#out in the time and effort and get rewarded or work irl and use money from your job. you have 2 choices. same outcome.

[alchemiclee]

when people complain about games like genshin and star rail trying to push you to spend money, I laugh because that's just them being bad at self control if they give in and feel the need to spend. you can play completely free and be absolutely fine. I was f2p on genshin for 2 years before I got the welkin to help while streaming on twitch to get a few more pulls to do at the end of my streams for entertainment. before that, I got every single character I wanted and a few weapons f2p (just from simply playing the game!) even with horrible luck (my average pity was 78-80 per 5 star. i think only 2 so far in my whole genshin career were under 75. and a handful of loses as well) so don't complain if you can't resist the urge. that's on you. they don't force you to spend. if you play the game normally and aren't trying to get every single character/weapon, then you don't need to spend.

but ALSO. the reason you can even play the games for free and we get such great high-quality content is BECAUSE PEOPLE PUT MONEY INTO IT. if no one did, you'd have to pay like idk, $80 or whatever games cost these days to buy, PLUS probably pay for every update like it's a DLC, so another, i don't know, $20 every couple months? or have to subscribe monthly to play. the fact that you get it all for free is because other people pay for stuff. so stop complaining about things costing real money and the fact that other people even pay for it, and start thanking the people who put money into it so you others who can't afford it don't have to!

[maryellencarter]

so sleep is refusing to happen, which is very annoying. i took my night meds and wore my blindfold and everything. my right leg has also decided it is stabbing pains time, which might be associated with the first thing. so while i wait for some ibuprofen to kick in, i figured i would start to explain my latest effort in the ongoing saga of getting myself to actually go to work.

so i was talking to logan about it, as one does. i haven't even explained logan for the sherlock holmes people, have i? call him my imaginary friend, close enough. he's a version of wolverine from the x-men (comics version circa 1983 if you want to get specific -- hugh jackman is a foot too tall and looks oddly like peter lorre to my prosopagnosic ass), he's my big brother via my teenage mary sue (that's a whole other post, but my little sister maintained this au where we all got to pick our own fictional or invented parents and relatives, which says exactly the things about our irl family situation that you'd think), he's been with me for nearly twenty years now, saved my life multiple times, got me out of some truly horrendous situations. these days he mainly shows up when things are Very Bad. and right now, because i'm struggling to get myself to go to or stay at work by any damn motivation whatsoever, things are pretty damn bad.

so i was talking to logan about it, which i've been doing for a bit while, but this time we were talking about the delayed gratification aspect of a paycheck. how if i skip work and go do a fun thing, i get to have fun immediately, but if i sit at work being mildly bored and intermittently annoyed, then i get money 1-3 weeks later, which might as well be the heat death of the universe as far as actually making an emotional connection between action and reward is concerned.

(it might be relevant to explain what i even do, huh? text chat tech support for a major cell phone company, basically. it's the sort of job where the elevator pitch is like "living the dream", because i get to sit around at home in whatever state of dress i prefer, doing anything i want as long as i keep an eye on my workstation and drop everything when a message from a customer comes in. on slow days it can be a good 15-20 minutes between customers. on busy days, i can be typing nonstop for hours, but those are rarer. however, when faced with a basic choice between "i can't practically play certain video games or do complicated crafts on the clock, because they're too space consuming or not pauseable enough, and I definitely can't go to any events or meet people" versus "if I'm not on the clock I can do whatever I want", it's hard to prioritize Getting Money At Some Future Point.)

so anyway what logan suggested was -- because i know how to calculate my own payroll taxes and often do it for fun (in fact, it probably indicates just how badly off i've been emotionally that i hadn't even downloaded the 2023 irs schedule 15-t for payroll tax brackets until yesterday), i have the ability to figure out, down to the minute if necessary, exactly how much my take-home pay will be based on time worked so far. because logan is inside my head, he also knows that i used to really enjoy being the banker for monopoly, organizing all the play money and making change and keeping track of Amounts and what-all.

so he suggested getting some play money and paying myself in realtime -- basically creating a physical representation of how my paycheck is accruing. i have sat at work for so many minutes, pay myself a dollar. like gamifying shit, but instead of getting a little token in an app that doesn't directly relate to anything irl, i'm getting tokens that very directly represent the exact benefit i am getting by sitting around being annoyed that i don't have room for my gaming laptop next to my workstation.

at this point it becomes relevant that the game of monopoly no longer comes with play money. the company that sells it decided, some years back, that declining sales were due to cash being insufficiently hip with the kids and making change being an absolute turn-off, rather than... you know, literally nobody anymore having the free time for an all-day game that causes intergenerational feuds. so they replaced the paper money with play debit cards and a digital voice-activated top hat that does all the math for you. so now you don't even get any practical life skills with your intergenerational feuds!

so, after a couple of shopping adventures, i have procured construction paper and a silver sharpie (and a working black one because mine was dead) and a clear jar so i can see all the colorful play moneys when i pay myself. i have adapted the rupee color system from breath of the wild, because i'm already familiar with it, to fit the colors of construction paper i have, so ones are green, fives are blue, and so forth.

i tried this method at work yesterday, and so far i'm very excited about it. it takes me about six hours of work to cover my healthcare deductions for a two-week pay period, and after that (until federal tax brackets kick in after a few days' earnings) i basically earn a dollar every four minutes after tax, which means roughly every time i start to get bored, i've earned another dollar and i get to fidget with my little pieces of construction paper again.

i'm also definitely going to have to confront the thing where it feels wrong and unrealistic that i make this much money. because in an eight hour workday near the beginning of the pay period, my take home pay is about $120, and that just feels like a silly amount that doesn't apply to me. but, well, i earned this dollar, and also that one, and the other one over there... which one didn't i earn? it is a conundrum.

i don't know if i'm just excited because everything is shiny and new, but i definitely am very excited that this might actually Help, because it's making being at work *feel* different in a way that hasn't happened before. have a couple of pictures.

[erazonpo3]

WOWM

so What Once Was Mine came out and I read it.

My General Thoughts are that this book was something of a rollercoaster but in like a pop up carnival with dubious safety regulations and diseases in the DIY log flume water kind of way. I had some fun reading it but I also feel like I picked up a rash.

If you're like me and you enjoy picking a book apart for morsels of interesting concepts then you might enjoy it, if you think holy shit why the fuck is a literal real historical serial killer in this book I need to see this then you might enjoy it, if you care about engaging plots and character beats then you probably won't.

If you want to ask me anything specific go ahead, but otherwise for more in depth thoughts: spoilers ahead

Basic Summary of the Plot

Okay so here's the deal. The story has the framing device of two siblings in a cancer ward, where one tells the other a story. I'll get into that later, but that's how it starts. Our actual story starts with a pretty long prologue: We learn that the King & Queen got the Moonflower thinking it was the Sunflower, Rapunzel was born with silver hair, and then baby Rapunzel kills a maid who accidentally hurt her when brushing her hair.

Oh, by the way, Max is a human man named Justin Tregsburg. Yeah.

Anyway, the royal family puts out feelers for legit witches who can safely take care of Rapunzel because the baby is too dangerous, and Gothel shows up to take her away. Queen Arianna visits Rapunzel once (but is only allowed to watch through a peephole) and decides watching another woman raise her child is too painful and throws herself into restoring the kingdom's orphanages instead.

Now we're in the present. Rapunzel is nineteen and she wants to go and see the lanterns (a mourning tradition of the Dead princess in this story). She tries to argue with Gothel but gets shut down, and Gothel makes her kill a chicken to prove the point that she can't go outside because she's too dangerous. However we as the audience already know Gothel plans to sell Rapunzel off as a bride or a servant or a weapon to some other nobles, because she's evil.

Also by the way Gothel still has access to our Sundrop Flower and is using it to live forever that's just a thing that happens in the background.

When Gothel is gone Rapunzel watches as a man (Flynn) stores a satchel in a tree outside of her tower, and that motivates her to leave the tower for the first time. Then she goes back inside the tower with her prize of a crown, and a skink she found and named Pascal. Rapunezl and Gothel have another spat, and Rapunzel decides she will run off to see the lanterns and she will find Flynn and make him her guide.

She ends up at the Snuggly Duckling and she doesn't find Flynn but she does find Gina, a young career criminal girl looking to break the glass ceiling. Gina agrees to help her find Flynn. They find Flynn, and he agrees to help guide Rapunzel to see the floating lanterns for a split reward of the crown with Gina.

The Snuggly Duckling gets burned down by Countess Bathory (yes that Elizabeth Bathory) and the Pub Thugs are pissed about it and also they're helping Rapunzel even though she didn't sing the I've Got A Dream song don't worry about it. We learn that the nobles that wanted to buy Rapunzel are now hunting her down so she can go to auction.

Gina takes them to her adopted mother's cottage. Gina's mother is a white witch, who goes by the name of Goodwife. She doesn't get an actual name she's just The Goodwife. Anyhow, the cottage is a magic safe space (for now) and Goodwife teaches Rapunzel that her hair isn't inherently evil and may not even be all that deadly! Rapunzel learns that her hair has other powers too, like the ability to turn skink Pascal into a sentient Chameleon. Yeah.

Also Goodwife tells Rapunzel she's the dead princess but this isn't like, an immediate call to action. Not a lot happens until we get this story's version of the Mother Knows Best Reprise where Gothel finds Rapunzel again but has to flee, but this Rapunzel has a bigger support network and isn't buying it. Flynn and Gina decide the safest course of action is to bring Rapunzel to the castle, but along the way she gets kidnapped by the Countess.

Gothel is pissed because she still wants the money for Rapunzel, so she rallies the armies of all the opposing bidders. Flynn and Gina convince Max the Man to send for his troops, and he joins them in going to the enemy castle. Flynn tries to sneak in, gets caught, and meanwhile there's a bloody battle out the front between the noble armies. Max jumps into the fray, Gina turns around and rallies the Pub Thugs.

Rapunzel uses her shrinking magic (!) to disappear half the castle and escape with Eugene, and the Pub Thugs arrive and basically end the battle. The Captain is dying but it's okay! Rapunzel turns him into a horse :) Also Rapunzel sees Gothel and tells her to fuck off.

The story ends with a tearful reunion between Rapunzel and her parents, Eugene and Gina are implied to be biological siblings, and things are good but of course in direct parallel to Cass Gina leaves at the end to become an adventurer. The end.

(There are a few other smaller plot beats, but you get the idea.)

MY THOTS

So here are my thoughts™.

Framing Device

I'll just state that I didn't like that the story was told via the vehicle of an older brother telling his 16 year old sister a different version of the Tangled Movie in a cancer ward. From what I've heard it also isn't normal for the Twisted Tales series to use a framing device for the AUs either.

I sympathise with the author's personal story, of course I do. That doesn't mean I'm stirred with compassion every time the flow of the story is interrupted to remind you to be sad because this is a story being told to a girl sick with cancer. It feels more than a little tragedy-porny rather than emotionally touching, and maybe that's because I'm too burnt out on real life tragedy to waste emotional energy on fictional cancer patients but we don't need to do Fault In Our Stars discourse again.

Real World References

This story goes heavy with Real World references. And another issue with the framing device as above is that you do feel like this is a story being told by someone namedropping every historical figure they know which makes it harder to get into the story.

There's like... a lot of references to Christianity, particularly in the prologue. There's a priest that thinks Rapunzel's hair is the work of the Devil or whatever. It's a lot. The Patriarchy is a thing. And that's not even getting into the Countess. I put it very succinctly in my notes so I'll paste it here:

I wish she’d just been an OC who could exist to chew scenery because the fact that she was a literal historical serial killer is super. Off putting. Like, she could have been an obvious reference to Bathory, but it feels like Miku Binder Hamilton levels of uncomfortable to me.

I miss Lady D.

Which basically sums up my problem with trying to take the setting of Tangled and put it somewhere in the Real World and somewhere on the Timeline. Who thought this was a good idea.

Misc. Thoughts

So, I used the five highlighter colours my ipad allows to organise my thoughts and organised them accordingly: Yellow for out of place IRL references, Blue for worldbuilding/character points that aren't plot relevant but still interesting, Pink for when something I find personally amusing happens, Purple for when the story feels like it's trying to 1-up the movie in some kind of way and Green for Heterosexual Nonsense. I'll touch on those last two in the Character sections but be prepared.

Also: for a book about giving Rapunzel killer hair, her hair isn't very dangerous. I wanted to see Rapunzel kill someone, and I'm disappointed that I didn't.

Characters

I'll do a deep dive into my thoughts about the characters before wrapping it up. I'm starting with Gina because she's honestly the easiest to get through.

Gina

Gina is a new character introduced for the story. She's a young woman trying to make it as a career criminal but keeps hitting that glass ceiling. So here's the down low, for all those who want to know: Gina is basically Cass, only not really. She's implied to be Eugene's biological sister, as previously mentioned, but you can imagine she's Cass the entire way through without breaking your immersion because if you imagined Cass if she were adopted by a Goodwitch rather than the Captain and had a looser, more wilderness survivor than trainee guard upbringing then you get Gina.

I liked Gina! I think she's fun as her own character too, and her best moments are when she's interacting with her mother Goody Goodwife, and she of course picks up a natural sibling rivalry with Eugene, but I was disappointed with how little she really bonded with Rapunzel because she needed to make room for Eugene and Rapunzel's romance.

Rapunzel

Okay, here's our protagonist. There's a notable effort to make Rapunzel more active in her destiny and whatever, and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I was worried they'd try to go full butt-kicking girlboss with her but I was pleasantly surprised that Rapunzel was pretty useless in most scenes, genuinely love to see it.

With a more intimate look into Rapunzel's psyche through the medium of prose, we see Rapunzel really questioning Gothel's behaviour even before she leaves the tower, and while I appreciate that she can develop her own cynicism I feel it starts unnecessarily early. This is my purple colour; the movie needs to be "fixed" by showing the readers that this Rapunzel is quicker to distrust Gothel. She's also quicker to hatch a plan to go outside of the tower on her own, and she makes a plan to make Flynn her guide for the lanterns even though he never stumbles upon her in the tower- and even though she has a perfectly rational reason not to trust him which is that he is a stranger and a Wanted Thief.

In the moments where it does work is when Rapunzel is surrounded by her new support network: Flynn, Goodwife and Gina, who encourage her to question Gothel's sincerity, and Rapunzel comes up with her own defences for Gothel so that she can poke through them herself.

I have some other thoughts about Rapunzel's hair and her powers, like how the story provides the interesting concept that her hair gets different powers with the different phases of the moon, but a lot of the powers are uhhh stupid and also I feel like it really robs the story of the whole gripping conflict of "Yes I'm Rapunzel Yes my hair kills people what of it".

In as far as just Rapunzel herself though, she still felt pretty in character nonetheless, and maybe that's all I can ask.

Flynn Rider / Eugene Fitzherbert

My boy I am so sorry. They neutered my boy.

Long story short: Eugene in this story is the sexy lamp. He contributes nothing to the plot except to be there for Rapunzel to drool over. And of course because he won't get any character development, he starts from the very beginning as a sweet soft boi with none of the Flynn Rider characterisation from the movie because we don't have time for that, he needs to be husband material stat.

His whole character is the colour green for Heterosexual Nonsense.

So, here's the problem. In the movie, there's not a lot of time for ~friendship~ between Rapunzel and Eugene because they kind of immediately see each other as a romantic prospect. And whatever, it's a movie and there's only so much time. But this book had the opportunity to take things a bit slower and instead chooses to make Rapunzel get jealous whenever Eugene and Gina interact and for her to be constantly wishing he was holding her hand.

Say what you will about Lost Lagoon, but it tells a good romance story just by virtue of not intending to be a romance story, because the author is trying to convey a strong bond between Rapunzel and Cassandra without using "and they kiss" as a cheatcode. What Once Was Mine says "he was a boy, she was a girl, could it be any more obvious?" and leaves it at that.

Now as for how this all pertains to Eugene's character? Well, it just robs him of any flavour. In the movie there's a clear distinction between Flynn and Eugene, when we learn Eugene's real name about halfway through. We see a clear difference between the Flynn we knew- kind of an asshole, wanated to drop Rapunzel off at the Snuggly Duckling and get rid of her- and Eugene, who is sincere and chooses Rapunzel as his New Dream in opposition to his Old Dream of living alone on an island with a bunch of money.

This version of Eugene is basically Eugene all the way through, because the plot doesn't really need Eugene there but he has to be there because it's a Tangled AU so there's no Rapunzel rescuing Flynn from the guards and healing his hand scene, he just loves her immediately and that's that. They have a little spat at one point but it's cleared up later and not because they actually communicate but because they kiss.

Rapunzel only learns Eugene's real name at the very end of the story, and gives a speech about how Eugene is the real him, but it's just so flat because 'Flynn' has been sincere this whole time? Anyway he does nothing of value for the entire story except be there for Rapunzel to lust after. Eugene I'm so sorry.

Gothel

Gothel's sort of the Big Bad and is characterised as an abusive asshole, the usual. I wish there were a bit more nuance to her character but then again in this story she's not just being passively evil- taking care of Rapunzel for selfish reasons but nevertheless maintaining the status quo- she's being actively evil in trying to sell Rapunzel off.

It's notably funny that Gothel sees the Countess Bathory and is like "what the fuck".

Anyway Gothel in this story also feels very weak in part because this Rapunzel is more critical and in part because this Rapunzel has a new support network. It's for that reason the Mother Knows Best Reprise scene doesn't really work, because the original has Gothel pit Rapunzel against Eugene, whereas she can't do that here so it remains a Gothel vs Rapunzel thing.

She gets a boring death as an epilogue addendum that someone rips out the Sundrop flower, which tbh? lame. It would be a lot more fun if it were open ended but I am also preferential to Rapunzel actually using her killer hair to kill someone. Please

Captain Justin Tregsburg

It's Max. He was a human but then he got turned into a horse. what the fuck you guys

[tripsonflatground]

So sick of the fiction trope that goes “You can either chase the dream or the girl/guy but not both”.

1. You never see people pick the dream and it turn out to be a good thing or that they’re happy with their lives. They always end up turning back at the last minute and picking the lover or would-be-lover. Or if they do go chase the dream instead, it ends up not being what they wanted. And that is FRUSTRATING AS HELL. Dreams and goals can mean a lot to people and the narrative that those can (or should) be thrown aside without any closure or strong consideration just for romance, fledgling or otherwise, is stupid. And it undercuts all the messages about the importance of finding yourself and chasing dreams and setting goals and working towards achieving them. It’s placing romantic love on a pedestal above any other kind of desire and the actual characters’ genuine dreams. And it really doesn’t deserve to be up there. Creativity makes art, not romantic love. Bravery, compassion for others, and medical skill save lives, not romantic love. Social work, societal change, and revolutions bring freedom or push progress forward, not romantic love. Romantic love can be inspiring I guess, but it’s the actual people who have the drive and the dreams and the skills that make things happen, not because they have a love interest.

2. What happens when the “happy couple” breaks up or gets divorced, as so many couples do now days IRL? What if it’s not “true love”? Then all you’re left with is missed opportunities and wasted time, probably years. It’ll take more years and even more time and money to start chasing the dream all over again, and that’s if you’d still be able to accomplish it. The character is guaranteed to be lost and hopeless, no purpose and a long struggle to find another one. While that can make for an interesting story, that opinion only works if you forget that pain and evil can also be very boring. Wouldn’t it be way more interesting and different if the character chose the dream, got the dream, and then met someone new who also had an interest in the subject of the dream? It’s got happiness, it’s got hard work, it’s got characters dealing with endings and beginnings, it’s got characters who have multiple partners, it's got characters who have chemistry because of combined interests, it’s got a lack of characters being manipulated by would-be-lovers into giving up their dreams to stay, it’s got everything! And it’s selfish and foolish to place your self-fulfillment needs entirely or almost entirely in another person. They are also another person and can’t carry that, and shouldn’t have to. 

3. From the feminist angle of things, too many times have I seen this trope used to make a female character who has big dreams and/or is an expert in her field and/or gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and/or has a chance to follow her own dreams and story arc - again, there are and/or’s here, sometimes multiple count - to make her choose a guy who at best is kinda average and worse, more often, can be a dick to her and makes everything about him and doesn’t value her dreams or her skills or her wants. And often times, in choosing him, she makes herself smaller and lesser, becomes more passive or even self-servient. And he doesn’t change to be someone better, and he doesn’t work to make sure he deserves her love, and he doesn’t help her chase her dreams another way. Once he obtains her, “gets-the-girl if you will, the male would-be-lover doesn’t have to put in anymore effort. It’s not framed that way in the piece of media, but it’s always a huge mistake. She just diminishes herself for no reward other than attention from a man who doesn’t even love her for her full self and we’re supposed to believe that’s the happy ending?

[iamanartichoke]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and ideas! I can’t express how much I appreciate it and how much better I’m feeling about tackling my brain fog. 

@nightwing-hunter replied to your post “Fellow writers, anyone got any advice on how to push through brain-fog...”

I would suggest trying to write things on paper? Like either in a notrebook, or on sticky notes or something like that. Or just wait until 4 am hits and then try to write bhjahjdsah

@nightwing-hunter That’s a good idea, I used to do that sometimes actually so I’ll definitely try it again and see if it helps the concentration. That said, I am also attempting to write now at 5:30am lmao so if one idea doesn’t work, the other one will.

@thelightofthingshopedfor​ replied to your post “Fellow writers, anyone got any advice on how to push through brain-fog...”

I'm having a hard time lately just getting to the point where I'm consciously trying to deal with the brain fog instead of just going "no it's too hard I'd rather do something else," but under better circumstances...well, it partly depends on why I can't concentrate. putting on instrumental music sometimes helps. tricking myself into writing by going at it sort of sideways also sometimes works, like "okay, I don't actually have to WRITE, I'm just going to re-read what I have so far and see what happens, or work on typing my notebook," and then sometimes I get into it enough that I actually do write.

@thelightofthingshopedfor Instrumental music is good, one of my problems is that I constantly have sitcoms on for background noise and I tend to just leave it rather than seeking out music that I know might help. The “this is too hard I’d rather do something else” is a MOOD. Definitely going to tell myself that even just re-reading is accomplishing something, and hopefully the momentum will carry into the new writing. 

@not-rude-ginger​ replied to your post “Fellow writers, anyone got any advice on how to push through brain-fog...”

I've a new thing where I print out monthly calendars, and then for every 300 words I write on a day I put a gold star in that day's box. If I just sit down to write but don't, I get a silver star, because I showed up and it's important to recognisethat. It's a really effective way to visualise irl that actually you do a lot even if you don't feel like it. Each star is also worth money, so for every silver star I put €2 aside to treat myself at a later date. It's helped.

@not-rude-ginger I absolutely love that idea, I am a very visual person and having some kind of tangible reward system - including rewarding the effort of trying - would be really motivating for me, I think.

@ms-aqua-marvella​ replied to your post “Fellow writers, anyone got any advice on how to push through brain-fog...”

Two words: Warm ups! Sometimes, I'll put on a nice instrumental playlist and just write words on paper. No editing. No structure. No erasing. It doesn't have to be a story or make sense. The words no matter, it's the physical act that does. Just keep writing words without stopping. Sometimes, I all I do just write, "I don't know what to write" over and over until my brain shifts focus to something in the room, or venting frustrations, and then sometimes it shifts again.. ...into a random story about a man walking down the street or etc. The key is just to write without worry about what you're writing because it doesn't matter. You're getting words on a page and warming up your brain into the idea of write. Like for example, an athlete who hasn't had any physical activity in awhile, isn't going to dive head first into a marathon. No, they're gonna do a warm up lap, then maybe some stretches. Then slowly work their back up to running. :)

@ms-aqua-marvella Warm-ups and free writing are excellent ideas! I think that’s part of my problem, too - getting caught up in that “ugh this isn’t good” deleting, overthinking, and generally just interrupting my own flow. I definitely need more practice in just writing without stopping, so I’ll try that. I also like the idea of ending up with a random story or something; you’re right, people need to warm up before running marathons, so I need to warm up before trying to jump back in the deep end of the pool. (I mixed my metaphors but you know.)

Thank you all again (plus @izhunny @sparklegemstone and @writtenonreceipts whose responses were reblogged) !!! 

[comicteaparty]

March 28th-April 3rd, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble   chat that occurred from March 28th, 2020 to April 3rd, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How many hours do you work on your comic per week, and how do you manager to balance that with other responsibilities?

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

heheh So we are.. cheating a bit Both me and my coworker are unemployed, and is working on hour comic, like was it a full time job. It is our passion project, and dream that we can work and live of makeing comics. In Denmark you can apply for grants from the government, but you need to have releashed a book before that is possible. We are useing the comic, to show potentional clients in the future what we can do. For now we are working on it from 09:00-17:00 ish (with a long lunch break) while applying for other kinds of grants, and also does all the things we are supposed to to get our unemplyment money, and searching for jobs, and freelance gigs, gathering the courage to start our own small company (not right now though) and yeaah time will tell

carcarchu

@Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS that doesn't sound like cheating to me? more like using the tools at your disposal to turn your passion into a viable career

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

hehe it feels a little like cheating! there are some debates about if it is okay or not, but we think that strengthening our skills is a good use of our time

eli [a winged tale]

Haha also not cheating! It’s great you’re using the time to chase the dream I’m curious what’s your breakdown for those time working on the comic? As for me, usually 1-2 hours a day with a bit more on the weekend if time permits. These days with the quarantine it’s about 2-3 h a day

DanitheCarutor

Since I'm unemployed until who knows when I've been working on my comic between 40-50 hours a week about 6 to 7 days a week... most weeks. Some days, like update day or chore day, I hardly work on the comic or don't work on it at all. Admittedly I'm not the best at balancing drawing with other responsibilities, sometimes I get so into it that I forget about daily house chores, other weeks I do the opposite and only do house chores which makes me totally behind of comic stuff. I can't seem to find a good middle ground, it always turns into completely focusing on one or the other.

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah when I get in the zone, time flies and life gets put to the wayside

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

So I have no school or work, so the webcomic has become almost a fulltime project for me

I average about 10 hours per day working on it, not counting on chores and exercise

Another thing I worry about is the possibility of carpal tunnel syndrome, which is why I've been relentless with exercise, too

I guess it's just a combination of relentless reminders and also sheer willpower that gets me to do other responsibilities haha

@eli [a winged tale] also I know that feeling

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So since my school had to cancel, I have to be more responsible for my online course. Sometimes I give myself 2 days off each week to work more into my upcoming webcomic but I have to switch my mind for school work, online classes. Also extra time for food. I need to get back into exercise or I feel exhausted more easily. I keep a wall schedule so that I make it a routine to write what I'll do every 3 or 5 days, to keep my active brain reminded(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I spent the majority of last year (fun)employed (partially by choice, partially not! my previous job let me go rather unceremoniously... and I needed a hiatus anyway... so it worked out) so I poured a lot more hours into that chapter of Phantomarine than I usually did. I worked on it almost every day - at least for a couple of hours, but sometimes up to a full eight-hour day. That number has dipped tremendously since I’ve gone back to work, but I’m spreading the same amount of time out in a broader way. I’m trying to get a good buffer during my hiatus, so I can work and draw in a healthy balance. I don’t have crazy overtime at my current job like I did at my last one, so that’s already a comfort. I’m confident I’ll be able to hit a good stride once the comic returns in June (edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Can’t wait Lady!!

Feather J. Fern

Two part time jobs, and school killed my comic, but I been working on getting one panel done a day, which is around 30minutes to an hour if possible.

eli [a winged tale]

My routine used to be rendering on the commute but now just once in am and once pm until this limbo time is clarified

That’s awesome Feather! It’s so rewarding when everything comes together after putting effort everyday

Feather J. Fern

Once school is done in two more weeks I will be more free to do things so I hope to get maybe two panels done in a day XD

Online school, stupid quarantine

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Due to the pandemic im mostly off school and my part time job so i spend like 4-5 hours on my comic per day. Still would like try to get a page done per day but lmao digital painting is slowwww

eli [a winged tale]

What’s everyone’s tips for breaks/stretches/balance? I feel like I certainly need to revisit these to avoid burnout and continue feeling motivated!

Feather J. Fern

Actually there was a cool manga artist who's tip was literally he only worked working hours. His mornings are free and since manga was his job, he worked form 12-6, giving him 2 hours to do other work he needs to get done, and takes morning walks and stuff.

Another person I know had "No working weekends" as a thing becuase they are a freelancer.

I personally have try to make sure I ahve a routine, and actually, stretch before drawing.

Streetch before, during a break, and then after, to keep that body nice and warmed up

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Health-wise there's this hing for your : every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. I'm not good at following this, but when I do it, it helps a lot.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Despite the current pandemic, my work-life hasn't changed much (unless you count stress getting in the way). I am currently "unemployed," but I do consider comicking my full-time job. I am also not very good at balancing work and life. Something's always gotta give. Last year, I worked at a job that basically ruined my ability to work on my comic. I worked 30-40 hours typically, ruined my sleep schedule, took work home sometimes, and was constantly exhausted. This is what resulted in my year and a half long hiatus, and it's what drove me to work like hell on my comic when I quit. Now (when I'm in the groove and not suffering from art block), I typically spend 60-70 hours on my comic and get 2-3 pages done: - 30 hours sketching (I know, ridiculous) - 5 hours filling in base colors - 20-25 hours painting - 5 hours adding text, speech bubbles, sfx, and finishing touches - 1-2 hours formatting for Webtoon I also spend some time throughout the week typing up the script, doing concept art for things coming in the future of the comic, and preparing for conventions, but I can't tell you exactly how much time.

eli [a winged tale]

Thanks for the breakdown! I’m always keen to learn from everyone and seeing how the workflow is like for different people

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

oh don't forget to do wrist stretches!

eli [a winged tale]

Ahh formatting time is always so tedious for me!

Yes wrist exercises! Any recommendations?

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

hmmm well the easiest one is literally just shaking it out

like every hour

and I also like to hold my arm out parallel, point my fingers up and using my other hand to pull the fingers back so i'm stretching the wrist

then I point the fingers down and pull on the fingers until my wrist is stretching

eli [a winged tale]

Awesome. Will be adopting those!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'm pretty fast. 2-6 hours per page, depending on how detailed it is. Average of 3-4. I could probably do 2 pages/ week easily enough, but don't want to do more than that. I'm the kind of person who always needs to be doing a million different things. I need to leave time for my other hobbies and my paintings and my academics and extracurriculars. Otherwise I'd get burnt out doing one thing only

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

@eli [a winged tale] So since it is both me and @Q (Wayfinders: Off Course) working, we start with working on a rough each, our goal is one step (so rough, ink, color) for two pages pr day, pr person. So in a weak the goal is four finished pages a week, and then we upload 3 pages per week. So it is divided that in the morning we start at 09:00 in the morning, maybe checking mail, being practical or whatever. Then we work until 12:00 were we eat lunch, go for a long nice walk and then we go back to work between 13:00 and 14:00 ish and then work until 17:00 when we begin to prepare dinner. Then of course breaks inbetween

Q (Wayfinders: Off Course)

It’s pretty wild to be able to dedicate your entire day to comics like that

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

damn you all work fast

do you guys have any tips on how to work on a webcomic faster?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Lol, I wish!

Still looking for those magical secrets

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@shadowhood (SunnyxRain) You know the 80-20 rule? You can get 80% of the result with 20% of the effort? My comic is very messy if you zoom in. I don't spend time making sure the linework or the coloring is perfectly clean. Also, I'm pretty fast at drawing figures. I used to practice figure drawing a lot by rushing to draw strangers irl before they moved, or by drawing a bunch of fast figures from the free figure drawing model websites online. I've also taken a figure drawing course (didn't even have to pay because it was part of my university! Even if you don't have that option you can probably find free life drawing sessions on Meetup or similar!) which really helped me streamline my process for drawing people

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh I see! Yes, I used to take life drawing classes too! And your response makes me feel a lot better

I tend to be a bit messy with inking, and since i'm a perfectionist a lot of my time is wasted on editing/clean up

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've seen cronaj draw, and while I think the results look excellent, I think her method is a kind of inefficient. She draws like a printer, nearly finishing one detailed body part before moving on the the next. I think maybe if she drew in a more classical way, going from a gesture drawing to progressively more detailed, it might help her be faster and her poses more cohesive and dynamic. Maybe working on 1 or 5 min figures would help? Practicing things like this?

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah I try to do figure practices for efficiency

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I heard that there are some online life drawing vids you can follow too

but what are your experiences with online life drawing vids versus the real thing

like is there a real difference?

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

found some of my old 1 minutes

To me there's not too much difference

I've heard some people say that life drawing is either way easier or way harder though. Because of your depth perception when looking at a real person

But the bruises on my legs can attest to my horrid depth perception haha. That might be why I don't notice a difference

Actually those previous sketches might be 30 seconds? I don't remember

I would recommend you try both but right now we pretty much only have the online option haha

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah I’ve done both and I think irl creates complexity with depth and the interactions with others etc is helpful but online is my go to for flexibility

I think having a process streamlined will make things more efficient. The downside is that it might feel tedious and I do switch it up from time to time for variety

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Might feel uncomfortable but that's how you know you're improving

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

There is a TON of difference for me. I HAVE to look at a physical model in front of me.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Can't get better if you always do the same things

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

This is what my brain does.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I wonder- could drawing yourself in a mirror be a decent substitute?

If youre lucky you might also be able to ask an SO or roommate to model for you. Should probably pay them back by cooking for them or something though

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Brain: sees a real model in front of me Brain: translates 3D to 2D, result: drawing Brain: sees a photo/video of a model Brain: SHIT. That's supposed to be 3D, isn't it? Brain: Translates 2D to 3D (basically re-constructing it in my head, or attempting to re-construct) so that it can translate it back to 2D Brain: BSOD

There's some online resources out there that have "3D" photos... you know, two near-identical images side by side, so if you look at it cross-eyed, it becomes 3D?

But I can't do those because I get a headache X'D

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Just thinking about drawing from that makes me dizzy

eli [a winged tale]

Oh interesting!

Yeah maybe looking out the window to draw people would be the way to go...

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But maybe figure drawing in VR exists?

eli [a winged tale]

Balcony figure drawings

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I live on the top floor so those are going to be some very small figures

eli [a winged tale]

For ants

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Once this coronavirus thing is over, there's lots of ways you can do gesture drawings from just random people -- bus stops, cafes, museums (I have not done this, but people who have done this report this is really good because others assume you're drawing the artworks. XD)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've done this a lot

Sometimes I've even shown people drawing of themselves if they've turned out particularly nice

They've always taken it well

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I like drawing my professors because they use hand gestures a lot when they talk

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Airport was REALLY good for finding people stuck in one pose indefinitely

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

they alwayas laugh when I show them

eli [a winged tale]

Shadow omg I do that too

Draws classmates

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

yeah the only issue i have with drawing classmates

is that they're always doing the "i'm using my phone" pose

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Become the master of drawing people on their phones

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Maybe try drawing children on the playground?

This works better if you're a woman

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

oh thank jesus

I also like going to the zoo or the museum

or the aquarium if i'm feeling adventurous

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I am a University student so I also have some pretty interestng drawings of people asleep in weird poses

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I really need to start going to weekly figure drawing sessions once this is over (there's one here... 20 min drive... 8AM Saturdays )

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

ditto or just go to the park and draw

and @Eightfish (Puppeteer) I've had some.....weird poses from all my profs

one guy was incredibly hard to draw; he was VERY enthusiastic about showing us knife skills

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

The parks here are too spacious, to a degree where it's weird to get close enough to people

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Bring binoculars

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Don't worry ma'am I'm an artist

nothing sketchy

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

(except my sketch)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

A+ pun right there

another place to go for figure drawing

theaters

like.....opera/plays

I once tried drawing the men dancing in the Newsies musical

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Tried that once, but it took me out of the performance

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same i was dazzled by dancing men

aaaaand then i abandoned sketching at all when they started throwing newspaper strips into the audience

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

But they were giving you free paper!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

THEY WERE

i'll take what i can get

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) While I agree that my method of drawing is "inefficient," I do not draw like a printer. There are videos of people drawing like a printer and it's not what I'm doing. I have done gesture drawing before, but it always looked incredibly abstract, and not quite like people, which is fine, but not what I'm going for. I treat gesture drawing like a warm-up exercise. It doesn't really do anything for my end result, but gets my drawing muscles stretched out.(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Gesture drawings are definitely a good warmup!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Perhaps it was an inappropriate analogy. What works for me I guess wouldn't work for everyone. I was trying to offer advice because whenever you talk about how much time you spend on art and you work life balance it's commendable but also dismaying. I hope you find something that works for you in the future

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Oh god.. I sometimes work 6 hours a day. I guess thats like 30 hours a week? Crazy to think about, it's like a full job

Oooh you guys are sharing figure drawings... I swant to show some of mine

Behold

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My figure drawing usually breaks down into like, medical anatomy study. I feel like I understand body shapes better by including the muscles & bones

carcarchu

ABS the most important figure study

Deo101 [Millennium]

ah figure drawing? I love figure drawing ^^

I do like a lot but this kinda thing is most of it

anyways as for the question at hand, I do a lot of different things for my comics weekly. My millennium pages take me 2-6 hours i would say, but I also have patreon things I need to do so I'd say i spend 10-15 hours on it a week. for my other comic, I spend about 6 hours an update, and it updates every other week. but honestly, all of my free time goes to assorted comics. If i'm not working on school work or chatting with people, I'm working on things for patreon, potential merch, or other comics I want to start sometime.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Oooh nice poses!!’

Deo101 [Millennium]

thanks!! I have a ton of gesture/figure drawings but these ones are my most recent that I have saved to my computer i think

10 minutes im pretty sure. very good for speeding up

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Those look really nice, good values

Deo101 [Millennium]

thanks ^^ I really hate working in charcoal honestly, it kinda always winds up hurting my body somehow, but its very quick sooooooo

kayotics

My answer for the prompt question has changed a lot since I started quarantine lmao... I used to do about 10 hours of work throughout the week on my comic page (usually after work, I have an office job) but ironically it’s gotten harder while I work from home. I’ve been struggling to find time since I don’t have a separation between work and home now, and putting the boundaries up of “I’m not always available” to coworkers is difficult.

Also on figure studies: they’re a great way to practice speed. I use the concepts of figure drawings all the time.

RebelVampire

@kayotics As someone who always works from home doing remote contract work, I have to say I think this is something a lot of people underestimate about work at home life. In that it's sometimes really difficult to establish boundaries with ppl and make them understand you aren't always available and also aren't gonna work billions of hours of overtime. So I'm sorry to hear that's affecting your comic work.

Shadowmark Productions

I work anywhere from 6-8 hours a day on comic stuff. That’s an average though. Sometimes I slack and need to pull all nighters to make up for it. Yes, I am terrible at time management. They say entrepreneurs are the only people willing to work 80 hours a week for themselves so they do not have to work 40 hours a week for someone else. I guess webcomic creators are the only people willing to work 80+ hours a week so that they can... go to work for someone else afterwards

AntiBunny

4 days of procrastinating, 1 of procrastinating and hating myself, and 2 of actual comic drawing seems to make up my weekly comic making schedule. :p

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I can only imagine how stressed I would be if I forced myself to update weekly

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

This is a hard question to answer because it varies a lot depending on my energy levels. Ideally I’d spend several hours a day on comics, but realistically I draw as much as possible when I have the energy (5+ hours a day for as many days in a row as I can handle it) and then go weeks or months too tired to do comics. On average, barring any long periods of exhaustion or other interruptions from RL, I spend about 20+ hours a week making pages for my comics.

sagaholmgaard

I prefer to work on my comic for about an hour ever morning and maybe 2-3 hours in the evening, that's the ideal routine for me. Right now I sadly have a lot of schoolwork to do (writing my thesis) so i might get less than 30 minutes in the morning and then feel rlly tired in the evening so I dont get as much time then either. but oh well!

I can still work for 4-5 hours on the weekends so I manage ^^(edited)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

The whole stay-indoors order's currently completely wrecked my pattern, but before that I did between 3-4 hours a day.

Shadowmark Productions

Can’t imagine the stress of a daily or even weekly posting schedule. Hats off.

[tinypigeonlord]

Don’t mind me, just have had a lot of thoughts on the new Pokemon game so imma write them down. There’s been a lot of posts and videos on what people wanna see or don’t wanna see in the new game too and I wanna give my own two cents to no one in particular.

So first of all graphics. I hear a lot of shit on that. Personally I don’t really have all that many expectations? Like yeah it’s gonna be a Switch game, the quality could possibly be better than we’ve seen. But also did people look over that ‘game footage not final’? Things may still improve and be further optimized. More than that, I love the artstyle atleast? Everything looks so colorful and vibrant and alive and goooood ;w; It sure got my attention. I can’t wait to see all the new areas on my big tv <3

Pokemon popping up and roaming vs random encounters: On one hand I love how lively everything looks with pokemon showing up in the overworld, on the other hand I love the random encounters? I personally liked hunting down specific pokemon, not knowing what I would encounter. I feel like this is also more fun when you’re doing a Nuzlocke; You can’t ‘cheat’ and select a pokemon from those that are currently roaming with random encounters. Aside from that, people mentioned that the roaming aspect made areas look more vacant instead because a lot of open space is needed for bigger pokemon roaming. And finally, it makes the surprise way more fun if a shiny shows up in a random encounter, instead of roaming between the rest of the ‘mon?

Pokemon following you/walking with you: PLS PLS PLS bring this back and expand on it, for all pokemon. Also the option to select which partymember you want to walk with. That was one thing that bummed me out in HeartGold/SoulSilver. If I wanted to walk with my fave, I also needed to have it in the front of the party and throw it out in battle, even in areas where it was at a disadvantage due to type or level. And sometimes I had a pokemon in front for the sake of progression but I didnt necessarily want to walk with it, but there was no option to turn walking off in HG/SS. I believe they did add these options in Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee, but I havent played these games so I don’t know for sure what the options are. I kinda also want to have the option to pick whether I will walk with a ride pokemon or actually ride it? Like, it was hella cool that you could ride arcanine, persian, haunter or snorlax, etc. But what if I wanted it to just follow me? :/ What I also want back is the national dex once you completed the main story. Let most of the pokemon which first appear be gen 8, and after you beat the main game, pokemon from other generations show up more and you can catch new pokemon that were previously unavailable. I hated how in SuMo, I couldnt see a pokemon’s national dex number, and couldnt get any data on it if it wasnt native to Alola. 

Also this is gonna sound surprising coming from a shiny hunter, but I want the shiny charm to be a reward for filling the entire national dex again (minus mythicals/events), and make the shiny rate 1/8192 again instead of 1/4091. As much as I love my shinies, I kinda feel like they’re becoming a really common thing and way too easy to obtain? I do like there being methods to find shinies easier, such as Masuda breeding, chain-fishing, SOS-chaining, etc, but make it atleast a little bit harder than it currently is, to make all that effort worth it.

Compatibility with pokebank/the 3DS titles!! I want to transfer all my precious bbies I caught over the years to come join me in the next adventure. That would make it even more awesome if walking pokemon also returns; I can walk with my faves then, not just the pokemon available in Sword/Shield. Also Cloud compatibility. I know Nintendo is afraid of people abusing Cloud to edit save files and I can see them not adding cloud for Pokemon to prevent peeps from somehow cloning or editing pokemons, but on the other hand... Right now, I have ALL my rare, valuable pokemon stored on a Ultra Sun cartridge. Every super rare shiny legendary I spent MONTHS on to encounter, every event pokemon from events that will never happen again, and every pokemon that has nostalgic value to me. If that game cartridge breaks, they’re all gone. If Cloud storage would be a thing for pokemon, I’d have a lot less anxiety about gathering all my babies on a single game with the risk of losing ALL OF THEM. Besides, I pay for online service and cloud, and thusfar havent been able to use the feature for my games :/

And definitely compatibility with pro controller. I really do not like the feel of the joycons, nor the pokeball plus, especially not after playing for a few hours, so I’m really hoping we’ll be able to use the pro controller. Considering we seem to be getting the old battle system back instead of Let’s Go’s, I don’t see why they shouldn’t add pro controller compatibility. Besides, I spent a lot of money on this thing, lemme use it >:v

Customization. The new trainers look absolutely adorable, but being able to make your trainer fit your style more is still great and makes things more personal. On one hand I’d love even more options for customization than in SuMo, on the other hand I fear I will never even get anywhere cause I’ll be spending hours mixing and matching outfits :’D I am not at all fashionable irl, but my characters in games have to look tip top. Most importantly, I want gender-neutral stuff!! As in, the option to wear clothes or hairstyles regardless of the gender you picked at the beginning. Give me a girl and the female pronouns, but the option to get the haircut that the boys get and that flannel he wears. For example.

Minigames! Not everyone is a fan of them, but personally I love things like Contests, PokeAthlon, the Underground, Missions in the Festival Plaza, etc. Especially multiplayer stuff. Give me other stuff to do besides battling. And on that note give me fun multiplayer features; besides trading and battling! The feature where you can call for another trainer in Let’s Go seemed fun to me. Being able to connect with other players and joining them in your game to do stuff together. Like how you can invite people to your town in Animal Crossing, go to the island and take on island challenges from Tortimer.

Story-wise, it would be great to have a big long story, also post-game, which doesn’t end too soon, but with the option to skip cutscenes if you so please, and more importantly, have the freedom to also explore. In Sun/Moon, you were constantly forced to go to a very specific location, everything else was blocked, and you had a cutscene every new area. Like, it was all very linear. I love the older games in that regard, where there is a story, but you figure out yourself how to progress without NPCs constantly telling you where to go and what to do. I always have this issue where after I’m done with the story, I’m kind of... lost on what to do next, so personally I love a long story to keep me busy. Give me a serious threat for the antagonists. Team Skull was lovely and I enjoyed their antics, but I want to feel like I’m saving the Galar region or even bigger, rather than just stomping on some bullies, PETA (Plasma) or fashion disasters (Flare). Also gimme an asshole rival. Lately we’ve had a bunch of precious bbies who must be protected, now bring back a rival who deserves an asswhooping and had it coming. :v As for the new gyms with gym masters instead of leaders, I have no opinion yet. I like the good ol’ themed gyms, I liked the trials. The arena thing looks pretty neat thusfar, but there’s not enough info yet for me to have much of an opinion now. I heard a rumor that this game will also have missions you can do to earn rewards & brownie points, and that would be really cool. I always really love missions in RPGs. I’m just hoping that there will be like, a combination of one-time missions AND daily missions so you don’t run out of things to do eventually after completing a whole list.

I’m also hoping that any potential mythical pokemon will come in the form of missions. The whole serial codes giveaways suck. Just entering a code for some random delivery man to appear in the pokemon center, just casually handing you a super rare mythical pokemon like it’s nothing is just bs. Give me new story, sidequests or missions DLC for a mythical pokemon instead. Like Celebi in Crystal + HG/SS, Mew in Emerald, Shaymin and Darkrai in Platinum, and then expand the missions even more. Pokemon Ranger actually did this really well; you had to go on a mission involving the pokemon before you got it.

Finally, maybe a difficulty setting. People always complain that the games are too easy and that you have to use self-imposed rules such as Nuzlockes to make it remotely challenging. Maybe add a normal or easy mode for young kids just getting into the games, including tutorials such as the trainer school so they can get used to how everything works. Make a harder setting for veterans who like the games to have some challenge but are still in it for the story, and a Very Hard/Ultimate mode for competitive players who know every in and out of the game and are looking for a challenge where you really have to balance your team out and know what you’re doing to progress, and for people who can’t care less about the story elements of the games.

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In any of the storylines, you have the ability to speak to any of the characters by typing out your phrase on the screen. Commands, questions, and conversations flow better than expected. And once you get the hang of the phrases that are most responded to, becomes quite entertaining! THE STORYLINE AND ANIMATION There are three storylines to choose from when you first enter into XStoryPlayer. The goal is always the same; get the character in question to bed. How you go about that is entirely up to you, but it was bordering on tedious. So, if you’re not a pro gamer, definitely don’t expect to play this without battling a learning curve. The controls are complex and the navigation slightly difficult. Any sort of accomplishment requires a lot of focus. Simply unbuttoning a shirt takes upwards of three minutes, and that was just on the demo! In the real game, in order to get acquainted with the controls, XStoryPlayer has its gamers navigate around the house and do menial tasks like pick up keys, bring characters water, and throw out garbage. That may sound like an annoying tutorial, but the practice comes in handy. Once the controls have been figured out, the game definitely opens up into a palace of exploration. Engaging in intimate activities with any of the characters in the game requires finesse and creativity. These AI characters aren’t just going to let you do whatever you want with them at first glance, they have feelings too! If you walk up to a character and immediately command her to perform a sex act on you, she might walk away and never speak to you again (kind of like IRL). Thankfully, the game allows you to save and start over. Building a relationship isn’t as time-consuming as you may think, but it’s about more than just saying the right things. Once you’ve proved your charm, characters may flock to you. The key is to remain tactful! When you finally do make it to sealing the deal, all your hard work will have paid off. The graphics, even when players are engaging in sex, are out of this world. Everything is uncensored and so highly detailed; you’ll forget the entire thing is animated! The voice actors aren’t cringey, either, which is more than can be said for some other porn games. The story play also includes the ability to choose where you finish while you’re doing the deed. This is a nice touch. However, the character’s facial expressions and the way they move their mouths to answer questions is slightly disturbing. You can only do so much in terms of programming, but this up to par, especially given how advanced all of the other animations are. The most fun aspect of the sex storylines? Getting the chance to use the toys provided in the dungeon. There are strap-ons, dildos, nipple clamps, nipple weights, and so many more fun objects available for play. A fully stocked dungeon means your imagination is the limit! Not only that, but this game is completely kink friendly. Golden showers, alien sex, anal play, BDSM, you name it and XStoryPlayer supports it! IS XSTORYPLAYER BY XMOON WORTH IT? All in all, XStoryPlayer by xMoon Productions is a bargain-priced game that packs a big punch. The learning curve might take a little getting used to and gamers who are more advanced in these types of controls will definitely have an advantage. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a guaranteed great time. I do think that xMoon could do more to improve the characters’ facial expressions and body responsiveness. But as it stands now, what is available is really quite impressive. It’s a highly immersive game that may require a lot of effort but in return, there’s a lot of rewards! Read the full article

[jeremystrele]

Behind-The-Scenes Of The Online Store With ALL Our Favourite Makers!

Behind-The-Scenes Of The Online Store With ALL Our Favourite Makers!

Studio Visit

by Sally Tabart

Kelly Thompson is the founder of Makers’ Mrkt – s full-time title as of 2020! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Her luscious Ivanhoe pad also doubles as a studio. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Photo – Kelly Thompson.

A wall full of makers! At a glance, we can spot ceramics by Ella Reweti, twisted glassware by Thomas Maxam and knotted clay candle-holders by Arowm. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Every piece is wrapped in Beci Orpin-designed graphic! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Beci Orpin wrapping paper on some Makers’ Mrkt goodies. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Kelly’s favourite part of her job is the creative community she gets to support and surround herself with every day! Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

A lineup of makers including Kerryn Levy, Andrej Urem candles, Drew Spanenberg glass bowl, Asobimasu Clay ceramics and brass incense burners from Subtle Bodies. Photo – Kelly Thompson

Wundaire incense holders, Ovum vase, Kura Studio garlic grater and Deborah Sweeney candle-stick holders. Photo – Kelly Thompson

Kelly’s coffee table decked out with a vessel from Clae Studio and a Kura Studio incense holder. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

A pocket of well-curated heaven. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

A picture of style and grace! Kelly at her home base. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

A perfect burnt orange corner is complete with a giant Gidon vase. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

What a lineup! Ceramics from Deborah Sweeney, Kerryn Levy and Eun Ceramics beside a Kura Studios incense holder, Andre Urem candle and glassware from Drew Spanenberg – all from Makers’ Mrkt. Photo – Kelly Thompson

If you’ve ever thought you’ve discovered a little-known maker on Instagram, chances are Kelly Thompson is already all over it. There’s nothing she loves more than finding and nurturing new talent, providing a platform and a place to sell their wares in her online store, Makers’ Mrkt.

But this isn’t just any ordinary web-shop! Kelly invests a huge amount of time and energy in curating an exceptional stable of artists and makers who she works with closely to develop a tight edit of wares from Australia, New Zealand (where she’s from) and beyond. She’s the kind of person who will send you an impeccably wrapped gift out of the blue, just because she sees you working your butt off. To put it simply, her taste is on point, and her vibes are high!

Kelly has had a winding career path that has taken her from photography and styling, to commercial illustration, to artist management – and all roads have led to Makers’ Mrkt. The multifaceted creative takes us through her journey, what she looks for in a maker, and how her business has grown over the last three years!

Hey Kelly! When did you start Makers’ Mrkt, and why?

Kelly: I started Mrkt as a hobby. I just wanted to do something without any pressure, that was outside of my own creative work, and would benefit the talented creatives I know and admire. As a freelancer, I was sick of my work being all about my individual skills, and I just wanted to do something positive outside of me for my creative community.

As an illustrator, I know how hard it can be to sell a print or product on my own personal folio site. It soon dawned on me that it must be so much harder to find that product if you’re not lucky to be surrounded by creative community and know plenty of talented makers like I do. What does John the accountant even Google if he wants to shop from independent talent? And would said talent even appear on Google? I officially launched my site exactly three years ago, but until this year it was just on the side and very much a hobby. It’s really only this year that I’ve dug my teeth in so I almost count this as year 1.

You stock brands from overseas as well as Australian makers. What are you looking for in a Makers’ Mrkt brand?

Good personalities are key, just as much as the product!

Initially it started as a pool of people I either knew or had shopped with or just swooned over anytime I saw their work, but the main criteria was that they had to be genuine, nice, positive, productive people – there’s no room for dicks on Mrkt! When looking for makers now I have a few more criteria: Are their products made by hand and/or ethically and sustainably? Do I look at their work and just think “WANT!”? Is there something about them as a person that resonates with me or can I see potential in their work that I’d like to nurture?

I also really want the store to be unique, whenever I find a new maker, I check around to see who else they’re stocked with, are there too many cross-overs? I even contact stores sometimes to see if they mind if I stock a Maker I know they’ve nurtured from the start. As someone who spends a lot of time building an edit and researching I really want my edit to be mine. I love nothing more than finding someone talented who only has a small following on IG and hasn’t even considered having a stockist.

The Makers Mrkt identity expands beyond the brands – you have created such a nice world with interviews and incredibly strong campaign photography. What was your vision for the overall direction?

Oh thank you! I think that’s because Mrkt wasn’t launched for the sake of launching a shop to make money, Mrkt was launched because of my love for the amazing people in my community. It’s easy to create a world when it comes from inside rather than from a box-ticking marketing plan.

My ongoing vision for Mrkt and the driver is really to educate the consumers about the makers products, but also share why the products are so special, who makes the products, how are they made? Why is it important to choose these items over a mass-produced product?

Is it just you running Makers Mrkt? If so, what’s that like?

Pretty much! But I am genuinely fuelled by it and obsessed with it – it energises me. I grew it by investing any illustration money or consulting money into it, and that’s how I’ve got it off the ground. Even though that’s really hard, it’s also very satisfying and rewarding to think “Hey, I did all of this”. I feel like the makers are also all so supportive with sharing my content too, they’ve been integral to the growth, I feel like they want it as much as I do. It’s a team effort so shout out to them for saying yes to me when I was just starting!

I run all the admin, packing, budgeting, buying, styling, shooting, retouching, site, socials, but I do have a new freelancer Kate who writes my newsletters and does my Facebook ads, thank goodness for her! I have also have Tully who’s taking over my blog now… she also saved me with Xmas wrapping this week! Just recently I got my first mentor, Dan, why didn’t I have a mentor when I was 20!?

what is the most rewarding part of your job?

The relationships that I’m building with the makers, I just feel like a proud mum watching them grow. It’s also so heartwarming to receive emails from customers about their orders, or have people tell me how they discovered a brand through the site and love it.

Overall though, I think one of the main rewards is seeing and hearing that people have started to think differently about the way they shop.

Check out Makers’ Mrkt here!

Every Christmas order from Makers’ Mrkt is hand-wrapped by Kelly, and is available for IRL pick-up for all those last-minute buyers!

[danteinthedevildom]

@ask-irlghana said:

What’s killing me is the fucking key system. I don’t know why they thought that’s a good idea, cause now I go “well I’m not *that* interested in the story” and stop doing that event.

Tbh I was gonna start this off with like “it wasn’t too bad this time ‘round”, except then I did the maths and actually worked out the effort I wasted unlocking this shit, and actually? Yeah this is dumb as fuck. 

First of all I’m not sure why they felt the need to cut off half of the story from each route, and lock them behind keys. It breaks progression, which isn’t fun, and honestly neither route is like... so demandingly important that it was worth the effort to do. 

There’s no “good end, bad end” this time ‘round, so I suppose that’s why they didn’t just lock out one route and leave the other free; no matter which you choose, you still get a cute scene/date with Lucifer, as well as the usual kiss scene. It’s just like, for once the choice you make really DOES matter, because one route follows a timeline where you follow one set of brothers, and one route follows a timeline where you follow the other set of brothers. 

But that doesn’t mean it needed to be locked at all. I can understand locking a route that’s a “good end”, maybe, bc then it actually feels like you’re getting a reward for your efforts - but this? This just feels like you’re being jerked along. It doesn’t add to the game at all, and like... all it really did was stress me out bc I knew I needed to unlock all the battles BEFORE reset if I wanted to even have a hope in hell of getting enough party poppers throughout the event to unlock the UR card (which, spoiler warning: I literally won’t unless I pay, so fuck me, I guess.)

Second of all, just the actual progression of it is... it’s not a whole lot of fun, to put it simply. 

From what I remember, the remaining five key tasks are locked at 5 keys, 5 keys, 10 keys, 15 keys, and 15 keys. I think you get 15 keys free from the Devs, so you can read the first two tasks of one route for free, and then playing the key battles gives you 1-2 keys per time.

So at best bc there’s three key battles on each route, you’ll end up with six keys from each - and at worst, three keys from each (since you can do a battle for free 3 times). 

If I’m right that means you can theoretically get to the third task in one route without really trying, bc you’ll use 10 of your 15 keys on the first two, have 5 left over, and just by doing the free battles potentially end up with another 12. That’d give you 17 keys to get the third task, and leave you with 7 keys left over.

Then you can do the next battle and get another 6 keys, meaning you’ve got 13 in total. Which ofc isn’t enough to get the next task unlocked, since you need 15. So you’ll have to either watch videos or spend an energy drink to get the remaining keys. But bc I’m lazy lets say we just spend the drink. 

That gives us another 3 battles, aka potentially 6 more keys. So that’s 19. Nice! That unlocks task four, leaving us with 4 keys, and - oh. Task 5′s immediately after it? And there’s no new battles? And we need 15 keys to unlock it, meaning we have to get another 11 keys somewhere?

Okay, great. So we need to use another two energy drinks to get us another six battles, so we can have a potential 12 keys. That gets us up to 16. Now we can unlock task five, and we’ll have 1 key left over.

And we have to do that all over again for the second route! 

We can do the free battles on this route and get a potential 6 keys, getting us up to 7, so we can unlock task one and have 2 keys left over. Then there’s another free battle, so another potential 6 keys, getting us up to 8 keys - so unlocking task two is easy, and we’ll even have 3 keys left!

Except task three is immediately after task two, so we don’t have more free battles - and we need to get 7 keys, since task three needs 10 keys to unlock it. Which means using another two energy drinks for a potential 12 keys, getting us to 15 keys in total. Plenty to unlock task three and leave us with 5 keys to spare!

Now there’s another free battle. So, another 6 keys. How much does that leave us with? 11? Well, fuck. Task four takes 15 keys. Looks like we’re using another energy drink, getting another 6 keys to total 17, and spending 15 of those on task four.

So we have 2 keys left over, and another task with no free battles. We need 13 more keys. So that means using three energy drinks, since using two will only get us to 12 keys, totalling 14. We now have, what, 20 keys? Great! We can unlock task five and have 5 useless keys to spare. 

And how many energy drinks did that take us in total? 9!

9 energy drinks and a lot of faffing around just to get the shit you need for both routes.

Which also isn’t taking into account the extra AP you’ll need to do all those extra battles. 

It’s annoying, more than anything else. Yeah, you can do it, even if it takes you a couple days - though that’s also putting you at a disadvantage for getting the party poppers, since you won’t be able to get the max amount you can each day from battles - but it’s also just not fun. It’s extra bullshit to unlock a story that doesn’t feel worth being locked behind keys. 

Honestly? This whole thing has me just not caring about the birthday events. And that sucks! These are the characters’ birthdays. They’re things we should be celebrating! But instead, the whole slog of it has some players going “nah” because the ridiculous restraints that make it feel unworth it. 

Like, why should I bother with an event that’s going to waste my AP and DP, maybe even my IRL money, when I’ll get so little in return? The only thing the birthday events have going for them is exclusivity, and that’s just... nah. That doesn’t make me want to spend to get. That makes me feel like the birthday events are just there as a cash grab with little to no love put towards the characters we’re celebrating. 

So, yeah. I really don’t blame you for just not bothering with it tbh, bc atm I’m just wishing I hadn’t even bothered with it, either. 

[hcrgo99-blog]

Vikings War Of Clans Hack - Generate Free Vikings Gold - iOS/Android/PC

Vikings War Of Clans Hack Get Limitless Free Gold Cheats

Have you heard of Vikings war of clans games but have not played it just before? There are a whole lot of quests in Vikings: War of Clans, and it really is a great notion to total as several of them as possible so you can score oneself far more gold, sources, and XP. But you don't have to play the resource reward quests unless you really require the sources. http://www.unitec-media.tv/

This Vikings hack not only makes it possible for you to produce all the sources you want, but you can also share this with your friends to spread the word and the joy of utilizing it. Or you can only mock them following they get left behind, all thanks to the energy of cheats.

When kill events are on be aware that when your troops are Rss hunting and are nested at a Rss tile they can be targeted for attacks from other clans members so just be certain that you only Rss hunt tiles that are swift like level 1 tiles as you can be in and out in no time.

My advise is when the kingdom war events commence it be best to have a 3 day shield up if you are not looking for war but by all signifies war on if that is your factor , I most undoubtedly will be giving this a excellent go but with caution a priority.

To be clear, you won't have to spend any money to have a excellent time playing but as the gameplay becomes a lot more complex and as your fortress level improves, placing up some IRL coin is very recommended. This is exactly the case with our creation Vikings: War of Clans , our fastest increasing mobile game.

If you happen to be not a member of a clan, you will by no means get anywhere - clans get further boosts you desperately require. Vikings War of Clans Hack On-line Generator functions straight from the browser, with out being detected. As this is a real-time approach game, improvement of individual characters take a backseat but nonetheless later turn out to be an essential element of Vikings When you commence the game you begin with a Hero unit who leads your raiding forces.

You did practically nothing, a recently planet was open and two days later there are individuals with 10millons power and level 22 while rest has 40k of energy and level 9. Time to uninstall and play an additional game like Avalon or War and Order. And if they are unlocked, they are way to unbalanced, as knowledges and hero expertise on offense, defense and well being add percentage to the initial value.

Nonetheless, it is a game appropriate for you as an adult that want to prove that you are brave and courageous Certainly, you will enjoy great gaming expertise with Vikings War of Clans Free on Pc. Vikings War of Clans hack codes constantly perform on jailbreak or non jailbreak devices.

A massive reason why banking Rss is so crucial is because if you are targeted for war you will uncover that enemies will target your members while Rss hunting and try to 1. Take out your troops , 2. Restrict your Rss collection. The hero skills Training Speed I and II give an added 120% when totally upgraded.

Following you have bought Second Opportunity from the Shop New, just click apply and go to your Hero. Tier 3 , 4 - Now these guys are for all out war and battle so if you are in it to attack clans and be a target for retaliation from clans these guys are your ideal bet indeed.

Lovely graphics and addictive gameplay will maintain you captivated for a extremely lengthy time. Vikings: War of Clans was created and published by Plarium games, an Israeli gaming firm accountable for a plethora of other games in the exact same genre, such as Nords: Heroes of the North , Total Domination , and Stormfall: Age of War.

The hack for Viking War of Clans discount codes is accomplished by our company of talented developers and hackers. The game is wonderful but I do not like the reality that some clans winning battles just acquire getting packs (I imply the stronghold boosts mostly).

Its theme also sets it apart from other MMORTS games , which are far more frequently placed in medieval and contemporary settings, adding to its uniqueness as a Viking-themed game. These abilities weaken the invaders, beginning from decreasing their armor and then boosting up your hero that is prepared to defend the village.

We hope our tireless efforts will allow everybody to expertise the truthful and harsh world of the Vikings, exactly where beyond the cruel battles and chaos lies the other face of war - the unbreakable support of fellow clansmen. As for the most critical MMO question is Vikings acquire to win?” I've come to the conclusion that (technically) yes, it is. Or at least as significantly as you can win” an on-going approach game.

But, the truth is, that you will stand undefeatable and wonderful when you acquire the very best warriors for your fight against other clans. If your text or translation is poor, no amount of slick graphics or addictive gameplay can fix this problem. Please Like, Share, Tweet or Google+, to acquire access to the most recent working version of Vikings War of Clans, hack and support the developers.

You play as a Jarl, a Viking tribal warlord, and you along with your town's hero are tasked with constructing up a strong fortress, acquiring resources, rallying armies, and top raids on neighbouring settlements. The hack for Viking War of Clans promo codes is created by our team of talented developers and hackers.

By means of this, players are capable to steadily adapt to a far more disciplined method of gameplay. Vikings: War of Clans is an exciting MMORTS with millions of players all more than the globe! I am playing for 2 days and my hero is lev30 and all my buildings are lev13 and my palace is being upgraded to lev14.

If you are using your mobile device(Android,iOS,Windows) enter your Vikings War of Clans user name or pick your operating system!If are you making use of a desktop(Pc,Notebook,Mac) connect the device to Computer,Notebook,Mac by way of USB cable and pick the device and in the User Name field place the name of the device,quite essential after you connect the device,open the game and leave the game open to study the information,then click the button Connect.

[viralhottopics]

Want to Profit Off Your Meme? Good Luck if You Arent White

Gather round, ye olds, and thrill to a tale of yore. Summer 2014, to be exact. The place? Vine (RIP). The hero? AChicago teenager calling herself Peaches Monroee, who uploaded a video in which she described her eyebrows as “on fleek.”

Yea verily, Peaches Monroee’s neologism spread far and wide. Ariana Grandejumped on board, as didKim Kardashian. Brands, not surprisingly, werenext. And lo, wheniHopandTaco Belluse a slang term, aForever 21 crop topcan’t be far behind. Evenrapper/flat-eartherB.o.B goton the act,proclaiming himself Fleekwood Mac onhis song Fleek. But to this day, despite enterprising companies cashingin on the phrase’s “YOLO”-level popularity—“on fleek” hats have adorned multiple celebrity heads—its originator hasn’t seen a cent.

Now, Peaches Monroee, whose real name is Kayla Lewis,hopes to change that. Last week shelauncheda GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign in order to launch a cosmetics and hair-extensionline, asking anyone who uses the phrase to chip in a few bucks. Good for her, right? But also, why didn’t she get college scholarships like Chewbacca Mom, whose claim to fame boils down to laughing while wearing a plastic mask? Lewis’s problem is part intellectual property law, part access to influence, and all systemic racial inequalities. However egalitarian the internet was supposed to be, creatives’ ability to profit off their viral contentseems to depend on their race.

Guys it has been set…everyone has been asking me to start this GoFundMe so I can get some type of money so I can start my own business and get some money… any amount can help the link is below. Hopefully we can get this in the hands of some wealthy people thanks ! #gofundme #gofundmedonations http://bit.ly/2lNCmGF

A post shared by Peachie Peach (@officialpeaches__monroee) on Feb 19, 2017 at 11:04am PST

What’s in a Meme

The internet may have started as a utopian dream, but becoming an engine of capitalism was just about inevitable. And starting around2010—when Hot Topic stuck Rageguy on a T-shirt, much to 4chan’s, well, rage—the meme-to-merch-to-money pipelinehas been humming. Some of it has even benefited thememe creators themselves. “The people behind keyboard catand Nyan Cat did a really good job of capitalizing on their intellectual property,” says Kate Miltner, an internet researcher at the University of Southern California. “Grumpy cat wrote the textbook: There was the book, the movie, they even have grumppuccinos.”

The windfall isn’t confined to cats, either. Besides Chewbacca Mom, financial successes include Daniel Lara of “Damn, Daniel,” who parlayed his Vine fame intoa lifetime supply of Vans and an Ellen appearance. Or Danielle Bregoli, whose threat to a Dr. Phil audience—now meme-mortalized as “cash me outside, howbow dah?“—catapulted her to $30,000 paychecks for meet-and-greets.

Lewis’ immediate barrier compensation is partially the way in which her work became a meme. “A phrase is a difficult thing to protect,” says KJ Greene, a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law. “If you’re wealthy and legally savvy, you might be able to trademark your catchphrase, like Paris Hilton did with ‘that’s hot.’” But that’s still tricky to pull off: President Trump failed to trademark “You’re fired.”

But there is another thing that separates Lewis from the Lara’s and Bregoli’s and Hilton’s as well: she’s black. “I cannot name a person of color who has created something viral and capitalized off of it,” says April Reign, managing editor of Broadway Black and originator of the annually-trending#OscarsSoWhite. And considering the amount of incredibly popular memes created by people of color—spanning from Kimberly Wilkin’s(AKA Sweet Brown) “Ain’t nobody got time for that” to Confused Mr. Krabs to the first Arthur-fist memeto “on fleek”—that’s a significant omission.

When Remixing Verges on Whitewashing

Of course, twas ever thus. “Going back to the minstrel period, there is something about African-American culture that drives pop culture trends,” says Greene. “But musicians from places like the South Bronx had no idea they were creating something that would be a phenomenon, and IP law struggles with things created by a community rather than an individual—it was hard to tell who created that blues riff or that beat.”

To some, memes creators face a similar issue as blues musicians or early hip-hop pioneers. “Memes are remixed and often appropriated, so they mutate over time,” says Sanjay Sharma, who teaches courses on new media and internet politics at Brunel University London. “Most folks who share a meme are oblivious to who originated it. People who claim Peaches shouldn’t be compensated can trade on this kind of argument.”

It’s a fair point, but it also falls apartin the face of how white meme creators have capitalized on their proverbial 15 minutes. That points to a stark difference in the way creators of color are viewed. “What Peaches does,what Sweet Brown does, is always viewed as lower class, and an example of what all black people must be doing,” says Andr Brock, who teaches race, ethnicity, and new media at the University of Michigan. “When white people do that online, it’s promoted as their command of the digital space. Black people are never seen as enterprising.”

The problem is especially glaring since many successful memes scoop their punchiness from black culture anyway. “The reason the ‘cash me outside’ girl is ‘funny’ is because she’s a white female using a voice associated with black culture,” says Catherine Knight Steele, who teaches race, gender, and media at the University of Maryland. “Sweet Brown isnt funny in the same waythe humor is different. It’s mockery. ‘Cash me outside’ almost feels like shes in on the joke.”

“It’s very apparent that it’s happening along racial lines,” April Reign says of the meme monetizationgap. “Are the IP lawyers and trademark people reaching out to people of color? Are publicists reaching out and saying, ‘Hey let’s get you on The Ellen Show?’” For now, it’s clear that they are not.

And while somebody can argue that Ellen‘s audience (and booking agent)is way more likely to have seen “Damn, Daniel” or Chewbacca Mom on Facebook than Lewis on Vine, the excuse is getting a little tired. Even digital spaces that black culture fueled—like Vine—seem to forget about their creators of color when its time to go take things IRL and make some money. “There was an entire tour of kids who were popular on Vine, but I dont remember seeing many black kids on that tour,” Miltner says.

There may be hope;Kayla Lewis has managed toraise $11,000 in just 8 days of crowdfunding. (She’s aiming for $100,000.) That’s due not only to hertenacity, but tothe internet at large. “Now you have receipts,” Steele says, referring to the verifiable proof that Lewiscoined the term. “Online content creation creates a way to trace something. And you can push back in the same medium used to steal from you.”

Even better, Lewis isn’t the only one.There’s a growing force of people of color bent on getting their due for their digital creativity. “Im in conversations now about what we can do for black content creators to make sure that theyre monetizing,” Reign says. “The next step is to determine how to ensure people are recognized as the original creator of a work. Nobody envisioned the internet when they were writing intellectual property laws. I think theres an opportunity now for lawyers to do something really important.” Because getting just rewards for your efforts? Definitely on fleek.

Read more: http://bit.ly/2lNrA3i

from Want to Profit Off Your Meme? Good Luck if You Arent White