for not posting in a bit. I have been very busy! Also i hope my writing is alright.. i haven't written in some time.

Lucifer:

While he may try and hide it everyone can see it eating him from the inside out. Since you've been gone he's dealt out even more punishments than usual.

The brothers can hear his footsteps pacing back and forth in his room at all hours of the day. He's not used to not having a human sitting in the corner of his room keeping him company. Without you he is lonely and he is more spaced out.

Sometimes he goes into your room and walks around. He'll lay on your bed, touch the belongings you had left behind, and maybe even tidy up a bit. He realizes that it help his brain calm down so now he works in your room.

Mammon:

He tries not to show that fact that he misses you by pretending he doesn't miss you at all. The others can tell that he does in fact miss you by the amount of times he says he doesn't miss you.

Whenever he hears your name in a conversation his ears perk up and he listens. Of course since he's so occupied listening to the conversation/s he has bumped into many things like lampposts, tables, and other people.

He calls and text you constantly at all hours of the day asking how you’re doing and what you're doing and where you're going and.... just anything he can think of really.

Leviathan:

Ever since you left he has been cooped up in his room playing video games. He cries at any character that acts like you, has the name hair color as you, and has the same first letter as your name in their name. He thought video games would help distract him from missing you, but obviously not.

When his brothers try to get him out of his room he will become very irritated and lash out on all of them (this had ended in several repairs needing to be done to the house.)

He made a dating character look just like you so he could talk to them, but they aren't the real you. After a while he desperately misses talking to you so he ask if you want to play video games on a call.

Satan:

Books are what kept him sane while you were gone, but once he ran out of books to read all hell broke loose. It started out with simple bickering with his brothers and then developed into full blown fights. In addiction to that Lucifer of course would punish him for his actions which made him even more furious.

While reading all his books he couldn't help but see you in ever character. He then becomes obsessed with the character that acts just like you. He buys merch for them (going to leviathan for most of the help) and puts it all around his room.

He started writing a book about you and your amazing adventures in the human world. Though he may never publish it he always holds it near and dear to his heart.

Asmodeus:

As soon as you left his spending habits increased. He would buy any little thing that reminded him of you. In his room there was a little area dedicated to you and the things you enjoyed.

Lucifer punished him many times for going over his weekly spending limit. No matter the punishment he would always fall back into spending more money.

Now he sleeps with a bunch of pillows next to him to replicate you. Of course he calls you and chats nearly every day, but nothing can compare to you actually being there with him. Just to have you close he buys a ticket for you to go back down to devildom.

Beelzebub:

Since you had made your way back to the human world most of the food in The House of Lamentation had been eaten. Piles and piles of wrappers, boxes, and containers filled Beel and Belphie's room. He had resorted to eating even more since you had left, but no amount of food could fill his heart.

The family had started eating meals without him due to him devouring everything. He would eat alone in him room and imagine you there with him keeping him company. Many of the brothers have walked in on him talking to "himself."

Once a month (or even once a week) he takes trips up to the human world to spend time with you. From eating at buffets to eating at cafes, he does it all with you.

Belphegor:

Since you went to the human world he had found it extremely difficult to fall asleep. He would lie awake staring at the ceiling imagining what you had been doing or how your day had went.

Since he was quite sleep deprived from the restless nights he became more irritable. With any wrong word or move he would lash out. This of course lead him to constant punishments by the hands of Lucifer.

Now he has you send him some of your clothing so he can fall asleep at night with them wrapped around his hand (or even pillow). This method works fine, but of course it would be better for you to be right there with him.

[imnotavamp1r3]

♡ Tips for being emo/scene!!! ♡

🎀 Become familiar with the music

I don't think that if you're emo or scene that you have to listen to every single band and genre under those labels, but I would recommend at least being familiar with as many bands as you can as those subcultures are music based. While fashion is still important, it won't matter how good your outfit looks if you don't engage in what is the most important part of the scene.

🎀 Check the kids' sections of thrift stores

If you're on the shorter or thinner side, then you should definitely check the kids sections in thrift stores because you can find things like cartoon merch that you wouldn't find in the adults section. This is especially helpful for if you're scene since most stores aren't going to carry super colourful clothes in the adults section.

🎀 Don't worry too much about not looking emo or scene enough

I'm fairly active on r/scene, and one of the most frequent kinds of posts I see are people asking 'Am I scene enough?' or 'Is this scene?' I think those posts really highlight an issue in many alternative communities, which is that people will focus more on looking like they belong in their subculture rather than dressing how they want. This is an issue because focusing solely on fitting into a style won't help you find your personal style, but rather discourage your individuality. The point of being alternative is to express who you are and be unique, not to look like everyone else, so when you put together an outfit you should always focus on how much you like it, not how emo it looks.

🎀 You don't have to be pale, skinny, white, ect. to be alternative

I see a lot of people ask if they're allowed to be emo or scene while being coloured or plus sized, and the answer is that anyone can be part of any subculture. Just because the most popular emo and scene influencers like Eugenia or Johnnie were pale and thin doesn't mean everyone has to look like them. During the Myspace era, there were also plenty of people with the style who were Asian, black, plus-sized, and more. Plus I'm half Asian and I'm obviously emo. Additionally, black emos do not have to straighten their hair. There is nothing wrong with embracing your natural hair and if someone calls you a poser for that, their opinion doesn't matter.

🎀 You don't have to spend a lot of money

Obviously if you have the money and you want to wear Demonia and Tripp, you can do that. But I've seen a lot of people say that they don't have enough money to dress alternative, and while that definitely does limit your options a lot, you can still get cute clothes by thrifting or shopping on second hand apps. Stores like Romwe, while not the most ethical way to buy your clothes, also have cute stuff that's on the cheaper side.

That's it, byeeee!!! ˚｡⋆୨୧˚♡

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I asked my girlfriend to get me a replacement mask?

So I and my girlfriend (both adults) are in a long-distance relationship and live on different continents but visit each other for periods of weeks to months at a time. As background context, my girlfriend is notoriously bad with money - she's owed me over $1500 for half a year now after I covered some big expenses for her when she was unable to save in time, though I've told her there's no particular deadline for giving it back and to just do it when she's able, but she's also borrowed money from her parents, she's paying off a credit card debt, and despite having a full-time job she seems completely unable to save anything substantial and is constantly buying things.

We both like a certain musician, and this shared interest in the musician is actually how we met in the first place and bonded. They've dropped some merch in the past, and it always sold out within 5-10 minutes, and they're borderline impossible to get now unless you a) are lucky enough to find another fan who's giving theirs away, which is super rare because of how hard they are to replace, or b) are willing to fork out thousands of dollars for a resold one on some dodgy site somewhere. One of the merch items I got from one of those drops was a facemask, and my girlfriend has a matching one - I can't remember if it was something I bought for her, since I did that with some merch if I got there in time, or one she bought herself. It became a huge comfort item for me - I'm both autistic and have avoidant personality disorder, so I'm almost always in some kind of mask to hide my face, and this one being connected to a special interest as well as comfortable and a perfect size (and goes with all my clothes!) made me super happy. Last time she visited, we joked around about having identical masks but that it was easy to tell which one was hers because it had makeup stains all over the inside.

As she packed to leave, I mentioned that I couldn't find my mask anywhere and asked if she'd picked mine up as well as hers by accident, so she dug through her bags and said she didn't have it, only hers. I was kinda disappointed but I figured it'd turn up sooner or later so I accepted it, and she flew back home.

A few days later, she let me know she'd unpacked and discovered she actually did have both our masks. I asked her to send it back to me, and she said she would.

Fast forward a few months, I'd asked a few more times, and she always said she would soon. Eventually, when I asked one time, she told me she'd lost it. Her mother had tidied her entire room and she no longer had any idea where either of our masks were. I was kind of frustrated so I asked why she couldn't have just sent it over when I initially asked, and she snapped back that she couldn't afford it, which doesn't make much sense to me because she definitely does have enough to send over a flat envelope, which a fabric face mask would easily fit in just like a letter.

It's been a few months since then and I've been looking and looking for any kind of replacement, but all I can find are knock-off versions that are made from different materials or don't look the same. I did see one resold for like $20 ages ago, so it definitely happens, but it's so rare.

WIBTA if I told my girlfriend I'm expecting her to replace the one she lost even if it's putting more financial pressure on her? I feel really dumb for getting so upset about a mask, but it was one of my favourite belongings and it's genuinely upsetting that it was taken and lost.

To get out ahead of any comment saying it, I have full 100% faith that she did not do it intentionally and she didn't sell it or anything like that. She wouldn't have even thought about the possibility of doing that and I absolutely believe it was an accident and she just grabbed both masks or had been holding onto mine for me and forgotten it was in a bag etc.

[dust-and-grave]

hng, i am so frustrated by this whole watcher tv situation. i've been chewing on it ever since i watched their announcement video yesterday + i've been looking around online at other fan reactions. i'm having a lot of thoughts so i guess i want to throw my two cents in + hope it'll make me feel better to talk about it a little.

i think we all agree that creators should be paid fairly for their work; however, not all work is created equal, right? if i commission an experienced (and thus high-demand) artist to do an oil painting of my cat, they might quote me $500+ to do that + it would be fair. if an artist with substantially less experience (and thus in lower demand) spends 30 seconds on a crayon rendition of my cat, should they also received $500+ for their work? i think most people would agree that would be ridiculous.

in some ways, this is what it feels like the watcher team is doing to us right now, imo. we know that shows like ghost files or puppet history are expensive to make because travel costs (in the case of ghost files) + production costs, but we can see the effort put into the work. we feel that what we give for the show, whether that's turning off ad blocker while watching or buying show merch or supporting via patreon, is going toward making the product that we are asking for. these shows are the oil painting in the metaphor.

i don't agree with how mean + rude some people are being about steven lim rn, but frankly, his shows are the 30 second crayon drawing of the watcher channel. anyone can look at the view count on their channel + see that his shows consistently have performed worse than shane + ryan's shows. additionally, we can see that he blows huge amounts of money on his shows ("$913 seafood tower", "$1027 fried chicken") that may leave a lot of viewers feeling as if they're aren't getting as much bang for their buck.

frankly, i think people are valid for being upset that they're expected to directly foot the bill for steven's "i fly all over the world + eat expensive food while you watch" project. while youtube has a shit ton of problems (like, say, not paying their creators enough), one of the cool things about it is that you can gauge directly the amount of the interest in a project (and how many resources you should dedicate to said project) by how many eyes are on it. unfortunately for him (i guess), steven's shows just don't garner enough attention to justify the expense of making them.

which is why i see this shift to watcher tv as such a problem. this feels very much like using shane + ryan's success on the channel to force fans to fuel steven's pursuit of his glory days on worth it. it feels even more strange when they say that they're making the switch because the company isn't currently sustainable, but steven has just hired his friends from buzzfeed + continues to push his series that just don't seem to be making back the cost of production.

to be totally fair, shane + ryan don't get out of this clean either. some of their shows don't deserve to be behind a paywall either. too many spirits is filmed in ryan's parent's backyard with content submitted by their viewers. are you scared is just ryan reading creepypastas/fan submitted content on a minimal set. survival mode is just them playing games like any other streamer or gaming youtuber does. i love all of these shows, but are they on par with puppet history or ghost files? absolutely not.

this is where i think the disconnect is coming from. they're taking everything including the lower production shows to a streaming service where you have to fund them directly (rather than indirectly through ad revenue). they're forcing funding into steven's projects despite them just not doing well enough to justify the cost. they're coming across as disingenuous with their reasoning because their stated reasons for doing this don't align with their actions rn.

i feel like it would've made so much more sense to crowdfund new seasons of shows (which gives them feedback from the fans about what they want too) or put higher cost shows like ghost files or puppet history on patreon or channel membership. i would gladly fund mystery files, weird wonderful world, ghost files, puppet history, etc. with my own money, but i'm one of the ones who isn't really interested in funding steven's quest to eat all of the gold-plated kobe beef when i'll never be able to afford to eat at a restaurant that even serves it.