Considering Patreon or Equivalent

Yes, really.

I was originally looking at Ko-Fi, since I didn’t think I’d be able to produce enough content for the likes of Patreon or Subscribestar, but in their terms and conditions I discovered they don’t permit connection to what they term ‘pornography, nudity, and other such obscene content’. That’s both harsh – nudity, obscene? Really? – and seems to preclude my use of it, given the themes of my work. Buy Me A Coffee proved to be the same, albeit using the word ‘adult’ instead of obscene.

Mulling it over today, I realised I might actually be able to produce a half-decent amount of content, so started looking more seriously at Patreon and Subscribestar. The latter went out of contention when I noted an account would be suspended after 30 days of inactivity, which is too much pressure for someone like me, who is highly unlikely to produce enough content quickly enough. That leaves the former, and there we have a notoriously censorious approach to worry about.

To be absolutely clear, should this actually happen: I will be paywalling nothing. All fanfiction, and all original work that isn’t intended for publication via Lulu (or elsewhere, if Lulu continue annoying me and I can find a viable alternative), and any variations of them will be freely available. The content would be: early access, maybe by a couple of weeks; works-in-progress; behind-the-scenes materials such as character biographies, explanations and explorations of lore, history, cultures and organisations/groups, and reference doodles; and maybe a Telegram group. Most of the background material would, inevitably, relate to Moonglade, as that’s far and away my most involved project.

A big question, of course, is would people actually be interested? One reason for this journal is to try and find out. Another is to ask for any advice or information anyone could give me, especially on alternatives to Patreon should it prove unviable or otherwise not work out. Responses gratefully received.

Paywalling

Using sites like Patreon or Subscribestar to lock some or most or even all of your art behind a paywall is an increasingly widespread practice, and for me, an increasingly annoying one. It’s not the practice itself so much as how it’s approached by so many artists that rankles.

I mean, what’s the point of maintaining an account on FurAffinity, for example, an art-sharing site, if it’s mostly going to be used as promotion for your Patreon? If most or all of the things you post are teases for paid content, or your gallery is peppered with them to the point of feeling like adverts in a Youtube video? It comes across as kinda cynical, even a touch exploitative, and that only increases when you factor in the most common, and most aggravating, variation on the theme: paywalling nude versions of art.

An artist posts an image, usually of a female character, and it could be anything from clothed and tame, through minimally clothed and suggestive, to nude with certain bits obscured, and the description informs you the ‘saucy’ or ‘rude’ or ‘NSFW’ or ‘adult’ or ‘lewd’ version is available on their Patreon. It could be a lovely piece of art, but because they are pushing paid-for ‘naughty’ versions, the artist is cheapening it, reducing it to little more than a peep show; “Wanna see her tits? Pay me!”.

For someone like me, who doesn’t see nudity as inherently ‘rude’ or ‘lewd’ or ‘adult’, it’s doubly annoying, because it’s reinforcing problematic attitudes for self-interest. The obvious counter-argument here is they need to make money to survive, and this is the best or only way of doing it, but how many artists saying that would also insist the fandom isn’t fixated on ‘adult’ content? If it truly were mostly ‘clean’, then surely you wouldn’t need to be doing this in the first place, just like you wouldn’t need to offer ‘adult’ commission options no matter how much you dislike doing such work.

I have actually unfollowed artists who’ve started paywalling nude versions, because it annoys me so much, and because I don’t feel right supporting, even tactitly, such behaviour. On one occasion I made a rather unguarded and admittedly slightly thoughtless comment on an image posted by an artist I used to follow when they were advertising their new pay-for-nude-version approach. Their response was to delete the submission and send me a less than friendly note. I felt guilty, and apologised, and through several subsequent notes we smoothed things over and came to an understanding. However, one thing stands out to me, and I wish I’d noticed it at the time so I could have carefully brought it up to them: they contradicted themselves.

In either the journal announcing their new venture, or the submission – I don’t remember which – they stated they’d wanted to do pinups and light erotica for a while, and this was their way of getting into it. In sharp contrast, in the notes to me they stated they were really uncomfortable doing such work, and were only venturing into it because they really needed the money. So, either they lied in the original journal/submission, or lied to me. Either way, they were being deceitful, and deceit is at the heart of this.

True, some artists are open about what they’re doing, but many aren’t. These artists want you to believe the posted version is the main one, and the others are merely optional extras, but that’s a lie. The posted one is an advert, even if a subtle one sometimes, something in the pose or the framing or the composition drawing your eye to certain areas, the ones you only get to see if you pay them, the ones that are the real point. I reiterate: it’s exploitational, taking advantage, and I genuinely hate it for that.

Even if not intentional, doing this makes it seem like the posted art doesn’t actually matter, just the money made from the paywalled version(s), and that’s pretty depressing for a fandom that prides itself on its creativity. People worry about big corporations commercialising furry as it continues to grow, but frankly, through this and the increasing dominance of commission work among other things, the fandom’s already doing it to itself.