#the only thing putting me off is that it’s subscription based

[whipbogard]

4am manic episode got me downloading CSP on my iPad

Oh no. OH NO. Calligraphy pen my beloved 😭😭😭

[milla-frenchy]

2k7 | Joel Miller x fem reader Summary: Joel finds out that babysitting isn't your only student job Warnings: 18+ mdni. PWP. Age gap unspecified, escort, dirty talk, praise kink, sir kink, size kink, spitting, pussy slapping, light degradation, oral (m/f), unprotected piv, creampie. No outbreak a/n: @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog thank you for correcting me, as always. ILY 💕🫶🫶🫶 Thanks to @noxturnalpascal who had this idea: PROMPT: Pick a Pedge Daddy character - Joel Miller, Frankie Morales, Dave York, etc. (it can be Canon or Non-Canon/AU/No Outbreak). PPCU Daddy is surprised - and excited - to learn that the grad/postgrad student he hires to watch his child sometimes also works as a: stripper/dancer/cam-girl/onlyfans-model/dating-or-escort-service (or straight-up SW) *1000 word Minimum - 2000 word Maximum The other fics based on this prompt: Dancing is a dangerous game @noxturnalpascal ; Webcam for beginners @iamasaddie ; Birthday surprise @aurorawritestoescape Follow @millafics and turn notifications on for fics updates

ao3 - Masterlist

"Good night, Mr. Miller!"

You close the front door behind you and quickly walk to your car. You’re a student, in your final year. Babysitter is your job for the first part of the evening. Sarah Miller is one of the children you regularly babysit on weekend evenings.

In the second part of the evening, you’re an escort.

A few months earlier, in a club, someone asked you to join their escort business. You had never considered it before, but the money to be earned, the relatively “classy” and secure side of the site you would work for, made you decide. However, you wanted to continue babysitting, and start escorting sparingly. 

You arrive at the usual hotel about thirty minutes before one of your regulars, so you can have time to get ready.

Joel is single, and regularly he pays for an escort.

That evening, he surfs his usual site, and he’s looking for something fresh. He has his regulars, but from time to time he likes to fuck a new one. He loves to see how they react under his fingers. Loves their look when they see his cock for the first time, then when he sinks into them. How they take his cock. His subscription costs him a lot, but he has never been disappointed.

He scrolls lazily on his phone until his thumb stops on the screen. He scrolls back a little and stares at a photo. He can’t see much of the escort's face, but it's enough to put him in doubt. Is it really Sarah’s babysitter he’s looking at?

In 10 minutes, you’ll be here to babysit Sarah. He puts his phone down and waits. When you arrive, he greets you as usual, but lingers to look at this little mole, just above your mouth. This mole, that made him scroll backwards.

He smirks, and goes out to meet a woman he fucks from time to time. When he pushes his cock in her pussy that night, he thinks of his kid's babysitter.

When he gets home, you’re sitting on the couch, watching Narcos. He wonders why the actor is wearing such tight jeans when his bulge is so visible.

You get up and ask him if he had a good evening. He smiles at you and says yes. He pauses before asking if everything went well with Sarah, and you tell him everything was fine, as usual. You gather your things and leave, wishing him a good night.

Joel watches you walk to your car and he heads upstairs. He goes to his daughter’s bedroom to check on her, and closes the door, seeing that Sarah is sleeping.

He walks to his bedroom, lies down on the bed and picks up his phone. He finds your page and looks through your photos. The escorts' bodies are much less hidden than their faces. He looks at your curves. Your breasts pressed between your hands. Your pussy covered in red lingerie. Your ass, barely covered by a black thong. He pulls his cock out of his pants and boxers, and grabs the lotion from his nightstand drawer before starting to jerk off. He thinks about you and wonders if you're with a client. He jacks off with long and slow movements, and imagines the noises you make when you’re getting fucked. The noises you would make if he was fucking you deep. He imagines your mouth around his cock and how you would suck his balls. He jerks off harder and cums, sending squirts onto his lower stomach. He doesn’t even take the time to clean himself before booking a slot with you.

The next weekend, he had asked Tommy to watch Sarah. 

He arrives at the hotel, goes to room 301 and sits in the Chesterfield chair, waiting for you. 5 minutes later, you enter the room. You take off your trench and turn towards the chair. Your eyes widen when you see him.

“Mr Miller?!”

He looks at you and doesn’t answer.

“Oh my god, it’s so embarrassing… I’m sorry, I will notify the escort service of the situation and you will be reimbursed. I am really sorry, Mr. Miller.”

He smiles and says “I think you don’t understand, baby. I booked because I knew it was you.”

You frown and tell him it’s totally inappropriate.

“Well… Considering the way I catch you looking at me sometimes, I'm not sure it bothers you that much.”

“No, Mr. Miller, I assure you I don’t-”

He smirks again, and you stop talking. He’s right. Ever since you started babysitting his daughter, you can't help but sneak glances at him. But you thought you were more discreet, though.

“Now darlin’, I’m your client tonight, so do what you’re getting paid for, and come suck my cock.”

His attitude shocks you a little, he’s the father of the child you babysit, and there has never been any awkward situations between the two of you until now. But his talk, the way he commands you, turns you on. After a few seconds of hesitation, you walk up to him, get on your knees and undo his pants. You take out his cock and pause before looking up at him.

“Come on, baby. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of one cock? That would be embarrassing as an escort, right?”

You lean down, take his shaft in your hand, start to jerk him off and take his tip in your mouth. It's so wide that it barely fits, but you do your best. 

“Look at me, when you blow me, baby.”

You try to put your embarrassment aside and glance up at him. The moment your eyes meet, his are so dark, so full of desire that you forget your reserve. You want to give him value for his money, but above all, you want to make him forget everything while he is in this hotel room with you.

You let the saliva build up and then flow down his shaft, while you swirl your tongue over his slit and let the precum invade your mouth. 

“That’s it darlin’. That’s good. Deeper now.”

You go further down, squeeze his thigh with one hand, letting your mouth go down his shaft. You then caress his balls with your other hand, while you keep his cock buried all the way to your throat.

”Shit, baby… can't believe this naughty mouth is the same that dares to talk to my daughter.”

You moan around his cock hearing him, and hold yourself back from slipping your hand into your panties and touching yourself. You pull back and suck him again. He puts his hands on each side of your head and pumps your mouth with his hip thrusts. You stay still, without moving, eyes closed, while he’s fucking your mouth roughly.

“Yeah, just like that. Fuckin’ take my cock.”

He growls as his fists clench in your hair. He stops and holds you, your mouth full of his cock. You hear him breathing heavily.

“‘m gonna fuck your throat now. Eyes on me baby.”

You stare at him, and he pulls back, before sinking his cock in your throat. He holds your head so tight that you couldn't pull back even if you wanted to. You let him fuck your throat, as he thrusts deep inside 3 or 4 times, slowly. You feel tears welling up in the corners of your eyes, as his shaft sinks fully. He holds you and says “Don’t move. Don’t fuckin’ move.”

You follow his command, your eyes still fixed on him, and you feel his cock twitch in the back of your throat.

“That’s good, darlin’. Fuck…”

He finally releases you, slightly, still setting the pace. He leans towards you and pulls your head back, saying “open”.

You open and he spits in your mouth. He caresses your chin and tells you to swallow. You do so, and you don’t take your eyes off him. You know that’s what he wants. His attitude keeps turning you on, and you feel that your panties are soaked.

“Take off your blouse and skirt, and lie down on the bed.”

He looks at you, still sitting in the Chesterfield chair, while you undress. Then he stands up, removes all his clothes and lays down on the bed, his shoulders between your thighs. He pulls aside the fabric of your panties and reveals your pussy.

“You’re fuckin’ soaked, baby…Now ask me to eat you out.”

“Eat my pussy, please.”

He slaps your clit and you cry out in surprise.

“Ask better than that."

“Would you eat my pussy, please, sir?”

“Much better. We’ll have to work on your manners, darlin'.”

You don't even have time to wonder if he's really planning to fuck you again, before he slides from your soaked hole to your clit, with the flat of his tongue, in a long stroke. You moan as he now pushes his tongue into your pussy and his nose rubs against your clit.

“Mmmm you taste good.”

He licks you again with a long stroke and pushes two fingers into your pussy, focusing his tongue on your clit. His beard rubs against your thighs and fuck… he knows how to eat a pussy. You bend your knees and spread your thighs to offer yourself even more to him, your hands gripping his curls. He raises his head and his chin shines with your wetness. 

“You spread like a slut for me, who would have known you were such a whore when I hired you?”

Being far from shocked, you moan under his words as he starts sucking your clit again. His free hand pulls on your bra to release a breast, which he grabs in his hand.

“Fuckin talk to me, baby.”

“I love that. You eat me so well. Please-”

He stops and says “manners.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, sir. It’s so good, I forgot my manners. Please keep going, sir, I would like to come in your mouth, please.”

“Good girl”, he says, before starting to swirl his tongue over your clit again.

He pushes a third finger into your pussy and you roll your hips against his mouth, trying to grind yourself against it as much as possible.

“That's it baby. I can feel you’re gonna come.”

You moan louder and louder and he adds "come on my tongue, baby. Come on the tongue of the man who pays for two of your jobs"

“Fuck”, you say as you grip his hair and come in his mouth, shaking.

“There it is… That's good, baby, you're doing so well.” 

You jolt again at his praise, your pussy squeezing his fingers one more time. He kneels between your thighs, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and asks:

“You want this cock, baby?”

“Yes I do, sir.”

“Take it, then”, he adds, lying on his back next to you.

Shyness makes you doubt your actions again the moment you straddle him, after taking off your panties and bra. You’re so close to his face. The face of one of your employers, much older than you, but above all, the father of a child you babysit. Joel seems to understand what's making you hesitate, and his gaze becomes softer, more familiar to you. 

“What happens here, stays here, baby.”

You nod and grab his cock, pressing his tip against your entrance. You stare at his chest and start sinking on it, when he stops you.

“No, not like that. You look at me when you fuck yourself on my cock. You look at me, and don’t take your eyes off me.”

“Why?”, you whisper.

“Because I wanna see you suffocate when my cock tears you in two. Because I want you to realize that it’s my cock, that you’re gonna impale yourself on. Because I want you to remember that, the next time you come to my house and I open the door to you, even if we don’t refer to it outside of here.”

So you raise your head, stare at him, and lower your pelvis. And god, he was right when he said his cock would tear you in two. You feel it parting your folds and you can't hold back a long moan.

You keep impaling yourself on his cock, more and more, going down his shaft without stopping or slowing down, your eyes fixed on his, while he has placed his hands on your hips now, but letting you be in control.

His stare has changed too. His confidence has given way to pleasure and you can't help but smile, until you reach the base of his dick. You stay like that for a few seconds, full of his cock, and you catch your breath.

“So tell me…. since when did you wanna fuck me?” he asks you. 

“Fuck, I…I don’t know…”

He holds your hips so you stay grounded on him, and can’t avoid his questions.

“Days? Weeks? Months?”

“Oh god…hu…Weeks or months, I guess.”

“Oh baby you wanted this cock for so long?”

“Please, I wanna move…”

“Last question. Do you think about that big cock at night in your bed?”

“Fuck…Yes. Yes I do. I touch myself thinking of your cock.”

He smirks and finally releases the pressure on your hips. You start rolling them, barely lifting yourself with every movement of your hips. You rub your clit against his lower abdomen and you seek your pleasure again, even though you came in his mouth a short time before.

“Fuck look at that… you’re using me to get off, my cock deep in your slutty pussy…”

You bite your lip and realize that what you’re doing is unprofessional. You should act for his own pleasure. But you can't. And you don’t want to, for now. His cock is so good, and you feel that in less than two minutes you’re gonna come on it.

“It’s ok, baby. Use me, come on my cock. It’s here for it.” 

“I…fuck. I’m gonna cum, sir. Your cock is so thick and…my clit...fuck...my clit..it’s so good. I’m gonna…I’m gonna come, sir. Can I come, please?”

“Come for me baby, come on”, he whispers, and as you’re coming on his cock, he presses harder on your hips, to keep you fully buried on him.

You fall onto his torso and he caresses your back until your spasms stop. You come to your senses and sit up straight, before realizing that you are still impaled on him, and that his cock is still just as big and hard inside you. Your pussy clenches at this sudden movement.

“I’m sorry, I’m-”

“Fuck, baby. You just came twice in a matter of minutes, what fucker would be mad after that?”

You nod and smile gently.

“Lie on your back, now, baby.”

You do as he asks, and once lying on top of you, he says, his eyes fixed on yours “my turn to fuck you.”

He thrusts into you half way suddenly, and you can't help but suffocate. He pulls back, and immediately sinks in again and bottoms up.

“Fuck… you’re so fuckin’ tight. ’m gonna ruin that pussy, baby.”

He fucks you quickly and goes deep with each stroke. You feel his balls slap against your pussy and…he fucks well. One of the best fucks you've ever had. Maybe even the best. You hold on to his biceps and let him fuck you.

“Come on baby, use your words, tell me what you feel.”

But he’s fucking you so hard, so good, that you can’t answer.

“Oh baby… what’s goin’ on? You can’t talk anymore, I’m fucking you that good?”

“Yes…yes, sir.”

“Come on baby, give me more. Your other clients fuck you like this?”

You can’t answer, but you shake your head, while he’s still pounding you.

“No? Not a single client fucks you as good as me?”

You shake your head again. 

“You know it won’t be the only time we fuck, right? I’m not even done with you, and I already miss your pussy. Fuck…you’re squeezing me so tight…fuck.”

“More”, you say.

“More what? Words.”

“I want you to fuck me more… I… shit… I want more nights.”

“You’ll have them, baby. Ah fuck..I’m gonna fill you, baby….That’s what you want? To be filled by my big cock?”

“Yes…Yes please sir, fill me up!”

He thrusts in again, twice, three times, and you feel his spurts of cum filling your pussy.

“You're gonna empty my bank account with that pussy baby, damn…”

*******************

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[lunawho47]

Ok, I've refrained from making an official post on anything related to the Watcher Entertainment situation (I've reblogged but kept silent on my general thoughts), mostly because after that first weekend I had hoped most of the hate posting from so-called "fans" would blow over and we could resume our regular lives.

But it hasn't stopped. Every time something new from Watcher drops, people use it as an opportunity to post hatred about Steven Lim (which is disgusting and you should all be ashamed of yourselves) or show a grievous misunderstanding of how the company makes money.

A few days ago, the company apparently sent out a mass email to the subscribers of WatcherTV (and I say "apparently" because I am subscriber to WatcherTV and got no such email, and I've checked my deleted emails and junk mail) about a forthcoming sponsor made episode of one of their shows. Based on the screenshot I read of the email, they said it was originally going to be a YouTube exclusive, but after having gotten some inquiries from WatcherTV subscribers requesting they put it on the website, they were taking a poll to see if the people wanted it to be YouTube exclusive or to have the sponsored episode on the website.

People were acting like WatcherTV had run off with their money because after setting up a subscriber based streaming service, they were still going to be doing sponsored content. Y'know, the thing they wanted to leave YouTube originally. And people are acting like Watcher is saying that their money isn't enough and the subscribers are being ripped off.

And yeah, your money isn't enough. And that's the fandom's fault.

Originally, the idea was that if you didn't pay for the subscription service, you were going to miss out on a good chunk of their content going forward. The fandom gave a huge, riotous outcry about it and they backtracked to make it so that everything would eventually be on YouTube. WatcherTV subscribers just get it earlier (a month only.) That means that they aren't making a large amount of money from their subscription service because only the die-hards who have the money to spend are bothering to pay money to see content a month early. Most people don't mind waiting a month. (Hell, for years I had to wait longer than that to see DW in the US after it premiered in the UK over six months before. Needless to say, spoilers never bother me because it was how I engaged with the more British based DW audience for four whole years.)

So, yeah, they're going to have to do sponsorships, even with people investing in WatcherTV. And I am fucking sick and tired of seeing people complain about it. If you want them to keep making content and most of the fandom complains about the boys DARING to ask for them to pay to see it, then you're going to have deal with whole episodes of shows that are based around promoting games and films.

They have not stolen your money from you or lied to you about the situation. You're just either very naive about what the fallout of the fandom's tantrum would be or you're being willfully ignorant so that you can feel yourself righteously angry (but, sorry. You're wrong there. You're not righteously angry, just stupidly so.)

[mhalachai]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Can you literally afford it?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sgiandubh]

And kia... ora (?!) to New Zealand, like you've never seen it before 🤭

Just listened to Monica Gleberman's latest podcast with S. Twice. I can only urge you to do the same: it's 19 minutes long and well.. I'd just love to read your thoughts on it. By the way, I had no idea the woman even existed (happens a lot in SC world, at least to me) before she chimed in with indignation, you know... the Palestine Letter, and such.

But first, my short assessment, of course. By the way, this was recorded, I think, on November 1st, based on this X post:

Showbiz being showbiz, all grudge is now forgotten and you can listen to the podcast on Spotify, here (no subscription needed, of course):

OK, I honestly think her voice and her completely clueless, torrential debit are totally meh, but maybe that's just me. She made me think of one of those Tupperware representatives, always eager (hungry?) to sell something to you and do it quick, drug-dealer style. Some in Mordor thought she was drunk on the job (a half-emptied bottle of SS Gin was emphatically mentioned at least twice during the interview) - as usually, no humor and nasty.

I just think she was just acting too cool for school and #silly, with a severe case of ovaries going...

... on top.

Straight off the bat, the OTT praise is on steroids: how amazing S is, how he never changed, 'same sweetest person and like an amazing human being and friend to talk to and I just love you'. Kill me now, but that was unnecessary - yet still useful, since it prompted this answer (02:54):

'Well, that's very kind of you to say, but I think that's not true...I think there's...there's a lot of smoke and mirrors, this is ALL fake, um...underneath, there's a completely different human being. I have a double, actually. I AM the double. Um.. no, it's been a great journey, I'm very lucky and yeah, it's [OL] given me a lot of opportunities, as well (...).'

Translation: I am joking, but not even joking, if you see what I mean.

You'd think that was casual banter? You might want to think twice. Like all Taureans, bless their heart, S always almost heavily insists, when he wants to make sure the message gets across (07:12):

MG: ' Soooo, I don't know what's true, what's not true, but I'm just gonna assume that, you know, you looove watercolor. So, what is your favorite watercolor painting to make?'

Huh? Did I get that right? The answer does not match the clumsy question. At all. But see/hear for yourself:

S:' Err, you know what, I mean, I actually do, I actually have a couple paintings.. um.. from a..an artist called James Morrison, he was a Scottish artist.. he.. he actually painted a lot around Scotland, but he also painted up in the Arctic... the Arctic Circle... I'm kind of obsessed with him, so yes, this actually,,, this is truth...damn, I didn't know you'd actually put truths in here, but, you know...'

MG: ' OK, so we're already breaking barriers, right? Like revealing secrets so that is... that is... true.'

I shall not comment this. I do not think it needs any translation, to be honest.

The 'illiterate' S is, apparently, a keen art connoisseur and how could it be otherwise, if you only think of his mum? And Morrison is not just your average Scottish watercolorist. If you care to check his Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Morrison_(artist), you'll find interesting things, like:

His works can fetch at auction (here at Christie's in 2006), around...

... and the recent (conservative) estimates are stable. You can check them here: https://www.invaluable.com/artist/morrison-james-1932-9fybkaiqbc/sold-at-auction-prices/. A very good investment, on a volatile, whimsical market (I know very well what I am talking about).

Surely enough, some of you will just hear that horrendous cackle and the flirt fest that totally goes south by the end of the podcast. But maybe - just maybe - if you listen a bit more carefully, you'd have a rare peek behind that damn mask.

[larkingame]

Larkin's Relationship to Mormonism & the Children of Cain

Hi Friends, it was brought to my attention that there were some concerns with Larkin, its characters and the Children of Cain. I wanted to address some things first, clarify and talk about certain aspects, and talk about steps moving forward. 

Recently someone brought up the idea that the concept of the 'Children of Cain' is not a new concept. In fact, it's an idea conceived and embraced by the Mormon Church as a harmful term for black people. It was used to ostracize and embrace ideas that are overall harmful to People of Color across the board. This was used to justify and encourage countless crimes against not only black people, but indigenous people and other people of color and supported a racist rhetoric that still persists to this day. 

In context of the story—the Children of Cain call themselves that based on Lore relevant to Vampires, something that seems silly in the face of the actual racism that people faced previously and still face today. 

 While much of Larkin (and the Abrams Family) is based on the early days of the Mormon Church, the cult of personality of Joseph Smith and the offshoots of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and is in part meant to be a critique of those institutions, this is something that I completely overlooked when I first conceived Larkin. But just because I was ignorant of something does not excuse me from taking responsibility for it and the harm I've done with it. So I want to take this opportunity to whole-heartedly apologize, accept that I've done wrong and move forward with and demonstrate changes that'll be made today and in the future.

First and foremost, I'll be changing the name of the Cult the 'Children of Cain' were previously supposed to represent. It was foolish of me to do this, but when putting Larkin originally together I hadn't put much thought into their title other than in the context of the Bible—I thought it flowed well, and had a nice ring to it without doing much research in parallel to the concepts and themes I wanted to discuss in Larkin. I'll also be reworking some of the texts and concepts around the cult in a new version of the game. 

That being said, I'll be privating both the public and alpha versions of the game until they can be reworked and have any of these harmful terms and ideas removed. I’m also going to pause Patreon subscriptions for the moment until this new version is ready, as I don’t feel comfortable making money off of something that brings other people harm. 

I appreciate that this was brought to my attention--and I want to reiterate that I have an open-door policy, and while I strive to not do anything to cause anyone harm or make anyone uncomfortable--if that is ever the case, please do not hesitate to reach out to me in the future--as my dms are always open. 

I want to apologize once more for any harm I've caused in this process, especially to any members of the black community that I've hurt with my ignorance of this topic and my actions.

Thank you. 

[andmaybegayer]

Hello it's me with another very naive computer question!

One of the really common complaints you see about modern software (from Adobe, Microsoft, etc.) is the move from the single-purchase model to a subscription-based model. While I understand that people are upset about paying more money over time, this also feels like the only viable option for shipping products that work with modern OSes, especially Windows (I don't have any experience with MacOS). Windows pretty regularly updates, and if you want your product to continue to work, you have to continue paying your engineers to maintain compatibility through time.

Obviously I understand that there are lots of FOSS options out there, but for the companies that are built on making money from these sorts of software products, I don't see another way. Am I way off the mark here?

This is a really good question. I don't have a great answer, but the model I have in my head is that "traditional software distribution" is partially an artifact of an era where companies were starting to use computers but internet use was still spotty so providing support for software was just a very different ballgame. A lot of what I'm saying here is not like. Fact as much as it is my understanding of The Software Business from the side of someone who is a little involved in that but mostly not in that.

(This is mostly about "business software", that is to say, accounting packages, creative suites, design packages, modelling tools, etc. This model does not explain like. Spotify. But that's much easier to explain.)

You're not wrong that the subscription model really make sense given modern software development, where patches come out continuously and you get upgraded to the latest version every time something changes, but there has been a significant change in how software is developed and sold that makes it noticeably different. I think that the cause of this is mostly because it's finally practical to do contract-style deals with hundreds of thousands of customers instead of doing one-off sales like we used to do.

In the Traditional model you charge a pretty sizeable upfront cost for a specific version of the software, you buy Windows XP or Jasc Paint Shop 7 or whatever and then you get That Version until we release The Next Version, plus a couple years of security and support. When the next version hits, we stop adding any new features to your version, and when that hits end of life, you maybe get offered a discount to buy licensing for the latest version, or you drop out of support.

Traditional software with robust support typically costs an awful lot, Photoshop CS2 was $600 new in 2005, or $150 to upgrade from CS, because you're paying for support and engineering time in advance. A current subscription for just Photoshop is $20/mo, and that's after twenty years of inflation. Photoshop is also cheap, a seat for something like SolidWorks 2003 could probably have run you $3000-4000 easy. I can't even give you a better guess there because SolidWorks still doesn't sell single commercial licenses online, you have to talk to their salespeople.

The interesting thing to me about Traditional pricing was that I think it was typically offered to medium to small businesses or individuals, because it's an easy way to sell to smaller customers, especially if it's the 90's and you're maybe selling your software through an intermediary reseller who works with local businesses or just a store shelf.

Independent software resellers were a big business back in the day, they served as a go-between for the software company and smaller businesses, they sold prepared packages in a few sizes and handled the personal relationship of phoning you up and saying "Hey there's a patch for your accounting software so that it doesn't crash when someone's surname is Zero, we'll send you a floppy disk in the mail with some instructions on how to install it." Versioned standard releases are a thing you can put in a box and give to resellers along with a spec sheet and sales talking points. This business still exists but it's much smaller than it once was, it's largely gone upmarket.

If you were bigger, say, if you were a publishing house that needed fifty seats of editing software you'd probably call the sales department of Jasc or whoever and get a volume deal along with a support contract.

Nowadays why would you bother going through resellers and making this whole complicated pricing model when you could just sell subscriptions with well-established e-commerce tools. You can make contract support deals with individuals at scale, all online, without hiring thousands of salespeople. You can even provide varying support levels at multiple cost brackets directly, so you don't need to cultivate a direct business relationship with all your customers in order to meet their needs. Your salespeople handle the really big megacorp and government deals and you let everyone else administer themselves.

It also makes development easier. You can also deploy patches over the net, you just do it in software. You can obsolete older versions faster, since you can make sure most people are using the latest version, and significantly cut down on engineering time spent backporting fixes to older versions. I think a lot of this is straightforwardly desirable on most software.

Now, there are still packages sold by the version, and there are even companies selling eternal licenses.

Fruity Loops Studio is still a "Buy once forever" type deal.

MatLab can be purchased as a subscription or as a perpetual one-version license.

Windows is still sold like this, but also direct to customer sales of Windows are minimal, Windows is primarily sold to OEM's who preinstall it on everything.

But it's a dying breed, your bigger customers are going to want current support and while there are industries where people want to hang around on older versions, for a lot of software your customer wants the latest thing with all the features and patches, and they'd rather hold on to their money until later using a subscription rather than spend it all upfront. Businesses love subscriptions, they make accounts books balance well, they're the opposite of debt.

Personal/private users who might just want the features of Photoshop CS2 and that's fine forever don't matter to you. They're not your major customers. This kind of person is not a person who your business cares to service, so you don't really care if you annoy them.

Even in the Open Source business world, subscriptions are how the money is made, just on support rather than for the software itself. You can jump through relatively few hoops to run Ubuntu Enterprise or SUSE Enterprise Linux on your own systems for free, but really there's not much benefit to that unless you pay for the dedicated support subscription.

In many ways I think a lot of things have changed in this way, I have a whole thing about the way medium-scale industrial manufacturing has changed in the past thirty years somewhere around here.

While there are valid reasons you might want to buy a single snapshot of some software and run that forever, the reality is that that's a pretty rare desire, or at least that desire is rarely backed by money. If you want to do that you either need access to the source code so that you can maintain it yourself, or you need to strike a deal with someone who will, or it needs to be software so limited that it (and the system it runs on!) never need updates. Very few useful programs are this simple. As a result subscription models make sense, but until recently you couldn't really sell a subscription to small businesses and individuals. Changes in e-commerce and banking have enabled such contracts to be made, and hey presto, it's subscription world.

[nanowrimo]

Five Scenes That Make or Break Your Novel

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Bookflow, a 2023 NaNo sponsor, is a cloud-based writing tool that helps writers stay motivated and organized. Today, Bookflow shares five important scenes to consider when writing or editing your novel:

At Bookflow, we’re all about helping writers start writing and keep writing. What stops writers from writing? Overwhelm, fatigue, perfectionism, fear, life events—there are an infinite number of reasons why we take a pause and then, sometimes, fail to get started again. At Bookflow, we’re all about focusing on how to make writing feel doable, so that you can get in the flow and stay there…all the way to “The End”.

Promoting the positive energy of experiences like Camp NaNoWriMo is what we’re all about. After all, writing isn’t just something we do when we’re putting words on the page: it’s a way of life, a way of seeing the world through a creative lens. Bookflow makes it easy to capture and organize the thoughts that make up a novel’s raw material, and then turn that material into a finished draft.

Writers often get stuck in their plots or struggle to see the big picture behind their manuscript’s events. But the basic structure that underlies most stories in the Western tradition is actually fairly simple. (Simple, of course, does not necessarily mean easy!)

According to playwright David Mamet, plots have five foundational moments. Here, we explain what each of these moments means.

1. Once Upon a Time

We can’t understand why something changes if we never understand what things were like before that change. Consider what an ordinary day was like for your protagonist before their main conflict arrived. Were they happy? Dissatisfied? Frightened? Content?

2. And Then One Day

This is the moment that things change for your protagonist. And then one day…Gandalf handed me a magic ring. And then one day… I woke up and was a cockroach. And then one day… the prince invited everyone to a ball. Usually, this scene will appear at or near the start of your novel, and will set things in motion as your character makes a plan to get what they want.

3. And Just When Things Were Going So Well

This is a major reversal that happens approximately midway through your novel. After initial setbacks, your protagonist seems to be on the verge of success…only to fail in a way that seems catastrophic. This causes the character to contemplate giving up entirely. But after they deal with the emotional fallout of their failure, they reassess their actions and what they are willing to do to get what they want or need.

4. When All of A Sudden

The character’s new plan has worked, and they seem to be on the brink of success. But near the end, they face an enormous, final setback that looks as if it will end in disaster. However, the character’s earlier challenges have helped the character grow. They put everything on the line (emotionally or physically) in a final bid to achieve the outcome they want.

5. And They All Lived Happily Ever After

Sometimes they all live happily ever after (Cinderella). Sometimes they don’t (Macbeth). But there’s always a decisive moment in which the protagonist achieves their goal, fails in their goal, or a mixture of both. Either way, once the outcome is decided, your story is effectively over. Tie up any loose ends and write The End—you did it!

Bookflow is a comprehensive (but easy to use!) tool to help you build out characters and scenes that work and organize your writing into a successful novel. If you’d like a copy of our free outlining guide, click here!

Bookflow is the cloud-based writing tool that helps writers stay motivated and organized. Track streaks and goals, organize and re-order your manuscript, and find daily inspiration and writing prompts with the tool that gets you all the way to “The End”. Camp NaNoWriMo writers get 30% off an annual subscription when you sign up with code NANOWRITER. Offer expires August 1, 2023.

Top photo by 愚木混株 cdd20 on Unsplash.

[hkkingofshades]

Tumblr's new policy, and updates going forward

Yeah, I bet we all saw this coming, huh.

So, given tungl dot hell(tm)'s new deal with midjourney, I think pretty much all artists on tumblr are, well, not having a great time. Like deviantart, tumblr has provided a way to opt out from having your blog content scraped, but like deviantart, it's a little unclear what has already been shared before the opt-out went into place, and how much they'll actually work to stop machine trawlers from trawling opted-out blogs.

I'll put the tl;dr up front:

King of Shades will not be leaving Tumblr, but due to the new policy, I won't be posting full pages here anymore.

There's no point in taking down all the pages I've already posted. Deleting them from my page won't delete subsequent reblogs, and there's a pretty high chance that tumblr has already scraped them. (haveibeentrained.com seems to think I haven't been yet, at least. I don't think I really have a big enough following for that to happen, although I don't want to jinx it...) But I certainly won't be posting the full-size pages here anymore.

Instead, I think I'll go the Trying Human route and post a little preview of the update (possibly heavily watermarked; my computer can't run glaze/nightshade, unfortunately), so you guys will still get notifications, but you'll have to visit the ComicFury main website in order to read it. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience (although I will say that I think it's a much better reading experience over there)!

Speaking of which:

I have never and will never ask for any kind of compensation (other than your wonderful feedback, which I've just been absolutely blown away by) for doing this. Even putting legality aside, that's not why I'm here! However, if you've enjoyed this comic, ever thought that you might be willing to tip me on ko-fi if I had one, or even just want to continue having an internet that isn't entirely a corporate wasteland, I ask that you consider donating to ComicFury instead.

ComicFury is a relic of the old, good internet: it's been around for at least 15 years, and it's all hosted and managed by one guy (Kyo). Aside from his team of volunteer moderators, everything on this website is done by one person with a passion for supporting artists. I've chatted with him a little, and he's a great dude! Most of his operating costs are paid for out of pocket, and the site is currently hurting a little bit because it doesn't run ads, it doesn't have subscriptions or paywalled content, it doesn't have any corporate interference or monetization of any kind outside of his Patreon. And—perhaps most relevantly for this post:

I will cut right to the chase, we have decided not to allow AI-art based webcomics on the site. [...] As for our reasoning, there are obviously ethical concerns regarding the source images of most commonly used AI image generators (namely them just being scraped off the internet without anyones permission). But even beyond that, another concern is that due to the extremely low effort involved, webcomics of this nature could just over time completely drown out in numbers art by passionate people who put a lot of time into it , which would be a real shame. So we asked ourselves what would be better for the community, and we agreed that banning it would probably be the better thing overall.

—Kyo has been quite firm that he will not allow AI art to be posted to or scraped from any ComicFury domain. While this isn't a protection against huge web trawls or people putting someone's art in individually—there's not a lot anyone can do about that yet, even with tools like glaze and nightshade—it's a little peace of mind that the art posted there won't abruptly be sold en masse to the highest bidder.

The Patreon starts at $2/month, and Kyo has said that he doesn't mind people pledging for a short time and then dipping if they can't afford an ongoing subscription. If and only if this is something you can afford, and you want to continue seeing independent webcomics including King of Shades, please consider donating!

The Patreon is here. There's not much in the way of reward tiers, especially if you're not a member, but I posit that the real reward is being able to read free webcomics done by real humans as labors of love, without being advertised to or sold as the product. And also maybe the friends we made along the way. Or something.

Once again, there is no pressure, and no shame if you're not willing or able to give money. But if you've ever thought you might be willing to tip me for what I do, consider passing it along to the guy who makes it possible instead.

Thank you for your time!

P.S. Page 64 is coming, I promise! Recent developments kind of kneecapped my motivation for making online art 🙃

[blackbackedjackal]

please try to sell me gw2. i really want to like it and ive tried a couple times over the years to get into it, but every time my experience is like: walk for 5 irl minutes -> talk to someone -> kill 20 things -> random world events -> kill 50 things -> go back and talk to the person. rinse and repeat

and then i uninstall the game

Hard to sell it to ya when it's free to play ;0

As a new/returning player I honestly recommend going in with some friends. It's a game were you can absolutely solo PvE with the right build, but I always have more fun playing with my friends for the shenanigans. I also, 100%, recommend plopping an OC in the game. My first characters were both in-game and all their lore is based around GW2, but putting June in there has been hella fun to see how she would handle being in Tyria.

Your first 80 levels are basically to help get you accustom to the game mechanics and the story. Though the story is optional, I recommend playing it so you get more of a feel of Tyria and the history. The story also leads you through the game an the map rather than just taking random quests as you explore. It's really the only mode that gives you a bit of direction in the game.

If you happen to get stuck or have any questions about the game, it's pretty safe to ask the map chat and usually people will help you out, especially in early maps. GW2 is a game that doesn't really teach you how to play, you learn as you go. There's also plenty of YT vids on how to get started and tutorials if you get stuck or suggestions of things to try out as you level. They've also updated the game fairly recently where you now have access to the Raptor mount without needing to have Path of Fire or doing the expansion, which is a HUGE quality of life change while you explore the early maps.

Once your toon hits level 80, that's when you unlock your mastery tracks that will allow you to do more of the endgame content and continue through the living story. Fractals, Raids, Dungeons, Strikes, World Bosses, Meta Trains, Gold Farming, PvP, WvW, FASHION WARS!!, There's a ton to do once you're set up, and again, lots of resources available to help you out (TaCO, GW2 Efficiency, Crafting Guides).

The world is unique. It feels lived in and ever expanding. The lore for all the playable races in the game is really interesting and they do a lot to subvert expectations from typical fantasy stories. Some things are a hit or miss for a lot of folks but there's so much to love about the game even my least favorite parts are like just mid to me compared to the parts I genuinely enjoy. My favorite expansion is Path of Fire + Season 4. The desert maps are my favorites followed by Maguma (begrudgingly). Cantha had grown on me a lot after a million Leviathan Farms for gold lol. THE SEASONAL EVENTS AHHH like again there's just so much to touch on but yeah the long and short of it is it IS a time sink at minimum to get to the more favored content, but even as a old player I still love making new toons and taking them through the early game content again just for fun.

But yeah, free to play, no subscriptions, all expansions are a one time purchase. You've got 10 years worth of content to explore and try out. It's a relatively inexpensive MMO (the expacs can be up to 50% off during certain yearly sales). An overall very helpful community. Any paid content is mostly cosmetics and convenience items, but nothing that gives you an advantage over other players. Basically everyone is grinding towards a similar end-goal, so you can always get the same gear as people through grinding. Nothing is really out of reach and people are always willing to help others out with multiplayer content.

I've been consistently playing for 8-9 years now. It's one of those game where I'm IN it for like a few months then may take a few months off until a holiday event I love is coming up and then I play for a few months again. It's probably the only other game I've sunk as much time into as Pokemon or Skyrim over the years (I jokingly call it Skyrim Online since ya'll won't catch me playing ESO). But yeah just, it's a game I never expected to play for this long and this consistently and it always feels fun to pick back up. Genuinely I do hope you give it another try. I've honestly had the most fun I've had in years with the wave of new and returning players jumping back into the game c:

[merelymatt]

To get my upcoming audio drama I Need A Miracle off the page and into the airwaves, I decided against the indie production scramble where everyone donates their time, and against crowdfunding – and instead I basically sent the scripts to @wirelesstheatre and said "What'll it cost to make this happen?", then compared that number to my savings and said "Ok, let's do this".

(It was obviously more businesslike than that, but that was the basic maths of it on my side.)

Here's why I didn't do it those other ways this time:

Why not the indie production scramble?

Scraping it together on a shoestring. Buttonholing friends to perform, using whatever recording equipment I already have to hand, doing as much of the production as possible myself and begging favours for the parts I can't.

In some ways this would have been the easiest option. It doesn't rely on anyone else's approval, or involve putting any new infrastructure together.

But! For me, for I Need A Miracle specifically, this was the option of absolute last resort, for various reasons.

First and foremost, I already have one podcast (@merelyroleplayers) that I run on this basis. I already ask a lot of my friends to perform on that show for nothing, on the promise it'll be fun and I'll buy everyone a pint afterwards. I think you only get one of those, or you should only get one. If you run every project like this, especially if you're calling on the same people each time, it starts getting exploitative.

Second, I'm trying not to exploit myself either, by which I mean, I've put work into writing this series (admittedly on spec), I think it's worthwhile, and I'd like to see if I can make some money in return for that work. And if one person involved in a project is getting paid, everyone should be getting paid.

Why not crowdfund?

There are sub-options within this option: subscriptions and patronage-style funding (like Patreon, Ko-Fi or Gumroad) and up-front project-based funding (like Kickstarter, Indiegogo or Seed & Spark).

I actually have been weighing up the idea of a Patreon or Ko-Fi for a while, not for I Need A Miracle specifically, but for @foggyoutline in general. At the beginning it would effectively be a Merely Roleplayers subscription, because that's currently the only Foggy Outline show. But if enough people pay a bit a month for bonuses like uncut episodes, that could help fund new projects like I Need A Miracle, which could bring in more listeners and more patrons, whose contributions could help fund the next thing, and so on.

But the problem I would have with any kind of crowdfunding model is, right now I'm only pulling a small crowd! I'm an unknown writer, Foggy Outline is an unknown player at least in audio drama. And it seems like to succeed with a crowdfunding campaign, you really need your audience already built and poised to give you money.

If I Need A Miracle takes off and finds its audience, the kudos off that might make crowdfunding an option for the next thing. But I just wasn't confident it would succeed for this show, at least without a load of spend on a consultant and advertising (which then eats into the campaign proceeds).

So go on then, where is the money actually coming from

Me! Supplemented by my Foggy Outline business partners, who are also my Mum and Dad. But the majority of the production costs for I Need A Miracle are coming out of my savings.

This is one of the reasons I prioritised I Need A Miracle over other audio drama projects I'm working on: because it's simple enough that I felt confident I could cover the costs myself if I needed to. There's no dialogue (only monologues), so it's not a complex edit. Most of the episodes take place in one location, with little action beyond the character speaking, so it doesn't call for elaborate sound design. All the episodes are under 20 minutes. For a more complicated production, I would have had to bring in some funding from somewhere, or convinced a producer to take on the production costs themselves. This one was, to some extent, designed (by me) to be more affordable.

It's worth saying that getting started wasn't just a case of getting a quote from Wireless and agreeing to pay it. Producer Sarah Golding read the scripts and wouldn't have taken on the project if she didn't think it was worthwhile. So it's not pure pay-for-play.

So the plan now is:

Sell ads and subscriptions and see how much of the production cost I can get back that way after the fact (I expect not all of it, but that's ok, because...)

Also think of that money I've spent as an investment in both this and future projects – by spending money on an amazing production company that's making the show brilliant, I'm getting something that's hopefully going to make this whole process easier next time. Because next time I can point to Wireless' confidence in my writing, and the quality of I Need A Miracle, (and hopefully its success and acclaim and awards and all its fans), to get someone else to put their hand in their pocket instead, whether that's listeners, producers or sponsors.

[chipper-asks]

Hi! I've been following you for a good while now and have always rly admired the community you've build, and, your art itself, obviously, it's always very cozy in here. May be a strange question, but as a relatively popular artist on the interned, are there any tips you could share on how to engage and sustain an audience? maybe you know some recourses for artist to get their art seen? I've been an artist posting online for roughly 10 yrs and pretty much failed at accumulating any sort of prominent presence. I don't feel bad about it really, it's not why I do art per say, but these are pretty rough times and unfortunately other means of art monetization grow thinner with stupid updates & algorithms forcing anyone who can't afford payed adds or subscriptions out of business. I kinda have to make use of social media, even if it's not my element in the slightest. Feel free not to answer if you feel like it. Thanks in advance! Also big thanks for your shouts of my art overall, I really appreciate your support!

So I've had a post in my drafts for who knows how long detailing how to build and curate your audience online. But I haven't found a good way to go about posting it because I didn't want it to come off as tooting my own horn xD

BUT YOU HAVE ENABLED ME SO HERE WE GO!!!

(im going to generalize, you may already be doing some of these things but I think its good info for anyone who wants to build an online presence)

1. Engaging your audience

A: First, you have to think of the platform you're sharing your art on and what people use it for. Not even tumblr, but the internet as a whole. It is a place where people form communities and share information. It's also one of the most popular ways to mentally escape; from school, boredom, to the horrors of real life.

So if you want people to find you, make a space where they can escape/feel community.

This means: No callout posting, no venting, no doom posting, no politics, no guilt posting, no anything that would make you unfollow someone else if you were having a bad day.

It's okay to have an occasional vent or political post cause we're human, but trauma dumping is something thats very hard for someone else to read and honestly should you be putting that kind of information online, the internet is a place of community but it also isnt safe.

B: The Value of Fandoms

It's time for some metrics, featuring my own follower count.

I've been on tumblr for 9 years and I have been making an effort to grow my base as a way of getting money as a freelancer (like you) so I started doing this allll the way back in highschool. I can remember each milestone and which fandom I got them in

1,000 I got when I was posting stuff for Undertale

2,000 I got when I was posting stuff for The Property of Hate

there was a big break between these milestones where I was just drawing ocs and object heads and stuff, but nothing I was hyperfixated on

5,000 I got from Hollow Knight

but then something really unexpected happened.

In late 2021 and early 2022 I decided cringe was a worthless social construct and decided to fully indulge in my enjoyment of doodling dragons.

I juuust inched past 5,000 when 2022 started. I Ended Up With 12,000 as 2022 ended. That's more than double. As of posting this I am at 13,600 and its only February.

So how did that happen? I could tout along and say that it was simply luck and I wasn't really making an effort anyway but that's a big fuckin lie, i've been "selling out" this whole time (it's not fucking selling out to post in fandom. You like a thing? You go to the thing's community and post about the thing)

Posting in a fandom is essentially like, now bear with me, advertising for your blog. Fandom is where the eyes are and where the traffic goes. Big tags like #artistsontumblr #tumblrart #art are used OFTEN but they're too general and often people look for things that are specific. Fandoms like Hollow Knight, BNHA, Mob Psycho, The Owl House, etc are currently popping off and have a lot of traffic.

This doesn't necessarily mean that you need to join a popular fandom to post your work in to get followers, it just means that if you're into a show or a media, post it on your main art blog and don't make side blogs. Keep it all together

Why?

Because 5% of those fandom people stick around for YOUR STUFF and those 5% of people are the best goddamn people in the world. You want those 5% to see EVERYTHING you do and THEY'RE the ones who will recommend you to THEIR friends and do outreach on your behalf because they like YOU and not YOUR STUFF.

i fuckin love those guys

So as you hop from fandom to fandom, you're going to lose some people but that's fine. Everyone curates their experience online and if you head off in a direction they don't like then they can deal with it. The rest come along for the ride cause 1: they either really like your stuff or 2: are into the new thing you're getting into.

SO ANYWAY

posting in fandoms under one name is GOOD because it puts everyone in the same bucket that will see your stuff and there's a chance that a few will stick just for your stuff. It is not cheap, its how you reach out to people to help cheer up their day and escape from things stressing them out.

C: What should you post?

So this is something that isn't an exact science but if you're looking to increase your follower count, this is something you can keep in mind.

Because this is the internet and the digital word of escaping from stress, people flock to things that are

1: Familiar 2: Funny 3: Relatable

So i've already been over fandoms and that's something that goes into the Familiar category. Familiar can also mean generalized but still popular concepts, like werewolves, dragons, vampires, apocalyptic scenarios, etc.

The more you trail into something niche, like marine biology, the seelie/unseelie courts, object heads, etc, the less traffic you'll find. There are communities centered around these but they're not massive like certain fandoms.

Which is how you end up with artists who spend hours upon hours on every piece only getting like 14 - 32 notes per piece. It's not lack of people caring or lack of interest, its the fact that these artists haven't "advertised" their blogs in fandom. Those people who end up caring about more personal posts are those 5% you find from fandom spaces. Their Familiar from that fandom begins to include your artwork as Familiar and thus they're more likely to share it.

Funny is simple. Tumblr is a platform of shitposts and memes. Do you have a favorite character in a fandom? Shitpost them. 2 birds with one stone, Familiar and Funny. I can't teach you how to be funny, but if you see something that makes you laugh online, pause and try to find out why and see if you can replicate it. (You wont get it in one go)

Relate-ability is also simple. If someone finds something they can easily associate with they will eagerly tag #mood #me or @ one of their friends in the post.

What doesn't get people following just by itself is your skill.

This sounds really fucking depressing but hear me out.

Your skill in art is a multiplier. It can take those three categories from above and BOOST IT to fantastic new heights. People love things that are from their fandoms that are funny and relate-able. People go FERAL for shit that is from their fandoms that are funny, relate-able AND COOL AS FUCK. If art represented x5 in an equation and you have nothing else, you get 0. If you include any of those three other things and then x5, you get something grand.

2. Sustaining your Audience.

If you want to set up your blog as a platform to eventually gain freelance income from, you need to make it yours and not your audience's.

This is key to prevent burnout and feeling obligation to create for thousands of featureless faces and losing sight of what made you enjoy art in the first place.

It is REALLY EASY to fall into that pit, especially as you grow your audience. When you have a small audience, it's easier to interact one on one with someone. Engagement is exciting when you have a small audience! People? Interested in your work!! Fuck yeah!!

But as you reach those milestones, the vibe begins to change. More and more people demand your attention. People who are new don't see you as an artist they knew from another fandom, they see you as a content creator and that is the worst goddamn stone wheel to get stuck around your neck.

You can still respond to requests and answer silly questions, but now you have to keep in mind that if you draw this little dragon for someone, three other people are going to ask for their own little dragons. And that's fine because you love dragons and they asked so nicely. You make those dragons but now there's seven people asking for their own dragons and you actually want to work on something other than dragons-- but you made those dragon doodles for those other people so wouldn't it be hypocritical to say no-

It becomes a spiral.

So to prevent that situation from happening, you need to respect your boundaries as an artist and what you will do and what you will draw the line at. If someone doesn't like you for that, they can unfollow.

In terms of posting regularly to sustain your audience, i've found that it helps but ultimately doesn't matter.

(this is a tumblr centric view, i cannot say the same for other platforms)

The way tumblr works resembles a massive recycling facility. You will see shit on your dash from 7 years ago but you dont mind, its how this place works.

It doesn't matter how often you post. You won't lose priority on people's dashboards if you don't make your daily art post. What matters is that you just make the post.

Each post you make is like sending out a bucket of chum into the grand ocean of tumblr. The more buckets of chum you have, the more likely you are to attract fish. The more you post the larger your radius is. The more variety you make in spreading out to different fandoms the wider your range is. And these spots of chum don't go away! They're permanent brown spots in a big blue wasteland and fish will stumble across it and then try to find the source.

Basically, you can disappear for an entire month and then suddenly return out of nowhere and shove 57 posts into a week and then disappear again and people will show up and stick around.

THis post is getting really long and there are probably some things im missing but my hadns are getting achy and i think that's my call to stop :p

if you have anymore questions tho im very willing to answer 👍

[authorsadiethatcher]

Welcome to March. In the northern hemisphere, where I live, it is the start of meteorological spring. Except the weather didn't switch with the month and things here are starting out wet and cold. But the extra indoor time should be good for writing.

Last month I talked about finally being caught up on writing. I try to maintain pretty strict deadlines, but I fell off at the end of February. Two days behind schedule may not seem like a lot, but it feels like a lot, especially when working on longer books, which I'll talk more about later.

The big news for this month is something I can't actually share yet. But pay attention on March 9 for some cool news from me. I just don't like having to wait, but it's something I'm really excited about.

A quick reminder that you can find my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Google Play Books, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Everand. You can also read everything I’ve published under my Sadie Thatcher name since last May on Ream, which is a subscription platform built specifically for authors. You can check out my Ream page below.

Ream: https://reamstories.com/sadiethatcher

And speaking of Ream, I have a Ream exclusive novel called The Muse (extreme dollification) that is now complete. I've made the first three chapters available for free. All you have to do is sign up as a follower at the link above to get a taste of my first real story that is too extreme for Amazon.

This month I plan to spend some time on my other pen name, Libby Feron. As Libby, I write fantasy romance. I’ll have a free novella available to prepare for a new trilogy that I hope to publish this year. The trilogy will be focused on a previously introduced character as she heads off to a college for magical people. I don’t talk about my fantasy writing often, so checking out https://libbyferon.com/ and signing up for the email newsletter is the best way to stay informed. And that free novella will be exclusive to newsletter subscribers, so you’ll want to sign up for that. However, I'm also considering an entirely different book to clear out the cobwebs in my head. We'll see.

Now to focus on this month’s upcoming books. I have two ongoing series. Bimbo Future will soon be complete with Free to Be releasing in a few days. This will follow a similar pattern of a fairy showing a woman a possible bimbo future and persuading her to choose that over a more conventional life. And then there's Quantum Bimbo. This is a slow burn transformation series following one woman as she encounters a recurring time loop that leads her down a path toward becoming a bimbo. The first book, Déjà Vu, is out now and the rest of the trilogy will be released in the first half of the month. I'm really excited for this series.

Some of the other upcoming books I’ve got in the pipeline for this month is a series based on the concept of a woman's intelligence, or other aspects of her life, being stolen and held for ransom, forcing her to turn toward bimbo jobs to pay the ransom. But once she goes bimbo, it's hard to stop. I've also got a plan for another series that could include societal changes. I'm keeping my cards on this one close to the chest, because I'm not entirely sure what is going to happen in it yet.

Something else I'm considering, but I'm only considering right now, is to write a few flash fiction stories, one or two per month, and put them up on Ream for free for anyone who wants to follow me there. It's time permitting, of course.

So that’s what you can expect in March. It’s a packed month, especially because my schedule will make for 11 published books this month. I average 10 usually with a release every 3 days. There will be a couple months like this in 2024, with 11 releases instead of 10.

Have a sexy and bimbo-filled March and happy spring in the top half of the world!

[dr-jem-nutcase]

MvA h/cs

Cooked up some movie & TV h/cs...cuz I can

Overall

before the timeline of the movie, the monsters had a TV on occasions. This was a rare treat which lasted until the TV set broke on its own and couldn't be repaired or got destroyed

the monsters' rec area was like the hand-me-downs central; anything the staff didn't want or need anymore went to the monsters, from those playing cards to radios to whatever. It usually came from the trash heap for Dr C's meals

the 2000s brought a little variety as a lot of people at the base made the transition to DVDs and threw out their VCR sets and cassette tapes

after the post-freedom upgrade, the base set up on-demand entertainment for the monsters

for every streaming site, every monster has their own accounts. Except for Link & Butterflysaurus (or B) who share accounts

they can all agree on sit-coms and comedies, believe it or not, some film noir or some off-the-wall random movie

depending on the sport, they all like watching a good game

Susan

down for most anything anyone wants to watch

likes period and mid-century romance/dramas like Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, Call The Midwife, Mad Men, and anything based off Jane Austen's books

was a Twilight fan back in her teens and now cringes at those memories of being on Team Edward

chic flicks: Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman, The Notebook, Mamma Mia!, Audrey Hepburn movies. Titanic and Moulin Rouge! are both fully capable of making her cry almost every time. This is a very good reason why she has her own streaming accounts

can make it through most horror movies but doesn't really enjoy them

roots for all sports teams from Cali

the only monster most willing to watch whatever BOB wants to watch

liked watching cooking shows and DIY tutorials when she was small. She'll still watch them sometimes inspite of the fact she can't easily cook or pull off most DIYs

BOB

the kids' page on streaming sites & YouTube Kids all the way!

has the kid's tendency to watch the same thing over and over again and never get sick of it

the other monsters can't watch adult films and shows with him. He'll ask questions like, what's going on during a bedroom scene or "What's a [enter any profanity of your choice here]?". He's also a parrot who will mindlessly repeat a single swear word he only heard once

sometimes you'll find him watching random stuff like a Malaysian talk show or a Julia Child cooking tutorial or some abstract silent film

you know those kids' shows that interact with the audience, like Mr. Rogers, Blues Clues, & Dora the Explorer? Yeah, he REALLY gets into them

had a kids tablet for about two weeks but then accidentally ate it. Monger hasn't had the heart to give him another one

Dr C

his pastimes include lab experiments, reading books and science papers, playing chess (via a computer versus the CPU/another player online because no one at the base wants to play), and other mentally/intellectually stimulating activities, so he'll watch something if he wants and/or needs a mental break

the other monsters tried getting him into Big Bang Theory. To everyone's surprise, he didn't care for it

has BritBox

when he's chilling, he'll watch vintage/vintage-style musical movies, particularly with good dance numbers like Singin' In The Rain. One of his heroes in dance is Gene Kelly; Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers would've been on his list, but he hasn't had a skilled dance partner offhand since his college days

likes videos like Ted Talks and Infographics Show (YouTube). He may be the most brilliant man in the world but he knows there's always more to learn

his YouTube subscriptions include dance groups and science lecturers from around the world

doesn't care much for most sports but he'll gladly watch polo and a lot of the Olympics. Tried to pass the time by reading a book during a football game once, and Link said, "Doc, if you don't put that book down, I'll throw you and that thing in the trash!". Never again

Link

as mentioned in an earlier H/C post of mine, he's a closeted shonen anime fan and he'll watch anything but One Piece

football is his favorite sport to watch. He watches it when he can

NEVER misses Super Bowl Sunday. Or at least to the best of his ability. He was very disappointed when one of his missions happened on Super Bowl Sunday

also likes WWE

martial arts: always and forever, baby!

has watched both Luca and The Shape of Water. He doesn't mind them but he got pretty annoyed when people made comparisons between him and the Amphibian Man or the sea monsters. BOB was like, "Hey, Link! Why don't YOU turn into a human when you leave your tank?"

was into superhero movies and TV series in the 2010s but jumped off the bandwagon when he thought they were being overdone. Though he still likes Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, and anything with Wolverine

thinks Star Wars, Harry Potter, and most other popular sci-fi/fantasy franchises are just for kids and nerds

doesn't care much for romances or most cartoons either

if something scares him or makes him cry, he'll try to hide it

it took him a while to be able to watch anything with Shrek after being mistaken for Shrek in the Halloween special

[a/n: I can also see him being a gamer]

Insecto/B

likes sports no thanks to Link

will watch most anything Link watches

likes some anime, particularly Sailor Moon for whatever reason

likes cartoon shows meant for older kids

doesn't like horror movies, has a hard time settling down or going to sleep after watching one

avoids animal/nature programs as some of them can be quite traumatizing

every now and then she'll be caught watching something with BOB like Bluey

Monger

watches the news every day

knows better than to believe everything he sees

watches a little M*A*S*H before bedtime at least twice a week

every now and then watches stuff like All in the Family just cuz he likes the comedic but logical political tension among the main characters

still has analog cable (antenna and all) at the farm

hates I Love Lucy because his wife had it on TV more than anything else

likes war films and a number of films about World War II. There's a few he won't watch tho because he thinks they're either badly made, too sentimental, or too depressing

likes comedies from the 1950s-60s

The President

likes watching himself on TV and videos online

likes talking smack to opposing politicians when watching videos of them, like, "In your dreams, bucko! Not while I'm large and in charge!"

comedies, comedies, comedies...and game shows

Simpsons fanboy

has an appreciation for daytime TV: long-running soap operas, talk shows hosted by middle-aged women, Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, etc.

considers the family sitting in front of the TV together as quality family time and sit-coms as an American staple

can't watch foreign language films with English subtitles. He eventually gets bored and falls asleep

as mentioned in an earlier H/C post, he doesn't trust biopics one bit. After finding out over half of The Greatest Showman was fictional, he lost faith in any portrayals of history both on screen and stage

Derek

liked watching famous news reporters and weather-folk as role models when he was a kid and as inspiration when he became a weatherman

took Susan and other girls he dated to the movies

if not at the movies, he and Susan would curl up on a sofa and watch something together, going back and forth between what he likes and what she likes

likes most sports, except basketball

Ted Talks, late night talk shows, and popular sit-coms

watches whatever catches his attention on Hulu and Max

had a very hard time watching anything with the monsters. Still does but it's not as hard anymore

Invisible Man

went to a few drive-in theaters with his wife on dates before and after they got married

Andy Griffith and Red Skelton were some of his favorite shows

yet he enjoyed some of the heavier and less lighthearted films, like Streetcar Named Desire. If he cried, he tried to not let anyone know

not much of a cinema-goer but he enjoyed taking his two older kids

liked what little he saw of The Carol Burnett Show while in prison

if he saw Mel Brooks' films, he would've loved them

von Wolfmann (my OC, a German wolfman and past monster, at Area 5X 1960-65)

having lived much of his 70+-year life away from society, he probably had no idea what TV & cinema were, let alone knew they existed

The Cyberian (my OC, a Soviet Russian cyborg and past monster, at Area 5X 1981-85)

TV became a bit of a staple in the Soviet Russian home over time, so there was a handful of shows that she liked throughout her life

she liked going to the movies with her dad/grandparents as a kid and teenager, a special treat

didn't like anything based off books. "Just read the book." She said. "No pictures but they're a lot more interesting than THIS sad piece of work"

thought period pieces were boring. More than once she fell asleep watching them

grew up with black-and-white TV, so she was excited the first time she saw color TV

learned some of her English from what little TV the monsters had and learned a bit about the USA and the world outside the USSR

probably would've been the only monster to have been a big fan of Star Wars and/or Star Trek

[moonflower-rose]

I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, I’m just wondering. I noticed that you only seem to rec your friends. Also you ignore some of the fics from fests that you participate in when it’s courtesy to read and comment on everything.

This one has been sitting around for ages, possibly since last years Erised. I don’t normally feel the need to justify any of my decisions as a fan, I don’t feel I NEED to this time either but it is actually something I’ve seen pop up over many years and I’ve decided to answer it this one time only. I’ll probably ignore or delete any other asks on the same topic.

So, everyone participating in a fest reading and commenting on everyone else’s work seems like the ideal, right? In reality, some people want to write about things that you as a participant absolutely cannot handle - for me that’s usually MCD, terminal illness, infidelity, domestic violence, severe depression, and lots of other things. That’s what the tags and warnings are for, of course, and I’m using them appropriately. Have I read and enjoyed stories with any/all of those themes before? Yep. That doesn’t change that generally these themes affect me negatively so generally I avoid them. If and when I feel like I can handle them, I might try them out. Only I can know when I might be ready to do that. It might not be during the course of Wireless or Suds or whatever the fest I’m part of is. That doesn’t mean others shouldn’t write that content. It doesn’t mean I should harden up and just read it for the sake of etiquette.

Sometimes I simply cannot handle the size of the fic. I don’t feel the need to describe my whole life, but I work full time, I have family commitments, I need to do regular life things like washing and shopping and cooking and the dishes. Fics under probably 20K feel more manageable, I can read that on my lunch break or maybe before work, but more likely before bed. Longer stuff requires more time (obviously) and I’m not good at putting something down when I start it and pulling an all nighter mid-week is way harder when you’re 40.

Some of my closest fandom friends have big and popular fics that I haven’t got around to reading yet. Some of them have short ones that are heavy on topics that I can’t cope with right now. Not to put words in your mouth, but its unfair to assume the reason for my lack of attention is that I don’t care about them or I’m not appropriately prioritising my fandom time. I’ll get there eventually, or maybe I won’t. My friendships are hopefully strong enough to endure me not reading their stuff and them not reading mine. My friendships are not based on what those people can create for me or how they can promote my work.

As far as reccing goes, I’m a very inconsistent reccer. My goal for 2022 was to do more reccing and I did none. None recs with left beef. I’m not generally trawling for fic (the way I did as a 22 year old approximately one thousand years ago) and so I mainly see fic from authors I have already encountered and loved, via AO3 user subscriptions. My next gateway is via recs from friends (the magnificent @sitp-recs for example). I’ve been very lucky to have had people I deeply admire and enjoy become off-stage pals, but I’m not reccing them on a friendship basis. If I had to guess I would say my most consistent recs are of authors who I have had lovely, delightful interactions with but who I don’t have established friendships with. No stats but I reckon @lqtraintracks @writcraft and @letteredlettered would be people who pretty much always write things that make me lose my fuckin mind but we’re not part of a DM frenzy that involves graphic discussion of our latest health dramas, what we ate for dinner, what shenanigans our pets and siblings have got up to (that’s @shiftylinguini whether she likes it or not). I rec the BABY CHEESES out of them despite this.

What it boils down to is that I will engage the way I feel comfortable engaging, when I feel like it. I definitely have people I avoid (generally those who express terfy sentiments) and people I’m dragged towards like a magnet. It is what it is. I’m sorry if you have been a person who I haven’t engaged with and if you feel badly about that. It’s probably for benign reasons (see above), unless it’s because of one of the bad reasons.

[someonelookingpraediti]

A Year of Sanderson End-of-Year Wrap-Up

When Brandon Sanderson announced his kickstarter for a year-long subscription box, I was so excited! But it's been the biggest let down ever. It was really expensive, and we really didn't get much for our money. I feel so ripped off. And more than that, it doesn't feel like there was a lot of thought put into the items. It was just a way of making a lot of money fast.

At the beginning of the year, I made this post: Guesses, Wishes, Hopes, Dreams..., in which I detailed the kinds of things I was hoping for from this subscription.

Firstly, the books. I said that I wanted the books to work as a set, so that they looked good lined up together. They half managed this. The books were clearly designed together, they're similar in style. But they don't work as a set. For a start, there are two blue books right next to each other. The spine layout is different on the third book as well, which is annoying.

The other thing I wanted was premium book features. Artwork endpapers, ribbon bookmarks, fancy foiling, gilded edges, slipcases. I got almost none of these. The covers were foiled, and there were decorative endpapers, although only the last book had full artwork papers. The only book with sprayed edges was the last, which had plain black edges. The were no ribbon bookmarks, no slipcases, and nothing to set these apart from any other special edition you could buy in a bookstore.

As for the goodies, or as he termed it, "swag"? A total waste of money. This subscription was so, so expensive. Even before shipping, these were more expensive than any of the other boxes I subscribed to.

In other boxes, you get an exclusive book, plus four to five items. In this subscription, you got a book or the items each month, not both. So honestly? I was expecting at least seven or eight items in the "swag" boxes. We got three. And the quality was lacking.

Box 1: Hoid For this box, I had no specific wishes. The only request I had was that it be "imaginative". On that, they failed. We got a t-shirt, some post-it notes, and some stickers. Essentially, promotional business supplies.

Box 2: Cytoverse This was the only non-Cosmere box, so this was the box I was looking forward to most. I asked for a slug plushie, a special edition of Defending Elysium, and some DDF attire. What we actually got was a pack of playing cards, an ice cube tray, and a little model spaceship. The model was good quality, so was probably good for memorabilia collectors, but didn't interest me.

Box 3: Mistborn I wanted a Mistcloak, and a Soonie Pup (I specified "like the ones in the newspaper clippings" because they were so cute!). I got a Soonie Pup, it's true... but instead of a cute plush toy, it was like, an arcade grabber prize? Gross! We also got bookends and stickers. The bookends are really nice, and one of the few items I'll be keeping. The stickers were a bit rubbish.

Box 4: Sel I didn't have any particular wishes for this one, which is good, because I'd definitely have been let down - I couldn't have predicted these ones. There was a wax seal and rubber stamp kit, but they were super low quality, so I didn't keep them. And some... magnets...? For some reason? And some plasters, or "band-aids", as the Americans say.

Box 5: Cosmere I have no idea why they did a "Cosmere" box, when most of the other boxes were also based around the Cosmere. I thought this might include a map, and I said that I'd be disappointed with a poster. This was probably the best box. We got a wash bag, a luggage tag, and some postcards. I like all these items, but it still doesn't seem value for money.

Box 6: Warbreaker I wanted a Nightblood letter opener, and that is what I got! It's sadly boring in appearance, but it's very practical, and kind of elegant, I guess. There were also some glass coasters, which were hideous, and didn't seem to have anything to do with the theme. And some... breath mints. Yeah.

Box 7: Stormlight I love Stormlight, so I was looking forward to this box. I was hoping for a set of pens shaped like various Shardblades, and a set of glass gemstone Spheres with LEDs inside so they glowed when charged, like in the books, and an axehound plushie. We got a Shardblade keyring, but it is way too big to be practical. And a mini figurine, which I very specifically didn't want to get. The last item is an over-the-shoulder bag. It's a really quality item, and I want to love it, but it's just so... nerdy. I know, I know, it's fantasy... of course it's nerdy. But this is too much.

Box 8: Sanderson Fan After this subscription, I am no longer a Sanderson Fan. I was hoping for something "Reckoners" and something "Firstborn", and I was expecting a 2024 calendar. We didn't get any of those. We got a notebook and a pair of socks. I also was hoping for another book. We did kind of get another book - we got a short story. However, it's left a bitter taste in my mouth, as this book has already gone on general sale, for only $12, or free as an eBook! So why did I pay all that money for these boxes?? What a rip off!

There has, since the kickstarter, been loads of amazing merchandise released on Brandon Sanderson's shop, loads of which looks really good, and which I would love. Instead, we mostly just got cheap tat.

And to make it even worse. We were offered, as a "thank you" gift, a set of pins. This was like, their version of a stretch goal. But when the boxes started arriving, they tried to pass it off as part of the "cost" of the box, like it was one of the actual items. This was especially aggravating, as the pins were the ugliest things ever.

Overall, the only things I'm actually keeping from the "swag" boxes are the bookends, the wash bag, the postcards, and the book. I cannot emphasise how much of a waste of money this kickstarter was.