#top platform for freelancer

[askgenii]

How to Choose the Right Freelance Platform for You?

Top Freelancing Platform, Experts can develop smarter solutions to problems, deepen your thinking, sharpen your decision-making, and best ideas and quick solutions for your requirement. Having experienced pretty much everything they can in their industry, the insight they provide can help you for current market trends and stay ahead of any competition.

[blog-truefirms]

The Best Upwork Alternatives for Freelancers & Agencies

Exploring beyond Upwork? Our latest blog dives into the best freelancing platforms, including Freelancer, Fiverr, Toptal, Guru, PeoplePerHour, and TrueFirms. Whether you're a freelancer seeking new gigs or an agency looking for top talent, discover the key features of each platform and find the perfect match for your needs. Read on to learn more about these powerful alternatives!

Read Full Blog: Best Upwork Alternatives

[codehunger]

What is the best website to find an application developer?

There are several popular websites and platforms where you can find application developers. The best platform for you depends on your specific requirements and preferences. Here are some widely used websites for hiring application developers: Upwork: Upwork is a global freelancing platform where you can find developers with various skills. You can post your job, review proposals, and hire…

[seohabibi]

This guide unveils effective white hat alternatives to black hat SEO techniques, helping you stay ahead of the game while maintaining a strong ethical approach to search engine optimization. Discover strategies that improve your website's rankings and credibility, ensuring sustainable, long-term success in the digital landscape. Say goodbye to risky practices and embrace legitimate methods that will enhance your online presence while adhering to search engine guidelines.

[san8ny]

CamGirl! Ellie

“How...” You trail off as you view the poll in disbelief, setting the brightness of your monitor up in an effort to re-read the winners of your next collaboration,

Ellie Williams had won by a landslide over Abby Anderson.

How was that even fuckin’ possible, i mean, it was practically unheard of in the field of camming; a rookie like Williams beating a veteran like Anderson out.

You prop a fuzzy sock-clad foot on your desk as you lean back in your streaming chair, the viewers going absolutely insane at the chance of a collab with Ellie Williams now becoming a reality. You simply couldn’t help the amusement that began to simmer in your manner.

“Well..I did promise you all, didn’t I?” You flash a pearly smile, looking back at your camera as the thousands of comments roll in,

@Ilovesluts1: LETS GOOOOO!

@Abbys3xual: made like a bajillion accounts to vote for abby smh :/

@EWismyreligion: bro sm1 tag me when its starts next week

@AbbyAnderson: aw, dont seem so down, ill get em next time

@FuckSuckGo: ░PUSSY░IN░BIO░

Skimming through them, you slightly tilt your head at the viewer count, “Mm, we’re past our usual viewership number, are you all that excited to see me get fucked?” Your laugh coming out a bit airy as you slowly begin to unzip the large hoodie you had on, top set of teeth brushing against your bottom lip, “Now that you’ve got something fun to look forward to, let’s get back on our usual schedule.”

Meanwhile, Ellie was laying in bed, laptop propped up on her thighs as she watches your stream in antcipation on her alt. Poor girl had practically chewed her nailbeds down to nothing as she hears you talk about her for the first time in that sultry voice you had; Ellie practically worshipped the ground you walked on- hell, you were the one to even get into her camming.

She first came across your sfw gaming account, thinking you were a fresh breath of air. You had good humor, seemed down to earth and you were beautiful as hell.

Couple of weeks later, you mention in a ‘StarDew Valley’ stream how your other account got flagged for the influx of subscribers you were obtaining, the streaming platform mistaking them for bots. You were just that good, and Ellie didn’t need any further convincing before finding the paywalled account and sprinting to her coat, fishing out the credit card.

Safe to say she quickly became one of your top donators in just a couple of days, the comments talking amongst themselves of just who ‘User1009’ could be, and the hefty amount of money being sent in a single sitting; you didn’t really bat an eye all that much as you were pretty use to it, but upon reading the comments, you smiled; “Guess i’m well liked?”

shortly after, the system text-to-speech alert sounds:

@User1009 has sent a donation of 3000USD with a note attached:- More than you know :)

Ellie was ensnared in your trap. She worked a regular 9-5, she wasn’t under a hot-shot label like you when she cammed in the little to no free time she had, instead, opting to freelance with little 5 minute amateur videos.

Though, it’s her toned body and music-like moans that gets her quickly climbing in the ranks, the platform practically becoming infatuated with the quick strokes of Ellie’s wrist when she’s pumping a sleek toy inside of her, or the risk of her being caught in the very public areas she performes said acts in. She was a thrill, and had everyone tuned in.

Even you, as you probe your mouse around her offical account in your dim-lit room, trying to see just who would be bending you over.

“She’s cute..” You mutter as you click on one of the more clearer videos, heat quickly consuming you as her slicked pussy comes into camera-view, long slender olive-toned fingers pistoning in and out of her swollen cunt aggressively as she chases an orgasm, before slowly removing them and demonstrating how her cum webs inbetween digits, some cascading down her wrist before the video cuts.

And for the first time in some weeks, you catch yourself actually feeling excited as you rub your thighs together.

Not just for the clicks and money either..but for some girl on the internet.

Hey, i dont rlly know if you’d be okay with this but..r u down for a vid tgtr? my fans rlly like u but ik u dont do collabs lol (sent at 11:36pm)

[rustbeltjessie]

To what purpose, April, do you return again? (or: finally, a pinned post for April)

Hi all. I'm Jessie Lynn McMains, aka Rust Belt Jessie. I'm an Xennial/Elder Millenial (please don't call me a Geriatric Millenial, thank you) writer/artist/zine-maker/etc. (I wear many hats.) I'm queer and nonbinary/genderfluid, and as far as pronouns go, I’m okay with any human pronoun (they and she are my most-used, but I like he, too, and I especially like it when people switch up the pronouns they use for me). I’m disabled and neurodivergent.

I live with my partner and our two kiddos, both of whom are also neurodivergent, and right now I’m supporting all of us on whatever money I earn. I do freelance copywriting and editing as my main thing, but I also make a decent chunk of my income from selling my zines and books and pins and whatever else I make, so the more I sell, the better able I am to pay bills and take care of my family.

Through my Ko-fi, you can buy my zines and books (I have both poetry and prose available) and pins, as well as commission me to make you a music-inspired mini-collage or hire me to edit your own writing. Or also just throw me a few bucks if you appreciate the content I make available for free.

If you live outside the US (I can only ship within the US via Ko-fi, because setting up shipping for multiple countries is a pain the butt), or just prefer to purchase something or donate via a different platform, I also have PayPal and Venmo (@ JessieLynnMcMains).

I also have a Substack newsletter. I try to send something out at least once a month. Sometimes it's a longer piece about music and nostalgia (I recently started a series called These Fucking Songs, for just that purpose), sometimes it's just updates on what I'm up to, sometimes it's something else. I'm currently working on one about poetry, and my writing process, and revision.

As if that weren't enough, this month I'm doing a 30/30 on the Tupelo Press site, which not only means I have to write a poem every day to be posted the next day, but I am also fundraising for Tupelo Press. My goal is to raise $350 by the end of the month. You can follow along with my daily poems here (the newest is always at the top; scroll down to read previous days), and the fundraising page is here. (I'm also offering some cool incentives for people who donate; more info about all that is available on the fundraising page.)

I'm pro-trans, pro-vaccine, pro-sex worker, pro-abortion, pro-Black Lives Matter. I'm for harm reduction for any drug user or addict, meaning I want them to be able to use drugs as safely as possible, rather than forcing them into rehab or incarcerating them. I'm anti-censorship and anti-fascist. I believe everyone, everyone, should have a safe place to sleep and enough to eat without having to earn it. I consider myself an anarcho-socialist, basically, but I do vote. I'm telling you all that because if you are vehemently against any of those things, we'll probably not get along.

I'm a forever-goth/punk who loves all kinds of music. (Things on heavy rotation for me as I write this are: The Replacements, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Oliver Nelson.) I'm femme but I'm a disaster femme; when I use nailpolish it's always sloppy and/or chipped, when I wear eyeliner it's always crooked and/or smeared, and I am incapable of not ripping a hole or two in every pair of tights and stockings I own. I love art and film and theater and literature and music. I'm a Shakespeare stan, I love growing my own vegetables, I collect souvenir pennies and stick and poke tattoos. I'm always a slut in theory, even when not always in practice. I'm perpetually nostalgic, melancholy, and restless. I spend all my free time posting pictures of myself on the internet and trying to prove I'm punk to anyone that'll listen.

Want more Jessie content? There's my website (still under construction, but it exists). Or you could try searching the my writing, my art, Jessie Lynn McMains, or Rust Belt Jessie tags on this blog. I also have a side blog, where I tend to post more frequently than I do on this blog. If you ask nice, I'll probably give you the URL.

On that note, my DMs and asks are open, and, as of right now, anon is on.

I think that's it! As always, whether you can send any $$ my way (or to my fundraiser) currently or not, keeping this post circulating helps. Thanks much. 🖤

[caffstrink]

do you have any tips on how to live off as artist professionally?

First of all art isn't always a viable option depending where you live. The only reason ive been able to live off art is because the american dollar is worth 5x more than the brazilian real so even if i didn't get many comms i could still get by with the few i had. and if that wasn't the case I'd pretty much be eating breadcrumbs off the floor like a pigeon.

1. Whore yourself out and draw fanart of every popular or trending thing to gather attention to youe art

2. Learn your platforms: learn how each websites algorithm works, learn what are the best hours to post, etc

3. I cannot stress enough how important it is to find your niche

4. Everyone is fake no one wants to be your friend, other popular artists will start following you the moment your following becomes good enough. They'll start to interact with you too and want to become mutuals in order to share followings/traction. If you can play into that you can get them to share your stuff as well, but honestly don't fall for it bc most of them shittalk other artists on their privs or personal servers and the stress isnt worth it

5. Draw nsfw if possible/if you're comfortable with. People who commission porn pay well and they often have very few options when commissioning stuff bc most artists don't accept porn commissions.

6. Accept being an artist is a hard job that doesn't pay really well. If you're freelancing on comms life's always going to be a tightrope, so i suggest trying to do professional work once in a while so you can at least have the security of a salary. Draw backgrounds, gestures, scenes, studies, and the likes, bc those are what companies will want in your portfolio

7. Depending where you live it's extremely hard to live off as an artist, and being an artist is often means a very difficult struggle with finances. It's a job that requires passion, and more often than not turning art in a job causes creative burnout and complete loss of spark for it. Ask yourself: why do you want to be a professional artist? Isn't it better to keep it as a hobby? Maybe a side gig if you need money? You can still pursue art even if you don't do it to earn money, and it doesn't make you any less of an artist. It's a difficult job, and you need to understand its not going to be viable at all times and sometimes you'll have to throw in the towel and do something else to survive and there's 0 shame in that.

8. Be professional and courteous with your clients. Don't be a doormat, but don't go around ghosting people or being passive aggressive or taking them for granted and never deliver any product. Doing art for money is a JOB. Treat it like such. Inform your clients about delays, or any issues that may come up.

9. Take care of yourself and by that i mean eat decent food, exercise your arms, get 8 hours of sleep and get some sun (or take vitamin D periodically if youre a basement dweller). This isn't some self care uwu shit, it's actual science that your body is a machine and not providing what it needs to function leads to issues, and some of those issues include affecting your mental health, and mental health issues include and are not limited to: anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness, feeling like your art sucks, feeling unmotivated, feeling like you're a failure, etc. Same with physical: for the love of GOD you DON'T want wrist issues. You dont want carpal or ulnar nerve entrapment. Don't draw 24/7. Don't push yourself either. If youre feeling shitty its time to STOP. Just picture a shitty graphics card trying to run minecraft with 5 shaders and 10 mods at once on fullscreen with 60 fps. Thats you. Youre the graphics card

10. Don't be a bitch, don't get involved with drama. Can't be an internet artist if you get cancelled so don't try to start shit at any point in time. Don't be a shit person.

And from the top of my head thats it, hope you like eating plain bread 🍞

[notfinancialadvice]

Shopify has a blog problem, this creates a really simple and straightforward opportunity for freelance designers/programmers

Earlier this year I settled the editorial decisions I needed for a lot of blogging going forward, and recently I've experimented (repeatedly) with the idea of having a blog on a separate platform, or using Shopify's system.

Having two sites would allow me to blog on a WordPress site, but creates... two sites, therefore complicates everything more. More maintenance, design, etc. etc.

I am actively seeking to make my life easier so I am foregoing two sites and learning to live with the limitations.

A personal struggle to the surprise of no one.

You can use WordPress and thread Shopify through it via the "buy" button, which is a shortcut for small stores and/or larger stores where you are very comfortable in WordPress.

You cannot use Shopify and thread WordPress through it.

Which is a shame.

Because Shopify's native blog platform is fucking horrible.

An independent graphic designer who can program, or a programmer who can design, cannot solve Shopify's problems.

They are inherent to the system and likely built on legacy code Shopify doesn't want to update because it'll cost a fortune.

I'll just be mad about this until the market forces them to address this opportunity and they revamp their blogging platform. That's fine.

Or maybe decades will pass and they won't. That's... fine too. I guess.

I am rambling this out because if I were in the business of freelance graphic design and/or programming I would jump on this immediately. I used to be and always shared opportunities with friends and it was fun and I kinda miss that aspect of the life.

I'm not in that business, and I have in-house programming, please don't pitch me, but do consider pitching... pretty much everyone with a Shopify site and a blog as Phase 01 of your plan, and everyone who has a Shopify site and does not have a blog as Phase 02 of your plan.

Here is what I would tackle:

Shopify blogs have two structures: "blog" and "blog post".

A blog in Shopify is essentially a category in WordPress, with more limitations, such as, a blog post can only be in a single "blog". That sucks but it means your life as a designer/developer gets more interesting.

Most Shopify themes come out of the box with 1 "blog" and 1 "blog post" template. They are exceptionally simple, usually. I would build a few test templates and offer them to clients "these will be modified to fit your direct style."

For some reason -- I'm guessing focus -- most blogs in Shopify have the image on top. If you structure "image on the left, image on the right" as options you can offer clients, you've just tripled their layout capabilities.

For another reason, I don't know why, but almost all shopify blog post templates I've seen do not have sidebars. Which is insane?! You can control that from the fucking "blog post" template so it would be an easy win.

You could work around the "a post can only be in one blog on Shopify" issue by having a sidebar that pulls the latest 3 (or 5 or whatever) posts as links for other blogs on the site: TEST SITE has 3 blogs. When you're looking at a post on BLOG 01, in the sidebar, you see a link to the latest post on BLOG 02 and BLOG 03. Similarly, when you're looking at a post on BLOG 02, the sidebar has the latest post from BLOG 01 and BLOG 03 (and so on)

The template I use, off the shelf, uses the Shopify's user name and details for the author of the blog. Once a blog post is created, in Shopify, you cannot alter the author. This is dumb as fucking rock salt on slug popcorn. But, again, systematic, I'm pitching ideas on ways around it -- exclude this and just use a CUSTOM DATA field to allow the Shopify owner to pick the relevant author. This cuts down on the need for extra Shopify users, tremendously, and builds in the opportunity for WordPress-style author footers on blog posts.

Emulate the very common filtering on products -- dropdowns, sorting mechanisms -- with tags on a sidebar on BLOG templates. This will be tricky because you cannot hook into the Search & Discovery function, but it's absolutely no where near impossible. And would be amazingly useful.

Overall Shopify is a decent platform with significant advantages.

There blogger apps but holy shit that is so unnecessary. If they were a one-time-fee, it would be fine, but they aren't, they're generally $20+/month.

I'm not interested in paying for a service that ties me into another tech system that I am fucked if they go out of business, jack up their prices, introduce a feature I don't like, or remove a feature I do like.

For something like a blog system.

Which relies HEAVILY on very structured, single-built, near-infinitely-reused templates.

A low effort, high yield opportunity exists for independent designer/programmers to come up with a suite of designs and say "hey with some very simple modifications, we can take 1 of the following, apply it to your store, and dramatically increase your in-site blogging opportunities."

You start with a base "blog post" template and a base "blog" template and then every time someone hires you to add a feature to theirs, using Shopify's core tech -- you're just applying paint -- you now have a second set of templates.

Recycle forward.

One time fee per client -- likely low, but again effort is low since 90% of the code is re-used -- and each time you secure a client, you have opened a networking door.

Just make sure you include instructions and/or a premium service for when the customer upgrades their theme version -- "occasionally your theme author will upgrade, and this may get lost... so do the following to bring it back and/or we'll handle it for you for $X and Y-days notice."

Business opportunities are everywhere.

Good luck!

I repeat don't add me to your pitch list, I have a programmer in-house, but use this idea to make a business or extend yours!

This isn't financial advice, it is annoyed rambling!

[rapha3liii]

Abigail, Emily & Haley! (part 1 of my bachelorette art!)

these are just my personal headcanons, mostly in line with my fic! the surnames are just ones I chose myself because I think these gals deserve a little more character :) Image descriptions and in-image text/captions are provided below!

Leah, Penny and Maru are next! (will get to the dudes eventually)

Abigail Mercer:

20 years old attending online university for Anthropology

tall compared to most villagers, even taller than her parents!

nose and bridge piercing done in Zuzu city

hearts drawn on with eyeliner

tattoo of thorned rose

Sam's old denim jacket, she cut the sleeves off with craft scissors

Amethyst gem-set sword commissioned from Marlon, her parents still haven't found it...

Silver bangle gifted from her mother

belly button piercing done by Emily in Sebastians basement, she definitely didn't get an infection from it-

sword tattoo inspired by the first sword she held

usually accompanied by her fathers retired leather satchel, holding her flute case and cool rocks she finds

her fishnets are the only thing shes ever bought from Joja Online and her dad is still mad about it

second hand doc-martins because her parents refused to spend that much on shoes (I don't blame em...)

Emily Larson

26 years old and the towns resident tailor

always wearing contacts!

average height

has helix, ear lobe and vertical eyebrow piercings

Always changing her hairstyle and colour, but blue seems to stick for longer than most!

She regularly attends ren-faires all over the republic

made this miniature cape for Zuzu ren-faire and hasn't stopped wearing it since...

hoop earrings and favourite lipstick given to her by her girlfriend, Sandy!

Wears lots of rings

obsessed with lantern sleeves!

always has her Nazar pendant on!

Acrylic nails are done by her younger sister, Haley!

exclusively wears gold jewellery

hand tailored dress and shirt

shoes are bought from a vintage clothes boutique in Grampleton

always wears her favourite ruffled petticoat under skirts

Haley Larson

18 years old and newly graduated from highschool, now a freelance photographer

shorter (and cuter!) than most

always wearing baby blue eyeshadow

shell necklace gifted to her by Alex, her best friend

cute face mole!

always wearing her grandma's bracelet

always using extra blush and face shimmer!

flowery blouse made by her sister, Emily

loves wearing mini-skirts, shorts and low-waist jeans!

regularly posts her landscape photography to her blog, and even won a local competition once!

her fav pleated skirt

loves swimming and paddleboarding in the sea by the beach!

despite graduating top of her class, she has little interest in academia - but loves art

really wants an ankle tattoo of a sea-shell!

cute strap heels she stole from her sisters wardrobe (Emily still hasn't realised yet)

[Image 1 ID: A digital drawing of Abigail from Stardew Valley holding a sword. She's smiling, with dark lipstick and purple eyeshadow, and has small hearts drawn on her cheeks in eyeliner. She has a bridge, nose and belly button piercing and blue eyes. She's wearing a sleeveless denim vest, with a black tank top underneath and black denim shorts with purple fishnets underneath. She has a tattoo of a rose on her upper right arm and another of a sword on her inner left calf. She has pointed black nails and two bangles on her right wrist. She has black platform boots and has a freckles all over her body. Her hair is a vibrant purple in waves reaching her lower back. In the upper left corner is her in-game sprite by 'ConcernedApe' and the artist's signature 'Rapha3liii' is in the lower right corner. /.End ID]

[Image 2 ID: A digital drawing of Emily from Stardew Valley pinching her dress in both hands in a bowing like gesture. The left side of her head is shaved while the right has straight, blue shoulder length hair. She has purple eyeshadow, pink lipstick and brown eyes. She also has gold helix piercings, a gold vertical eyebrow piercing and golden hoops in her lobes. She is smirking and looking to the right. She is wearing a layered red dress with a long pleated skirt. It has a white ruffled petticoat underneath. Under her red dress is a pink shirt with lantern style sleeves. She has a corset on over the dress with golden buttons and a miniature cape in dark red clasped to her shoulders. Two necklaces are hanging from under her shirt collar, one golden chain and the other a pendent of a 'Nazar'. She has long sharp purple acrylic nails and multiple rings on both of her hands. She is wearing dark red heels with button clasped straps. In the upper left corner is her in-game sprite by 'ConcernedApe' and the artist's signature 'Rapha3liii' is in the lower right corner. /.End ID]

[Image 3 ID: A digital drawing of Haley from Stardew Valley standing casually, smiling, with a tuft of her hair inbetween her fingers in one hand and blue eyes. She has golden blonde hair in waves just reaching her upper back. She has locks of hair over both of her shoulders. She has light blue eyeshadow and bright pink blush and lipstick, she also has a mole on her face just above her lips to the right. She is wearing a low crop blue blouse with short sleeves and a white lined flower pattern on it. She has pink nails and is wearing a necklace of a blue sea-shell with a golden chain and a bracelet with a golden chain and heart pendent. Her left arm is holding her hair while her right arm is crossed over her chest and resting on her other arm. She is wearing a pink pleated mini-skirt and blue heels with small straps around her ankles. In the upper left corner is her in-game sprite by 'ConcernedApe' and the artist's signature 'Rapha3liii' is in the lower right corner. /.End ID]

[Image 4 ID: A digital drawing with the three previously described characters all standing in a line. The order is Abigail to the left, Emily in the middle and Haley to the right. Each character has their in-game character sprite by 'ConcernedApe' on the upper left to them. The artist's signature 'Rapha3liii' is overlayed in three different places on the drawing. /. End ID]

This my first time ever writing image descriptions so please tell me how I did! I read some other blogs and advice prior to writing my own but I understand its likely I got some things wrong! Please let me know if I've formatted or written something in a way that makes the descriptions innacessible! Thankyou

[rabbitfolly]

I want to remind folks that my lil' online shop and corner of the internet here (Rabbit Folly), is a one bun circus! I do everything for my shop- hand draw everything, take my own product photos, do my own paperwork. And there is so much paperwork when you freelance, holy moly.

The branding, photos and banners you see (my Kickstarters are a good example of all of these in action) that's all me baby!

Some people think I am a multi-person business, and sometimes they expect me to treat them like I'm a large retailer. This is mostly on platforms like E/t/sy that push artists to operate like Amazon on there where I'm somehow expected to respond to emails within 24hrs, give full refunds if the post office loses their package, etc.

Sometimes when people email me about an order issue, if I happen to be really busy, I might take a week to respond. And I might take another week to mail out a replacement, correct their order, or generally make it right. This happens rarely but if it does it's because I have a day job and a family to take care of on top of everything. I try my best to get to things quickly though!

Also, when you like one of my posts, share my art, or purchase something from Rabbit Folly, you are supporting me directly. I love it when people enjoy and interact with my art! Since I only draw and make things that I want to draw and make, my art is deeply personal to me. I joke that every piece has a part of my soul in it, but it really feels like that sometimes.

Anywho, I just wanted to remind folks about the person behind this account (it's me, bunbun/jiayi!) and also to thank y'all for being here ^^ I wrote this because everything moves so fast these days but I still operate by myself and at a pace that's acceptable and also comfortable for me. I guess it's my own rebellion against the social media platforms that push creators to adapt, upscale or produce more to thrive.

I really really do appreciate all the support that I get and I'm thankful that I have the audience that I do! Perhaps one day, things might change where it gets harder for independent artists to create things but I will definitely keep drawing and creating for as long as I can!

[askgenii]

https://www.adsthumb.com/unlocking-success-navigating-the-best-freelancing-platforms_490362

Unlocking Success: Navigating the Best Freelancing Platforms

Embarking on a freelancing journey demands the right platform for your skills. Here's a guide to the Best Freelancing Platform tailored to your unique expertise.Discover opportunities across industries on Upwork, a versatile platform connecting freelancers with global clients. From writing and design to programming, find projects that match your skills.For More Information Call: 9839835141 Or VisitUs:https://www.askgenii.com/

[popculturebuffet]

Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Retrospective Part 1: The Penal Zone Review (Patreon Review for WeirdKev)

Hello all you happy psychic lagomorphs and welcome back! For those just tuning in last year I started a look at the Telltale Sam and Max Games. Kev, who comissioned these reviews, is a massive fan, bought me a copy and over 12 months, a lot of fun nonsense and some other sam and max reviews I too became a massive fan of this not all that ambigiously gay duo. You can find the previous retrospectives here

So it's been a while since we've seen our faviorite not really all that ambigiously gay duo of sam and max on this blog. There hasn't been a review since What's New Beelzebub as the intended plan of reviewing various episodes of Freelance Police gave way to other projects Kev wanted to use his patreon review for. On the bright side I did get to at least draw the two when we did a top 12 wedding's list a while back.

But otherwise it was mostly spent doing other stuff while waitingpaitently for Sam and Max to arrive. Hell the book seen in this little joke the book of bill both came out AND I reviewed it before we finally got to the Devil's Playhouse.

The reason is simple. For this retrospective i've been using the remasters done by Skunkape games, as until just last month, the switch was my only modern platform and the easiest way to play them, so kev got my copies there. I didn't have a way to play the original and even if I did... I prefer the consistency of having played the remasters for all three and on the same console. It allows me to track what's improved between games and remasters a lot easier.

So I simply waited mildly patiently. While it was a nearly year long wait after promised release dates of last fall and this spring, I dont' hold it against Skunkape in the slightest. I'd rather they take a good long time making the best remaster possible than rush one out no one likes or has to be patched constantly. There's also the simple fact that having a game day and date launch on all consoles.. is a lot. It just is. They have to map buttons for three consoles, convert the game to the console layout three times over and generally do a LOT of shit and that's before getting approved. IT's why i'm no longer a dick about something not getting ported to switch right away: it sucks, but it takes time to do it and Steam is an easier platform. So i'm just greatful Skunkape put in the hard work to make sure I could play the game day one.

Speaking of Skunkape it's time I do something long overdue and talk about SKunkape themselves. It's something I Should've done upfront and callously didn't think to, but at least fits given the namesake for the company debuts in this chapter. I only read their history recently but it's a neat one you can find on their website.

Skunkape Games came out of the ashes of Telltale Games, ironically starting for the same reasons Telltale once had: the publisher that made sam and max was imploding and someone had to take care of it. I had assumed Skunkape was behind the other telltale remasters but to my shock no... while that company gladly helped them on a few logistical things, Skunkape was formed by several founding telltale members who worked on this game for one reason: To Save Sam and Max. With the company falling apart they wanted to make sure someone not only kept the licensees but helped keep the games out there. So they bought it up.

Originally the plan was to just patch the games as was, maybe relrease them. But a combination of the old code being built on an old engine that was long since dead, and thinking of so many ways to spice the games up they decided fuck it, and have since dedicated themselves to remastering all 3 games in the telltale trilogy. I wanted to go into this as it's thanks to them I can even do this: The remasters are what I played and thanks to them everyone can enjoy these stellar games for themselves. It's also a stern reminder that

Has always been a terrible strategy. When someone else has it they'll.. actually do something, you get a tidy check, and fans will stop pestering you to do something with it like you should've. Skunkape is proof if you just give the people who created a thing (or in this case an adaptation of the thing), the rights, they'll make sure said thing is kept safe instead of locked in a vault for pennies. I may be just a touch bitter can you tell. But this story... is thankfully not that.

So with all that out of the way, join me under the cut as we open the final chapter as our heroes fight aliens.. for real this time, we find out how the heck Max is still president, and can rejoice that the soda poppers are fucking dead.

Devil's Playhouse begins.. with a narrator

Yeah we have a narrrator now, a weird wrinkly faced man with a rod serling flair who talks about the dark imaginings we're about to face and such. And having been spoiled on this long ago let me say two things 1) If you don't know you won't possibly guest and 2) what he actually is is a brilliant twist I won't spoil. I'll nudge at the two big spoilers I do know, but if your reading this since you can't play the games for whatever reasons. Let's just say it's wild.

Anyways we jump right in the middle of the story's climax: Sam and Max are trying to stop the evil general Skunk'ape, but i'll just spell it skunkape from taking over the earth in his giant braniac-styled face ship. The intro is fun as while Beyond Time and Space's "Night of the Raving Dead" had this sort of weird flash forward this time you not only get to play it, but it serves a vital purpose: introducing the new gameplay mechanics.

The first two games were largely the same, with Beyond Time and Space only really adding mini games, most of which were forgetable except that motherfucking surfboard may it rot in hell, which are thankfully absent from this game. Just like the soda poppers as while death is not the end in the sam and max universe, theirs thankfully stuck. And.. just give me a moment to celebrate

Okay i'm good. Anyways my point is the games largely pointed and clicked the same way, with a few quality of life adjustments in Beyond Time and Space.

While the core gameplay is largely the same, pionting and clicking, asking questions, going to a guide on occasion when the puzzle is obtuse and the hints are not remotely helpful, there's one big wrinkle that helps spice up Devil's Playhouse: The Toys of Power. The Toys of Power are the mysterious macguffins at the center of this story, which only a few chosen indviduals with the right potetial for psychic powers can wield. Lucky for us and a defcon five for everyone who isn't sam and also possibly sam, MAX is the one who can. So this go round you can play BOTH freelance police. Sam only has the toys as his inventory, but said powers vary up the puzzle solving. You still use items a lot, but sometimes you'lll have to think how they combine with whatever toys you got. Chapter 1 largely leaves you with the future vision, in the form of a view master that allows you to seeee the fuuuuttuuuree and a toy telephone that can teleport you to any number you have memorized but I also got to try some cards that I forgot what they do and some rhinoplasty putty, silly puttiy in a nose that allows you to transform into objects in this intro.

Along the way we found out the guys befriended a brain, stinky is skunkape's queen and harry moleman is going through some stuff.

So we end by throwing Skunkape into the titular penal zone by throwing a homing beacon onto him and sucking him into a hideous void.

And with that we snap back to reality op there goes gravity as it turns out this was max SEEEING THE FUUUTURE.

Rather than start where the game does let's go back a few seconds before we were all caught up: Sam and Max are outside their building, with it being condemend due to massive cracks in the pavement left from the last game. It's been 6 months and max picks up the haunted viewmaster off the ground and thus awakens his psychic powers. Sam's reactions about what you'd expect

Said power give him a grisly version of the future.. and Sam.. somehow. So our heroes know not to trust Skunkape when he arrives soon after.

Skunkape is a gorillia man from space whose come seeking the toys.. and even if they hadn't had a vision of them fighting him, our heroes kidna got the impression from his creepy ship. He came to meet our heroes since Max is leader of the free world which he admits after a great joke about there being many great nations and oh no one's present.

We also get an explination for HOW Max is still president given his 80 impeachment trials, war crimes and general jackassery. The answer is he hired Jimmy Two Teeth and friends to spread a plauge that brought his numbers up because Max actually knows how to manage a pandemic.

Somehow Max being good at crisis managment isn't the only shocker. Turns out this whole time this trilogy, and likely sam and max as a whole has been set in new york. Yes really. HOme of the x-men, the teenage mutant ninja turtles, the teen titans for a while in the 80s, The Fantastic Four and countless others, is also home to Sam and Max. I Assumed they just were housed in some generic new york like city like the tick. This is of course a big joke as the bulk of each chapter takes place on some nondiscprit street but it's a good one.

So circling back around, Jimmy's exit is one of MANY this game. In addition to the soda poppers who are dead.. which.. again need a moment

Thank you, so anyways bittersweetly after 2 games as a mainstay, if in and out of the second, Sybil is gone and will only return for the finale, having an extended honeymoon with that bastard lincoln. Lincoln is also gone and for my thoughts on that please look up at the happy muk thank you.

Much more sadly Bosco is gone and as far as I know does not come back. This is a huge blow as he was one of the funneist parts of both games, and while like Sybil he had a reduced role in the second, he was still great. He's gone to Vegas with an even bigger loss.. Buster Blaster

Yes while I've heard, i'm so thankful for this spiler he'll be back.. Bluster Blaster is sadly gone for most of this adventure. Why.. I have no idea. He could split from the COPS and still show up. Fate is a cruel bitch sometimes I swears its. I'll try to go on but it's rough.

That said while I will MISS Sybil's, whose poseesisons are now in boxes outside her store thanks to our heroes and Bosco's... it was the right call. They clearly ran out of ideas for Sybil's place after the first game and her arc with lincoln makes me want to wretch, so her taking most of the game off is needed and with Bosco they probably just felt they had way more they could do with his replacement while also giving us a fresh setting.

That said even with all these shakeups who helps our heroes is about the same as Stinky's Diner and the COPS return.

Let's give it to the COPS first as their a pretty big change as they've joined our heroes.. even though Sam and Max would prefer they move out. After most of the block was shut down, they let the cops move into their car and they haven't left, but their now working as a crime computer, though their only able to do it once the dynamic duo find Sally, an old crime analyizer in some garbage. They add in another gimmick: crime anaysis pop in evidence and you'll get a clue, popping in two gets you a new location as your new way to unlock new locations. While ti can be frustrating doing it againd and again till you get a match, it's a fun more engaging way to open up new places.

As for STinky's things aren't going great for either stinky. Girl Stinky is mad Stinky is back and made the restraunt hav ea coherent theme again, and Stinky is mad she won't let him commit serial murders via food. He's also mad the duo stole his recipie last game, something I did't think was going to come back but did.

It also brings up something I noticed about the writing that's a vast improvement over the previous game: the tone is a LOT less cruel. oh there' sstill some black comedy as we'll get to, we still do some awful stuff.. but it's tone back down to save the world's less over the top cruelty. You still do awful shit, but it's less spiteful and more just our heroes being who they are and the targets, at least so far, tend to either get saved or are less terrible.

Stinky won't give us his broth and turns out we need it as inspecting the ship we use the viewmaster on the brain who thanks us. And this is another neat feature and one badly needed: the seeing the future.. means you get a clue about where to go. Granted they won't tell you HOW you solved the puzzle, as that'd be too easy, but generally it tells you what you need to do. It can be ocasoinally opaque as flint paper whose eating at the diner gets a hatchet to the head and given his constitution and this series approach to death in general I assumed it wasn't a big deal. Turns out we need to save our old friend whose looking for mama bosco's power core. We need that and the broth.

Naturally this involves a bunch of puzzles I only vaugely remember, but mostly involves getting everyone out of there so we can use Stinky's secret entrance and get that sweet broth. That's going to take, as usual a lot of moving around so we need to visit our last area. via flier and some other stuff we're able to get our first location, boscotech labs.

Boscotech Labs is our new go to get gadgets place since the COPS changed gimmicks and Bosco took all of Sam and Max's money to vegas.. that's.. that's canon. He left with all the money from the first adventure he still had left.

I was a bit antsy about Mama Bosco as a replacment because her one real gag in the previous game was straw feminist

Thankfully this game and likely several decades and being turned into a ghost she's more a mildly sarcastic, as she knwos what she's dealing with, but kindly scientest. She's also still a ghost after Sam and Max blew her up real good last game. Again the contrast is just staggering. Here the worst we're doing is stealing her power core.. which even then is to save an innocent creatre and the planet. She can probably build another to power her "I'm not a ghost anymore machine" and would likely give it if she was aware skunkape was evil. We've come a long way from "condemming a child to hell to move the plot along" and i'm here fo rit.

We do get one her of devices and more importantly run into her univnited guest: harry moleman. Harry is here because he wants a job and instead of asking for it just.. tunneled in. So I don't feel bad for the attrocities we're about to commit. Earlier our heroes found out that molemen are getting sent into a processing chamber on skunkape's ship via a free vacation ticket scam leaving us with one of those and a helmet.

Thanks to seeing the future, we can see the lottery ticket harry has will win an dtrade it for the vacation pass. He leaves to his doom and somehow.. this is still not only the worst our duo gets up to this episode.. but is still not as bad. Harry was being a dip, and while we cost him a million dollars it's going to Grandpa Stinky, who we horribbly wronged last time. He's getting it for entirely self serving reasons sure, but it's still a bit easier to swallow.

So with all the items it's time to get everything. The broth is easy, just give grandpa stinky the lottery ticket, he forgives you and he's gone. Next is flint who we give a helmet as Girl Stinky is trying to murder him. And not just in the obvious way his foods laced with peanuts, which he has an allergy to. Which is a great payoff and proves my instinct was right: you really CAN'T kill flint paper with a hatchet to the skull.

This does lead me to something I like about this chapter and another improvment over the other games: the difficulty. With the previous two, ESPECIALLY beyond time and space, I had to use a guide often... or if I was running behind. This time, I largely winged it. I'll need to take better notes next time to remember order of events, as things are a bit tighter this go round, and frankly should've for the last game, but otherwise this experince was easier but not painfully easy. Ther'es a lot of clever solutions to the puzzles often involving max's ability to teleport he gets after this stretch.

With that we simply have to call stinky, getting her private number from the future, then calling her. She thinks we're skunkape who she's kinda dating? It's complicated. This gets rid of her , we get sally from her underground passage and get the core from said passage.

With that we can finally ressurect the brain in a jar, a fairly nice fellow whose willing to help. He's been used by Skunkape as his proxy since while having psychic powers himself, as his origin video telltale put out outlines he was an abused outcast on his own planet who when fired from his job threw a tantrum and got a piece of rebar in his head that unlocked his powers and conquered the planet., he can't use the toys and it also makes it clear max is in terrible danger. It's kinda telling every villian's big evil scheme relies on max in some way.

Brain guy is also a lot of fun, especially how skunkape got him as he claimed to be a nice stranger and when Max points out how stupid that is, we get the all time line of "HE SAID HE HAD CANDY".

The good news is brain guy waking up actually made skunkape run aground, as it's clear his story wouldn't hold up with witnesses who aren't rabbits of questionable character. The bad is we need to find him. The gooder news is Superball is now not only on our side for a change but has the cure: turns out Skunkapes a fugitive from the law having escaped the penal zone.

So we need to send him back to the penal zone for hard time. We need his beacon and his remote... but first the brain forces us to use teleport because he wants to see it so we can't go investigate the mole murder room. It's unecessary backtracking and it annoys me.

SO my first teleport was naturally mama bosco as she created a remote. Unfortuntaely doing so gets max strangled by an ape

While I simply teleported him out turns out you need to stand on the flag above Boscotech, teleport max in and have the ape fall on top of the ape guarding the place

As for why they went in there and took over, Mama Bosco naturally has the solution to their problems, a one use one way teleport to the wang place.

Next is the badge. Getting this was something I simply didn't think of but how you do so is great. First you need to check out the mole murder room: Turns out Skunkape is sweating moles... TO DEATH.

Going in nearly gets you killed and your possesions dumped out..s o you need to do it to Grandpa Stinky. Thankfully he was very stupid with the money he won thanks to you giving it to Skukape and insults both our heroes when they fake wanting to enlist, with Sam ready to murder him and Grandpa Stinky VERY lucky he's so short and dose'nt have any knives... though if he wakes up in a future chapter with a butcher knive in his head I won't be suprised.. nor will I when he comes to work anyway.

No to beat him you need to piss off max then teleport everyone to the murder chamber after leaving Girl Stinky's cell phone in there. You can find it by going there and it's the key to many a puzzle. I also almost forgot to mention the reason for our title picture and the best scene in the chapter: when you teleport hte first time we get a surreal mindscape of maxes.. and .. this

So while we're scarred for life we can teleport baby. Skunkape gave Grandpa Stinky the beacon as a badge as leader of his massive fleet and as a convient skapegoat. So to get it we have to piss max off. As said Max's short height means that won't be as bloody as you'd expect, but it does mean going back to the death room where Grandpa Stinky learns the awful truth... he's a frycook.. 8th class!

Disgusted he got conned out of his millions Stinky leaves, having saved us and we get the badge and his stuff including a meesta pizza shot glass. This brings up a running gag I hadn't mentioned in the previous two as while I loved it , it was rarely plot relevant: Sam could use the phone in the office to call up meesta pizza, with no one answering. It always struck me as just some weird gag he was doing and I never assumed anything was on the other line. But low in behold... IT EXISTS...

And we get to VISIT IT. Sadly it's not a fully rendered location but to find Skukape we follow his trail using the shot glass and a recepit we found earlier to go to meesta pizza, where Girl Stinky and Him had a romantic date and some light indgjesticion. Our heroes can go inside which I like, as even if we can't I love Sam's jolly love of food places that are objectively terrible. I relate to it you know? Sometimes you just want a pile of grease you don't have to pay a mortgage for you know?

It's here we get one of the few puzzles that's just... what the fuck is this. Most of my getting stuck in this part of the story is simply not thinking to use my new powers. IN this one though.. it relies on you putting an engagment ring you find earlier on a pizza box so a pidgeon can eat it.

It gets up on the roof we get the ring back and we're happy. You can also use the ring for proposal shenanigans which I wish i'd done more of. Doing it to max nets you a hilaroius diamonds are forever parody add. Dated? Yes. Hilarous? Yes. Gay as hell? HELL YES. I also like that the gay jokes have evolved from HAHA queers to "eh sam would enjoy it but decides not to right now". That's more my speed.

So we track skunkape to a toy store he went to.. only to get trapped! Skunkape arrives with his henchman and Girl Stinky

So we're back about where we started. We convince Girl Stinky to accept her role as Skuknapes concubine. Apparently even when self preservation is on the line she's still awful.. but once she finds that finally someone will let her out of her cage since time for her ins't nothing and she ain't counting no age, she agrees.

And then..... we get a hell of a twist: Turns out while we were captured, Skunkape used the viewfinder.. and thus SAW how his defeat would playout and wisely removed the two toys you swiped in the intro. He then sends our heroes to the penis place and our heroes have to escape. Thankfully we can just.. casually teleport out of danger, but it leaves the threat of the giant ape man shooting at us with his big space ship. I do love this twist.. that you saw how it WOULD'VE playe dout.. but the very thing that gave you a leg up leaves you twisting in the wind.

We got to boscotech as Mama Bosco pulls us out , working closely with superball. The bad news is the escape collapsed the penal zone. The good is they can make another. The worse is our heroes wil lhave to give up their office and frakly.. I really miss it. I miss the trophies and it's sad to know I won't see the piling trophies from past chapters ever again. Also Leonard's probably dead but given he was stuck in an abandoned building for 6 months with no food or air he probably was anyway.

So for our final showdown we need to plug her portal thing into a big enough power source which means we're going deepr underground there's just too much panic in this town. It's here we go into a secret entrance and find MORE MOLES... and also a cult. Sadly no lambs and weirdly max isn't leading it this time. But he is their christ figure as the prophecy fortold him getting the toys and his head lighting on fire. Sure he's fine.

Turns out their a splitner who worships the devil's toybox, a powerful box and where the toys of power came from which max is the chosen one for. It makes a handy power source though and with skunkape blasting in we're able to open the all new all diffrent dong depot and suck him in... after making it nice and sweaty of course. Phrasing.

With that our heroes have won, the universe is saved... but the narrator warns we still have a cliffhanger.. OUR HEROES SKELETONS!

The Penal Zone is one of the best sam nad max chapters i've played so far and a great start for the Penal Zone. This feels like the best of both previous games, having save the world's still irrevernt but less cruel humor mixed with the refinements from beyond time and space, and then adding it's own flair. While the toy puzzles can be complex, they add a lot more variety than just "get the thing use the thing" now using the things in new ways, the joke writing is at the top of it's game and the game itself looks crips and gorgeous in the remaster. You can also already see the more seralized story I heard this game has creeping in: we get tons of omnius hints for max, and rather than the mystery of the last two of "whose behind it all", which is barely threaded through both and only fullyc omes together in the last chapter, here we get a bunch of mysteries and plot threads up front: where does the devil's toybox come from, why is max the chosen one, can anyone else use the toys, why are skeletons of our heroes in present day, will max survivie when everything from medical advice to omnius foreshadowing says his head's going to catch fire, and why do we suddenly have a narrator? It leave sme stoked for the next chapter and shows the evolution of how telltale was telling these tales: Before it was more self contined chunks, now with more games getting made around this time like back to the future, we're seeing them start to captalize on cliffhangers to keep you hooked and it works well. While I know WHY skeletons thanks to chapter summaries, it's still a good hook if you didn't know the next chapter was about their ancestors

Next Time:A full chapter flashback. Goodie? Thanks for reading.

[hypergamiss]

Tips on becoming a freelance portfolio/ investment manager for private wealthy clients.

I’ve got a bit of experience as an assistant Portfolio manager, and I’ve been looking into starting my own business working with private wealthy individuals client.

There's so much to this, this is the shortest I could keep my answer:

Build Your Foundation:

Hone Your Skills: Sharpen your investment analysis, portfolio construction, and risk management knowledge as much as you can. Maybe consider courses or certifications to fill any gaps and boost your credibility more.

Define Your Niche: Are you drawn to specific asset classes (tech stocks, real estate, etc.) or client types (retirees, entrepreneurs)? Specializing adds value. This will boost referrals.

Get Regulatory Clarity: Depending on your location, there might be licensing or registration requirements for freelance advisors. Do your homework to stay compliant and track any changes.

Marketing and Client Acquisition:

Build Online Credibility: A polished LinkedIn profile and a basic website showcasing your expertise and background are essential. Network strategically!

Content is King: Share insightful market commentary through blog posts or a newsletter. You can try all the other social platforms as well. This establishes you as a thought leader and attracts potential clients.

Target the Right Audience: Where do your ideal clients hang out (online and offline)? Charity events, industry conferences, upscale networking groups – be where they are.

Leverage Your Existing Network: Don't underestimate the power of your current contacts. Let clients, colleagues, and friends know about your new venture(optional).

Operational:

Pricing Model: Will you charge hourly, flat fees, or a percentage of assets under management? Consider your services and market rates.

Tech Tools: Invest in the right software for portfolio management, reporting, and client communication to streamline your workflow.

Contracts and Compliance: Have a lawyer draft airtight client agreements that protect you both.

Bonus Tips:

Get a Mentor: Connect with a seasoned advisor who can offer guidance and share their experience.

Start Small and Scale: Begin with a few strategic clients, and as your expertise and reputation grow, expand your clientele.

Embrace the Freelance Mindset: Be prepared for the hustle; managing your own business requires discipline and adaptability.

Remember, building a successful freelance practice takes time, dedication, and top-notch client service. Stay passionate, stay focused, and let your expertise pave the way to becoming a trusted advisor for your wealthy clientele.

[mariacallous]

Because I have a deep and childish fear of being exposed as uncool, I try hard to act nonchalant when I’m around people with lives more interesting than my own. This is the tactic I employed last year when I met an OnlyFans star, a fit cosplayer and Japanophile who has soared into an enviable tax bracket by selling what she terms “exxxtra spicy content.” I made a show of calmly nodding along as she recounted how she’d ditched her plan to become a tech consultant after discovering that droves of admirers will pay $10.99 a month to watch her try on leggings or vigorously bring herself to climax.

Despite my best efforts to appear blasé about the nuances of modern sex work, the creator caught me off guard with one detail about her business. Like many of OnlyFans’ top earners, she had hired a management agency to help keep up with her customers’ demands for personal attention. “The chat specialists they give you, that was a huge deal for me,” she said. The agency provided a team of contractors whose sole job is to masquerade as the creator while swapping DMs with her subscribers. These textual conversations are meant to be the main way that OnlyFans users can interact with the models they adore.

The existence of professional OnlyFans chatters wouldn’t have surprised me so much if I’d given just a few moments’ thought to the mathematical realities of the platform. OnlyFans has thrived by promising its reported 190 million users that they can have direct access to an estimated 2.1 million creators. It’s impossible for even a modestly popular creator to cope with the avalanche of messages they receive each day. The $5.6 billion industry has solved this logistical conundrum by entrusting its chat duties to a hidden proletariat, a mass of freelancers who sustain the illusion that OnlyFans’ creators are always eager to engage—sexually and otherwise—with paying customers.

I wanted to know more about this murky yet vital sector of the OnlyFans economy, so I set out to interview some veteran chatters. But nearly everyone I contacted was reluctant to open up. Some demanded to be paid for their insight; others ghosted me after initially agreeing to speak. I couldn’t fault them for their wariness: OnlyFans is already a touchy subject because sex weirds people out, and chatters have nothing to gain by revealing one of the platform’s shadier quirks. “We need to be anonymous so we can get hired,” said Bel, a 26-year-old engineering student from Argentina who moonlights as a chat specialist.

Gradually I realized that my best shot at understanding how chatters operate would be to join their ranks. As an English major who’s been fortunate enough to make a living with words for more than 20 years, I naively assumed I was qualified to land a gig. And as a writer, I was curious to learn what kind of artistry the job would require—what it takes to ensure that OnlyFans users never doubt they’re really interacting with the objects of their desire.

[thessalian]

This is probably important to know about.

A summary: y'all know how SAG-AFTRA was on strike recently about a lot of things, up to and including the whole thing with voice actors being replaced by AI? Well, the strike ended, but some things didn't quite get ironed out. A lot of people were still not overly keen on the lack of protections voice actors had with regards to their voices being used by AI. So something had to be done.

Something apparently was, or is starting to be. SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with Replica, an AI tech company that deals with voiced AI, about when they can and cannot use a voice actor's voice that way. There are reportedly a lot of protections for the VAs there, though without having seen the actual text of the deal, I couldn't speak to how many loopholes are in it, but I would guess there were a lot.

Why do I guess this? Well, mostly because the minute the news broke on this, every major voice actor out there started flagging up that, despite SAG-AFTRA's claims of having spoken to "leaders in the VA industry" about this, no one had heard about it. I mean, Steve Blum hadn't heard about it, and he is a foundational pillar of the VA industry. So ... SAG-AFTRA is lying when they say that they spoke to "industry leaders", frankly. The question becomes, why?

SAG-AFTRA says, "Oh, you can opt out of letting them use your voice in future!" but ... well, first of all, an AI cannot as yet mimic a human's performance, so their reputation's going to take a hit as their voices end up doing a fairly flat and unconvincing acting job because their voices' stresses and inflections are going to be decided on by a computer that doesn't entirely get nuance. Voice acting is a freelance gig, and if your voice acting gets a bad rep in the industry, you can probably kiss further work good-bye. So what option do you have but let your AI-generated voice do more work? At least there's some money coming in at that point. Which is ugly across the board.

SAG-AFTRA says, "It's entirely opt-in!" but ... what happens when video game companies start demanding that VAs go through AI tech companies instead of casting agents and literally won't hire you unless your voice is AI-generated?

SAG-AFTRA says, "It's only the one AI tech company we have this deal with!" but ... they're talking about being in discussion with several more.

SAG-AFTRA most of all says, and here I paraphrase a bit but not that much: "AI is an innovation and we can't stop it so we're just going to stop trying and make the best of it". Which is not any kind of 'best' at all, for the reasons above.

And on top of all this, and in a similar spirit to that last comment by SAG-AFTRA, Steam has decided to actually let games with AI-generated assets be sold on their platform ... provided, Valve says, that they actually state publicly, on their Steam store page, that the game was made with AI assets and exactly what those AI assets are, so that consumers can make an informed decision. Given what garbage games Steam lets through the screening process anyway, I worry about what they won't catch.

Because I am not going to knowingly touch anything generated by AI. I'm not going to do it. I've seen online friends (mainly Facebook, honestly) who do AI generated images and go, "I know, I know, buuuuut..." And I'm like ... no. Just ... no. Do I commission art as much as I'd like to? No. Could I get all the art I wanted if I would just use an AI image generator? Yeah, with the caveat that bits of it would be weird as fuck. Am I going to do so? NO. The whole point of automation was that it was supposed to do the grunt work while humans created art, not the other way around. I refuse to support it in any fucking way. I don't care if it's "innovation". I don't care that "we can't stuff it back into Pandora's box". I hate it.

I mean, at its heart, AI is just one more way to delay the inevitable bursting of the bubble economy that late-stage capitalism and "fiduciary duty to shareholders" has created. AI means they can cut more labour costs, and make profit margins expand a little more, to keep up the fiction of perpetual growth just a little longer. Companies are going to push this to its limit, and people are going to suffer as a result. I will not support anything to do with that ... well, at least if I have any choice in the matter. The worst part of all of this is that because it is companies who pretty much run everything that are pushing this bullshit, I actually don't really have any choice in the matter most of the time.

It's one more depressing thing, finding out that AI is being parcelled into damn near everything at this point, even things we're more or less forced to use. I hate that Microsoft is just bundling AI wholesale into its next Windows updates, and why I'm holding off on Win11 for as long as possible.

[pb-dot]

Yuletide Ramblings

While I'm not religious by any measure, Christmas in Norway is honestly a decently secular experience once you tune out all the songs about Jesus and roses springing from barren fields and whatnot. This is to say that the holidays have always been about family and the people close to me. I may be overstepping my bounds a bit, but let's include my dear tumblr moots and general tumbl-o-sphere in the proceedings and talk a little bit about my 2023 on Tumblr.

If I'm going to be frank, and I want to unless the opportunity to be earnest should present itself, 2023 was a tough year for me. My ongoing journey to finding treatment for my depression stalled out, and my job search has similarly been quietly moved from the "top priority" box to the "it'll happen when it happens"-pile. I've been able to do this much thanks to the welfare systems in my neck of the woods, and although the process has kind of sucked along a number of axises, I do acknowledge it has helped me.

What has also helped me, though, is you guys. After starting using the platform in June of this year, I have found replete friendship and support, an almost overwhelming torrent of commisseration, enthusiasm and the particular brand of weird that seems to be the first language around here. Y'all have helped me get writing and stay writing, and really have honed my "take it easy, but take it" approach to a razor's edge.

While many parts of the internet are slowly but surely content-ifying themselves into a desolate wasteland of human connection, Tumblr keeps going with actually trying out the "social" part of this whole social media thing. Granted, that may be because of incompetence in trying to follow the trends on Tumblr's end. Still, I want to thank all y'all for keeping it personal, for keeping it weird, and keeping it as free of the scourge of "personal branding" as one could conceivably make a site full of artists and freelancers.

Cheerleading social media sites isn't really my bag, but I will concede that I've grown quite attached to the way Tumblr does things, and the weird arbitrary ways it prods us into acting. It's all down to the people, of course, and I've found quite a batch of good eggs on this here site. I almost don't want to shoutout specific users because I'm afraid I'm going to forget someone truly marvelous and even though there's every chance they'll never notice, I will know and the snub will eat at me.

That said, I do want to shout out a couple of people who've made my first half a year of tumblr great. @toribookworm22's timely asks have certainly helped me keep track of the weekdays, as well as helped me with a bunch of worldbuilding and minutiae. @dyrewrites and @teacupsandstarlight have both been great to talk to, and I would be in dereliction of my duties if I didn't at least mention the illustrious @scifimagpie in this context as well. @jeahreading and I seem to mostly pass as ships in the night, but sometimes the distant sound of a foghorn can be just the thing, to torture the metaphor a little. @that-weird-kid-from-your-school is also a joy to talk to, and her palpable enthusiasm is great.

Now for some people whose work I follow who I don't speak to much because I am intimidated by their skills. @canisalbus and their adorable gay dog-men never cease to fill my heart with love. @secondlina and their crows similarly also make me smile. @mlm-blues and @were--ralph have both done wonders for my self-esteem, and it is nice to see and share the enthusiasm for lads on occasion. @shyroism is mostly off-site what with the streaming, but they're definitely an underrated streamer who could do with some more eyeballs on their work. @fidgetspringer is an awesome punk, an awesome artist (shoutout @fidgetspringer-art,) and has a truly magnificent beast of a bird hound. @everythingfox is an endless source of cute animals which is an obvious lifesaver, @bearotonin-international is Important, @raccoon-central similarly does some heavy lifting for my mental health with their lil' grabby hands. @bodhrancomedy is a good lad who does good videos and do the acting real good. @sootchild has good art and I like it.

I'm running out of steam, which is a shame because there are a lot of people who deserve just heaps of praise heaped upon them on here. Hell, if you're still reading at this point, rest assured I think you're at the very least awesome and deserve good things happening to you.

In closing, I would like to once again express my delight and joy for how Tumblr has been in my first half year, and I hope the however long until I get maudling again is just as good if not even better!