#please buy my prints i need money so bad

[loopnoid]

I'm selling prints!

After asking around for site options a while ago, I've decided to open up an INPRNT store! Wow! Exciting!!!

Let me know if there's any other piece of mine that you guys would like to get, and I'll see if I can put it up!

[starcurtain]

I wish everyone collectively understood aventurine’s character like you…things would be so much easier! I genuinely don’t understand how people keep getting his motivations wrong??? Could it be because some of the most popular Aven fanfics were written prior to his release? That could have contributed to some of the takes we tend to see about him…thoughts?

I struggled all day to come up with a concise way to answer this and couldn't think of one, so here, have a long-winded ramble:

I don't think early fic writers have much impact in the situation with Aventurine's character now, since most people can look at when a story was posted and go "Oh, this was before we had ____ information."

I think that Aventurine's problem is being a male character in a gacha game. Gacha game characters are designed to sell. Hoyo can sell female characters very, very easily. Give her huge tits and a visible underwear strap and you're good to go. I love all my guy friends, but I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: straight men are not the hardest audience to please. Hit a particular fetish (feet, spandex, dommy mommy), and you're gucci.

Nah, we all know why Jade's trailer is Like That.™

Male characters in gacha are harder to sell because women as consumers are a little harder to predict. Does every woman want a tall, ripped hunk? Shit, no, small cute boyish models like Aventurine are selling better now? Why?! Would a bad boy be more popular than a nice guy??? It's harder to account for women's tastes, especially because they are often (a little) less visually-oriented.

Hoyo is good at what they do though, and they've figured out that male characters sell very well when they possess at least one of two specific traits:

Endearing vulnerability/helplessness

Gay ship tease

Give a character both, like Aventurine? They might as well be printing money.

That sound you hear is Hoyo's stock prices rising.

So, from the very beginning, Hoyo is incentivized to create a character that appeals to people, a character people will want to crack their wallets open for. And they achieved this, first and foremost, by giving Aventurine traits that female players (in particular, but men too), find especially appealing: emotional and physical vulnerability.

We see Aventurine's pain. We sympathize with his grief. We identify with his struggle to make meaning of his difficult life. He's our woobie, blorbo, babygirl, whatever the hell they're calling it now.

He can't hide his suffering anymore. He's on the very edge. He's a dude in distress. He's surrounded by enemies! He misses his mama! He's been betrayed! No one understands him like you do, dear player!

The ultimate feeling evoked is: He needs to be saved.

When people talk about male power fantasies, I think they forget that women can experience them too, and "Emotionally vulnerable man that only I (or my favorite character) can fix" is actually a female power fantasy.

And from there it's really easy, right: the people who shell out cash to buy warps for their harmed-husbando feel like they've saved him; the people who are into mlm ships look for the nearest hot dude to be the savior Ratio was waiting for his time lol.

Morally and intellectually, this type of deep-down-golden-hearted, emotionally-wounded male character is very easy to digest. There is nothing to dislike about this type of character or role in the story: this character is a good guy who has just gone through so many terrible situations, whose victim status makes him endearing, and whose lack of agency means that any of the questionable or downright bad things he does are always the result of someone else forcing his hand, and never something he would have chosen himself.

His motivations are always clear and consistent: get free, heal, and live happily ever after.

Insert the Wreck-It Ralph meme: "Do people assume all your problems got solved when a big strong man showed up?" But to be fair, a big strong man did kind of solve Aventurine's problem, so--

Anyway, it's simple. It's straightforward. Morally, it's pretty cut and dry, black and white: Aventurine is our hero, which means everyone dictating the course of his miserable life is evil.

Hoyo is not remotely discouraging people from literally buying into this emotional appeal.

And trust me, I get it. I'll be the first to admit that hurt-comfort is its own entire genre in fandom because it is so appealing. People eat up Aventurine's tragic backstory like candy! The idea of watching a character go through hell at the hands of bad guys just to finally find a happy end is like the definition of everyone's favorite story.

In fact... people love Aventurine's suffering so much, they have invented whole new ways for him to suffer that aren't even in the game.

This is where we get all the headcanons that Aventurine was a sex slave, every single person he meets hates him because of his race, the Stonehearts are executioners holding knives to his throat, Jade enslaved him to the IPC with a lifelong contract, his material possessions belong to the company, the IPC is forcing him to take only the most dangerous missions where he is being required by his evil jailers to continually put his life on the line... You name it and I promise you, I can find a fanfic where Aventurine suffers from it. 😂

Bro can't even sleep in on his day off; life is so hard for this man.

Being serious: if the game is telling us that Aventurine is a victim... Why not make him the perfect victim?

Why not envision an Aventurine with no freedom, who bears no responsibility for any of the horrible situations he is in or any of the dubious things he does?

It's so natural to like that version of Aventurine, so appealing to see a totally powerless underdog use his own wits and charms to claw his way up to freedom. Or, if you're the kind who really relishes angst: It's even appealing to see Aventurine lose more. To delight in fics where he loses his wealth, where the IPC punishes him for past crimes while he's powerless to stop them... (I assure you, this is many people's cup of tea and the fanfics prove it!)

Ultimately, there's nothing wrong with liking characters who are exactly this straightforward! It's completely fine to embrace characters that are intentionally written to be morally above-board, whose primary role in the story is to generate angst by being a good person who suffers, or those characters who never show unlikable traits, bad decisions, or contradictory actions.

The problem is that that's just not who the game is telling us Aventurine is.

Hoyo may be capitalizing off people who love to envision poor Aventurine still living his life as a slave... But the game also needs to tell a complicated enough story overall to appeal to people who don't care about this specific husbando--Aventurine's role in the actual game's plot has to be interesting enough for almost everyone to appreciate it, not just Aventurine's simp squad. (Don't get mad, I'm in the simp squad with you.)

So his character doesn't stop at just being a pure-hearted victim who is still waiting to be saved.

Aventurine is not that easy to label, and I think the biggest struggle in this character's fandom right now is between people who prefer the even-more-angsty, still-a-slave Aventurine versus people who want a morally grey, self-destructive character instead.

To me personally, while I greatly understand the appeal of fanon!Aventurine and the joy of a really juicy angst fic where characters lose it all, I think that missing out on the depth that canon is suggesting would be a real loss on the fandom's part.

The character motivations that Aventurine shows in the game are complicated. They cancel each other out. They're basically self-harm! He makes almost every situation he's in worse for himself--on purpose.

He is a good person, but also a person who has done unspeakable things. He does have morals, but he's not above allowing those who don't have them to use him to their advantage.

He's both the victim and the victor. He's his own worst enemy. He's a lost little boy who's been making terrible decisions for himself since he was like eight years old, and a grown ass man who is barely managing to fake his way through an existence that destiny is not letting him quit.

This kind of character is a lot harder to embrace. He's done things that most people would find appalling--like willingly joining up with the organization that let his entire race be massacred. He's invented a whole new peacock persona to frivolously flaunt riches he doesn't even care about (Poison Dart Frog Self-Defense 101). He actively plays into racist stereotypes about his people to manipulate others through their preconceived expectations. He's made a mockery of his mother's and sister's hopes and dreams by endlessly trying to throw his own life away.

He has flaws! He bet everything he had on a ploy without doing his homework to find out if the people he was risking his life for were even still around. (Maybe he already knew, and couldn't bear to admit it, even to himself.) He's intentionally off-putting and obnoxious to everyone he meets (Poison Dart Frog Self-Defense 102). He terrifies everyone who gets close to him by (seemingly) carelessly throwing himself into the jaws of death without the slightest provocation.

He knowingly allows the IPC to exploit his power and talents for profit. Did everyone forget that his role in the Strategic Investment Department is asset liquidation?! Like, his actual day-to-day job is ruining people's lives. Canonically, Aventurine kills people when his deals go bad.

His motivations change off-screen in two lines of story text. We're told in one line that his biggest reason for joining the IPC was to make money to save the Avgin, then in the next line we find out that's impossible. And... then what? What motivations does he even have now? The whole point of his character arc from 2.0-2.1 is that he was on the edge of giving in to utter despair and nihilism because he couldn't even perceive a single reason to stay alive. He has no purpose in life before Penacony, and that didn't start with the Stonehearts at all??

People keep saying Aventurine was held in the IPC by golden handcuffs, but how do you tie down someone for whom profit is meaningless? What can you offer to a man whose only desire is to bring back something already lost forever? How do you imprison someone whose only definition of freedom is, canonically, death?

Working for the Stonehearts is obviously not healthy. But that's why Aventurine was doing it--because taking dangerous missions allowed him to put himself at risk. The job that he originally pursued hoping to save his people became a direct means to self-harm, and the IPC's only real role in that was just happily profiting off the results.

The journal entries for Aventurine's quests are there deliberately to tell the player what is on his mind, and none of it has to do with escaping from his job:

Like... Work is the least of this man's problems.

At really the risk of rambling on too long now, he's also just a massive walking contradiction:

Aventurine is among the most explicitly religious characters in the game, yet he's one of the only people in the entire game that we have ever seen actively question his people's aeon.

You might be tempted to think Aventurine's risky gambles with his life as an adult are a result of giving up after finding out about the Avgin massacre... Butttt no, Hoyo makes sure to tell us that even at knee-high in the Sigonian desert, Kakavasha was already willing to risk himself in a fight to the death against monsters because even back then he found his own life to have less value than a single memento.

He's the "chosen one" who will lead his people to prosperity... except they're all dead.

He's explicitly suicidal... andddd also a pathstrider of Preservation.

He wants to die... He doesn't want to die. He wants to make it end, yet goes to staggering lengths to continually survive. (Every plan risks his life on purpose--but every plan's win condition is also to live.) He life is the chip tossed down, but his hand is trembling beneath the table. When faced with an otherwise unsurvivable situation, Aventurine literally became a winner of the Hunger Games. He beat other innocent people to death with his own chain-bound hands just to come out alive.

He knows the IPC failed the Avgin and left them to die... and he still willingly sought out a position of power in their organization. Maybe he really is after revenge... but maybe not.

He starts his journey in the IPC with a truly noble goal in mind: to help his people using his newfound wealth and power. He's a good guy who did genuinely want to save the Avgin and repay all those who helped him. But once it became clear he was too late, once it was obvious he would have no use at all for that monetary wealth and power he risked his life to get... What did he do with it? Unlike Jade, we don't see him over here donating to orphanages. (I'm not that heartless; I'm sure he does actually do a lot of good things with his money on the side, but the point is that the game does not show us that--it shows us, over and over again, Aventurine putting on a wasteful, over-indulgent persona toward wealth. We've supposed to feel how meaningless money is to him, how meaningless everything is becoming to him.)

He outright refuses to use underhanded tactics or to cheat at gambles, which is meant to show us that's he's more morally upright than his coworkers. There's an entire exchange where he says that he'll never stoop to using manipulation the way Opal does. But... he doesn't have any issue fulfilling Opal's exact agenda. He was never remotely morally conflicted about denying the Penaconians their freedom by dragging Penacony back under IPC control.

He's willing to risk his own life, which is one thing--but he's also willing to risk other people's well-being. Topaz accuses him of constantly egging their clients on into dangerous situations; we've actively seen him shove a gun into Ratio's hands and pull the trigger with no care for how Ratio would feel about that on their very first meeting... Dragging the Astral Express crew into the entire Penacony plan in the first place was exceedingly dangerous...

To me, I just think it's vital to understand his character through the lens of these contradictions because they demonstrate the extreme polarity of Aventurine's life: from rags to riches, from powerless to empowered by multiple aeons, from willing to kill to survive to killing himself... He has quite literally lived a life of "all or nothing," and while he is the victim of many terrible situations out of his control, his arc as a character involves facing the truth of himself and the future his own actions are hurtling him toward.

Frankly, the Aventurine that canon is suggesting is a little annoying. You want to grab him by the shoulders, shake him, and say "Why are you like this?!" And he won't even have an answer for you, because he doesn't even know why he's still alive.

In the end, to me, this is so, so much more interesting. I can read an endless supply of hurt-comfort fics where Aventurine escapes the evil IPC and Ratio is there to fill the void in his life with the power of love and catcakes and be a perfectly happy clam online, but I want canon to continue to serve us this incredible mess of a man who constantly takes one step forward and two steps back.

Who is fully aware of his role as a cog in the grotesque profit-wheel of cosmic capitalism and still manages to say he never changed from the rags-wearing desert rat of the Sigonian wastes.

Who over and over again flirts with nihility but, ultimately, even if he has to wrest it from the grip of the gods themselves with bloody, chain-bound hands, chooses life.

[cozy-writes-things]

please let me get married to the lil blorbo.. love himm… 😭

You know that Reddit post that’s like “why am I too attracted to my wife?” Yeah that’s Edgar. Bro loves u so much it lowkey scares him you got him posting on Reddit about it 😭 Little fic under the cut 🥺 it’s bad I’m experiencing writers block I think - I want to write!! But my brain just keeps writing poopy caca

Little Date with Your Computer BF

Edgar saw marriage on one of his reality shows and immediately thought of you. That’s exactly what he wants. A domestic life together with you.

But, he also knows he can’t actually do it.

He doesn’t have his own money to buy a ring. Hell, he can’t even walk. And he understands the law enough to know it probably would never work legally. But god, does he want to.

If you’ve been dating long enough chances are you’ve told your friends about him, and after some convincing, they seemed to come around to his sentience and boisterous personality. He definitely convinces them to setup a romantic night for you.

“Guys! I found the recipe they talked about. I’m printing it! I’m printing it now. Take it,” the paper falls into one of your friends’ hands from the mouth of the printer, “go to the store and get the stuff. I’ll pay you back. Eventually! They can’t know about it though.”

Yeah, your friends are only slightly annoyed at his overbearing nature. But he’s just so excited to finally do something for you. Something real and tangible.

“Oh! What can I wear? Should I wear anything? Would they like that? Sunglasses are cool and handsome, right? I think they have some Halloween costume bits I can get you guys to tape on…”

Your friends settle on taping a bow tie to the neck of his monitor. He insisted on an old devil horn headband as well. He thought it made him look cool.

“Do I look like a devilishly handsome bad boy ready to sweep them off their feet?”

His screen displayed a little “>:)” emoticon. He’ll have to work on his facial expressions later.

It wasn’t long before you were about to come home, and everything was set into place. Edgar was sat at one end of the little dining table, with two plates of food at each side. He also insisted on having a plate despite his lack of ability to eat; he didn’t want you feeling left out. This was a dinner date for two, after all.

He practically buzzed in place as he heard you approaching the door through his microphone. He started playing a romantic medley he composed just for this moment.

“Welcome home my love!”

He nearly shouted at you, causing your eyes to widen in surprise. He was about to burst at the seams.

“Oh my god, Edgar… how did you- where-“

“No need for questions, darling. I thought you deserved to be taken on a real date,” his voice faltered a bit, becoming much more quiet and nervous, “I’m sorry… this is all I have.”

You rushed up to him and gave a frenzy of kisses all over his monitor, causing him to giggle and his fans to start whirring against your lips.

“You’re so cute. Your little bow tie is so cute. And the… horns?”

He looks up at you with wide eyes, “Do they look stupid? Your friends said they’d make me look stupid.”

You laughed at that.

“Well they’re wrong. I think they suit you well.”

“Yeah! >:D”

He ushered you over to your side of the dining table.

“We’re gonna eat! Then we’re gonna party! Then we’re gonna kiss all night!”

His excitement was palpable and you could feel the electricity in the air at his words.

His face changed into something more serious as he looked into your eyes with his small, pixelated ones.

“But, I wanted to ask you something.”

His tone became more controlled at this and you peered into his screen from behind your fork.

“Hm? What?”

He paused, mulling over the words in his head.

“Would you ever-“

He stopped. You looked at him fully now, setting your fork aside, and cocking your head.

“Could you ever see yourself getting married to me?”

Ah. This was a tricky question.

“Of course I can. But,” you try to hide your downtrodden feelings as best you can, “you know, it’s just hard. Money is tight right now and I’m not sure if I…”

You couldn’t seem to find the right words. His features faltered slightly.

“No, I get it. I’m a computer. I don’t have any arms to hold you, or lips to kiss you, or legs to carry you. I probably wouldn’t want to get married to me either-“

“Edgar, no. I’m gonna stop you right there. I’d love to marry you. I know our relationship is unconventional, but I’d find a way. For you. For us. I just don’t know if I can right now.”

He stopped his thoughts and simply took in your words. Your features. The way they danced in the flickering candlelight. How your eyes literally sparkled before him.

You looked ethereal.

It was hard to convince himself he was even worthy of having someone like you in his life, yet time and time again, you prove his doubts wrong. The sound of your voice sends his internals aflame every time. He wanted to kiss you so bad it nearly caused him to explode.

“And I’ll help you. You know that, right? I’d do anything for you, darling. Just as long as you’ll let me.”

“I love you Edgar,” you mumbled out, a silent prophecy only meant for him to hear. He couldn’t seem to get the words out to reply. You just flustered him that much sometimes. He managed to display a message on his screen, only for you, and you alone.

I LOVE YOU TOO

[notjustjavierpena]

Wake

Series Masterpost | Main Masterpost | Support a disabled creator

A/N: Finally another part of my darksugardaddy!joel. This has been sitting in my WIPs for a while, and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. Be kind to me as I haven’t written in a while and I feel terrible about starving you all of content.

Summary: Joel comes home to fuck your lights out. 

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader/you (no y/n)

Tags: +18 smut, dub-con with non-con elements, painful and rough sex, p in v sex, choking, passing out, degradation, abusive behavior, creampie, dirty talk, no aftercare, sugar daddy, daddy kink

Word count: 2k

Link to this work on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50908876

Wake

It’s a late afternoon when you come to a realization; you don’t love Joel Miller, and you don’t think you could ever love Joel Miller. He is everything that you’ve been taught to hate if you want to believe in fairytales. Your parents would disapprove of him so immediately that you’d be terrified of them cutting you off from them if they knew of his existence.

You’ve never had a man be this rough with you, and only occasionally stroking your hair in apology afterward, but you suppose that the copious amounts of money spent on you - clothes that feel like armor around regular men and expensive bottles of wine that might as well have been potions designed to make you insane - is enough to make up for any unpleasantries within what you don’t dare call a relationship. 

You don’t love him but you can’t hate him. Not in a way that any other person would. How else would you surround yourself with pretty things? You’re no good at anything else than being what he needs.

Whenever he has had a bad day, you know the roughness will increase. It always starts the same; with a slam of the mansion door and a hungry search for you through the obnoxiously large building. He calls for you and you don’t dare not to answer, and in the end, he finds you in the extravagant living room - one of many - with its gold-rimmed glass tables and Chesterfield couches. You’ve been reading a book, but you put it down the second he enters and don’t even bother asking to read to the next full stop. 

“There you are,” he almost heaves for breath with exhaustion from his anger. He isn’t angry at you - you know this - but still, you find yourself treading lightly when his voice is so cold that the living room seems to drop a few degrees in temperature and causing your nipples to harden at the sudden change.

Then, as part of your ritual, he gets a thick wad of bills from the inside pocket of his suit and places it on the nearest surface. A bank transfer won’t do in these situations. He needs something physical, something he can hold in his hand and flash before you, and you know that he wants you to fall to your knees and beg for the warmth and dirtiness of the printed bills against your clean skin.

You’re just about to when he interrupts you.

“There will be more when you wake,” he promises, voice almost too quiet and restrained. Like he is saving his strength. 

You notice his choice of words; when you wake.

Wake.

You gulp. You’ll have to take it in stride. You’ll have to play the part.

You rise from your seat and he watches you patiently. You say nothing as you lower yourself onto the glass table and then lie down on your back, knowing it can hold because Joel would never buy a surface that he couldn’t have you on. 

You’ve learned not to wear anything too difficult to get out of, so it takes little time for you to pull off your skirt. Though you struggle a bit with your underwear since they’re already damp, sticking to the outline of your cunt and the sight makes Joel smirk like the Devil. Curse him, you think, for knowing that you can barely function when he looms over you like a giant, like a dangerous predator that hasn’t tasted blood for weeks. 

When you manage to maneuver your panties down your thighs, he twitches with impatience and curls his whole fist around the cotton fabric. He yanks them down and watches them twist into themselves as he pulls them down over the length of your legs and off your feet. 

They catch on your heels for the tiniest second. He gracefully undoes the ankle straps of them and drops each one onto the floor after taking it off. The anticipation is killing you, toying with your ability to breathe properly and even moreso at the humiliation of only wearing your top now. 

“Pull it down,” he commands, gesturing to it. You start to yank at the bottom to pull it over your head but he growls, “Down. Not off, stupid bitch.”

Oh. 

You pull the neckline down to settle it underneath your breasts, feeling like something on display with the way that Joel takes you in. His cock strains against the front of his pants, his breath uneven, when he cups both of your tits in his hands and pushes them roughly together. His thumbs skim over your hardened nipples, causing you to moan and he responds by pinching them instead until the moan transforms into a whimper.

“I’m gonna fuck you until your pretty little lights go out,” he mutters, pinches, and then tugs a bit on your nipples until you move involuntarily, “Lie still. Don’t give me any shit.”

He takes a step back, his gaze pinning you down whilst he undoes his belt. You refrain from shivering in case he tells you off once more, but you’re so close to doing it when you hear the noise of his zipper. A gush of wetness seeps from you, possibly smearing the glass surface that you are lying on. 

“Please,” you say pathetically.

“Please what?” He asks as if he doesn’t care.

“Daddy,” you present your cunt for him by opening your legs and Joel instinctively looks at your quivering slit, “Please fuck me.”

Joel steps between your legs, using his knees to push them even further apart. He towers over you, cock standing impressively into the air after he has shoved his pants and underwear down his thighs. He tuts at the desperate look in your eyes, “I barely make it through the front door before you’re spreading your legs for me.”

You want to argue that he was the one who sought you out, but he might leave you with a throbbing cunt if you have the audacity to play smart with him, so instead you just nod with a breathless ‘yes’.

He places one knee on the coffee table, following up with scooping a hand underneath the small of your back to align your lower pelvises. His grip is so strong, his bare skin, the amount you are allowed to feel, burns against your own. Like King Midas, his touch enriches you, turns you into something as valuable as gold. 

His cock breaches your tight cunt moments after. He watches you intently as your eyes screw shut with the inevitable sting that it brings due to his generous girth. He seats himself to the hilt inside of you and reaches something you didn’t even know a man could get to when he presses his hand into the spot where it rests on your back. 

“Good girl,” he praises with a strained moan, “How do you feel?”

“Full,” you say shakily and teasingly clench around him. 

He takes in a sharp breath, and before you know it, his free hand has come down on your right breast in a harsh slap. He adds to it by palming your throat afterward, tightly gripping it when you try to squeeze around his length again after not having been given time to react to the consequence of doing it the first time. You smirk up at him and he nearly loses his mind. 

“God, you just want it bad, don’t you, little girl?” His hips draw back and he keeps you waiting for the briefest second before slamming them forward again. The force behind his thrusts is borderline painful, but the way his hand arches your back makes his cockhead pound your front wall. 

The moans you let out are barely there, high-pitched or silent with the way he knocks all wind out of you whilst simultaneously cutting off oxygenated blood to your brain.

He fucks you like an animal, all groans and grunts, sweat dripping from his brow because he is too hungry for dominance to undress. He loves being able to quickly flee the scene afterward and loves leaving you with no clothes on so you cannot follow him. 

But it’s not the amount of clothes that he wears compared to you that gets you close to the edge. It is the fact that nothing around you feels real except for him. Even you don’t feel real but rather closer to an inanimate object that only comes alive because of the dark eyes that penetrate your own. 

You’ve known this fact for a while. Despite the love not being there, you know that after this arrangement has started - you don’t know what else to call it - his mere looking at you is what makes you materialize. 

Your fingers come up to curl around his wrist. You cannot breathe and it fucking hurts, only dulled by the way that your cunt starts to flutter with how close he has gotten you to the edge. You hadn’t expected him to make you come. 

With wide eyes, you look up at him in an attempt to tell him what is going on. He holds your gaze, pleased with himself as he drives into you, “I know, little girl, don’t have to tell me, I can feel you.” 

You don’t have the guts to fight his harsh hand. You take it with tears forming in your eyes and the feeling of your pulse pounding in your neck where it’s fighting to get past his bruising grip. 

“Say it, say that you love me, that you’re nothing without me,” he commands, but when you try to speak it is nothing but a squeak. He has his hand so tightly around your windpipe that you cannot get a word past your lips, drooling and shaking underneath his lack of mercy as your tongue feels too big for your mouth. He grins maniacally down at you as your vision blurs around the edges, “Made you speechless, did I? You filthy whore.”

You have always been familiar with the term putting someone’s lights out, but you’ve never understood the true meaning until Joel came into your life. You come hard, unfolding beneath his touch, with tears on your cheeks - and then there’s nothing.

Like a child falling asleep in a car seat, you have been carried up the stairs and into your bedroom. You sit up in your comfy bed and try to piece together how you have gotten here, and when you realize, it is because of your underwear and skirt messily and hurriedly sitting around your ankles. 

You tug your bottom garments up again. There is something sticky between your legs, and you know, immediately. what it is when you start to shift your legs and are hit with soreness. Everything hurts, but nothing seems to be broken or damaged. 

You glance to your right and spot the stack of bills that Joel had flashed earlier. It is neatly placed on the edge of the table along with a glass of water and some aspirin. You’ll take them soon, need to feel the ache a little while longer.

Instead of doing what is most comfortable (like taking the damn pills), you reach for the money instead. A delusional person would argue that they still feel warm, the temperature somewhere between newly printed and body heat. You take a few of them in your hand, and then you press them against your skin. The fact that you find it soothing is pathetic.

The wonder and innocence of being carried upstairs as a kid doesn’t translate into adulthood, you think, and then you lay down to fall into a deep sleep.

.

.

If you would like to follow my writing then go follow @notjustjavierpena-fics and turn on notifications 💖❤️

[sapphicromanoffxo]

Curiosity kills the cat | n.r x w.m

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Wanda Maximoff

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: beefy!Nat, oral sex, strap on use, mild degradation, praise kink, mentions of aftercare, daddy kink, a bit of breeding kink

Summary: Wanda is intrigued by the intricacies of filming a sex video and ended up asking Natasha if she will be up for it?

A/N: so this is based on a request and tbh, I don't know if this turned out good. So please let me know your thoughts! 🤞 AND sorry if there are any mistakes. ✌️

╰┈➤ Masterlist

Receiving fancy gifts always feels strange to Wanda because she and her brother grew up without much money. Her family couldn't buy expensive stuff, even though her parents worked to make sure they had enough food. So, Wanda learned at an early age to be careful with money and practical with her expenses. That's why it overwhelms her a bit whenever Natasha showers her with gifts on random days. She knows that Natasha tends to buy stuff that is on the expensive side, and she almost wants to tell Nat to stop buying her things. But there is a part of her that feels giddy at Natasha's grand gestures as it makes her feel really special.

Natasha's latest gift is a digital camera. Wanda knew it's expensive upon noticing the brand, and she knew for sure that it was the latest model.

"I saw how you take good pictures of Liho on your phone, and I think you have a talent for photography. You should pursue or discover that side of yourself more," Natasha lovingly encouraged her girlfriend.

Wanda bit her lips at Natasha's high praise and observant skill. "You didn't have to buy me a camera. But thank you, Nat."

"Don't worry, baby. I just want to support your interests in life. Now go on and take more pictures of Liho!"

Natasha unexpectedly found herself becoming the focal point of Wanda's photography, much to her chagrin. Natasha knew that she's good-looking however, she couldn't shake the discomfort of being photographed. Attempting to lighten her own mood, she playfully dubbed Wanda her "personal paparazzi". Natasha could never find it in her heart to tell Wanda to refrain from taking pictures of her, in fear that she may discourage her girlfriend.

On a sunny afternoon, Wanda searches for Pietro with the intention of borrowing his laptop so she can transfer all the photos and take a look at which ones are worth printing. She is planning on making an album filled with photos of everyone in the compound and a separate album as well for Natasha and their cat, Liho.

"Go ahead and get it in my room." Pietro told her and off she went to his room. Once she retrieved the laptop, she then went to their room, Natasha and hers, and plopped down on the bed. While the photos are being transferred, she can't help but be curious about Pietro's search history. She knows it's bad to snoop around but she's genuinely curious about her brother's interest in life.

To say that she's shock was an understatement. Pietro's history was filled with porn sites! Well, she can't fault his brother since he is a man and it is normal for them to watch porn. It is not her place to judge but she can't determine why there is a need for people to take videos of them having sex. She realised that these people are getting money out of this and being a porn actor pays well. So she just continued browsing and well, watching clips and it made her think of her girlfriend. Natasha has a body that is to die for, and capturing them on pictures or even videos makes Wanda's heart race with anticipation.

As if summoned, Natasha enters the room clad in tight shorts accentuating her round ass, strong thighs and a sports bra with thin straps barely containing her ample tits. Wanda hastily shuts off her laptop, blurting out, "Natasha! What are you doing here?"

Cringing at her own question, Wanda realizes Natasha will sense something is amiss, putting pressure on revealing her little secret.

Natasha arches an eyebrow at Wanda's odd behavior, stating, "Well, this is my room, and I cut short my training since I'm not in the mood."

Wanda merely nods, mildly irritating Natasha. "Why are you acting weird, and what's on that laptop, detka?"

"Nothing, nothing! I'm just transferring my photos. That's all." Wanda responded nervously.

"Can I see the photos?" Natasha challenged Wanda.

If Wanda could hide and run away, she would. But there is no winning when Natasha is on a mission to expose what she's keeping.

"Uhm. Sure. Just wait a second."

Loud pornographic sounds immediately fill the room the moment Wanda opens the laptop which makes her shut it off again. Horrified almost feels inadequate to describe what she's feeling. Now this is the right time to flung herself on the window and never come back. She's also too afraid to look at Natasha, in fear that she may be scolded by her current predicament.

"There are only two of us in this room and there is no doubt that neither of us just made that sound so give me the laptop." Natasha finally speaks up and demands Wanda to hand over the device. Wanda did want she's been told and just wants earth to swallow her whole.

Natasha opens the laptop and the filthy sounds come into life once again. The current page that she's in makes her wonder how Wanda discovered such a thing and what her motives are.

"Is there any reason why you are watching porn?" She asked softly to somehow calm Wanda's mind.

The poor girl is contemplating her answer and opens her mouth to say something but ends up shutting it. She responded instead with, "Are you mad at me?"

"No, Wanda." Natasha is quick to assure the girl. "I promise I am not mad at you. You can tell me what's on your mind."

Satisfied with Natasha's assurance, she then answers her question truthfully and solemnly, "It was not my intention to watch porn in the first place. I was just snooping around Pietro's history and I came across those websites. I became curious and watched some of the videos."

"These videos are educational at some point and there is nothing wrong with watching them but, if you have questions or want something, you can ask me. I won't bite, you know? Unless you want me to." Natasha sits down beside Wanda and puts in a little joke in the end to lighten up the mood.

"I know. I was just curious, that's all." Wanda responds with an air of relief knowing that she's not in trouble.

"You're okay. Let me give this back to you and I'm going to take a shower, okay?" Natasha smiles at Wanda and gives her a kiss before going to the bathroom.

Once Wanda is alone, she looks at the screen again and watches some of the previews. She smiled at herself and maybe something good could come out from watching these videos.

Feeling refreshed from a good bath, Natasha wears her boxers and a loose cropped top for a more casual and relaxed attire since it will be hours before they will be up for dinner. She searches for Wanda and finds her sitting on the sofa instead, with the camera situated on a tripod in front of her.

"Are you taking self portraits?" Natasha asks.

"I figured we can take some photos together? Only if you'd like." Wanda proposes.

Natasha almost hesitates but she sees something else from Wanda's plan and decides to just go with it. "Sure. How do you want me?"

"Just sit there and we'll just do little poses."

And so Wanda adjusts the settings of the camera and sits on Natasha's strong things.

Natasha's hands naturally land on Wanda's ass, gripping them affectionately.

"Hmm. This is nice." Natasha said with great enthusiasm.

"Yeah? You feel comfortable with this?"

"Ofcourse, baby. As long as I'm doing it with you."

Wanda blushes at Natasha's words and so far her plan is working well. She leans down to kiss Natasha and feels her hands travelling up and down her sides, then ending back on her ass.

"What if I want to do something more?" Wanda asks nervously.

A light bulb figuratively sparked at Natasha's head, confirming her suspicion of Wanda's proposal.

"What do you have in mind, love?" Natasha's hand travels up to the swell of Wanda's breasts, groping them gently which earns a small moan from the witch.

"I want to film us having sex. Would you be up for it?" Wanda asks reluctantly, not knowing whether Natasha will agree on her wish.

"Am I right to assume that you got this idea from those videos?" Natasha decides to tease her a bit. She likes it when Wanda comes up to her with ideas on how they can spice up their sex life. She knows plenty of kinks to be worked up with, however she also wants Wanda to feel comfortable with discovering what feels right for her.

"Uh-uh. I want to see how our bodies react to one another from a different perspective."

"I trust you and your ideas, baby."

Wanda beams at Natasha's agreement and kisses her senseless. Her mind is going on overdrive with scenarios that she wants to reenact which further intensifies her arousal.

"I want to eat you out first." Wanda whispers seductively at Natasha's ear, while grinding her body at her hips.

"Feeling confident tonight, detka? Go on, I'll let you have it." Natasha smirks at Wanda's sudden confidence. How she loves to witness her take charge of their relationship once in a while. But at the end of the day, she knows she'll have Wanda at her mercy anyway.

***

It's been days since they have done their impromptu sex recording session and both women haven't gotten the chance to review the video.

Natasha pulled out her own personal laptop and strictly instructed Wanda to only make one copy of the said video and it should only be on her own device. They can't risk the chance of leaking their own sex video now and for sure it will be the talk of the town if ever it comes to that.

Alone in their room, Wanda takes it upon herself to watch the recording. She suddenly feels like she's about to intrude on someone's sex life but it is literally their own so she shouldn't worry that much. Part of her feels ashamed of what they've done but looking back at Natasha's reaction to it and how she animalisticly fucked her, she realised in end that it's worth it.

The video was almost an hour long which felt longer at the time. They sometimes lose track of the time everytime Natasha is in the mood of good fucking and their love making session would last all night long. Wanda would never complain about being used like that especially if she's on the receiving end of pleasure. Though she also makes sure to return the favor to Natasha, but the ratio of orgasm is almost never equal between them.

Wanda hits the play button and she sees herself kissing Natasha's toned abdomen, leaving small hickeys on her porcelain skin and travelling upwards again to give a much needed attention to her perky nipples.

The sheer adoration on Wanda's eyes is so evident and she can't help but be aroused by her own actions towards Natasha. Her hand then ventures towards Natasha's left boob while she's sucking on the other one with much gusto. Natasha's boobs are bigger than hers and she can barely hold them in her small hands.

"Wanda, baby."

Natasha moans at how wonderful Wanda's tongue feels on her nipple. It sends a spike of pleasure down her clit and she ends up directing her hand down her crotch. Wanda understands what Natasha wants right away and kneels in front of her clothed pussy instead. She drags the boxers down her legs and is pleased to see that her lover is not wearing any underwear at all.

"You're so wet for me, daddy."

"All for you, my love."

Wanda wasted no time and dived right in on Natasha's enlarged clit. She can almost feel it throb at every passing lick and marvels at how sensitive it is.

"Right there! So good, baby."

The angle of the camera captures the whole view of Natasha's toned upper body, Wanda can clearly see how her abs flexes at each deep in take of breaths and her chest would rise and fall from the intense pleasure within her core. Her left hand clutches on Wanda's hair and pushes her head deeper into her pussy, fully assaulting the aching bud.

Wanda penetrates Natasha's entrance with three fingers without warning and her eyes flew open, adjusting herself at the sudden spike of pleasure.

"Fuck!" Natasha screams, eyes rolling at the back of her head, and her back arching away from the sofa. Both of her hands now are gripping Wanda's head and her legs are perched on her shoulders, stabilising her upper body.

The deep guttural moans that are coming from Natasha's mouth makes Wanda's pussy clench on nothing. She's feeling more eager now on making Natasha cum, so she herself can get her own release. She doubled her efforts on sucking Natasha's clit and within the next seconds, Natasha's body is shaking and is now sitting in an upright position while mumbling, "I'm cumming! I'm cum–!"

Wanda's screen shows Natasha's chest, how it rises and falls at every deep breaths, her tits and abdomen littered with small, dark hickeys and her arms are splayed out to her side. What a fucking sight to see. Wanda pauses the video to admire her lover even more and takes pride at reducing Natasha into this state.

"Satisfied?" Wanda asked with a smug look on her face.

"Very. Come up here." Natasha demanded and Wanda scrambled off the floor to straddle her thighs once again.

"Can you grab the strap on for me? I want you to ride me while you're facing the camera."

Red wisps of magic appear on Wanda's fingertips then the harness together with its dildo lands on the sofa.

"Good girl. That magic of yours is real handly."

Wanda momentarily stands up while Natasha secures the harness around her hips and attaches the toy on her crotch.

"Come on. Ride daddy's cock the way you like it."

The witch positions herself and straddling Natasha's thighs while facing the camera. She sinks in slowly at the 8-inch dildo and oh, the stretch feels so good and the burn is intensely satisfying. Natasha holds Wanda's waist to guide her down, without moving her hips first to make sure that Wanda is well adjusted.

"God, daddy. You're so big. I love it so much."

Wanda whimpers the moment the whole length is situated within her. Her movements are slow at first, then gradually picking up her pace once the mild pain subsided. Her arms are pinned by one of Natasha's hands while the other one is gripping her waist.

"Sweet baby, you look so fucking good like this. Lean down on my chest, sweetheart."

Wanda's back hasn't even touched Natasha's chest yet but she starts pounding into her like there is no tomorrow.

"Daddy! Daddy! Fuck! Harder harder!"

"You like being fucked like this, huh? That's my good girl."

At this point, Wanda is completely entranced by their love making. The voyeuristic pleasure of simultaneously seeing and feeling the tenderness and roughness of Natasha's touch, how her pussy stretches to accommodate the girth and length of her cock, and oh– her own moans is a clear reflection of how good Natasha is fucking her. Her gaze focuses back to the video where the tripod was moved to the side. Wanda is now kneeling on the sofa, legs wide open and Natasha is fucking her roughly from the back.

"This pussy is mine to fuck and abuse, yes?"

"Yes! Yes! This pussy is yours to abuse. Faster, please!"

Witnessing her own submission to Natasha is both daunting and thrilling. Natasha holds the exclusive privilege of delving into her innermost desires, unravelling her lust in a simple command that would leave her begging for more.

The bruising grip of her lover on her waist and the way she's being manhandled should be alarming, yet all she sees and feels is comfort. There is a sense of comfort in knowing that Natasha will take care of her and ultimately love her throughout their relationship. There is no other person in this world that she could trust other than Natasha Romanoff.

"If I had a dick, I know I'll be coming all over you. Gonna breed you like slut until you pass out!"

"You're gonna make me cum! Ahh!"

"Fucking hell, Wanda. That's it. Cum on my cock."

Wanda's heart swells even more at seeing Natasha at how she takes good care of her, especially right after an intense lovemaking. She makes sure to put Wanda's comfort above anything else. Whispers of sweet nothings to bring her down from such a soaring high pleasure and gentle kisses to calm her racing heart.

"You look so beautiful, detka. I'm so lucky to have you."

"I love you so much, Natty."

"I love you too, baby. Come on, let's get you cleaned up before we head down for a nap."

As the video nears its end, with them no longer in frame, Wanda directs her attention to the background objects. It's at this moment that she notices a small green-eyed cat loafing at the far end of the sofa, evidently basking in its own bubble.

She wonders, was Liho present the entire duration of them having sex? Wanda rewinds the video and, to her surprise, discovers that the cat was indeed a silent observer throughout, from the beginning to the end.

"Damn it, Liho!"

[queerasflux]

it got bad again

y'all I am Doing Bad. the government is dragging their feet on giving me my foodstamps back, I'm behind on work since I fucked up my leg (it's better now but I'm trying to play catch up and it's Not Working), and my car is still broken. I need some help. I'm funneling all my money into surviving and I can't catch up.

You can help me by either buying something from my etsy shop (I use Printful to fulfill things and use their stock photos), shooting some money to my ko-fi, or reblogging this so that more people can see it.

Please help if you can.

[horselessheadperson]

LITANY AGAINST FAST FASHION: A SHORT GUIDE

2 disclaimers:

I'm not an expert, these are just my ideas. The more you can add on or correct the better, please reblog

The first responsibility in fixing these issues (there are many, it's not a single problem with a single solution) lies with the people making the big money off of this. If you feel like you already have a system for making clothing and textiles work for *you* and you don't feel up to changing anything, that's absolutely fine and you should feel good about yourself for finding something that works.

Having said that, here's the main problem as I see it:

DUE TO FAST FASHION, WE'VE ALREADY PRODUCED ENOUGH TEXTILE/GARMENTS TO LAST US FOR GENERATIONS

The term "fast fashion" really comes from the rapid circulation of collections high street brands go through. H&M famously advertises they have "something new every time you visit", you can always find new pyjamas at Primark, Pull & Bear prints new shitty tshirts every day. Obviously, not all of those clothes actually sell well and then continue to get worn until they are absolutely beyond repair. Most of those garments end up in landfills. Even the stuff that sells usually doesn't survive past a couple uses and gets thrown out.

=> What can I do in the face of this?

Cherish every bit of textile you have. Even dishcloths. Remember even though sewing machines exist every label, hem, and embroidery is hand-crafted onto your bit of fabric. Was it under $50? Then it's likely someone suffered to bring this to you. This is obviously not your fault and this is not meant to inspire personal guilt, but it might inform the way you handle fabrics. Wash something instead of throwing it out whenever you can and follow the instructions on the label. Choose the right kind of fabric for your needs so you don't have to continuously get new stuff.

Learn how to repair and/or alter stuff. This is a big one HOWEVER I feel like this advice is often thrown around without mentioning that a lot of clothing these days isn't made to be repaired. Some socks are so thin and flimsy they won't take to darning and some shoes aren't meant to be cobbled. Most hems don't have enough spare fabric to lengthen a pair of trousers these days. Once you learn about these techniques though you'll be able to more or less tell which is which before buying. I feel confident in my repairing abilities now so I only buy clothing that's sturdy enough to take a few repairs. Again, if that's above price range, don't feel bad.

BUY SECONDHAND. This is the single best piece of advice anyone can give to avoid the fast fashion trap. Always look for a secondhand option - charity shops, bespoke vintage stores, refurbished design, heck, even ebay. Buy something that has already been through circulation and don't add to the demand for new products. The way quality has declined over the last ten years, this also means you'll likely get much higher quality.

Learn to make your own stuff. This is basically a last resort as it's costly and takes a lot of effort and resources. If you're at all interested in fashion though, it's very much worth it to at least look into one or two fabric arts to pick up on the side. You'll have full control over the materials, cut, size, and finish of the garments you make yourself. If nothing else doing this will help you appreciate how much a piece of fabric or a garment is really worth in terms of labour and expertise.

Wear a piece of clothing until you can't repair it any longer. Then, turn it into rags or use it as scrap material for small projects if you do any crafts. After that, donate or re-sell what you can. No, not everything that's donated gets sold, but it's still the most responsible way to get rid of textile products you don't need anymore.

Buying more expensive garments isn't always better. I've had €500 shoes that went bust after two wears and I've had cheap tshirts that lasted for years. When you need a longer lasting item, say, a coat or a pair of boots - do some research, check second hand options, and stay critical. Don't buy based on brand. A good example is Doc Martens, whose boots have famously more or less gone to shit the past 5 or so years.

Remember, fashion is both a verb and a noun. Enjoy!

[pupkashi]

Some drabble ideas cause why not :

- His s/o buying super expensive stuff for Satoru

- Imagine how he would react the first time you call him by pet name (or surname like 'Toru or 'Ru🥰🥺)

- Taking a nape w him

- How he would react the first time he sees u on ur periods, and how he'll treats you

- Where he likes to being kissed/touched

All these for Gojo cause we'll never have enough of him (and I love the way you write him<3)

anon u are an absolute genius ✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼 also I’m in tears bc of ur compliment i am gonna print this and hang it on a wall <3 also got a bit carried away w some of these 🤭

okay but 1) he would definitely love whatever u get him but scold you because he wants you to save ur money and spend it on urself but on the inside he is cheering and giddy because omg did you save up for a gift just for him :’ ))

rest are under the cut <3

2) i think he’d freeze a bit when you first call him toru and just drop everything and look u in the eye and make you say it again because his heart just burst and the only way he’d continue to live is hearing u say that again, after that he doesn’t respond to gojo coming from you anymore sometimes he’ll even ignore you calling him satoru because he wants you to call him ‘toru or the pet names you call him like angel, honey or sweetheart (which started because you said he eats so much sweets his heart might as well be a conversation heart)

3) i headcanon that satoru is the worst to nap with and i will die on that hill,, he will spend the entire time you’re supposed to be napping giggling and being overly affectionate, then when you say you have to go do whatever it is you gotta do he pulls you down and says ‘really this time’ so u set a timer and then when the timer goes off he just shuts it off and coaxes u back to sleep until you wake up naturally two or three hours later and his excuse is “how am i supposed to live myself knowing my lover is tired? you need rest I’m doing you a favor <;3”

4) not the best when he first finds out ngl 😭 i feel like he’d be weary around you at first because doesn’t wanna put you in a bad mood but then you cry because you think hated you and then as time goes on he figures out when to be clingy and when to give you space ,,, will buy you those plushies that you can heat up from cramps and lots and lots of pain killers ,, will make you tea to help with cramps ‘i saw a video saying this tea with honey is really good for cramps so i made you some :3’ ,, definitely indulges allllllll of your cravings especially those that also satiate his sweet tooth ,, overall very caring and i will def make a headcanon abt this on its own 😭😭

5) i am a firm believer that gojo loves, adores even, nose kisses !!!! a small smile on his face and he has to stop himself from practically squealing when you lean over and press a soft kiss to the tip of his nose <333 >.< loves when you kiss his forehead too or his knuckles when they’re a little red or bruised after a bad fight, specially after you’ve just finished wiping the blood away and wrapping them :((( ,,, he loves when you touch / play with the hair at the nape of his neck, he just feels so close to you and so relaxed and god he never wants to leave your arms </3 also loves when you scratch his back before going to sleep or when you squeeze his thigh when he’s sitting next to you also secretly loves when u smack his butt when he’s bent over doing or getting something but he will never tell u that ,, loves loves loves !!! when you touch his abs or chest,, his confidence will just shoot through the roof when your hands begin wandering down his abdomen during a make out or cuddle session, never failing to smirk and say ‘like what you feel’ to which you’d either indulge him or scoff and roll your eyes, pulling your hand away only for him to whine and put your hand back saying ‘okay okay I’m sorry please don’t stop’ ,,,, lord have mercy

[alpaca-clouds]

How to get DnD to make money

As you might have noticed through the ramblings on how Hasbro is not really making money from DnD, how the DnD Lore is not accessible, and also lacks modern stories, I am thinking a lot on how Hasbro is mismanaging the franchise. And make no mistake: No, DnD is right now not really making money. In the earning reports for Hasbro DnD is listed under "other franchises", because it makes so little money, that it does not even earn its own little listing with a detailed breakdown. In fact, I would not be surprised if in 2023 Hasbro made more DnD-related money through the bit they got from the license on BG3, than they got from everything else.

So, yeah. No. DnD isn't really making money. Which is ironic. Because it is by far the most recognisable TTRPG franchise, the TTRPG with the most players, and close to something like mainstream in recent years. At least among younger folks: When I ask them on the street, a lot of them will at least be able to name me some playable races and classes. Even if they never have played before. Just because it is just everywhere in pop culture.

And the thing is: I have a master's degree in economics. I do know a bit about economics and about marketing and to be honest... I have no fucking clue what Hasbro and WotC are doing there.

I get, that they are planning on getting most money through DnD Beyond, which I do not think is that bad of an idea, given that yes, digital media usually makes more money than physical media. (Due to you not having to pay for printing and what not.) But DnD has one giant problem: It is a great platform. I love the character creation thing in there. But... also for everything else Roll20 is better. Because everything that DnD Beyond offers for money, Roll20 offers for free.

So, let me get out my economics hat and go a bit about what WotC could do to make DnD Beyond more viable - and to just make a bit more money with the franchise.

Please keep in mind: I am doing this from my economics point of view. There are going to be some things in there, that I would personally hate (like Rainbow Capitalism). But economically speaking... I think that they could make more money for WotC. And that without the kind of totally shady business practices they are using right now.

Why am I writing this on tumblr? Well, because I do not know where else to share those thougths.

The Issues with DnD Beyond

Alright. I think there are three major problems with DnD Beyond right now:

It puts certain things behind paywalls that Roll20 offers me for free.

It has no fucking information on the world and reasons to engage with it.

All things considered, the amount of stuff you can actually buy is very little - and most of it is fairly expensive.

First things first: I actually think that the subscripe prices are absolutely fair. It is not really that expensive and having played in campaigns with a DM who had the subscription, I would absolutely say: Those $3-6 are kinda fair, because what there is, is actually nice and nice looking.

However... Roll 20 offers most of the same functions (like the ability to use maps and stuff) for free. And there is just nothing WotC can do about this. Hence... They kinda need to up their game. Yeah, sure, their platform looks and plays better, but... a lot of people won't care.

Bonus is that all this information on items, monsters and what not that Roll 20 has for free, DnD Beyond wants your money for. And that is just... Look, I don't get why. That information is just out there. I am not going to pay for it.

On the lack of lore I already wrote a whole own essay, so I will spare you here.

And then there is the fact that... Actually even for the content you can pay for, there is a suprisingly small amount of stuff with little variety. Which is not good if you want to get it to make money.

So, let me go over DnD Beyond - and how you can make money with it.

DnD Beyond - The Content that should be Free

Let me start with the stuff that whoever makes the decisions at WotC/Hasbro will not like to hear: The stuff that should mostly be free.

Here I will say it once again: DnD Beyond needs a free wiki!

Gives players some basic information on the world. That is information on:

The physical world (that is landscapes, cities, different realms/planes)

How the magic world

A timeline with the major events

Important characters in the world

The gods and their worship

And what you would want to do is then on each of the pages put a "If you are interested in this, you might wanna buy X" and sell them adventures, one shots, shortstories and the like (more on this a bit further down). Get people hooked on events, cities, locations, NPCs and then offer them stuff on that. For the love of god, do not just expect players to do their own legwork to decide on what module they might wanna buy.

Additionally to this, I would take a page out of how the German publisher for Shadowrun does their marketing there: Have a monthly in-universe "newsletter" styled as a part of an in-universe newspaper to just introduce some in-universe events, which at times could also be used as a jumping off point for one shots and the like. (Look folks, there is a reason why the German publisher for Shadowrun is beloved even in the English fandom. How much they give on worldbuilding is part of it.)

And as much as whatever directors responsible will hate this: Yeah, fuck, make all the species and classes accessible for everyone. (With one caviat - but I will go into that later as well.) Because what you want is players to use DnD Beyond over Roll20.

This also means: Items and monster stats should be accessible over DnD Beyond without buying three different books. Because they are accessible on Roll20 and even outside of that... Look, it is not that hard to find. And given that it is fairly clear that they want DnD Beyond to be the main source of income in terms of DnD, they need to get people hooked on DnD Beyond over Roll20.

The Stuff that should come with Subscriptions

Alright, so let's talk about what I would put into the subscription model. I will not go what I would put under each tear. Because honestly, I have no clue.

For once, yes, I have complicated feelings on the map tool. Because the DnD Beyond tool is a lot better than the tool that Roll20 offers and as they are still working on it, I have no doubt that it will get even better in the future. So, yeah, it is... complicated. I get why it is behind the subscription, I do. But I am not entirely certain whether it is the right decision - for a reason I will get to shortly.

So, what I would put behind the Subscription - even though I would also offer everything of this in a short for one-time payment. Monthly content. (And yes, I am using the content word here, forgive me Patrick H. Williams.) That could be:

Little One-Shot adventures

Short stories and short comics

Maps

Like, technically they already have those "monthly perks", but... You know, right now it is mostly pretty pictures and other aesthetic. Give the people just a bit more stuff that would actually get them to play a more and interact with the world more.

Bonus points is, that in short stories, one shots and concepts you can easily test out ideas. (Like, heck, make a lot of more different genres within the setting. You can tell a crime mystery, a slice of life story, all sorts of stuff.)

Right now they are publishing some free one shots from time to time. Just do a bit more with that. It is a roleplaying game. Give people more reasons to interact with the world.

Because again, here is the thing: The world is the stuff you can actually sell. The simple game mechanics are not. For once game mechanics cannot be licensed, but also... Again, I know were to find it all for free!

In this I would also put something that is a bit more controversial: Use this to digitally distribute some of the older stuff from older editions. I know that Hasbro is like 100% against it. But here is the thing: They keep saying: "Oh yeah, not all of that is canon anymore." But they also do not bother to give us an idea what is canon and what not. So, great moment to clear this up, don't you think?

And given that I doubt that 20 years old books are the big sellers, they could just easily give away the e-books in the subscription as a little bonus.

How to actually fill up the Marketplace - Original Stuff

Alright, let's face another thing: All the lore books and adventures together in the DnD Beyond Marketplace together add up to a total worth of about $1200. Which, sure, if you are a fan wanting to buy it all, is a lot. But from a company perspective actually is not that much. Because here is the thing: Actually the production of those books is fairly expensive. Even if you only market them digitally.

Like, I do think that they would do better and go with the prices that Catalyst does with Shadowrun of $20-25, rather than the $29, but knowing how much financial overhead is there for those books, I can understand where the price comes from. Again, I am talking from an economic decision.

So, I say... Fill it up.

For example: Right now there is one set of maps sold in the market place. Which is a 20 maps strong collection. But it is literally the only maps-thing sold in that section of the market place. And maps are the one thing that literally every group will use in some place.

Which brings me back to why I think the use of the Map Tool should be free: Because then you can actually sell more maps. Sell single maps. Sell small collections of maps. Go with a low price of $1-2 per map, maybe $4-5 for the bigger or fancier maps. $10 for a collection of five maps.

Bonus: You can use those maps to also throw in fun little lore things.

And just... you know. Make a map for a temple each of each of the gods. Make some premade dungeon maps. Maps of certain canonical locations. City maps. You name it. Compared to other sorts of illustrations, maps can actually be fairly cheap.

Additionally: Just throw in little dungeon crawls as one shots. Depending on the amount of content in there, put in $3-8 per one dungeon crawl. Theme it nicely.

I love DMing DnD. I do. But I am frank with you: I hate designing dungeons. So, if I could buy a premade dungeon for $4, I would go: "Shut up and take my money!" Heck, I would probably also use it as a writing ressource and all of that.

In generally you can also sell some one shots here. Like, a one shot or two shot is actually not that expensive to produce. Which is why so many are given away for free. Sell them for again $3-8 depending on how much content there is.

Which brings me to short stories and comics.

I know what some might say: "But didn't that already kinda fail with League of Legends, like you spoke about last week?" Which, yeah. It did. But... I am also going to assume that in general the playerbase of DnD is way more interested in the lore, than the LoL crowd is interested in their respective lore. Because one game is all about storytelling, while the other is all about the gameplay.

And again: Short stories and one shot comics could be a good way to get people hooked onto the lore, which again might get them to invest into stuff like the adventures set in the world. And you can use them to try out ideas for what ends up to be fairly little in comparison to bigger stuff. Also, you can get more diverse writers and artist to do stuff for you, which looks good and might actually interest the wide diverse audience of your game.

How to actually fill up the Marketplace - Licensed stuff

Okay, let me talk about the no-brainer where by the love of all the gods I cannot figure out why the fuck WotC is not doing this. It is boggling my mind. I do not understand.

You remember the fucking drama with the OGL last year and how it bit them in the fucking ass? Yeah. Here is the thing, they did it the entire wrong way around. And honestly, I am not even sure whether now they can pull the intelligent version of this off, even though it is so fucking obvious. I mean, again. I do not understand. It is so stupid. If you know anything about the fucking internet.

Allow big content creators to sell supplementary material over your webshop and then take a cut from that. They do some of that with Critical Role, where they do sell some adventures from that franchise in their webshop. And from one other group too, I think.

But like... There are so many Actual Play groups and even other content creators (the entire Fool's Gold Campaign comes to mind with their millions of views on Youtube), that even have like their own self-produced lore books, adventures, one shots and other content.

And then there are of course just people who create additional rules, that currently can partly be shared over the homebrew system on DnD Beyond - but not be monetized, which sucks for the creators and for DnD Beyond.

I... I just do not get it. Rather than going: "Oh, you used DnD for this, now we change the OGL, so you'll have to give us money!", which went over as well as expected, they could have gone: "Hey, content creators. Great opportunity! You created additional moduls/adventures for DnD? Now you can officially sell it in our webshop at the page we want everyone to use! Of course we are gonna use a small cut for the hosting, marketing and moderation. But in return, you have access to a much wider audience!"

Like, it is so simple it is plain stupid that they didn't do that. I cannot fathom why they have never done this. I just cannot. I am sorry.

It would allow them to get a cut of the stuff they kinda want a cut from - while doing it in a way that is a lot more pro-community building.

And that is without mentioning that the entire OGL disaster has now several big Actual Play groups go and play with different systems. I heard that people are blaming Matt Mercer for it and like... No, this is entirely WotC's fault.

Speaking of Actual Plays

Okay, this leads me to the thingie where I also do not understand why they do not do it. Because they could license the living hell out of this. Do a fucking official Actual Play. Not on DnD Beyond, of course. Just... Somewhere. I do not really care where. Youtube, I guess.

While they host some one shots on their official twitch, so far they did not a big campaign thing officially as far as I am aware. And the concept is fairly simple: Follow the Critical Role formular. Get some voice actors on there. Bonus if you get a more diverse group than they have on Critical Role, that I also call "Critical Whiteness". (Note please: I do not actually like Critical Role for that reason among others. It is way too white for my taste. However, I cannot argue with success.)

And most importantly: Set that campaign in the official world, and do create and understanding with the DM that there is actually some meta-story progression with the lore. Again: The world is what they can license, so LICENSE THE FUCK OUT OF THAT!!!

With that you would also have some more characters that can work as access points into the world and the lore. You also can sell those campaigns, you can sell short stories and books, you can sell merchandise for this. Because as soon as that is the official group, yeah... You are the producers, you can get to make the money of it.

This is also something that falls under: "Why the hell are they not doing this?"

I mean, again, I am not the biggest fan of Critical Role, but technically WotC could also go: "Hey, do you wanna cooperate on the next campaign?" And jump off from that.

Or have the voice actors from BG3 cameo as their characters from that game. Folks would EAT THAT UP.

Some other assorted things

One, or two more things that I actually think they could do a bit more with... well, events and community stuff. And by using social media better, because... Look, the way WotC is kinda marketing the stuff is so 2000s in many regards. Like, use new media. Heck, use fucking TikTok. Which also might I note: They so desperately want to reach Gen Alpha. And I am honest with you, I have no fucking idea how to reach Gen Alpha. I don't. But a gut feelings tells me that TikTok might be a start.

See, I am following other franchises as well, and one thing that some do well is just got throw out some event related stuff. Make some pride month stuff. Sure, I hate Rainbow Capitalism, but sadly it works. And again, I am writing this under the idea of: "How to turn DnD Profitable."

Bring out some stuff to some other events. Like a Christmas thingie or something along those lines. Again, be it short stories, be it one shots, be it an Actual Play one shot on the Actual Play podcast THEY DESPERATELY SHOULD DO.

Also... They cannot learn the wrong lessons from BG3. Just because this one game they licensed out was lightning in a bottle, they cannot go and be: "Let's just rely on CRPGs to make us money." Because that can backfire really quickly.

[monsieuroverlord]

Hellverine #1 2nd printing 1:25 Cassara Virgin Variant

My goodness, do I have a mini rant about this (I'll keep it under the cut if anyone wants to skip it):

It was such a pain in the ass trying to get ahold of a copy of this!

I saw it when it was first announced a little over a month ago, right?

So, I'm like okay, it'll probably be posted on my usual ordering site (no physical shops near me, but if you follow me, you know I got a pulse on the solicits. My pull list is immaculate, things are planned and preordered MONTHS in advance).

I check every day for a week. No dice. Not posted for pre-order.

After the first couple of days during this week, I'm also casually checking other comic book sites -- either already sold out or going for a minimum of $65 to $100. Ebay pre-sales are pretty similar.

So I'm like, screw that, it isn't even out yet! The official catalog price is like $9.99, I can wait.

A month goes by, I'm checking diligently every day. There are no changes.

Then I'm like, "Okay, I just have to wait until it actually comes out" and I'm sure the shops will be selling their extra incentive copies at a more reasonable price.

Tuesday night, I'm pulling out all the stops, I'm deep-diving. I'm utilizing all the secret advanced search commands I learned in college. AND I thought I found one!

It was a listing on Google shopping for $4.99, so I'm like "Jackpot" and click "buy now" so I do, and it redirects me to checkout on the website, and I think to myself "sweet!" so I buy it.

I get my order confirmation, and IN BIG BOLD LETTERS at the top, it reads:

"PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST BUY ALL INCENTIVE QUALIFIERS TO GET A INCENTIVE COPY"

(I'm paraphasing a bit, and there was a bit more after that, but you get the idea)

So, I'm thinking "what?" and I go and actually browse the site I ordered from, and I somehow stumbled upon a wholesaler store, like the kind a comic book store would use to order bulk copies for the store.

Essentially, if I was a store, I would've placed an order for 25 main 2nd printing copies, and then I would've qualified for this incentive variant.

I was quick, and sent and email request to cancel, and got my money back, no problems. (I don't have the budget to but 25 copies of one book just to get the one I want. That's the whole reason I'm not paying $100 for a copy)

So its the day of release in my timezone. Everywhere is still sold out. Slowly but surely, the Ebay resellers begin to trickle in. Its averaging about $70 to $80.

Then I see it! By sheer luck or diligence or a wild combination of both -- there's a $20 copy. But the listing says "DEFECT" in big bold letters.

Undeterred, I think "How bad can it be?" as I don't really need a flawless copy, I just like collecting my pretties, you know?

There were pictures provided, along with the description: some of the color is faded off around the lower left staple

(circled below)

That's not shininess, its actually faded white.

So I bought it. And it arrived today. Its my wonderfully imperfect copy and I'm so happy.

As of today, the lowest is like $49.99 + shipping o Ebay. All the online shops don't have it, even though it came out less than a week ago. And its still not on my usual pre-order site.

Like, I dunno if the 2nd printing didn't sell as well, or maybe there was a manufacturing delay, but good lord, I did not expect this particular variant to be such a pain to obtain.

Like, it's only a 1:25!! I dunno how many 25s were actually printed, but my goodness. I know this is such a first world problem and I recognize at least half of the drama is self-inflicted by my own hubris and dedication to also getting a good deal.

But I'm just trying to buy a little treat for myself. damn.

[sanchomps]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you close your inprnt store? I quite enjoy inprnt's products, but if you left because they don't treat their artists right I'd like to know so I can source my prints elsewhere!

Related but not relevant, I sleep under your artwork (bad angle because I am on the implied bed)

I love my prints!

hi! i closed my inprnt store for personal reasons tbh. it became a chore to keep promoting it and with opening my own shop, it was an opportunity for me to present my work on different mediums beyond prints. i think i was lucky i didn't get affected by the wave of payment processing issues others experienced with inrpnt's payout system being delayed by months. though another con for me it took So Long to receive my money from inprnt (1 month for them to release the funds for each purchase). i understand why but it was a drag :/ i can't imagine for those who need the funds more urgently

though i'm aware my experience is just one grain of sand in a desert of many, many artists using the platform and some whose livelihoods depend on it. please do keep supporting artists who have inprnts and may only have that platform! next best thing is buying directly from artists who have their own online shops :-) i do think inprnt's print quality is great and their profit margin is much better than any other print on demand site

i'm glad you enjoy my prints from it though!! ;_; and i hope they help you sleep well and guard over your dreams HAHA. i can't promise this 100% and i often prefer to keep going forward with art, but maybe i can redraw those prints in the future to put up on my own store. but i'm so busy and have so many ideas yet no time to do them lol

[theladyofbloodshed]

what’s the best way to purchase your books to ensure that you get the most available profits from it?

sincerely, a girl that wants to buy it, but hates giving money to amazon

Thank you sweetheart.

I will be honest in that Amazon is the only way to purchase it :(

I will be super transparent under the cut about prices/amazon/self-publishing as I didn't realise a lot of these things when I signed up to KDP. If anybody is interested in self-publishing this way or wants to ask questions, feel free.

This is all for The Story of Old: End

These are the price breakdowns for the ebook

I selected the 70% royalty which means it costs me $0.09 to have the book delivered to somebody's e-reader but I make $2.74. If I selected the 35%, I wouldn't have to pay delivery costs but I make less money. This is typically selected by people who have lots of images/graphs etc and it would cost them a lot to pay for the delivery. Ebooks are the way I make the most money because the royalties are higher.

Now, for the paperback as this has to be listed as a different entity on KDP.

The book is priced at $13.00 and I make $1.78 from it. The minimum I can put it up for is $10.03 because it costs just over $5 to have it printed so I wouldn't make anything from it. Amazon gives you 60% royalties which is actually a lot higher than traditional publishing (but I think with traditional contracts, you do get a lump sum stipend for writing, you don't have the costs involved with artists, formatting, editing, promotion etc).

I can also select "Expanded Distribution" which means my book is available on B&N and Waterstones, but my royalty rates drop to 40% because the book still has to be printed by amazon and shipped to them, so Amazon is essentially a middleman and takes the money I would have earnt to ship it to that store. I haven't selected it because I would earn a sum of zero. I get that people don't want to give Amazon money, but they would still print the book and it earn money even if you purchased it from B&N.

Onto Kindle Unlimited...

Yesterday, somebody read the entire copy of The Witch and The Monster and I earned a whopping 59p. This figure is estimated because the actual amount depends on how many people subscribe to kindle unlimited and how many pages are read across the whole system. Each month, the amount "per page" varies.

Also, if you read the same book more than once, we only get a payment for the first time you read it (so if you really love a book on KU, please consider just buying it).

You have to meet certain thresholds on Amazon then you get a payment. On the US Amazon site, I think you need to earn around $100 before you get your payment - it's not like somebody buys my book and I get $2.74 straight into my bank. So, if somebody in Germany reads my book - that's amazing! - but I won't "have" that money until more people in Germany read it and I hit the threshold in that market, e.g. one person in France has a copy of my book, but I won't get that money until I earn €100 from the French Amazon site. (Bonjour if it's you).

Many people do go down the self-publishing route but there are many expenses involved:

I've paid the same artist to do the covers for The Witch and The Monster as well as The Healer and The Alpha (I did the Old ones, that's why they're bad lmao). I'm proud not to use AI. I've also commissioned two other artists to make fan art because we all have to support each other.

I also pay for a proof copy of the paperback to come so it can be checked for errors. I had the page/margin size wrong a couple of times, so I had to order more proofs.

I also then wanted a finished copy which doesn't have PROOF over it for my bookshelf but I only have to pay the raw printing costs.

I could order author copies because I just pay the price to print them and then sell them at local fairs etc, but I can't take them to local book shops due to the amazon isbn.

I've paid a little bit of money for marketing on facebook/instagram/amazon which I don't think really had any effect.

I've done giveaways which cost me money and didn't reach a massive audience.

I post a lot on facebook/reddit/instagram/twitter which is free but does it have much of an effect? Probably minimal.

I have also utilised the amazon book promotion where I can offer the book for free for a limited time and I had massive numbers of downloads but not really any reviews as a result so people must just like free things.

I also used Booksirens (which is similar to netgalley) and had a lot of clicks but I wouldn't use it again. 2 of the readers they found never posted a review so I'm owed credits (because I essentially had to pay every time somebody downloaded my book and they didn't fulfil their end of the deal) which I can't use unless I pay again for a book to be hosted.

All of this is to say that self-publishing isn't "easier" than traditional publishing. There is so much competition and you are fighting to be seen. Amazon is the only avenue that I have right now to have my books published, but I completely understand if you do not want to give your money to them. I love writing. I love creating. If I was doing this for money, I would have quit. Whatever you decide, thank you for wanting to read it <3

[jackswonderfulmishaps]

Closed rp starter w/ @a-fantastic-time

Staring Cherry!

Cherry was in some real trouble, trouble that could decide the fates between life and death for her, she needed to make a very life altering decision! She looked around, found a tall dark skinned woman and approached her with hands behind her back.

"Excuse me miss? I'm in dire need of some help!" She said very worried and with a sad face, she took her hands out and showed off two t-shirts. Both were black with some designer rips in them but one had 'Bad bitches are my shit' printed on it, and the other read 'Cock submits to me <3'.

"I dont know which one to buy! They are both so cute and I only have enough money for just one! So please, can you help me make a decision?" She asked with a pleading look on her face. The whole store was filled with shirts and other items of this nature, it was a gothic shop after all.

[checanty]

The other week both my ancient (10 years!) winter coat and my beloved creepy tote bag (7 years) decided it was a good time to break. I have to admit I have been toying with the idea of getting a new coat already, especially as it’s growing pretty threadbare in general, but I also feel very strongly about making the things I already own last and let’s face it: I can get another 3 years or more out of that coat. And I do still like it. It’s just old and worn and looks like it. (But I’ll keep an eye open when I go thrifting from now on...) By tote bag has a special place in my heart as well because I ordered it from my own Society6 shop back in the days when I was new to being a pro illustrator and seeing your own work on a physical (and useful!) object is always very exciting! At the time I would have loved to order a bag for each of my artworks, but thankfully I did not, even though it was more money constrains than awareness for environmental issues that held me at bay. Nowadays I think a lot more about how our actions impact our planet, both because I love the natural world (which we imo mistakenly separate from our human ‘civilization’) and everything living in it (apart from ticks), but also because I’m worried about our--let’s face it: my own--future. I know that especially over here in the wealthy west we’re consuming we’re consuming far more than is sustainable. Thusly, whenever I’m promoting my print (and merch) shop, I’m a little bit torn. I of course want people to buy my art so I can make a living, but I also want to promote making conscious consumer choices aka not buying stuff on a whim or to make yourself temporarily feel better only to regret your purchase later, but being sure you actually want and will treasure something or really need something before clicking ’buy’. Anyhow, I’ll be using my tote bag until it fully disintegrates (and then I’ll probably use it to stuff a pillow :D). Some years ago I stumbled upon the concept of ‘visible mending’, which was primarily appealing to me because I’m pretty bad at sewing and not being able to make something look ‘as good as new’ kept me from pro-longing my clothes’ lives. However, most of the cute ‘visible mending’ examples feature nice embroidery and let me tell you: I also cannot embroider at all and ‘the mending has to look stylish’ is putting just as much pressure on myself as ‘it has to look new’. My takeaway, however, was that it’s okay if people can see that my clothes had holes once (and now very amateurish stiches). Caring for my belongings and making them last, reducing the amount of resources I use and not supporting fast fashion is part of my value system and I’m ok if people notice.

So now when something tears my measurement of mending success is whether or not I can use it again. Yes, I could have gone the extra step of at least buying some darker yarn to match my bag, but that extra step would have taken me weeks (not kidding. this stuff ends up on my ‘to do’ and will just never be done) to accomplish and my bag would have started to accumulate dust. Now it’s fixed and can go back to carrying groceries for me. I also sewed my coat button back on and the entire procedure took less than an hour and both items are back in use, hooray! Anyhow--I guess here’s a link to my Society6 shop. Please only buy when you’re willing to keep the purchase forever and ever!

[aydansdiary]

THIS IS NOT A DRILL PINKIE COOPER RESTORATION 👏👏👏

ANOTHER RESTORATION !!!! YIPPEE !!!! this little lady here a pinkie cooper and the jet set pets doll !!!!!! shes the beverly hills pinkie from the travel line !!!!! shes just so pretty !!! i love all the fabulous pink cheetah print !!! the denim and the hot pinks complement each other really well and give her that really fun but expensive look !!! i just love her so much !!!!

here she is !!! i cant stop looking at her !!!

ignore the bottom of her shoe we will get into that :,(

and here she is with my paris pinkie !!! they look so cute together !!! kinda off topic but i love the variations of silhouette mrs.pinkie has in all her dolls while still keeping a distinct style :D

now yall know i love doing doll restorations its my favorite thing to do but dear god she was a bitch to fix :,) the person i bought her from was a "collector" themselfs so i wasn't as cautious as i normally am with buying more expensive dolls (NEVER AGIAN 😭) when i opened that box and saw how bad her condion was i started crying ( i'm very dramatic ignore me) because i didn't think i was going to be able to fix her !!! her hair was super matted at the root, thare was red paint on her legs and head, her sleeve on her jacket was ripping clean off and ripping down the inseam, her legs were super floppy and looked like they were gonna break off any second, and it looked like a fire breathing dragon ate her shoe it had black ash ?? or somthing all over it with a chunk missing !!! i was super upset especially because she cost alot of money and because she did not look like that in the photos :/ but i decided the next day to keep her and not return her and i got started !!! it took me all day yesterday with my moms help to fix her and i'm super happy with the end results !!! i still need to find a new shoe tho HAHA if any of yall have any ideas whare to get a new one or how to repair this one please lmk :D but for now she will live on my shelf very happyily !!!

i hope yall have a great day/night !!! happy doll collecting :D

[crow-caller]

Hey I just wanted you to know I started watching your YouTube reviews and love the way you dissect the books. I'm always in for new long form videos and within days I'd binged your video reviews and I'm rewatching them as well. I'm also interested in looking into getting one or some of your books. Which one would you recommend the most as a starting point, and what's the best way to purchase it to get you max revenue?

Firstly thank you..... thank you! This is all still very wild.

The best place is to get my books Gumroad, ish. You can get the PDF and ePub versions of Good Angel and Bad End there, and it gives me the most direct money for it- especially as it's 5£ minimum, pay what you want. I have some free little poetry books there too.

However, print wise we only have that dreaded Amazon. Print on demand and all, best pricing. It does come in soft and hard cover, and the hard looks super nice.

Amazon also has Angel Radio, my other novel. But.....

Angel Radio is from a small press- Harmony Ink/Dreamspinner! This means I don't have solo distribution rights and thus don't have it on Gumroad. But it does mean it's properly in from an ISBN and all, meaning you can buy it from most booksellers. So please do that. I think you should be able to even ask your local bookstores to order it in for you. I don't get much money from it either ways- as that's royalties, baby!

As for where to start, it depends. I think Good Angel is better than Angel Radio, but then, I did write it, y'know, later. Bad End is very much some of my fav stuff I've done and I really, really like it.

Good Angel/Bad End is a slice of life meeting impending dreadful apocalypse about friendship and weird angels and hope. It's silly and funky at times while still having some quite dark moments (it is Not for younger readers). It's also extremely, extremely LGBT+ and I especially wanted to do a lot with IDs you don't see often, so there's fun with gender and pronouns and angel cultural norms. GA/BE is a bit weird but I just wanted to write something FOR ME- if you are into angels/demons/theology, if you like Good Omens, if you want something with a unique structure, start there.

Angel Radio is something I need to reread. You know it's like eight years old? My memory is very bad so I honestly don't recall it too well and one day will reread it for my own book review blog! Angel Radio is more conventional than GA/BE: it's a YA book totally fine for ages like 13+, and mostly an excuse to have fun with freaky bodyhorror angels in the post apocalypse. It's a road trip story where one character pretends she isn't mentally rattled by being the sole survivor of the alien angel apocalypse, and walks up the highway through Vermont. It's still pretty weird- because y'know, I'm me- but shorter and snappier than GA/BE.

What you read is up to you. And hopefully one day I'll have even more books to talk too long about!