#content creators might get early access

[lilac-rose-writes]

kindergarten 2 was announced may 14th and released july 30th, so here's hoping we don't have that long a wait for the threequel! in a month and a half, my exams will be over, so it looks like i might not be out of the loop just yet! :D

[magnoliapromenadegalleria]

I take no issue with monetizing cc. You release good content and have an agreeable release window, I either choose to subscribe, or I wait. Cool. What I do take issue with is this

Perma-paywalls or ridiculous early access release windows. Anything exceeding thirty days is excessive. My opinion.

2. New creators setting up immediate early access. The skillset is just not there yet to put a price on your creations. You barely have a base to sell to. This includes creators who created for other games, then come over to The Sims and try to sell to us. For example, the creator that makes skins and admitted they don't even play the game. Simply here for profit.

3. Creators that do not qc their work, or steal from other creators. Girl.

4. Customer service. Once you start creating for profit, whether it be supplemental or your main source, you have to have a level of customer service and professionalism. You have now started a brand. A very niche brand, but that's what it is. You cannot be short with people for asking valid questions and catching an attitude with them. Like that one lady with the tree coming out in February. If you are one of those rare creators who is lucky enough money to hire someone to handle your social media, I suggest you do that. Or supply a friend with more patience with their favorite coffee or something and let them handle it. Something.

5. Not interacting with the community you are trying to sell to. Connect with people. Repost their edits, lookbooks, builds, leave comments, give a like. The creator mentioned above commented that no one comments on their stuff, at least not here. Fair. This community does not talk like it used to, but to each other like it used to, but you can go to creator pages and see that they are perfectly curated advertisements. Like a showroom. No reblogs of anyone using their content. If you want that for your main page fine, but at least have another side blog where you can do the outlined above.

6. Pushing something out just to push it. I think we have entered a space, both creator and follower/consumer, where everything feels so fast-paced. What's the new thing coming out, what's next, etc. So much so that I think it has made creators push out content just to keep up, especially if they rely on that income. This has resulted in some creators getting into hot water for releasing the same item(s) in different sets and in different colors. Or creators releasing duplicates of the same thing. It can be frustrating, but I question if it is because they're just trying to keep up, or afraid to try something new or different in fear of it not doing well. Some smaller creators who create different content don't get as much love and I question if they would receive more if they followed the wave, or were big enough to start one.

Now to this community

If a creator disrespects you or others or moves in a way that you don't fundamentally agree with, and you complain but still download and or advertise their content, you're moving counterproductive to your plight. Why would anyone reflect on themselves when you prove that you're going to advertise their content anyway?

2. Show love to these creators. Big and small, especially small, monetized or not. Everyone likes to hear or see that what they release is valued. Don't harass or disrespect creators if they take a break, or they don't get something out quickly. Especially the modders.

3. Interact with each other. Even if your aesthetics or different. This is a community. If you see something you like, LIKE IT. Share it, leave a comment.

4. Create the thing simmer. The edit, cc, build, lookbook, whatever. Create the thing and share the thing. Even if it isn't part of a popular trend or aesthetic.

I'm speaking about myself here too because I want to better about this.

I want this to feel fun again. Not just based on what is in at the moment.

This might be read. Might not. Just my two Abes. Anyway I'm about to make some soup from scratch. Toodles!

[herecirmsims]

Scientists

Part one of a large science-themed commission I made last month for TheSimAwe! This pack contains 11 solo poses (5 for an unfortunate Sim inside the test tube, 6 for a Sim inspecting the tube from the outside), and 3 couple poses for outside the tube. All-in-ones included.

Poses were made with masc and femme frames and as always there may be clipping or floating depending on Sim body type or clothing.

The couple poses and some of the solo poses require a notebook acc - however, no need to switch between outfits, as poses 6-8 have the acc hidden.

You will need:

- Pose Player

- Teleport Any Sim

- notepad acc (included, found in hat category)

- Get To Work EP (for the test tube pedestal object)

Not required, but might be useful: these test tube alien deco Sims by LazySimmies were made for the same storyteller who I made these poses for, and may be useful to you!

Download here (always free!): SFS | Patreon

TOU: you may adjust for personal use to avoid clipping etc., but please do not reupload/paywall/claim as your own.

I’d love to see them used! You can tag me on Bluesky, Instagram, or Tumblr. I repost. ❤️

You can easily browse more of my posepacks using my Ko-Fi gallery. Want to commission me and help support my work? Details here! Want to leave a suggestion for poses you'd like to see? Form here!

A note regarding the notebook acc

I had some problems finding the required accessory for these poses, as the first acc I downloaded turned out to be over 39,000 poly (which is a little crazy, btw. This was from an early access creator so please be aware that paid content does not necessarily mean it will be optimised for your game. You can check polycount yourself by opening a package in S4S and clicking on the 'Meshes' tab!).

The only other suitable acc I found was by a maker whose public CC is now only available via CurseForge. It had been my intention to link to the VeryCursed folder I got it from, but I also had to make some (basic!) thumbnails for it since the original package didn't have any and was very hard to find in CAS. Hence why I'm uploading it myself.

@ts4-poses @alwaysfreecc

[artdotpage]

Problems facing modern artists & creators

I've talked with hundreds of artists and creators about the difficulties they face trying to earn a living from their craft.

This post covers two of the big ones (social media algorithms & bargain basement marketplaces), and what tools are available to grow your business despite these issues.

Social Media Algorithms and Audience Ownership

Social media platforms are a godsend for getting your work in front of potential clients and building a loyal fan base.

However as you will all have experienced, it can take a mastermind to figure out what kind of content the algorithm wants you to post, and if you don't do that you'd be as well throwing your content into the void as even your own followers might not see your post, never mind new viewers.

It also means you don't truly own your audience, if you post something slightly controversial your account could be deleted without warning, or perhaps a billionaire buys the site and everyone flocks to a new platform where you have to start growing your following all over again.

Solution: Build a mailing list

This is perhaps the single best marketing tool available to any business, and is sorely overlooked by artists and creators.

It's cost effective and because you own your mailing list it doesn't matter what's happening on social sites, you can always keep in touch with them.

The tricky part is converting people into mailing list subscribers. However I've seen plenty of creators successfully build one by offering incentives including free digital downloads, early access to content, discounts on your store etc.

Those who sign up to your mailing list would be considered high quality followers, someone who is much more likely to convert to a paid client and buy from you again in the future compared to the average follower on social media.

Tools

https://art.page/

https://substack.com/

https://convertkit.com/

Losing clients to undercutting competitors on the same platform/marketplace

If you run your business on a marketplace or platform, your clients are one click away from finding plenty of other choices who are willing to undercut everyone else to land a sale.

These sites have no incentive to make sure that traffic you drive to your profile actually purchase from you. Whether a sale is made through your listing or another seller, they collect their fee either way.

They also use uniform designs which reduce you to a generic product listing. Whilst this can simplify the customer experience, it means you have no control over the sales funnel and ability to differentiate yourself, making it harder to convert potential clients into paying customers.

Solution: Direct clients to your own site

Use your own personal website to make sales from, there are plenty of options with no monthly charge and lower fees than marketplaces. This lets you make dedicated marketing pages showcasing your best work to make a client excited about doing business with you, instead of just being a generic product listing.

Take advantage of marketplaces purely for their customer base. Don't rely on them as your sole business platform. This way, any fees you pay are worthwhile to generate sales you wouldn't have had otherwise. 

Tools

https://art.page/

https://www.bigcartel.com/

https://squareup.com/

Interested in more?

There's plenty more I have to share on this topic, including:

How to properly use Print on Demand without getting ripped off

Streamline managing your business so you spend more time creating and growing your business.

How to better utilize your brand to connect with clients and increase sales

So let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get writing!

Transparency

I'm building https://art.page to solve these exact issues, with the goal to create the best all in one site builder for artists and creators that makes running your business easy.

[thevanillerose]

TARGET | YANDERE!OKARUN x READER | DANDADAN

~ WRITING COMMISSIONS ~ ~ PATREON ~ ~ KO-FI ~ ~ NOVELS ~

NEW! Check out my Patreon for early access to my stories!

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not own anything except my own writing. All properties belong to their respective creators. CONTENT WARNING: Yandere / Stalking A/N: Okarun is such a dork but I also feel he's 100% the type to go yandere mode. Must be side effect of losing his...balls.

Another ordinary school day.

Or it seemed so, at first. You had scarfed down your lunch, hurrying to your afternoon class, when you heard mocking laughter echoing across the schoolyard. When you took a look, you saw Okarun, backed into a corner wall by Aira and her group of friends.

Of course it was Okarun. Of course it was Aira.

Lately she’d made a target out of him, and ever since, she simply hadn’t left him alone. You always saw that bright pink mop around him these days. 

"Honestly, can you be any more pathetic?" Aira sneered, arms crossed and eyes narrowed cruelly, her expression smug, pink-haired head tilted to the side. "You're such a loser."

Okarun's cheeks burned red, his gaze dropping to the ground as he mumbled incoherent apologies, clearly desperate to vanish. He often felt like it might just be better for everyone if he did. If he simply disappeared into nothingness. 

Your chest tightened painfully, a rush of anger igniting within it. You hardly knew Okarun, sharing only a handful of polite exchanges during class assignments. Yet, seeing him shrink into himself even more, made you feel protective. Defensive. Nobody deserved to be treated like that. 

Before you realized it, your feet were moving toward the group, your voice sharp and commanding. Typically you didn’t like getting into trouble, but you were hardly going to be a fence-sitter. 

"Aira, back off. What's your problem, anyway?"

Aira spun around, her confident smirk faltering for a brief second. "Huh. [Y/N]. Are you seriously defending this nerd?"

"Yes," you replied firmly, standing defiantly between her and Okarun. "Just leave him alone."

A tense silence settled, and for a moment, Aira stared you down, clearly considering whether to push further. Finally, she scoffed dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Fine. Enjoy your charity case."

She marched away, her posse trailing after her with lingering, curious stares. You knew that their judgement would be turned to you from now on, but you were less worried about that. Once they had disappeared, you released a breath you hadn’t realized you'd been holding, turning to face Okarun.

"Are you alright?" you asked softly, genuinely concerned.

Okarun blinked rapidly behind his glasses, clearly stunned. His blush deepened, and he managed a shaky nod. It was clear he hadn’t expected anyone to actually come to his rescue.

"Yeah. Thanks for...for stepping in."

You smiled gently, patting his shoulder reassuringly. He was cute, honestly. He had such a sheepish, shy little way about him. Unfortunately, it was exactly that facet of him that made him such a target.

"Don't mention it. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment."

His eyes flickered to your hand on his shoulder, and for a second, something shifted in his expression—an intense, profound gratitude, mingled with a hint of admiration. You missed the significance then, simply offering another reassuring smile before heading off to your next class.

Feeling good, about doing a good thing. 

…

In the days that followed, Okarun's presence became increasingly noticeable. At first, it was subtle—small smiles, shy waves, offers to help carry your books. Soon, it became routine to find him waiting near your locker, eager to chat about homework or offer help with assignments. His dedication was sweet, and you dismissed it initially as gratitude.

It was nice, in a way. He seemed happier. Happier when he could be around you, in particular. 

But gradually, his behavior intensified. His quiet admiration began transforming into something deeper and far more consuming. You noticed how he lingered after classes, eyes hopeful and anxious as he waited for your acknowledgment, dimming slightly whenever your attention strayed.

It wasn’t long before you started finding small notes tucked neatly into your textbooks, messages like "Thank you for everything," and "You're amazing," which warmed your heart even as an uneasy sensation began settling within you. 

There’s no need to keep saying it…

Then, things escalated further. 

One evening, as you walked home alone, you got an uneasy feeling, like you were being followed. Glancing over your shoulder, your heart skipped nervously—Okarun was following you, eyes wide, cheeks flushed deeply in embarrassment upon realizing he’d been noticed. 

"Okarun...?” You stopped in your tracks, and turned tensely.

“Why are you following me?" you asked gently, attempting to keep your voice calm.

He stammered, looking away guiltily. "I-I didn't mean to. I just...wanted to make sure you got home safe."

You felt conflicted, touched yet unsettled. "I appreciate that, but please don’t follow me without asking. It’s...it's a bit much."

He nodded quickly, a look of shame crossing his face. "Sorry, I'll stop."

But he didn’t stop. That was just a lie.

…

Instead, his fixation only grew stronger. You began noticing him everywhere—in the library, at the corner café you frequented, always just far enough away to seem coincidental yet close enough to feel deliberate. 

There was a word for what this was, but even still, you were reluctant to paint him that way. He wasn’t a bad person, you knew that. He was just…lonely. That wasn’t his fault, right? 

The escalation reached a breaking point one evening after school. You were staying late to finish an art project, completely absorbed in your work when a quiet knock startled you. Turning, your pulse quickened slightly when you saw Okarun standing at the doorway, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"Okarun? Is something wrong?" you asked, offering him a polite but cautious smile. You were real sick of it at this point, and you were sure the irritation was starting to show through, in the way your expression twitched. 

He stepped inside slowly, closing the door behind him carefully. "I just wanted to see if you needed any help. You've been working so hard lately, I thought maybe you could use some company."

You hesitated briefly, but his shy sincerity softened your apprehension. "Alright, sure. You can help me organize these notes."

For a while, everything felt normal, and you even relaxed in his presence. However, as time passed, you noticed Okarun watching you with increasing intensity, his eyes rarely leaving your face. Uncomfortable, you cleared your throat softly.

"Okarun, are you alright? You've been staring."

His eyes widened in embarrassment, but then his expression shifted into something more earnest and unsettling. Before he could help himself, the words came spilling out.

"I can't help it. You're amazing. Nobody else has ever cared about me like you do. Nobody. You make me feel important."

Unease crept into your chest again, warning bells ringing quietly in your mind. 

"Okarun, that's sweet, but—"

"No, please listen," he interrupted gently, stepping closer. His voice shook slightly, desperation edging into his tone. "You're the only person who makes me feel alive. I can't let you slip away."

You instinctively moved back, bumping a desk, your voice cautious yet firm. "Okarun, I think you might be taking this too seriously. We're friends, but—"

"I need you," he whispered fiercely, his expression growing alarmingly intense. "Without you, I don't know what I'll do. Please don't leave me alone again."

His vulnerability tugged at your heart, but the crazed look in his eyes terrified you. You didn’t like this. You didn’t like…seeing him like this. But this was just some big misunderstanding. When you helped him that day, you didn’t mean…it wasn’t like…

“Maybe I should go–”

Before you could finish your sentence, Okarun grabbed your hands firmly, squeezing them with a desperate, painful urgency. "No! Please stay. Just…stay with me a bit longer."

You tried to gently free your hands, heart racing with growing panic. You kept your voice steady.

"Okarun, please. Let me go."

His grip only tightened, eyes wide with panic as he pulled you closer. Close enough to feel his heated, panting breath against your skin. His flushed face taking up your vision. Big dark eyes slightly crossed behind his glasses as they focused on you, and you alone.

"I can't let you leave, not yet. You don’t understand—I love you. I need you. I can’t control myself without you!"

Control himself? What does that even–

You didn’t waste time questioning it, you just struggled harder, and in his panic, Okarun suddenly pushed you backward onto the table, art supplies scattering noisily to the floor. Your breath hitched in fear as he clambered over you, straddling your waist, his eyes wide and frantic.

"I'm sorry! I don’t want to hurt you," he stammered desperately, visibly trembling as though battling something inside himself. "But I can't stop this feeling—it's consuming me. You're all I think about. Please don’t leave me. Please [Y/N], please don’t leave me, please don’t, please–"

Using all your strength, you shoved him off, sending him stumbling backwards, dazed. You scrambled quickly to your feet, bolting toward the door, heart pounding painfully in your chest. You didn’t care whether it hurt his feelings or not.

You had to get the hell out. The hell away from him.

But just as you reached the hallway, you couldn’t stop yourself from glancing back.

Okarun stood motionless, still hunched atop that desk like some sort of wild animal. Head tilted in an uncanny way, glasses reflecting the classroom lights, hiding his eyes completely. 

Even without seeing his gaze, a chill ran down your spine as you felt a disturbing certainty.

You could leave this room. You could avoid him as much as you wanted. But it wouldn’t matter much.

Because…

…You were his target now.

Like my writing? I can write for you! Check out my WRITING COMMISSIONS!

[mhalachai]

some of you may have seen a notice today from a tumblr-popular youtube show, saying they're putting all their content behind a subscriber paywall. This post isn't about them per say, only bouncing off what that has brought up into the following:

When is a digital subscription something i'm willing to pay for? Rubric edition

Disclaimer - my first news job was in the early aughts at a digital stock news company, so I've been keeping an eye on this subject for over 25 years.

So you want to access an entertainment or news service that has content behind a subscriber paywall. What steps should you go through, to figure out if it's something that you should pay for?

This post will go off the caveat that artists/authors/reporters (I'm not calling them content creators, that term is garbage) should be properly compensated for the works they produce, and the current business model in our late-stage capitalist society means we all have to deal with the worst possible way of engaging with art - the subscription-model paywall. It's a terrible garbage system but there we are.

Step Zero: Do you care enough about the content to consider paying for it?

It might not be important enough to you to want to pay for, and that's okay. On the other hand, you may want to continue watching/reading/listening, either because of the content itself or because you want to support its creation.

(I'm separating the above as they are two different reasons - personally, i'm in favour of paying an annual subscriber fee to my small local news room to keep them in producing the content because I think it's important they exist.)

Step 1: Can you literally afford it?

Everything costs more and salaries aren't rising. If the answer to the question is no, can you split the cost with someone? Is it something that can be accessed through your local library (in terms of audiobooks or magazine/newspapers)? Otherwise, moving to:

Step 2: Is the cost of the subscription in line with what you're willing to pay for the content?

I still subscribe to the newspaper i used to work for - I can read all the news and get all the quotes I'm interested in, and I know i'm supporting local news. I'm willing to pay money for that.

On the other hand, back last year when Disney Plus announced it was raising its prices, I decided that I wasn't interested in paying that amount for what I was getting, so I cancelled that one. Do I miss it? Yes, somedays. Would I go back to them if the cost went down? Honestly I don't know.

Step 3: Did the company/channel do something to lose your trust?

Sometimes, all the above have been met with the affirmative, but something about how the company is doing things sets your teeth on edge. Maybe it's how their business model is evolving, or how they treat their customers (Netflix and their password sharing crackdown was that tipping point for me - i no longer wanted to support a company that sees its customer base like that). Maybe it's how they decided to move to subscriber-only. Maybe it's their take on geopolitical or social issues. Whatever it might be, you get to make that call for you.

Summation: Don't feel pressed by FOMO to pay for something when you're not comfortable doing so.

Whatever the situation is, you get to decide where you spend your money. The corollary of that is that you may not get to see the new stuff created by companies/channels that you like, but honestly? That trade-off might be better for you in the long run (and I'm saying this with too many years of regret behind me) nothing poisons the enjoyment of art more than feeling like you were forced to pay/pay more for it than you were OK with.

The tl;dr: Take a step back and see if you're really comfortable with paying for all your electronic subscription fees for news or entertainment. Don't feel pressured into paying for something you don't really want to see, or what to support. Consider where you want your money to go.

It's hard economic times - do what you need to, and spend your money where you want to.

(And check into what your local library has on offer - they may have streaming services or digital content you weren't aware of - might be enough to tide you over for a while).

[devil-works-hard]

Small revelation: mascot horror (especially the giants like FNAF, Bendy, Poppy Playtime, and others) isn't really about aesthetics/tropes/storylines like other kinds of horror are. Mascot horror is defined by the advertising and community.

While a lot of mascot horror has bright, fun colors to appeal to their target audience (kids, mostly), this isn't a requirement. Bendy is famously sepiatoned, and a lot of Poppy Playtime and early FNAF games are relatively muted. The only unifying aesthetic is a mascot character that can be turned monstrous/scary.

Like I mentioned before, mascot horror is aimed mostly at kids, who might not be able to play the game. Instead, they watch content creators play the game. This creates a unique relationship between game devs and content creators. Devs create content for the creators, maybe even allowing the creators to have early access; content creators platform the game for their audience. Because of the lore aspect, this also creates a relationship with theorist channels and easter egg hunters. I'd argue fan-made songs are also important to the genre, considering how goddamn popular some of them are.

But this also creates a weird dynamic for the game devs, because they need their game to stay relevant. The episodic release schedule is one part of this, even if I don't think it was intentional at first. But then there's the convoluted lore- it changes, it gets convoluted, and it's not uncommon for important story elements to be disguised as easter eggs. This is (for me) detrimental to the story in the long run, but it keeps content creators making videos and theorist channels talking about the game.

(For a really blatant example, just look at how badly Hello Neighbor fell off.)

And then there's the copious amounts of merch. Books, spin-off material like games, plushies, board games, apparel, toys, and even movies.

You could argue that the narrative of "ex employee returns to workplace to uncover mystery" is another signature of mascot horror. Personally, I think that's a cliche, rather than a convention. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing mascot horror games go other directions, lore-wise.

[purplebehittindifferent]

FAQ!!!!

before asking, check this out!

How many comic series do you have?

TLDR: As of currently I have 3!

Reconnecting: my deltarune fan comic. It is completed and the masterpost can be found on my pinned.

SpiderVerse: this is completed… for now. I had more plans but they fell through as the friends I had planned to do them with, left. Link on pinned.

IEYTD: this is just little comics scattered about, masterpost in on my pinned :)

RULE5: coming soon!

(if you would like more masterposts send an ask <3)

Is there going to be more reconnecting??!

TLDR: kind of? vvv

There will be no more COMIC/DRAWN content related to reconnecting (at least no more than the occasional doodle.) but I do plan to keep writing fanfiction on Ao3 to continue the story as long as it will go.

Can I send prompts for fics or art?:

Of course! Just know I might not be able to do them all!

Vivi “enjoyers” can be a bit much… are you comfortable with the way they (we) act?

I’ve decided long ago that Vivi is welcome to any sort of reaction. You are welcome to draw her however you’d like etc etc. as long as you don’t force others to look at it if they would not like, I do not mind what you do for your own enjoyment. Enjoy!

18+ asks are not welcomed in the inbox

Your art is online and your AO3 is open! aren't you scared AI is going to steal it!?:

TLDR: my ao3 will remain open, my art will always be here vvv

I hate AI stealing creators' content as much as everyone else does. However, more so, I want anyone to be able to access real art. I have selected all of the available options to keep my works from being taken, and am very aware that the only way to keep my work safe on AO3 is to close it to guests. 

It took me, an avid fanfic reader, 4 years to get an Ao3 account. I care more about you guys being able to read what makes you happy and feeds your brain worms, than I care about my writing being stolen for this AI boom we are living in. It would tear me apart if you wanted to access my writing but had to wait so long for an account. 

I do not support AI in any form that replaces human beings, and though I know eventually I may never be able to have my work safe from AI on any platform, I will keep sharing it, and downright refuse to take it down. 

Taking all of my art down in fear of AI will be something I never do. In that way AI will kill me just as much as if it started stealing my work. Art is meant to be seen and shared. They will not take that from us.

I believe there is a group of people who like real artwork and writing made by real people. And I keep my trust in those people to see the value in non AI generated content. 

We will persevere.

Is fanart allowed?

TLDR: YES

SO MUCH YES. I BEG PLEASE PLEASE if you create fan content of my content or content inspired by my content, that is absolutely as long as I am either credited or @ on the post so I can see!!!

Where can I read RULE5?

TLDR: Rule5 isn't released yet!

Rule 5 is my original comic in progress, I have posted teaser art and some concept stuff. The hope is that it will start releasing weekly in early 2025. I am completing all the art first, so that it can have a consistent upload schedule and I can relax for a while. Trust me when I say- I will not shut up once it is available.

I want to make a comic but don't know where to start…

TLDR: DM me!!

My DMs are always open to genuine questions! I've actually spoken with many people who wanted to start their own series and have been told it's been helpful!

Though my biggest advice is GO FOR IT!!!!! The first couple updates might not gain a ton of traction right away, but persevere, keep going, and @ me so I can reblog it to help support you!!!

Are you LGBTQ+?

TLDR: nope :) cishet.

Many people have asked me this lol

Where can I find the masterposts and links to your other socials?

They are all on my pinned!!!

You have mental disorders + illnesses… What are they?

Respectfully it is none of your business. I try to spread awareness because I believe that is very important, but I also try to keep my personal things personal. If i'm ever outright about something, feel free to ask questions, and if i'm uncomfortable I will just say I do not wish to answer <3

How do I commission you?

There is a link on my Ko-Fi that goes to my comms!

 If you have any questions before ordering you can DM me anytime. Click the option you want, order it, and it will give you instructions from there. I check my orders once a day. If you set your order and I have not gotten back to you, please DM me it's possible I missed it.

Do you/will you draw NSFW and post it?

Not here.

Are you really in my walls?

Yep. I'm not kidding. That skittering you hear? It's me. Go hydrate yourself or I'll steal all your left shoes.

I found your work reposted without credit, should I tell you?

Yes please tell me!! I have not found any of my stuff randomly reposted without credit but I'm sure it will happen someday.

What art program do you use?

I use procreate! I highly recommend, as far as the brushes go, I use all of the base ones that come with the app itself. Nothing fancy.

Will you draw my OC?

If you commission me! sure!

if theres any more questions you think should be added here LMK

[wetcatspellcaster]

I might be poking a proverbial bear so if you don’t want to answer this ask I completely understand. Do you feel that any of the people who engage with you as the result of finding your work have developed any parasocial relationship qualities?

yea lmao. the difference between before and after bg3 full release is marked.

below the cut bc long post, and probably only interesting to me. (and to you, anon, hopefully!)

i think it depends on your definition of parasocial, which i'm taking here to mean 'celebrity encounters that lead people to see them as a friend, despite limited interactions'. I think that anyone on tumblr is welcome to treat me as a friend. fandom and ao3 as a platform certainly encourages that, it's my own social battery and introversion that's the hindrance, in the grand scheme of things.

but, to me, it's the perceived 'celebrity' bit that's changed.

I don't consider myself a celebrity, to be very clear. fanfiction 'fame' is, to me at this point, so very not real, and it doesn't matter or mean anything to anyone once you get about two steps away from your ship or circle of readership. my writing didn't really change across full/early access release, but the audience and the audience attitude did as more people read my work. I think that 'big name fans' have always existed, but in recent years there's been a marked change in what 'big name fan' means - as fandom behaviours, practices, and fanworks all become more and more mainstreamed. there's now a lot of different factors that have led to people raising fic authors up as 'creators' (we always were creators, obviously, i mean this in the sense of 'creator' as a professional title), as fanfic becomes another brand of 'content' they're invested in. partly this is bc lots of other web content (webtoons, web novels, streams) have blurred the line between what is hobbyist and professional media. i've also noticed (not in a shade way, in a fan studies scholar way) that fan authors/readers across fandoms seem to act a little differently now, in a way that encourages people to see fanfic popularity as a brand of fame or as an in-road to other capital. i could list the changes but i think that would feel targeted to specific people, when the reality is everyone is allowed to act however they want in their space. so instead, i'll just say i think this might be a post-Ali Hazelwood era development. especially as more and more fic is now being trad published.

I also think that there are behaviours in place at my end that may accidentally encourage parasociality with me, when combined with this new landscape of fan culture. writing is the hobby, for me - other fandom interactions just seemed to have happened as a result. and as writing started as a way to make my introvert time more interesting to me, that means i have boundaries in place around fandom socialising that make it seem more parasocial? i can imagine the amount of asks i get comes across as me being interviewed/having 'official' takes on things (just like this answer!), but it's more bc I don't have the energy to sustain more than *counts fingers* six new fandom friends lmao. it probably makes me seem more popular or 'bigger' than i actually am. and the version of myself i put up here is certainly filtered, and projects a confidence i don't have in real life, as this feels like a safer space for me to act that way. it's what makes the anon hate so funny bc they don't touch me as a person... they barely even scrape this version of me on the internet.

I don't always think parasociality is a bad thing. i also think the fic author/reader version of it is also very companionable, a lot of the time. we're all lurkers on the internet, here, and some people prefer this brand of interaction - judging by the number of anons i get which means i can't answer privately/don't know who's talking etc. i think strangers looking out for me and caring about me and my wellbeing is lovely when I can't care about myself. i also don't want to undersell what i've done in the fic space or dismiss it, and instead let myself hold it up as an achievement etc.

but i do think that it leads to a different kind of atmosphere. people seem to envy fanfiction popularity as 'fame', when what happens here barely touches my day-to-day life, except to brighten my day when i get an ask or an ao3 email. people (both authors and readers) sometimes seem to want fic to mean something different than what it is: hobbyist writing you do for fun. at my end, I'm just some guy writing some silly stories. some people seem to think i'm more than that, but i'm really really not.

[iamnotawomanimagod]

honestly if they really wanted to lure people to a paid site, they should've done so a lot more slowly

put certain shows behind the paywall. or let people access new episodes a month early, like WoWPresents does for "Unhhh" (the show Trixie and Katya do)

I honestly might've considered it if they only put Ghost Files or Mystery Files behind a paywall b/c then I could just pay when those shows are in season and cancel when they aren't

I might do that anyway, if they move forward with this. which isn't a very sustainable business model for them. but there's no way in hell I'm giving them $6 a month to watch them drunkenly read audience stories or show each other slideshows or play video games. there's many many other YouTube creators who do that for free that I like just as much.

Dropout gets my $6 every month because they have a huge rotating cast, a variety of different shows, and a commendable and transparent business ethos that I really respect. They also offer something fairly niche, which is DnD and improv content. I'm literally not paying for any other streaming service rn because I just can't be bothered to spend dozens of dollars on streaming when good content is available for free on YouTube...

Watcher doesn't need to be TV-level production. The joy and charm come from them being a small team with great chemistry. That doesn't need a ton of money behind it. And Watcher does a decent job making their ad spots interesting and funny enough that I don't always skip them.

This was just such a misguided idea.

[luthsthings]

A Sims 4 Horse Ranch* review, by a Simmer who's not all that into horses

* Software not final. Sponsored by EA.

First, many thanks to EA/Maxis for the early access! This was a treat for me, to get access to an early build to try out for a while, as I'm not exactly a high-profile streamer. Or a streamer at all. Or even a creator (though I'll upload a household I came to love to the Gallery when I get a chance!). But I do love this game! And I love that I can help more of you play it the way you want to. Anyway, the review…

What I liked!

The great range of build/buy! I'll get LOTS of use out of this. It complements some other packs well too.

There are lots of helpful rooms in build mode for fast stables and nectar-related spaces! As a non-builder who sometimes tries to build, I was really happy to have a premade horse stall for my lot.

[image: a pre-built stable room in Build mode]

There's lots of Teen–Elder clothing and hair, and I love the dirty clothes swatches. I'll get LOTS of use out of this pack's CAS! And it will go well with styles from some other packs, too.

The new Afro-textured hairs are a welcome recognition that the cowboy culture of the Old West was not a White culture — there were lots of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous cowboys and entrepreneurial women in the Old West!

I deeply appreciate the Indigenous content in build/buy, recipes, and CAS — I could see lots there in CAS, for example, that the Navajo people I saw and met in Utah and northern New Mexico (which is a part of the world I really want to go back to) wore IRL.

Lots range from fairly small (15 x 20) to quite large. I appreciate the range as someone who isn't a fan of building on large lots when I do build. There are horse practice areas in the land around some small lots, so you can still keep a horse there.

For Strangerville owners who love that landscape (which I do!), there's now somewhere for that valley, with its smaller population, to be "near". I can imagine that you'd drive up into a range from the new world and drop down into hidden Strangerville. Driving the other direction might take you to Oasis Springs.

The horse-riding and other horse animations are really detailed and fluid. They interact a lot with each other, too. I felt like parent and child horses recognized their relationship even.

[image: a mare lovingly nuzzling her foal]

The sheep and goats are endlessly adorable. Plus profitable! :D And they can sleep in your house!

The rabbithole adventure location out in the countryside has a very different gameplay than previous ones! And it has great sound effects -- play it with the volume up! It's hard to find, though. But it was nice to not need other tricks to get access. (I still have not done the secret places in Oasis Springs or the Outdoor Retreat pack!)

What I didn't like:

No new fridge, stove, bathtub, or toilet (I do like getting more of those!)

Very little boys' children's clothes. And no chaps for Children, even though they can ride and even though Toddlers got some

I would have liked a higher-tech/automated version of a nectar maker. However, this isn't a feature I care about much anyway.

You can't breed the mini goats and sheep, and there aren't even smaller baby ones. I'd have liked to have a full-on sheep farm. I like sheep. (I can practically see my husband glaring about how much I like sheep, even though he's waaaaay far away at the office right now.)

[image: a smiling, leaping mini-sheep, with a spotted goat behind it]

I definitely would never have found the countryside rabbithole without help, but maybe you will? If I could figure out how to do spoilers here, I would...

The horse-toy balls are a little… glowy? for my taste. They also weren't where I looked for them in the catalog, so you'll want to use search for them.

Cross-pack things?

I'd have liked to check out these before now, but with the pre-patch builds, that's not an option, and I'm always kind of busy when patches come out! For example ...

How do cats and dogs interact with horses, sheep, and goats?

Can horses be familiars for spellcasters?

Are there new Milestones?

Are there new Lifestyles?

Are there new Club rules, and are there enough of those?

This Simmer needs to know! (And eventually will.)

Neat things to know!

There's a rabbithole building in town where you can change or plan outfits like a dresser! And just off the main road in town there's a rabbithole building where you can buy goats, sheep, and groceries and other useful things, like horse age-up treats. I liked having an alternative way to buy these things and a whole new way to plan outfits. I'd be happy for more of that. If I can't go into a building, I might as well at least be able to pretend I can. As long as they don't end up being worlds stuffed with rabbitholes in place of gameplay (actually watching horse competition would have been nice!).

You can use a Community Board in town (or from B/B if you want one on your lot) to take local one-off jobs for money. Most need you to own a Horse or some sheep or goats. There are lots of ways to make money as a rancher without needing someone in the household to have a job. My relatives who are farmers will be seriously jealous.

Get to know that Crinkletop guy! He's very useful.

Bugs? Bugs!

Things to watch out for that were issues for me in the early-access build, which is NOT the release build, so hopefully it's a bit better:

Ranch dancing is EXTREMELY popular. You might want to not keep a radio at home until the new dancing has a mod to … moderate it. Or is tuned down by the devs. But I do like it when I'm in control!

[image: five Sims ranch dancing (line dancing) as a group, including two Don Lothario and Eliza Pancakes]

The beautiful stone fireplace was also very, very popular, and of course potentially deadly. Watch out for that.

Ranch hands are NOT reliable. They might stay really, really late. They might stop showing up after a couple days. They might forget the things you instructed them NOT to do the day before. They might be super into kicking the garbage bin over. Keep an eye on your ranch hand. At least until the day, someday, when they get fixed. I'm hoping this is also moddable for those of us on PC.

At one point I had a weird bug where my Sim decided she would NOT eat. The rest of the household could eat. Guests could eat. They could eat HER food. It was fixed by going to the world map and back into the household, so I didn't find out if she was going to just starve to death.

I couldn't find some of the new CAS at first because some men's outfits were under "jumpsuit" for no apparent reason. So, if you're looking for some cool outerwear, try "jumpsuits." Hopefully it was recategorized for the release build!

And that's it! I'm happy to answer questions!

[gamebunny-advance]

On Today's Episode of Sammy Only Plays Mediocre Games: "Sensei! I Like You So Much!"

AKA "Fangirl Simulator", AKA "Sensuki"

Originally, this post was written as like a full "game journalist" style deep-dive, but I wanted to cut it back and just talk about my experience with this interesting little game that I found. If you wanna see what the gameplay loop is like, you're better off watching a let's play and deciding from that if this is the kinda game for you.

So, I actually found out about this game while stalking the Ita Bag subreddit, where the creators promoted the ita bag feature in the game. As someone who likes decorating things both IRL and virtually (hence why I was stalking that subreddit), I thought it sounded interesting enough to check out. So shortly after getting the game on a whim with some Christmas money, I got addicted to it for a couple of days before dropping it for about a month and then coming back to write this post.

Anyway, the gist of it is that it's a management sim/visual novel where you play as a fangirl, making friends with other fangirls by writing fanfic and making merch of your OTP.

And when I say "your OTP," I mean your OTP. You can't customize the player character outside of her name and online handle, but you can customize the characters she (and her friends) ship through the in-game character creator.

I did my first play through with R.O.B. & Watch (becauseIwastoolazytodrawandimportpartstomakeTatiKliff).

As a "game" I don't know if I'd call it "fun" exactly. As someone who easily slips into doing menial tasks in games, I did find a rhythm to the management part of the game as I debated against writing fics that would be popular vs. finishing my commissions, and I'll always love decorating virtual spaces with cute knick-knacks, especially if I get to personally design said knick-knacks.

But, it being a buggy early-access game with a shoddy English translation did hinder my enjoyment on occasion. I don't think a game can do anything more to sour your opinion of it than to *make you lose all of your save data trying to troubleshoot it~

*Strictly speaking, the game didn't *make* me do that, it's just one of the last resorts I went through to try and fix the bug, and that didn't even work.

Things like that piling up took what would have been a 7 out of 10 game to a 6 or 5 in its current state.

All that said, I still had a good time (before losing my save) because where it lacks in being a good game, it makes up for by actually being the ultimate "rare pair simulator". Because when your ships have zero content, you'll really take whatever you can get XP.

For me, it was very amusing to experience a world where something like ROB & Watch matters to people and I get to read all the cheesy fanfic that never got to exist for it.

Slight spoilers for the main story, but I just couldn't replicate my (internal) laughter from one of the characters starting fandom drama because they originally rooted for the "rival ship" and me thinking, "Oh, she's a Pac & Watch enjoyer. XD". That's something that could only happen in a game like this.

For people who's OTPs are popular and already have an abundance of fan content out there, I don't think this game will have much to offer you that couldn't be accomplished by just *being* a fangirl (gender-neutral) IRL and consuming the fan content that already exists. But if you like any sort of ship that's niche, whether due to unpopularity, self-shipping, or heck, you can throw your OCs in there too if you really want to, I think that you might find a game like this to be at the very least amusing.

This is a game that's really going to benefit from custom content that just doesn't exist while the game's audience is in its infancy. But I truly think that it has the potential to be something really special with enough time and development, and I leave it up to you if that's a gamble you want to take.

----------------------

Other thoughts:

There was actually a recent update that added a bunch of features that really upped the customization features, added a few minigames, and even a new "tamagotchi mode" where you can leave your ship idle on your screen while you do other stuff.

I haven't gotten to mess with all the new stuff in depth, but the addition of these kinds of features tells me that they're really committing to the bit of making a space where you can do anything you want with your blorbos in a single package~ If they could just iron out all the bugs, improve the translation, and add a "free play" mode, this game could be amazing.

Speaking of... the other little things that bug me:

Even though you can set the character's gender and pronouns, the stories don't always use them properly. This seems to be a programming error which might have happened due to the shoddy translation, but I do hope this gets fixed on final release.

Similarly, for most of the illustrations, they currently don't have alternate outfits which change with gender. Most of them are neutral so it doesn't matter too much, but there are a few which are clearly femme/masc which may be bothersome for some ships/characters.

I know it's a small team, and that's what stock materials are for, but I hope this team can pull together enough funding to hire (besides a proper translator) a composer and another artist. I would love to hear some original music because there aren't a lot of songs in the game, and the few we do have get grating after a while. I ended up muting the music entirely in the first few hours of playing it.

I say another artist not because the current ones are bad, but because for the new minigames they added, they are clearly using stock images for the assets, so I dunno if their current artists just weren't getting paid enough to make the assets, or if they're just placeholder while the artist makes new assets to replace them. Given that most of the artists in the credits are listed as "cooperating organizations", I get the feeling that most of the art in the game was on a by commission basis rather than having an in-house artist that gets paid to make assets.

I know that these are just little side things, but the cohesion of the entire product should be pretty important, so while I think all the new stuff is neat, there's still some polish that could be added.

[wings-of-ink]

If you're still looking for thoughts on Patreon: I haven't subscribed to many Patreons before, but so far it's been for extras + early access. Unfortunately I don't have enough money to subscribe to everyone I want to or for long periods of time, so I normally dip in for 1 or 2 months when something is released, cancel my subscription, and resubscribe at a later date.

It seems like people are willing to pay more for RO content (like side stories & RO POVs), nsfw content, + early access. So those might be ideal to place at higher tiers? I've also seen some creators do tiered early access. Like the highest tier will get the demo update 1 month early, then the next tier 3 weeks early, etc. with the lowest 1 week before it's released to the public. That might make the higher tiers worth it over the lower tiers, instead of giving them all the same amount of early access.

One concern is that some creators get burnout from having to create all the extra content for Patreon. I think a lot of people underestimate how much time & effort it takes and it may not be worth the payoff (depending on how successful the patreon is). I'd also be concerned that with Patreon extra content + multiple new WIPs there won't be much time left for the main game and it's likely progress will slow down. I've seen this happen many times before, even without Patreon it seems like most creators who have multiple WIPs don't end up finishing any of them.

Absolutely, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, I appreciate that a lot.

The feedback I've had has given me some ideas on how to streamline what I would do. When I've done Patreon for others, I've rotated support between the projects that resonate with me the most as well. There's so many to pick from, I can't blame anyone for popping in once every so often instead of staying subbed. If you have the ability to afford it, more power to you, but most of us just don't.

Those key benefits are really what I'm wanting to focus on. I do like the idea of a tiered early-access too especially for peeps who just want that.

Patreon burnout is something I want to work hard to avoid; I've seen other creators struggle and stop enjoying their arts too. I want to do this in a way that I can produce things for you to enjoy in a way that is still enjoyable for me too. This is my passion and I don't want to turn it into "work."

I have the benefit of probably being less busy than most others who do this, at least as far as I can tell. I'm married with no children and no plans for any either. I'm older, out of college and settled in the drudges of a career. I've been at my job long enough I could do it in my sleep and it doesn't cause me a ton of stress at this point. When I work on the IF or on Tumblr, it's because I want to and it drives me - it's a form of entertainment for me as well. I'd rather do this than watch TV or scroll mindlessly. Even before I started the IF, I'd get comfy and just write something all evening, lol.

I do also have a tendency to take too much on because I get excited, so I'm using the info I've gathered to help me roll things back and keep myself realistic. So, I've determined that anything I do will be reserved to just a few tiers. We can always grow bigger later. I still do plan to rotate up to 3 projects. The second is to keep me from burnout on GC, and the 3rd is simply an outlet for me that I think others will find entertaining as well.

I have some solid time available coming up in October for me to hammer things out more definitely, so I'll be posting more around then about it. ^_^

Thanks again, my dear!

[onslaughtsixdotcom]

The Public Domain Statement

I believe copyright is a sham.

I believe that lobbying corporations have turned what was originally a protection designed for the individual artist into a strangehold over ideas and culture in America, and by extention the rest of the world.

Copyright existed so that I could make a work of art, and then for a reasonable amount of time after that, profit from that art. I am not directly opposed to this idea. In fact, I think it's a great idea. A creator of something should have, for at least a while, the exclusive right to create and distribute their work and profit from it. And by profit, I really mean, "make a living from."

Which is where my next bit comes in: The original terms for copyright were seven years from the original date of publication. Which means I make a book, or a painting, or a song, and for seven years, that's Mine. You can't reprint it or alter it without my permission. But then, seven years later, it's free game. You have had seven years to profit and make a living from this single work of art; time's up, better get back to those artin' mines and make a second thing.

The intent for this was twofold: It prevented one artist from relying on a single work for their entire livelihood, forcing one to create Again. And I philosophically believe that not just the art of creation is good for the human soul, but continued creation of art is good for the human soul. I made a lot of music before, I've made TTRPGs before, but nothing heals my soul after the long week of capitalist bullshit than sitting down and making something entirely new.

Secondly, it prevents one from monopolising the culture. If a creation became so widespread and popular, it becomes part of the culture. It BECOMES PART OF THE CULTURE. The olden Gods like Zeus and Thor are part of the culture. The myths of older cultures are part of the culture. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are part of the culture. Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Beowulf, all of these are part of our culture.

So are Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Pikachu. These characters are also a part of our culture. And we should be able to interpret them as we like, without threat of corporations stomping us down.

I am under no illusion that anything we create for Tidal Wave Games could be as popular as those things. But, they could become popular. People may want to build on our ideas, whether they be mechanical game design or worldbuilding. Therefore, we want them to be accessible to the culture--after, of course, a reasonable amount of time has passed.

Those who picked up CERES: THE PLANET THAT NEVER SLEEPS may have noted a piece of text in the table of contents & credits page: "All text contained within this book will become public domain on January 1st, 2033." That is a legally binding statement, and it's true. As of January 1st, 2033, all the text in Ceres will be public domain and anyone can use it or build upon it without attribution. As of the 4th printing of the CUSC Core Rulebook coming early next year, it will contain the same text, with a revised date of 2032--ten years after original publication.

This is our commitment, to the culture of the world. We hold on to the copyright for ten years. You can do whatever you want after that. The art, is not public domain, because we are against the AI image war and we are pretty concerned about what letting our images into the public domain might do for that, among other things. But, we aren't going to come after you for making new art based on those images--reinterpret the world as you see fit, fan artists!

Furthermore, if you're interested in working with some of our content or want to make stuff based on it--just talk to me. We are extremely open and want people to create for us. We'll even pay you and help you put it out!

[genericpuff]

Remembering My Roots - Rest in Peace, RateMyDrawings

I've talked about my old art before on here, but never really fully in-depth about the site that hosted it. I was reminded of it today while going through my FB memories and felt like I should actually write a true eulogy towards what once was.

Once upon a time, before LORE | REKINDLED, before Time Gate: [AFTERBIRTH], before I had even started drawing webcomics, I entered the world of digital art through one website - not DeviantArt, not Pixiv, but a little site called RateMyDrawings. Back in the day, it was one of the most popular browser-supported art tools, offering multiple different art tools that were, at the time, revolutionary. A flash drawing tool which could replay the progress of your drawing (but the tradeoff was that you had a limited amount of 'ink' aka recording data), a Java-supported tool that was essentially Photoshop Lite (but didn't come with the recording), and later, a more refined tool supported by HTML5 (?) that offered more 3D-like brush tools. There was also DrawChat, a live drawing flash tool where you could draw with others and chat.

And on that site, I created my first works of digital art. No drawing tablet, just a mouse and a loooot of patience. They'd host contests every now and then to win budget Wacom tablets. Sometimes I'd enter, I'd never win. I did eventually get my first drawing tablet, but by then, I'd moved on from RMD onto actual software such as GIMP and Photoshop Elements.

That site is gone now, one of the first art site deaths I'd ever experience in my teen years. I was around 12-13 when I started using this site and I adored it. When people talk about missing the 'tight-knit communities' of old, I don't think of DA, I think of RMD, my first home. Unfortunately, the site couldn't survive in the 'modern' era of the Internet, overshadowed by more advanced tools and art-sharing sites like Deviantart, Facebook, and Instagram.

But I did manage to backup some of my old art pieces before the site finally became completely shuttered in the early 2020's. For a while the site was awake but lacked any content or features, with a message from the site's creator Mick that it might come back, it might not.

It didn't. The old ratemydrawings.com URL now redirects to the inactive FB page. Any attempt to bypass that kill screen like before leads to an Error 404.

But while the site was in its comatose state - before it was shuttered permanently - I was able to access my old profile and extract some of my art pieces of old. I posted them to my FB about 3 years ago, and today they showed up in my memories.

I share a lot of art pieces from creators like Rachel Smythe in an attempt to preserve media. But I also need to remember to preserve my own. So here are a handful of the 100+ pieces I drew on RMD. Enjoy ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Don't be confused by the '1987' part of the username, I picked that number because I was a huge Zelda weeb and 1987 was the year the first Zelda game was made. Whoof.

What's ironic is I actually didn't have the Featured Artist award last time I was actively on the site, so it clearly happened while I was inactive in its final days. The one award I wanted the most and I wasn't there to witness getting it. RIP.

Unfortunately that's all I really have in the way of high-resolution drawings as I wasn't able to preserve much else (though if I find anything more I'll definitely add it to this post!) That said, I was able to nab some screenshots of my homepage via the Wayback Machine where you can see more of the pieces I did back then:

There are so many dorky ass drawings here, some from Time Gate (because it's that freaking old!!!), some are screenshot recreations from anime that I enjoyed (a very common trend on RMD), some are collaborations. There was a point where I learned how to color with the mouse by using low opacity colors and layering them one at a time. Really upped my game there LMAO That Ocarina of Time Link drawing was the first one I ever did that made it to the front page of RMD and y'all, I was so proud, the site back then I think had 50k users total which is nothing compared to the Internet today, but achieving that was one of the greatest things ever LOL The Skyward Sword drawing that followed was one that really felt like a milestone in terms of my art evolution, I felt like I was finally creating something good. I believe I did that Skyward Sword drawing off another DA piece at the time, it was really common to do redraw challenges on RMD what with the technical limitations of the site - I suppose redrawing stuff I liked back then should have been foreshadowing LMAO

That feeling wouldn't last forever ofc once the art high wore off, but even to this day I look back on the pieces from that era fondly. It's where the mysteries of digital art finally started to 'click' in my brain, and I had still barely gotten started.

I also have a few drawings preserved that were done after I got my first drawing tablet, and you can really tell with the improvement of the lineart LOL That said, I think I was around 18-19 when I did these:

Now, one thing that I really enjoyed doing on RMD were collabs - specifically, trading collabs where users would exchange drawing files through the RMD PM system with one another to do steps of a drawing together. Often times I took the role of coloring other people's lineart pieces, which is probably where I started to really learn digital art coloring and come into my own with it.

A collab with user "lime":

Collab with user "Mikai":

A collab with user "Overik", which I specifically remember struggling with because, at the time, my computer monitor's screen was messed up resulting in the entire thing basically being a fluorescent pink:

A collab with "Mist04" that I don't remember doing lmao:

Collab with "Adzumi" (?). I'm fairly certain that's who it was, I definitely remember the process of painting this one, I had loads of fun with it:

Collab with user "ForgottenArtist", IIRC this one was more of a coloring page where they gave out the file freely for others to color, so this was my version. The forums on RMD were great for that sort of thing, people would literally just upload their drawing files for people to have fun with:

So I guess I drew this next little thing in 2021 when the site was still 'live' but not functional, I completely forgot I did this though LMAO Basically the main URL took you to that kill page I showed above, but if you knew any of the extension slugs, you could bypass that kill page and get into the rest of the site, which I was able to by using my username URL. So I got into the Java drawing tool and made this little thing in the hopes I could upload it. Of course, it didn't work, but hey, it was worth getting a screenshot, I suppose:

It's equal parts nostalgic and bittersweet to go through these drawings. Life back then feels so far away and yet I still remember it so vividly, the hours I'd spend drawing on the family PC, feeling more at home with the friends I made online than the ones I had in real life, listening to music that I still listen to to this day. It's far away now, but it still lives through me, in the work I do today. Even someone like me can go from being a complete noob drawing with a mouse to a professional making their living stabbing ink into other people while still drawing the same stories they drew as a child.

There is one piece I had to dig up outside of FB memories, fortunately it wasn't hard to find because I knew I had shared it ages ago on my FB so the search bar saved my skin. My very first digital art piece, of Sheena Fujibayashi from Tales of Symphonia, one of my favorite games of all time.

My very first digital art drawing:

Recreated in 2019:

Past me went through a lot, and they'd be doomed to go through even more still (they hadn't hit the plague yet). And yet they're going to survive, they're gonna keep getting better and better with each passing year. Thanks past me - you've done a lot of dumb shit in your life, but sticking with your craft wasn't one of them. Thank you for walking - through all the good and the bad that you've had to weather through - so that I could run for us both.

[artistic-m3nace]

Tried my hand at the ol' "display your own gallery" trend we were all doing a while ago! (ft. some of my latest, strongest work and pure vibes)...

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Hello out there again!!

I'm going to be re-sharing a lot of the free content I've been posting to Patreon because I've realized that's about the only place I'm active right now aaaand that needs to change.

So, while I'll probably reblog the Timeline Tuesday posts later on for the sake of continuity, I figured I'd start with a modified version of my intro post explaining WHY I'm moving primarily to Patreon:

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For those of you who might be finding my page for the first time or are otherwise less familiar with me:

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself:

My name is Ripley (Artistic Menace, or R. A. Menace), and I'm the creator of Broken Dimensions, an in-development sci-fi fantasy project universe!

I am an illustrator and author with experience in illustration, creative writing, story and concept dev, graphic novel development, and social media. I'm also a recent graduate from a digital arts program at a non-art university, and I have big dreams for getting my art and stories out into the world.

The goal of starting my Patreon is to develop platform that not only works well with my work schedule, but also allows me to form a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide and resource forum for Broken Dimensions. However, I work retail 4-6 days a week. My ability to work on or share art or writing is limited. In addition to this, the world (especially that of the entertainment industry) is a mess right now!

That's where you come in:

While most of the introductory worldbuilding stuff for Broken Dimensions will be always available on a free tier, now that we're past a certain point I have begun posting special art, worldbuilding progress, constructed language info, special content, and prose on paid tiers. Work published to the free tier has been somewhat reduced and/or continues to be released later than on the paid tiers. I kindly ask that those of you who find my work interesting continue to support me by becoming paying members!

You can support me financially by joining any of the three Patreon tiers:

"ooo, shiny!" (tier 1, $2/mo)

Monthly sketch dumps

All paid worldbuilding posts

Most finished illustrations

And more!

"woah! SUPER shiny!" (tier 2, $5/mo)

Everything in tier 1

Weekly sketch dumps, plus my ramblings

Early access to all finished artwork

And some other things!

"SHOOTING STAR!!"

Everything in tiers 1 and 2

Written fiction of all kinds, including snippets and WIPs

Smut (written and drawn)?? (Still working this one out)

Monthly shout-outs

Possibly requests??

If you cannot support my financially that's okay! Please consider sharing my posts, social media pages, and shop links instead.

You're welcome to re-share these social media platforms and links to anything on them:

Cara | artistic-menace

Bluesky | artistic-menace

Instagram | artistic_m3nace*

This tumblr!

If you're willing and able to support me financially, you're also able to support me through Redbubble and INPRNT!

Redbubble | Artistic Menace

INPRNT | Ripley Poremba

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There's still a lot of progress to be had when it comes to posting, themes, and updates on Patreon. For more on that, read the March Update Post that has more details on my current situation and reasoning.

For now, that's all! I hope you'll continue to follow along as I build up the narrative of Broken Dimensions and prepare to share more awesome art.