#because i do plan on getting the $30 subscription

[kawaiichibiart]

:D

[treasure-mimic]

So, let me try and put everything together here, because I really do think it needs to be talked about.

Today, Unity announced that it intends to apply a fee to use its software. Then it got worse.

For those not in the know, Unity is the most popular free to use video game development tool, offering a basic version for individuals who want to learn how to create games or create independently alongside paid versions for corporations or people who want more features. It's decent enough at this job, has issues but for the price point I can't complain, and is the idea entry point into creating in this medium, it's a very important piece of software.

But speaking of tools, the CEO is a massive one. When he was the COO of EA, he advocated for using, what out and out sounds like emotional manipulation to coerce players into microtransactions.

"A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10, 20, 30, 50 hours on the game and then when they're deep into the game they're well invested in it. We're not gouging, but we're charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high."

He also called game developers who don't discuss monetization early in the planning stages of development, quote, "fucking idiots".

So that sets the stage for what might be one of the most bald-faced greediest moves I've seen from a corporation in a minute. Most at least have the sense of self-preservation to hide it.

A few hours ago, Unity posted this announcement on the official blog.

Effective January 1, 2024, we will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee that’s based on game installs. We will also add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no extra cost to Unity subscription plans this November. We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user. We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.

Now there are a few red flags to note in this pitch immediately.

Unity is planning on charging a fee on all games which use its engine.

This is a flat fee per number of installs.

They are using an always online runtime function to determine whether a game is downloaded.

There is just so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to start, not helped by this FAQ which doubled down on a lot of the major issues people had.

I guess let's start with what people noticed first. Because it's using a system baked into the software itself, Unity would not be differentiating between a "purchase" and a "download". If someone uninstalls and reinstalls a game, that's two downloads. If someone gets a new computer or a new console and downloads a game already purchased from their account, that's two download. If someone pirates the game, the studio will be asked to pay for that download.

Q: How are you going to collect installs? A: We leverage our own proprietary data model. We believe it gives an accurate determination of the number of times the runtime is distributed for a given project. Q: Is software made in unity going to be calling home to unity whenever it's ran, even for enterprice licenses? A: We use a composite model for counting runtime installs that collects data from numerous sources. The Unity Runtime Fee will use data in compliance with GDPR and CCPA. The data being requested is aggregated and is being used for billing purposes. Q: If a user reinstalls/redownloads a game / changes their hardware, will that count as multiple installs? A: Yes. The creator will need to pay for all future installs. The reason is that Unity doesn’t receive end-player information, just aggregate data. Q: What's going to stop us being charged for pirated copies of our games? A: We do already have fraud detection practices in our Ads technology which is solving a similar problem, so we will leverage that know-how as a starting point. We recognize that users will have concerns about this and we will make available a process for them to submit their concerns to our fraud compliance team.

This is potentially related to a new system that will require Unity Personal developers to go online at least once every three days.

Starting in November, Unity Personal users will get a new sign-in and online user experience. Users will need to be signed into the Hub with their Unity ID and connect to the internet to use Unity. If the internet connection is lost, users can continue using Unity for up to 3 days while offline. More details to come, when this change takes effect.

It's unclear whether this requirement will be attached to any and all Unity games, though it would explain how they're theoretically able to track "the number of installs", and why the methodology for tracking these installs is so shit, as we'll discuss later.

Unity claims that it will only leverage this fee to games which surpass a certain threshold of downloads and yearly revenue.

Only games that meet the following thresholds qualify for the Unity Runtime Fee: Unity Personal and Unity Plus: Those that have made $200,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 200,000 lifetime game installs. Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise: Those that have made $1,000,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 1,000,000 lifetime game installs.

They don't say how they're going to collect information on a game's revenue, likely this is just to say that they're only interested in squeezing larger products (games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Fate Grand Order, Among Us, and Fall Guys) and not every 2 dollar puzzle platformer that drops on Steam. But also, these larger products have the easiest time porting off of Unity and the most incentives to, meaning realistically those heaviest impacted are going to be the ones who just barely meet this threshold, most of them indie developers.

Aggro Crab Games, one of the first to properly break this story, points out that systems like the Xbox Game Pass, which is already pretty predatory towards smaller developers, will quickly inflate their "lifetime game installs" meaning even skimming the threshold of that 200k revenue, will be asked to pay a fee per install, not a percentage on said revenue.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Hey Gamers!

Today, Unity (the engine we use to make our games) announced that they'll soon be taking a fee from developers for every copy of the game installed over a certain threshold - regardless of how that copy was obtained.

Guess who has a somewhat highly anticipated game coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024? That's right, it's us and a lot of other developers.

That means Another Crab's Treasure will be free to install for the 25 million Game Pass subscribers. If a fraction of those users download our game, Unity could take a fee that puts an enormous dent in our income and threatens the sustainability of our business.

And that's before we even think about sales on other platforms, or pirated installs of our game, or even multiple installs by the same user!!!

This decision puts us and countless other studios in a position where we might not be able to justify using Unity for our future titles. If these changes aren't rolled back, we'll be heavily considering abandoning our wealth of Unity expertise we've accumulated over the years and starting from scratch in a new engine. Which is really something we'd rather not do.

On behalf of the dev community, we're calling on Unity to reverse the latest in a string of shortsighted decisions that seem to prioritize shareholders over their product's actual users.

I fucking hate it here.

-Aggro Crab - END DESCRIPTION]

That fee, by the way, is a flat fee. Not a percentage, not a royalty. This means that any games made in Unity expecting any kind of success are heavily incentivized to cost as much as possible.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A table listing the various fees by number of Installs over the Install Threshold vs. version of Unity used, ranging from $0.01 to $0.20 per install. END DESCRIPTION]

Basic elementary school math tells us that if a game comes out for $1.99, they will be paying, at maximum, 10% of their revenue to Unity, whereas jacking the price up to $59.99 lowers that percentage to something closer to 0.3%. Obviously any company, especially any company in financial desperation, which a sudden anchor on all your revenue is going to create, is going to choose the latter.

Furthermore, and following the trend of "fuck anyone who doesn't ask for money", Unity helpfully defines what an install is on their main site.

While I'm looking at this page as it exists now, it currently says

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

However, I saw a screenshot saying something different, and utilizing the Wayback Machine we can see that this phrasing was changed at some point in the few hours since this announcement went up. Instead, it reads:

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming or web browser is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

Screenshot for posterity:

That would mean web browser games made in Unity would count towards this install threshold. You could legitimately drive the count up simply by continuously refreshing the page. The FAQ, again, doubles down.

Q: Does this affect WebGL and streamed games? A: Games on all platforms are eligible for the fee but will only incur costs if both the install and revenue thresholds are crossed. Installs - which involves initialization of the runtime on a client device - are counted on all platforms the same way (WebGL and streaming included).

And, what I personally consider to be the most suspect claim in this entire debacle, they claim that "lifetime installs" includes installs prior to this change going into effect.

Will this fee apply to games using Unity Runtime that are already on the market on January 1, 2024? Yes, the fee applies to eligible games currently in market that continue to distribute the runtime. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

Again, again, doubled down in the FAQ.

Q: Are these fees going to apply to games which have been out for years already? If you met the threshold 2 years ago, you'll start owing for any installs monthly from January, no? (in theory). It says they'll use previous installs to determine threshold eligibility & then you'll start owing them for the new ones. A: Yes, assuming the game is eligible and distributing the Unity Runtime then runtime fees will apply. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

That would involve billing companies for using their software before telling them of the existence of a bill. Holding their actions to a contract that they performed before the contract existed!

Okay. I think that's everything. So far.

There is one thing that I want to mention before ending this post, unfortunately it's a little conspiratorial, but it's so hard to believe that anyone genuinely thought this was a good idea that it's stuck in my brain as a significant possibility.

A few days ago it was reported that Unity's CEO sold 2,000 shares of his own company.

On September 6, 2023, John Riccitiello, President and CEO of Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), sold 2,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who over the past year has sold a total of 50,610 shares and purchased none.

I would not be surprised if this decision gets reversed tomorrow, that it was literally only made for the CEO to short his own goddamn company, because I would sooner believe that this whole thing is some idiotic attempt at committing fraud than a real monetization strategy, even knowing how unfathomably greedy these people can be.

So, with all that said, what do we do now?

Well, in all likelihood you won't need to do anything. As I said, some of the biggest names in the industry would be directly affected by this change, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they're not just going to take it lying down. After all, the only way to stop a greedy CEO is with a greedier CEO, right?

(I fucking hate it here.)

And that's not mentioning the indie devs who are already talking about abandoning the engine.

[Links display tweets from the lead developer of Among Us saying it'd be less costly to hire people to move the game off of Unity and Cult of the Lamb's official twitter saying the game won't be available after January 1st in response to the news.]

That being said, I'm still shaken by all this. The fact that Unity is openly willing to go back and punish its developers for ever having used the engine in the past makes me question my relationship to it.

The news has given rise to the visibility of free, open source alternative Godot, which, if you're interested, is likely a better option than Unity at this point. Mostly, though, I just hope we can get out of this whole, fucking, environment where creatives are treated as an endless mill of free profits that's going to be continuously ratcheted up and up to drive unsustainable infinite corporate growth that our entire economy is based on for some fuckin reason.

Anyways, that's that, I find having these big posts that break everything down to be helpful.

[mysongsknowwhatyoudidinthedark]

Okay, here’s my master post on birth control

Opill is an otc birth control. It is progesterone only, so it is safe for people who have migraines with aura and people with a high risk of blood clots. It is not safe for people with a history of breast cancer. You can buy it in 1/3/6 month packs. It’s on Amazon but you can purchase it in stores. If you use a subscription plan for Amazon the first month is cheaper. You can get a 3 month pack for around the price of a 1 month pack if its your first subscription.

Telyrx might or might not ship to your state. They have birth control you might already use + plan b and Ella, which works if you’re at a higher weight. Standard Plan B caps out at 155 pound, Ella works up until 195 pounds. There are several day after pills on Amazon that’s around $15-$16, but I don’t know if it works at a higher weight limit.

Doubling on Plan B is not proven to work. If you do, you should still be fine, but you will have likely feel nauseous and possibly vomit, which could make it not work. You should be good if you vomited two hours or later after taking it. It shouldn’t be too severe.

Plan B can either work up to 3 days or 5 days after your birth control fails. Make sure you read up on what you buy. The ones on Amazon are all 3 day pills.

PlanCPills.org has a list of sites where you can purchase abortion pills. They’re on sale now for obvious reasons. Some are as low as $30. For abortion pill pack for that works up until 12 weeks is not that bad.

The specific website I used is medside24.com. These websites typically require a valid ID. Get one ASAP. Medside24.com had issues with their payment system when I used them today, but it worked out, so please don’t get too stressed. They also will not reship your order if your address is wrong, so make sure your address is right.

Plan B general lasts for four years, Plan C lasts two years because misoprostol lasts two years, but mifespristone lasts 5 years, bc is whatever it is on the package. Keep them away from extreme temperatures as they are very sensitive to temperature changes. Direct sunlight can also damage birth control, Plan B, and Plan C.

The copper IUD can be used with hormonal birth control. Do not use two hormonal birth control types together. There will be side effects in a similar manner to doubling up on Plan B.

You can take Plan B while on birth control but it could cause side effects.

Testosterone is not birth control. Estrogen can make a transfem sterile, but it is not birth control.

The mini pill, also known as a progesterone only pill, has to be taken at the same time each day for maximum efficiency. You have a 3 hour window to take it or else it’ll count as skipping a day and you will be unprotected if you have sex. The Opill counts as a mini pill, so please be aware of that. There is no skip week with progesterone only birth control. You can take the pills in any order, as each pill contains the same amount of medicine.

Birth control containing estrogen and progesterone has a more lenient window. You can take two in one day if you’ve missed one day, but you will be less protected than normal. If you missed two or more, take the most recent pill that you’ve missed and continue taking it as normal. You have to throw out the missed pills. You must take these pills in order because they may contain different amounts of hormones. You can skip the placebo week on estrogen birth control and move on to the next pack.

Feel free to add anything I’ve missed.

[thechekhov]

thoughts on the huge OGL debacle around DnD at the moment?

mmmmmMMMMMM BOI

I was going to be holding off on commenting until something was confirmed by WotC because I hoped to get more info but. I think we basically got what we need. 

For those who don’t know - the CONTEXT:

Earlier last month there was a leak that made the DnD community peek up out of their little holes like a bunch of meerkats hearing a stampede. Y’see, currently, Wizards of the Coast (a company owned by Hasbro, a corporate giant in board-games) is working on a new DnD version that is meant to replace 5e (5th edition of DnD, the most current one). They’re calling it One DnD, and it’s in play-test right now. But there’s a problem. Along with new stuff, they were apparently planning to revise the OGL - the Open Gaming License which had been a staple of the DnD Era since 2000.

The OGL 1.0 was essentially an open world ticket for third-party creators to use DnD game mechanics to build worlds, create monsters, and expand upon the creative base that was DnD. In 2008 they attempted to publish 4th edition DnD under a different, less open gaming license, which ended up severely hurting their overall standing with the community. When they published 5e, they returned to the OGL and DnD has gained traction with the public thanks to various gaming groups (such as Critical Role) rising to fame. Because of the OGL, many people have made adventures for 5e DnD, making monster manuals compatible with the game, and basically expanding on a huge, growing world. There have been kickstarters for new adventures, new compendiums, etc, which were an incredible creative sandbox for just about anyone who wanted to try their hand at creating.

And now it seems like they fucked it up. 

A leak made it clear that WotC is working on OGL 1.1 - which is basically a giant middle finger to everything the original was. They are now demanding royalties from anyone creating new content if they make over 50kᶜᵒʳʳᵉᶜᵗᵉᵈ 750k a year from their creations - which in and of itself isn’t super unreasonable.... except for the fact that they can lower this number at any point. 

ALSO with the new OGL (1.1) WotC would OWN the rights to anything made using any of their content (including homebrew made by creators - yes, they would own settings/character just because those adventures use their system) indefinitely, demand they receive financial reports from anyone making 50k or more.

What’s more, they reserve the right to change their own license at any point, with only 30 days notice. (Which basically means that if at any point they decide to demand recompense from people making more than, say, 20k from their little homebrewed setting in 5e, they can do that with nary a month’s warning.) 

“...according to attorneys consulted for this article, the new language may indicate that Wizards of the Coast is rendering any future use of the original OGL void, and asserting that if anyone wants to continue to use Open Game Content of any kind, they will need to abide by the terms of the updated OGL, which is a far more restrictive agreement than the original OGL..." (source)

So as you can imagine, for the past few weeks, the entire DnD community and the ttrpg community at large have been gearing up for either a fight, a mass exodus, or both. It would not be the first time. 

And then, just recently, we had another comment, this time from inside. An email was sent out, which has been evidently confirmed by one of the recipients as true, describing what is happening inside of WotC. 

[I'm an employee at WotC currently working on and with business leaders on the health of the product line. If you want I can provide proof of this.I'm sending this message because I fear for the health of a community I love, and I know what the leaders at WOTC are looking at:

They are briefly delaying rollout of OGL changes due to the backlash.

Their decision making is based entirely on the provable impact to their bottom line

Specifically they are looking at DDB subscriptions and cancellations as it is the quickest financial data they currently have.

They are still hoping the community forgets, moves on, and they can still push this through

I have decided to reach out because at my time in WotC I have never once heard management refer to customers in a positive manner, their communication gives me the impression they see customers as obstacles between them and their money, the DDB team was first told to prepare to support the new OGL changes and online portal when they got back from the holidays, and leadership doesn’t take any responsibility for the pain and stress they cause others. Leadership's first communication to the rank and file on the OGL was 30 minutes on 1/11/23, This was the first time they even tried to communicate their intentions about the OGL to employees, and even in this meeting they blamed the community for over-reacting.I will repeat, the main thing this leadership is looking at is DDB subscription cancellations.Hope your day goes well,PS will be copying and pasting this message to other community leaders]

(source)

As for my comment in all of this? 

I won’t pretend to be a local expert in legal terminology. Others can probably parse the full leak far better, and I don’t think there is anything to be gained by running around in a panic and screaming...

However. 

The fact of the matter is, Hasbro/WotC are shooting themselves in the foot. I don’t believe they have the right to destroy the original license. Make a new one for OneDnD? Sure, knock yourself out. Try it, see how popular it’ll be. But destroying the community-driven 5e will do only that - destroy it. They will not be gaining any money from the fans which are already plenty used to supporting small-level creators first and large companies second. It’s a supremely counter-culture move which will eat them from the inside out. 

The only ones that I feel for are Critical Role - who originally played in Pathfinder and then switched to 5e and paired up with DnD Beyond.............and are now being screwed over because they’re likely locked in a contract with WotC and are contractually obligated to not speak out negatively against the changes. 

In my heart of hearts, I kinda hope that their tablets all mysteriously ‘break’ for the next few games and they go back to pen and paper instead of barking out DnD Beyond ads as they’re expected to do. But I don’t know if that’s something they can afford to risk. 

(.....though hell, I hope they try to afford it. They have a community that will stand behind them, and that community has MONEY. We won’t know until we know, though, and I know that there are legal repercussions that may go beyond a simple income slap on the wrist.)

Personally, here’s my two cents: 

I think people should cast a vote with their money.

 Cancel your DnD Beyond subscription.

Don’t give any more money to Hasbro or Wizards. Keep playing whatever 5e games you want, but do it using third-party digital character sheets, OR just go old school and do pen and paper. Let me know if you need sources for it. 

Don’t buy the Players Handbook, leave DnD Beyond behind, don’t engage with One DnD. There are resources out there that let you play the game that also don’t require you giving money to corporations that are only here to fuck around and find out. You want an adventure module but don’t want to bow down to the dragon sitting on its hoard? Hit me up. I’ll give you some alternatives. 

Hell, I myself will be looking into Pathfinder 2e because I’ve heard good things, and if I need to switch any future games to a different system because Fountry VTT or Roll20 will stop offering the 5e presents, it’ll be a very good alternative. Paizo just came out with a statement that they will write their own version of the OGL which will keep the spirit of the open game alive, and Kobold Press is gearing up with their own stuff. 

I won’t be throwing out my own games, and I don’t feel there’s a need to stop playing 5e. I have a Curse of Strahd game to finish, and that game belongs to me and my group now. We don’t need the module - it needs us. 

... all that is simply to say - Wizards may soon be realizing that when you live on the Coast... pirates are never far. 

(edited thanks to corrections from @magpiesarefluffy )

[see-arcane]

Happy Friday the 13th!

Time for some updates.

Plushies

I promise I have not forgotten the little guys-in-potentia. I’ve just been going through many circles of Hell trying to find a decent manufacturer that isn’t operating on some secret ‘Sorry, We Only Work with Brands ™ and Influencers ©, Enjoy Sending Half a Dozen Queries to Our Inbox-Void, You Little Nobody~ <3’ rule. So that was fun. But, finally, I think I’ve found a prospective maker. The issue?

The smallest bulk order is a 50-count. $30 each, roughly. Just for one. 30 x 50 = at least $1,500. If I try to do Mina and Jonathan (DO NOT SEPARATE), that’s 100 plushies. $3,000.

And that’s without dealing with the logistics of storing all the dang things, figuring out shipping costs depending on where I’d be mailing them (not including the packaging), and figuring out how to fairly price them without also gutting everyone’s wallets while we’re all broke.

Fundraising options like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Backerkit all look like the only solid way to go here, but they come with their own caveats.

I need some kind of prototype to have on display, not just the concept. The manufacturer I have in mind does provide a physical prototype prior to going to work on bulk orders, but I’d need to talk with them about the what-ifs involved if a fundraiser fails to drop enough cash to afford the full order.

I still need to figure out what a fair funding target would be that would cover cost of manufacturing/shipping/etc and I do not know that magic number.

Tiers? Do I do tiers with this? If so, how do I portion those out dollar-wise? What goodies can I throw in that would sweeten the deal? At the moment all I have is my writing.

Argh.

Really, 4) kind of sums up the whole thing at the moment. I really, really want to make all my assorted little guys come to cuddly life, but the numbers involved are looking more complicated than pi, especially when I—(frankly, all of us)—have Zero Money to gamble away. If I’m off by one (1) digit that means the difference between ‘Yes, I can pay for manufacturing and shipping and et ceteras no problem!’ and ‘WHOOPS SURPRISE YOU’RE PAYING AN EXTRA FEE OUT OF POCKET NOW BECAUSE YOU DID NUMBER WRONG, HA HA.’ Add that to the fact that I really don’t have anything tangible to pin to hypothetical tiers just now?

I’m afraid the plush Harkers (along with Quinn Morse and his new accessory) have to go on a back shelf for the time being.

But, for a more positive note…

October Scares and Scribbles

I plan to have a Substack in place sometime within October. It will include not just Harker’s current helping of chapters, but…

A new Harker teaser

Backups of some older stuff

[REDACTED] as a little Halloween treat

A generally tidier domain to keep my scattered scrawling in order

As it stands, I don’t feel comfortable turning it into a paid subscription Substack. I won’t be doing clockwork updates and what I will have up won’t be worth a routine fee. I’ll likely have a Ko-Fi link up as a sort of tip jar, but that’ll be that.

Speaking of money…

Maybe Making Merch?

Turns out the options for making less complicated bric-a-brac than stuffed animals are…less complicated. Imagine that. I’ve also been poking around looking at possibilities for stationery, bookmarks, cups, assorted bits and bobs. You know the Dracula Cast(ula) was made for journals and coffee mugs. However, I need to know what kind of designs folks would want to see. So:

The prospects here are much less stressful as far as puzzling out details goes, so I feel a little better about chewing on this. Still need to settle on Official Designs, but I’d wave those around for folks to see first.

All that said?

Argh

Because it bears repeating.

You’ll notice I haven’t laid out exact dates or timeframes for any of this stuff. That’s because I’m still neck-deep in the job hunt, along with grappling with the possibility of having to burn more money on new courses to enter a field I hate, but looks to be one of few career paths that will actually pay me more than pocket change. Said positions not even being guaranteed to still be in the same shape once I’m out of class. Same as my last job.

In four months, I’ll have been applying for a solid year. Every day. All to positions that either send copy-paste rejections, ghost outright, turn out to be thin veils for scams, or, most fun prospect, aren’t even real, because companies keep putting up false job openings to look like they’re expanding. My time has alternated between this and writing and trying not to look at my bank account. Between that and anxiety bordering on nausea concerning the upcoming election, my Halloween vibes are pretty bruised too.

It has. Not been the best time.

But the best part of it is still going on. Because that part is you guys. The people who’ve enjoyed my nonsense. The people who’ve actually dropped some bucks my way on Ko-Fi or bought my book! The people who’ve encouraged me for ages and have turned out to be some of the coolest folks a fellow bookworm could hope for. Thank you.

I hope you’ll cross your fingers for me going forward.

Postscript

I’m also working on the rough draft for this thing. Whether I can get it up on the platform I’d like or not, it will see daylight even if I have to drag it outside myself.

Living’s not cheap, but complaining is free. >:}

[herdemimonde]

My Weight Loss & Fitness Strategy:

Just like 2 years ago, I'm going to keep it simple.

Fitness:

Straight cardio no chaser. Not going to focus on strength building or weights at the moment. I'm going to be doing aerobic walking (via my Walk At Home subscription) and I will be doing an average of 3 miles every day (sometimes it may be less, like 2 miles, other times it will be more, like 5 miles. But every day minus rest day I will be doing anywhere from 30 min - 1hr of exercise). I'll also be adding in some 10 minute "warm ups/light walks" throughout the day, not so much as additional exercise but just so that my body can get some movement after it's been sitting in one place for hours.

I also know that I need to incorporate stretching and flexibility workouts into my plan as well. I always do a quick stretch at the end of my workouts but I definitely need to fit in some longer ones as well.

Eating/Diet:

This is where it may get questionable for some people, so let me state my disclaimer again: i'm not encouraging nor recommending anyone to do what i'm about to do. this is simply what worked for me.

So as far as eating goes, I will mostly be eating salads with an iceberg lettuce base with vegetables and protein toppings. I will of course still have some indulgences (I actually think it's important that you do, restrictive dieting is one way to regain your weight back quickly once the diet is over) but for the most part I will be eating salads and having certain veggies and fruits.

If this list seems rather small (especially compared to 2 years ago when i was also having oatmeal, green smoothies, etc. ) it's because I have now been diagnosed with SIBO, candida and chronic constipation (with is closely related to IBS). although I'm not going to focus on healing my digestive issues at this time, I also don't want to eat foods that are going to trigger them or make them worst.

I'm currently researching and looking more into this so my diet will most likely be altered along the way.

And that's all folks. I'll be posting daily updates with pics of my food (sometimes). This blog may get a bit fitblr-y for a while lol.

[sweetkpopmusings]

joshua best friend headcanons <3

a/n: this best friends series is giving me so much serotonin, and i love to see others enjoying it!! joshua is so cringe (said lovingly) and i am so very fond of him :,-) my break from work is over after today, so my posts will probably not be as frequent, but i promise this series will continue !! pics not mine <3

content: fluff | wc: 0.8k | warnings: none! | pairing: bestfriend!joshua x gn!reader | requests: open

he's the type of best friend that sees you two as a team

yes, he refers to you both as "the dream team" constantly

and he says it with his whole chest each time

like when one of his members asks what he did on the break, he'll answer "oh, y'know, just got the dream team back together"

they just respond (probably preceded by an eyeroll) "how's y/n doing?"

they're so unfazed by it but they'll tease him about it if you're around. if you join them at an event or a hangout, when you walk in the room they'll cheer because "the dream team is back together again!!!"

they're so dramatic but shua is eating it up actually

unironically will ask you, "is he bothering you, queen/king/my liege?"

he thinks it's so funny like it doesn't matter if you think it's funny he will stick with that bit forever

because he actually does care if people or things are bothering you

he will ask you how you are doing all the time

and he wants genuine answers

he'd never push you or anything like that, but he isn't asking you out of politeness or routine

as your best friend, he is dedicated to your wellbeing

he's so invested in supporting you

if you're trying to overcome a problem, develop a new skill, or complete some random 30-day challenge, joshua is right behind you the whole time

he'll send you encouraging messages, look out for tips he can send your way, and sometimes he'll even take part in it himself!!

truly a great cheerleader to have in your life :,-)

creates traditions for you two

he knows that life is wild and it can be hard to get together and talk as much as you want to

so he ensures that, regardless of what's going on, you two have things that bring you together

it could be based on a shared interest! maybe you both really like this one youtube channel, so you always watch the new content together

i would not be surprised in the slightest if he signed y'all up for silly subscription boxes

like yes there's a monthly service that sends you mini science experiments and yes joshua got you both a year-long plan and yes he expects "shua & y/n's science session" to be a whole event every time

it was somewhat of a joke at first because shua loves being ridiculous but you both ended up loving it so much that you looked forward to each new box

he's very protective of you <3

he's always looking out for you, so he is pretty invested in how people treat you

whether it's in the workplace, in your friend circles, in romantic relationships, and even in your family (bio, chosen, or otherwise)

he wouldn't meddle in your relationships, but he's not afraid to speak up if someone is not treating you with the respect and care you deserve

he always respects your decisions, but he will never hold back an opinion that is for your benefit.

he won't get mad if you disagree with him either like he's the king of promoting autonomy, agency, and self-respect <333

he works hard to earn your trust, which is why you trust his judgment

and he goes to you for the same thing

he nevers wants you to beat around the bush with him

your bond is too special for superficial pleasantries like that

you both know each other so well that it only makes sense to be transparent with one another

which is why he'll come to you with some of his biggest concerns, insecurities, etc

because you're the one person who can see him for who he is without him worrying about putting on a persona or performance

and he's so grateful to you for that, more than he could ever express

so after a heart-to-heart he'll just look you directly in the eyes and say a soft yet strong "thank you"

and then make a lil joke because whoa it got real serious and he's a lighthearted guy

takes a lot of pictures of you / you two together !

he will send you the pictures where you are making a funny face and threaten to use it as blackmail <3

if you try to do the same he'll just go "good luck, i'm beautiful in everything :-)"

and you're like yes but have you considered you're also an idiot <3

runs ideas by you for weird things he can do to shock his members

he knows the water bits always kill, but he's looking to take things to the Next. Level. so he's scheduling a meeting with you to walk through his bit prototypes and maybe even doing some trial runs with you

he's taking it so seriously and you're like wow you're a dumbass and he's like "thank you so much so what was your rating on the tearaway pants trick again?"

boy has a clipboard and everything i swear

joshua is just such a funny and strange guy who wants to add value to your life because you bring so much to his!! he'll always be there for you, rain or shine, and he reminds you constantly of how special you are :,-)

joshua if you're taking applications for besties please let me know and i'll submit my resume asap!!!

[celebrimborium]

Thank you so much for sharing that info on ROP Season 2 questionary.

What are your thoughts on this delay to announce the show renewal for Season 3? What are they waiting for? Or is the show actually at risk of getting canceled? You also mentioned they asked suggestions for S3 (what the viewers would like to see)? This tells me they do take the fans opinions to heart, because they are currently writing Season 3 (according to the showrunners, at least).

Sorry about all the questions, but you got me curious 😊

I don't think the show is at risk of being cancelled at the moment, all the people involved with the show have spoken about S3 with such confidence that I have to believe it's been in preparation for a while and that Amazon has indicated to them that a renewal is just a formality. However, Charlotte Brändström (who is a director and producer of the show) suggested we'd be hearing official news until the end of October, I think. And now mid-November I get that survey. So, there is that. I think Amazon is really looking at all their options going forward.

If we look back at S2, that was renewed early and all the scripts had already been written before S1 aired – in fact, S2 began shooting around the same time S1 ended. And we still had to wait for a long time until S2 could be released. So wouldn't it be smarter to start S3 production earlier or even film S3 and S4 back to back?

Maybe, but Amazon is a business and after S1 probably underperformed relative to their expectations (not necessarily in terms of viewing numbers but in terms of social media engagement and subscription drive), it seems they wanted to wait until after S2 to look at all the data. Over the last couple of months, a new writers' room was assembled (already a reaction to S1?) and presumably drafted S3 scripts. But the scripts aren't finished yet, we know that much. So what's going on? Are the writers being slow? Do they have to do rewrites? Is Amazon not happy with the S3 Payne & McKay are pitching? Or are they just waiting to have all their ducks in a row and location scouting done and shooting scheduled before announcing a renewal? Is it a question of budget negotiations? At this point, the long wait doesn't exactly spell confidence in terms of media/press reporting and publicity, so at the very least Amazon is carefully weighing what to do. Since the show is very much tied up in the plans for Amazon Studios as such (buying up production hubs in the UK etc), this is also very much a strategic decision with wider repercussions. The Hollywood Reporter reported sometime in September or October that Amazon was still planning to stick to the 50-hour plan but plans can change.

One thing I was asked about in the survey was whether the cliffhangers episode-to-episode worked for me this season. I haven't looked at the viewing data in detail but if the show lost viewers over the season, that would be an issue, since you normally want it to increase, even if a lower S2 premiere is expected. We know that the viewership in the US is 30–35 % down compared to S1 which isn't great. But Amazon has access to much more detailed data (and the show had better international pull in S1, so that's important for S2 and we don't know anything about it). The more obscure the feat is that they tout, the more you can be sure the data doesn't look that great though (relative to budget and the branding/IP).

I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to go into the survey and what was asked there but rest assured it was extremely detailed with lists upon lists with characters and storylines and relationships and themes and production aspects and all kinds of things to rate (not on a scale but more in a "this was done well / poorly", "this would make me more / less interested in watching", "I would like to see more / less of this" type of way across a spectrum). They also asked about things like viewing comprehension and social media engagement.

If you don't like storytelling by committee, you might find this type of detailed audience questioning concerning. Certainly I'm a little concerned by the consensus on the show and characters in places like Reddit or other male-dominated spaces and how that might be the outcome we get. But for sure you can't say Amazon isn't trying to gauge audience interest to the very last degree.

And that's why I think we'll get a retooled S3. And beyond that we'll have to see.

[not-poignant]

January 2024 Writing Round-Up

Here's the monthly round-up of everything written and posted in January 2024! How is the first month of this year nearly over already??? But here's the chapters that were released: 

Birthday Spotlight - Dr Gary Konowalous 

Birthday Spotlight - Nathaniel (Nate) Prince 

Underline the Black 76  

Underline the Black 77 

Underline the Blue 09 

Constellations 02 

The Nascent Diplomat 40 

The Nascent Diplomat 41 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Underline the Blue 12 (Augus+Gwyn Tier+)

Constellations 05 (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 33 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

Chapter Commentary - Underline the Black 34 (Mosk+Eran Tier+)

Tradewinds (full e-book) (Gary+Efnisien Tier+)

FANFICTION

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 29 

A Stain that Won't Dissolve 30 

Palmarosa 16 

Palmarosa 17 

*

An extremely quiet month, with only 31,000 words written. That's not bad (my minimum is 25k) but I'm sure y'all know I like to aim higher than that most months!

A reminder that enrolment into the Merch Tier to get the May/June rewards is still valid until mid February!

*

On the writing side, I wrote across multiple stories: Palmarosa, Constellations, The Nascent Diplomat, A Stain that Won't Dissolve, Underline the Black, and Underline the Blue.

*

We adopted a gorgeous puppy called Tobermory but it's been very overwhelming on a PTSD and autism front (we actually decided to rehome at one point, and then decided to stick it out, but it's been rough). And also just on a 'young puppy life' front lol.

In the months ahead I'll be taking a break in the form of not posting one Underline the Black chapter per month to give me one Sunday-to-Sunday stretch of posting no chapters. I will still be active and around! These aren't holidays from writing or interacting with you all, just from the schedule itself. :D 

I also really want to get stuck into editing Game Theory, it feels like a distant dream right now which is more than a little frustrating, just because of time and energy, but please know it's still high up on my list! I'm also going to start designing/planning the next round of merch soon, so stay tuned for that. :D

*

Tradewinds has LAUNCHED!!! This is a Patreon/Ream exclusive, meaning that - at this stage - it can only be read if you join that tier and download it to read. You're welcome to stay in the tier, drop back down to your regular tier, or even just sign up for one month and leave again. Obviously the latter isn't my preference! But I want folks to enjoy themselves and am sensitive to the fact that not everyone can afford regular subscription, or has to be careful how they subscribe <3 

Tradewinds is a completed Fae Tales Verse story with a completely new cast of characters that focuses on merchant fae in the southern hemisphere, and Seelie vs. Unseelie merchant traders.

*

Remember you can reach out to me privately at any time, at my email piafoxhall@gmail.com - if you can't find something, or just want to find out something, let me know. I'll do my best to help :)

I'll see you all in February 2024! We've smashed into a brutal heatwave, with temperatures of 42C, 43C and then 41C coming over the next few days (that's 107F, 109F and 105F for the folks in the USA!) Pray for me, because I am going to have to walk everywhere with a spatula so that I might lever myself off the bitumen (road/asphalt). 

[killingbill]

HELP ME KEEP MY FIANCÉ AFLOAT AFTER HER STROKE! (please signal boost if you can)

paypal link: paypal.me/thamorgue kofi: https://ko-fi.com/thamorgue

Hi, my name is Morgan. I'm a lesbian, 26. My fiancé (she/her, 30) is the strongest person I've ever met. She's a chemist, who worked for a pharmaceutical company. She achieved her dreams, and was supporting me in doing the same for myself. We thought we were just about to get out of our hard-times, and unfortunately, life had other plans for us.

My fiancé suffered a stroke on April 29th, 2024. The stroke impacted the language centre of her brain, and it was a large area of the brain that was impacted. She will be able to work again someday, but her physical and mental deficits are going to require a lot of therapy to correct. Her recovery is projected to be 6 months - 2 years.

She was the main breadwinner in our household and worked so hard to get herself out on her own, and start our life together. She was kind enough to give me leeway to do what I've always wanted to do, and begin freelance work. She's so independent and this is the last thing she ever would have wanted. However, I know that she will have the ability to make it through to the other side.

In the meantime, however, it is not fair that just because she is now disabled - she will seemingly be at risk of losing her apartment, and other such services such as electric or gas, when this event was entirely out of her control. I have vowed to do my best to help, but I do not have regular income (other than a recent approval for welfare) and her immediate family is already stretched thin. We have contacted multiple stroke organizations and have been turned away, and cannot bank on any sort of government assistance for her at this time. Most organizations offer coverage for her therapy or hospital bills, however her insurance already covers this - thank god - but we are left at a loss.

Please, if you're able, please consider helping. She is the kind who would never ask for help, and neither am I. This is the first time I've ever considered crowd funding. However, I would be remiss not to try and help the love of my life not to lose her livelihood for something out of her control. Your money will go towards things like (her) rent, car insurance, electric, gas bills. (no subscription services or other frivolous things). Anything extra will go towards prescriptions, if applicable.

please let me know if I can provide any writing services for your donation/money, as well! my fiverr link is in my pinned. I can also make GIFS/GIFSETS for you, for tips.

[johannestevans]

Hi, Johannes! I was just wondering, is there anywhere on the web where a person could pay a lump sum for permanent access to any of your ero/literary works? Like, do you have any collected editions as ebooks? Subscription-based access always does me in because I have very inconsistent income, and while I would love to be able to back a Patreon or Premium Medium account, I've had issues with overdraft on those charges before. I know Slipshine has a bit of a different model than what you've got going on, given that there are a large number of artists under their banner, but they do have a Permanent Access tier, for example.

Wishing you all the best!

Hey, I'm afraid Slipshine doesn't seem to allow for authors, and is only for web comic artists.

Neither Patreon nor Medium allow that sort of subscription option for permanent access, unfortunately, and I don't have the time or the money at the moment to to invest in setting up my own platform. I know that Ream exists, but I don't think they have a package tier like this either.

The plan is to put together some more short story collections as eBooks, both of erotica and of other fiction, but I'm afraid it's quite a labour intensive process and takes quite a while to do, thus why I haven't made more available already. When I do this, a lot of my erotica is only going to be available on Smashwords and a few other retailers, just because Amazon has extremely stringent rules about what they consider taboo content, and a lot of my monsterfucking stuff won't be permitted on there.

A lot of my work is available on Ao3 for free or here on Tumblr, and I also upload some shorts on Literotica and Hentai-Foundry respectively - if there was another platform that let me do what you're talking about, I'd be more than happy to set my works up there, but I don't know that there is one.

I would also totally encourage you to save your favourite works from Patreon or Medium while you're subscribed - I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you at the moment! I also obviously have an unreliable income myself, and I appreciate that it's really stressful and hard when bills hit unexpectedly, and that even really small ones can bite you into overdraft.

Patreon does permit an annual subscription option, where you can get a year's access, and obviously you'd have a lot more time to cancel that immediately, and you don't have to keep it on auto renew, as far as I'm aware - with the annual subscription, you pay for 12 months at a time, for which you get a 16% discount, so the cheapest tier at $3/month would be about $30 USD. That's obviously a lot more of a cost upfront at a time, but that would then be able to keep you having access for a long period of time without having to worry about the renewal charge.

Apologies again for the inconvenience, thank you so much for your support!

[sorealis]

Life update no one asked for but I need to rant and I don't want to bother anyone who knows me irl. It got surprisingly long so under the cut it is.

I have been so tired for a year now. It was definitely a mistake doing what I did last year, studies-wise, but at least I'm now a huge step closer to graduating some time. If I ever manage to figure out a topic for my master's thesis. (Anyone want to give me ideas?)

I went to the doctor, he said "maybe it will get better when you don't have to work for a while" and I said "yeah, maybe". It didn't. I was tired the whole summer. But I could still do some things, not nearly as much as I would have liked (like write fanfiction lol).

But do you know what happens when you don't do anything for a while? No money. To get money I have to work. But I can't work and study at the same time. I tried that, the whole of last year and look where we are now. Worst part, my "job" last year was just practice so I don't even get paid for it. I've been living without any income for years now. (When I say "any" I mean not a livable wage. I have a job and I do get paid, but it isn't enough to live on)

I'm not completely without help, however, I don't really qualify for benefits the way things are right now. Soon I will, but I'd rather not because it means I will have to stress about more things. They tell me to "go to work" and I totally would, but a) there are no jobs here, this is a city with 40k students out of 140k total residents, how many part-time jobs do you think there are, and b) I can't work. I could, but then I can't study. If I don't study I won't graduate. I will work for the rest of my life as soon as I have my degree, okay? I just need to get there first.

Stressing about all of this is making me feel even more like shit. And now I can't sleep. I can't believe I told my doctors just a few months ago that "no, I definitely have no trouble sleeping, I just get really tired really easy" and my body was like "would you like to have trouble sleeping, here we go". This would be fine if not sleeping just meant that I'm just equally tired all the time instead of just most of the time. But my eyes hurt and this is where I draw the line. I can't see.

And I know exactly why I can't sleep and why I panic every time I go outside and why I get so tired all the time. And pretty much most of this could be solved if I had financial security. But I don't.

So now my regular doctor referred me to a psychiatrist, because apparently all my complaining sounded a little too much like I have depression. Could be true, but this doesn't feel like the last time I was depressed (as in the last time I was actually diagnosed with depression, which gave me nice confirmation that yes, I'm not crazy and this is actually thing that has a name) Maybe I'm just exhausted trying to fix all the stupid shit my past depressed self did when I thought planning for a future I thought I wouldn't have was stupid.

Here I am. Recently hit 30, which is more than I ever thought I would. I wish I was 22. That's how many years I feel like I've missed living.

Also, definitely the least of my worries now, but I need to stop looking at the stats for my fics, it's not good for the rest of my meager mental health. I shouldn't care so much if people I don't know, and who have probably never once interacted with my fics, want to keep reading. They don't owe me anything but neither do I owe them anything. There's a constant mantra of "you're writing for yourself not them" in my mind these days. (Maybe I'm simply cursed to never hit that 200 subscriptions threshold ;_;)

[u2fangirlie-blog]

Book Club Introduction

Recently, I was invited into a book club on Facebook. A friend asked me to join with other friends she knows. I know two out of 30 members. How are people supposed to introduce themselves and get to know each other in FB groups, particularly book clubs? I have no clue! The book club creator and moderators all follow BookTok and have To Be Read lists. I don't do that. It's all new to me.

To start, I read through posts, liked, commented, and replied to interesting and relevant posts. I thought this would be a good way to get to know new people. Then I took a risk and wrote an introduction. The post was viewed by half the crowd. My friend H. replied, but there were no other comments. Just silence. Not even a clock ticking in the background.

The first book selected is Murder at the Book Club by Betsey Reavley. I want to stay, make new friends, and be introduced to new authors, but I feel like an asshole. My introduction to the book club was dead on arrival, so I'm going to delete it from the group.

Here's the introduction. I put a lot of thought and planning into it and don't want to see words go to waste. Someone might read it in the vast expanse of words on Tumblr.

Hi! H. invited me to join the group. She said you are awesome fun people. H., C., and I have been friends since elementary and junior high school. In the past, I've been part of reading circles where we read and discussed metaphysical books. This is my first online book club. Please guide me in what is appropriate behavior and social conventions for online reading groups. I hope to read books in genres I've never read before. I look forward to getting to know everyone here.

I just want to introduce myself a little bit to the group. I'll start with my reading habits and preferences.

I don't have a TikTok account, so I don't follow any Booktok creators.

On YouTube, I don't follow many Booktube creators. However, I do watch channels that focus on one author or genre. I like Quinn's Ideas. He's the go-to guy for Dune and A Song of Ice and Fire. He also discusses classic hard scifi and new scifi. I enjoy T.L. is Reading, who is doing a Discworld read-along. If I'm interested in a new book or TV series based on a book, I'll look on YouTube. I learned a lot about the Wheel of Time that way.

I prefer print books. My house is stacked to the rafters. Remind me sometime to tell you about the time a tree branch went through the roof, and instead of going to the basement for safety, I ran upstairs to rescue boxes of books from the rain.

I do read some ebooks, usually if it's a long series or older books that are hard to find in print. Discworld has 41 book, so most of my Pratchett collection is in ebooks.

Kindle Unlimited - I don't have it because of the cost of subscriptions. If I get a book, I buy it. One reason I prefer print books over ebooks is that having physical media is forever (exceptions of fire or flood). What's going to happen if Amazon loses rights to books or if there's a major technology failure? We the consumers will lose access to digital media we "own" and paid for and will never get it back. It's already happening with streaming videos. If the Big One happens and if we lose electricity and satellites and the internet and if electronic devices stop working, y'all can come to my house. I own all the books and DVDs. LOL!

Audible - See above. Cost of subs. Potential loss of access to digital media. I listen to bootleg audiobooks on YouTube. I have a few audiobooks on CD. I haven't got any new audiobooks in ages because they're so freaking expensive.

Genres - Sci-fi. Fantasy. Classic literature. Mythology. Metaphysical. Paranormal. Occult. Tarot. Non-fiction essays and articles. Encyclopedias and dictionaries. You read that right. I'm a sucker for an encyclopedia with pretty pictures. I have lots of specialized encyclopedias in mythology, symbolism, gemstones, animals, and plants. I love etymology and enjoy looking up word origins. Classic authors: As an English major, I read a lot of the classics. Jane Austen is okay, not my favorite. I have issues with the Bronte Sisters and other authors who introduced the bad boy lover and gave really unhealthy expectations to young people about relationships.

Authors - Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Frank Herbert, Diane Duane, George R.R. Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Diana Gabaldon, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Laurel Hamilton, and Anne Rice (because smut is better with paranormal characters, and their vampires are infinitely better than Stephanie Meyers) J.K. Rowling (before she turned evil), and Neil Gaiman (Yes, I know about the allegations and am still processing how to respond publicly. His alleged behavior is horrible. The Good Omens and Sandman fandoms are fighting and ripping each other apart.)

First, full disclosure: I have a BA and MA in English, with a minor in creative writing and special studies in archetypal myth criticism. I don't write fiction. The creative writing workshops were difficult for me. My professors didn't inspire creativity, but instead they instilled critical analysis of writing, self-criticism, and self-doubt. My teachers critically wounded my desire to write stories, and later it just died. I gave up writing fiction a long time ago. No, I do not secretly want to write fiction.

My strong suit is non-fiction, including articles and essays. Mostly I write short humorous stuff for my social media and a captive audience of about 70 friends and family. Also I write in-depth analyses and criticism of books, movies, and TV series. And sometimes my friends get sick of my BS and think I'm too critical. That's just how my brain works. Analyzing something to the extreme doesn't mean I don't still enjoy it or love it. (Unless it's objectively crap. LOL!) I have a Tumblr blog for publishing what I don't want family to read.

That being said - When I put a lot of time and effort into writing a longer piece (for example an essay with photos) and people either don't read it or they only respond with a like, I feel frustrated and very hurt. I get it. People don't have time and are selective about what they read. I wrote a Tumblr post about it and will share it if anyone is interested.

For the past 7 years, I taught English comp and how to write research papers at a community college. I also ran the writing center with a staff of one (me) and helped students with their papers. If you need help with MLA and APA citations, I'm your girl! I departed for financial reasons. My past work experiences were in office/clerical. Recently, I started a new job in an office. It's good.

Finally, this is my binder full of maps. As an avid fan of fantasy and sci-fi series. maps are important to know where characters are located and the various cities and realms they are in. I'm obsessive. I'm a nerd and a dang weirdo (in the Muppet Gonzo sense of being a weirdo).

Here's a link to the binder of maps from fantasy, sci-fi, and history in literature.

[steklywko]

Twitter

Due to constant bans on Twitter, I decided to create a new account and transfer my Resident Evil work there. Unfortunately, nothing worked out.

However, I continue to maintain my Twitter account under the nickname steklywko_w.

Below I will tell you exactly how I tried to create a new account.

05/05/2024

I am closing my Twitter account https://twitter.com/steklywko_w

I'm transferring all my Resident Evil art to a new account: https://twitter.com/steklywko_two

The transfer of art to a new account will occur gradually to avoid blocking. For the same reason, I will be deleting posts from the old account.

Why am I creating a new account? I'm tired of getting banned after every post. I tried to be active or, on the contrary, sit quietly, cleared my account of links and subscriptions - but it didn’t help.

For me, creativity is a hobby, and coverage is not the most important thing. But I don’t want to tolerate an artificial reduction in coverage. My work is no worse than others, and I don’t want to put up with a situation that has been going on for more than six months.

Why am I changing my account address? I don't know how Twitter works and I don't want to risk getting banned.

I will be very glad if you subscribe to my new account https://twitter.com/steklywko_two

Thank you!

Update from 05/05/2024

The new account is also blocked and now cannot be found through the search bar.

I don't know what to do next.

I don't want to constantly have to deal with account blocking.

There is no form in the support service that I can use to ask this question.

What should I do? Should I try to continue to guess why the "steklywko_w" account is blocked each time, or hope that a new one will be unblocked and it's just a coincidence?

For now, I have deleted all the romantic art from steklywko_w, and I will not publish anything on the new account until the ban is lifted from it.

I can’t even mention the nickname of my new account on steklywko_w, because I’m worried that for this reason it will be blocked.

This situation crushed me mentally. I'm tired.

Do not worry. On other social networks (except Twitter) I will continue to publish art as usual.

Update from 05/11/2024

I created a new account, but it was banned. Now I have 2 accounts with identical bans… "Cool"

It took me a while to decide what to do next.

I'll try to maintain both accounts: _w and _two. I’ll stay on the account where the site stops permanently banning me.

So far the action plan is:

In the "_w" account, I deleted all romantic art (with bare parts of the body) and links to external sites. After the ban is lifted, I will try to publish some new art. If they stop applying the ban, great! So I can stay on this account. This would be ideal.

On the account "_two" I will try to continue posting my old art. Perhaps the blocking occurred due to the fact that this is a new account, and all users are faced with this situation. If the ban is not lifted, then I see no point in continuing to maintain a new account.

…30 minutes later

Account "_two" gets a red flag for posting regular art. At the same time, the site itself writes that it limits the coverage on my page, but does not allow me to write to support because… “your page has no restrictions”… this site has the worst support service. …OK. I delete the new account and remain on "_w". …I have no other options.

[delioncourtes]

what shocks me the most (and adds to the general "how did it come to this" feeling) is shane being on board with it. of all people, this feels SO uncharacteristic for him, i don't understand it. and i agree re audience. who did they think was watching their stuff?? it's mostly 20somethings (shout out to us in our 30s), the generations with basically no money. and i saw some people rightfully say international fans get screwed over as well because $6 has different value wherever you are. and how are they planning on getting new viewers if they only upload new stuff behind a paywall? they did have their patreon, but with this news and reading comments so many people didn't even know that and once i thought about it, have they ever advertised it in their videos? they could have added subscriptions on youtube directly now, how was a fucking streaming service the idea that "won". even if they roll the whole thing back (which i doubt), it really seems like they killed their careers with this move. it really is a shame :(

man, i'm trying so hard not to be all parasocial or whatever, but it really is such a bummer especially coming from shane. i'm aware i don't actually know him, but if you'd asked me who i thought would be okay with something like this, he certainly wouldn't have been first on my list :(

i do remember their patreon being mentioned briefly here and there, so i was aware it existed, but they definitely didn't advertise it well at all if a big part of their audience had no idea. now that i think about it, they're not great at advertising ANYTHING, really, including their shows. so i'd say a huge part of their traffic comes from their videos being pushed by the algorithm, which yeah...that's gone too now

[detrasystem]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

hi chance!! tysm for the ask, this is such a kind and fun thing for you to be doing 💕

i have a LOT of resources to talk about with regard to this prompt. i'm actually planning in-depth posts for almost all of these, but for now i'll list out the things i absolutely cannot live without when developing a story.

websites

Random Generators. i have literally been to hundreds of random generator sites over the years, and they have become an absolutely invaluable resource for generating ideas, whether it's for a character name or a complete adventure. one of my all-time favorites, Chaotic Shiny, introduced me to the concept of NaNoWriMo and thus the writing community at large! i'd also recommend Seventh Sanctum and, as i'm sure everyone's already familiar, FantasyNameGenerators.com. each website is completely independent, some are still being updated to this day, and they each have a different Vibe to them so all three can be used depending on what kind of ideas you want to spark at the moment. HIGHLY recommend this unrestrained summer fun.

Springhole.net. this is kind of an expansion on the above, because there are some fantastic random generators on this site, but there's so much more here, too. in-depth advice for character development, worldbuilding, writing in general...it's great. and criminally underrated!

Susan Dennard's newsletter. Susan Dennard is the author of the Witchland series, among other things, and she's been keeping a long-running advice newsletter for writers for a LONG time. she's traditionally published and often has some great insight into the publishing world as well as just generally really good tips for writers of any stage. i'm not personally a fan of her books, but i am a fan of her advice. <3

YouTube. ok. hear me out. this could be for a few different things. i find it kind of fun to see how other writers tackle the writing process, so i'll watch writing vlogs every now and then--Kate Cavanaugh Writes is by far THEE best channel out there for this. her videos are excellently edited, her joy of writing is contagious, and she does a lot of fun and inspiring writing challenges! i often get bored watching people just stare at a camera and talk for 30 minutes straight, but her videos are Absolutely not like that so they're really easy to watch.

but even if you're not into vlogs, did you know that there's a whole subset of (mostly Japanese) YouTubers who make royalty free music and just like...post it? and it's GOOD? like genuinely?? go check out PeriTune right now and thank me later. i'm one of those writers that NEEDS music to write and develop characters so PeriTune (and the others that will eventually get recommended to you the more you watch their videos GHNGDFHG) makes the perfect background music for scenes, locations, characters, etc. and did i mention it's insanely good for being 100% free?

this isn't a resource for development, per se, but i can't recommend 4thewords enough. it's an online word processor that turns writing into an RPG: battle monsters by writing words during a certain time limit, and then complete quests with the loot you earn from your battles! there's a free 30 day trial for new users, and if you're participating in NaNoWriMo, the devs usually put coupons for free writing time during those months, so if you're not constantly in need of drafting several words at once, you really don't have to spend a cent. though 4thewords IS independently owned and developed by a wonderful team of writers who are very inclusive, so i do recommend supporting them if you can. :-) one month starts at $4, and if you use my referral code IRZVE23798 you and i both get free "crystals" that count toward subscription time <3

books/publications

there are two writing craft books i need EVERYONE to read, regardless of medium. Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig, and 27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin. this is not the writing advice you've heard before. this is not elitist, prescribed advice. these are two books that will change the way you THINK about story, no matter how experienced you are. i am ALWAYS consulting these books. they live on my desk permanently.

Writer's Digest. i will admit to being subscribed to this magazine (and Poets & Writers), and for good reason! each bi-monthly issue is full of insider information about the publishing industry, creative writing prompts, and great food for thought about the craft. even if you can't/don't want to subscribe to the magazine, their website is full of great articles to get the inspiration flowing.

Publishers Weekly. i just check their website out periodically, to get a pulse on what's getting published these days, and by whom. if you want to be traditionally published, it's ALWAYS a good idea to understand the trends of the industry; plus, reading reviews on PW is a great way to find books to read that you might not have found otherwise.

and finally, of course, if you want to write, you have to read. like. i cannot stress this enough. find books that speak to you. reading others' work is essential to finding out what kind of techniques, tropes, characterizations, etc you LIKE as well as DON'T like. some people don't like reading in their genre for fear of accidentally plagiarizing, but i'm in the camp that NEEDS to read in my genre to get the right words into my brain so i can spit them all back later. no matter how or why you read, though, you gotta do it. even if it's just one novel that you read over and over again to keep getting inspired. GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. thank you.