#new fears

[genericpuff]

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

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what can we do?

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

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

[ditzybat]

damian standing next to billy: father i have made a friend.

bruce: it’s wonderful you’re making friends your own age without the —

damian lightly shoving billy out of the way to reveal a massive bengal tiger: this is tawky tawny a talking tiger whom i’ve befriended, i don’t know who this is

bruce: …

billy unbothered and waving enthusiastically: i’m billy batson!

[nando161mando]

[wiltkingart]

a terrifying presence has entered the room

(bloody ver. under the cut)

[anydaynowany]

[lightpost]

everytime I cancel a doctors appointment I feel like I’m missing a school day, I know eventually I’ll have to go in and face it all but find me a doctor that knows what the nutcracker is and believes me cause it’s getting progressively worse, plus I couldn’t drive today no way I can barely sit in a chair for 5 minutes my feel already turning purple driving today in traffic not possible for me my kidney is already popping and going into my spine I got new pain that showed up last night I’m dealing with that.

[fortunatefires]

[llamahearted]

what's worse -- feeling the depths of your desire for the first time, or having all your closest friends around to witness it?

prints ♣︎ song

[novelconcepts]

The defintion of hell is knowing a show is incredibly well-received in its first season, but if people don’t become machines churning out tweets, content, and rewatching 24/7, there’s no likelihood it’ll get a chance to tell its whole story. This shit is madness. Shows in different genres shouldn’t have to pit-battle for dominance. First seasons are MEANT to be baselines establishing worlds and characters, not complete storylines. The idea that this golden age of television has turned into “get it done in one or get out” is revolting.

[crybaby-bkg]

oh my god. pro hero Bakugou who was shortly dating someone and accidentally got them pregnant, but for some reason, after having the baby they leave. he’s fucking devastated—how is he supposed to continue his career now as a single dad? how can he care for baby? save the world and still have to stay up at 2am when they’re fussy bc he hasn’t held them all day?

his mother helps as much as she can, his father too. but they’re getting older and they shouldn’t have to raise another baby at their age.

in comes you, a stay-in nanny. he researches the fuck outta you, frowning at you all the while during your interview. it doesn’t scare you much tho, as he’s patting the tiny baby back with only two big fingers. he wants to see how you react to baby, your stance on teaching them, how you’ll aid them.

he internally caved immediately when the baby started crying and he couldn’t get them to quiet down, so you took them from him. hugged them so sweetly to your chest as you rocked them, spoke quietly to them, a calming aura surrounding you.

it helps that you’re pretty, when he hires you. but he knows he can’t be selfish—you’re here for the baby and the baby only. he has no other place in your life. (unless you want him to?)

[ghostbsuter]

Danny loved this dimension!

First, the yellow ring powered attacks, and now the fear gas! Jazz would have an aneurysm if she ever found out how high he's gotten in the past week alone.

Now, if only he could shake off these pesky green lanterns and the giant bat guy.

Haunting this dimension seems like promising bonding activity between him, Ember, Kitty, and Johnny!

He really should hunt down that yellow lantern guy, tho, that stuff was great quality.

[anaferatu]

New Grave: Issue 5

Published: 2002

♡ 𖤐

[princeshilo]

thinking about. guy who gets turned into a vampire while wearing a rosary. the cross burns thru their shirt and the whole thing is forever scarred around their throat

[lycantropy14]

eternal void

[amalasdraws]

Peach Soda

[voidlesscreator]

AU where Danny is a stressed college student student aerospace engineering and is caught up in a fear gas attack, but since he's half ghost his biology is slightly fucked up when it comes to drugs and chemicals so it does the exact opposite and he's now as high as a kite while everyone is screaming in fear.

Meanwhile Scarecrow is curious about the young man who started giggling when he inhaled the fear gas and slips a little note into the man's pocket before dipping and the bats show up.

Cue Danny ending as the- actually paid- tester for Dr. Crane's new and other improved gasses which are actually good for him and awful for others. Like one guy is sent into hysterics as everything just hits him all at once, the air being audible, that one flickering light being ear shattering. Meanwhile Danny has just pulled out his notebook for his aerospace engineering class and started writing down new ideas with this sudden hyperfocus that seems chill to him.

This eventually leads to the bats finding out while Danny's just being given vapes filled with that overwhelming gas so that he can actually focus on his exam studying without getting distracted.

(Scarecrow is probably in the giddy stage of a new test subject that has positive feedback for his work. Mans had a contract written up and prescriptions made for Danny to use the gasses legally for himself.)