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Content Notice: All characters depicted are consenting actors enacting fictitious scenes. All characters depicted in sexually explicit scenes are consenting adult actors over the age of 18.

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https://support.the.choco.one/
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https://the.choco.one/
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https://commission.the.choco.one/
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Latest Journal

Hey, So: More About My Relationship With "Posting"

Last night I got distracted from drawing things I planned on drawing because that's just the way that I'm built, but also because I discovered that the FA crosspost of my recent journal entry "I'm Genuinely Just So Fucking Fed Up of Posting Art" sparked lots of really thoughtful discussion and suggestions from those who read it, and ended up putting a lot of time and effort into replying to as many of those comments as possible.

(And here I am still procrastinating from making art by writing a journal about the replies but shhhh we don't talk about that part)

Important Sidenote: I don't intend for any of the points mentioned below to come across as a passive aggressive sleight against my peers. I've said it before and I'll say it again: even if I disagree with the ways other artists post and curate their artwork online, that's entirely their own business and what I say about the amount of effort I put into mine has no bearing on what they should or shouldn't do.

Their choices can, and likely will affect if and how their audience - including myself - decides to interact with their work, but that's just the reality that they've chosen for themselves, by setting their own boundaries *(as have I), as they are well within their rights to do.*

While nobody explicitly nor outright asked me this question, a lot of the comments I received that either gave suggestions, or expressed concern about what I was doing genuinely felt like they revolved around a single unspoken issue:

"Chocolate, why the fuck ((polite)) are you doing this to yourself?"

I didn't directly address this in every reply to those who took the time to comment, since it wasn't always relevant to the points and suggestions being made, but It really got me thinking about the why that's mixed in amongst all of this stress and hassle I put myself through. My motivations don't change the fact that crossposting is a catastrophically disastrous problem for any artist doing their work online, but why do I insist on subjecting myself to so much of the pain when I could so easily trim it back and lighten my load?

Being encouraged to think and write about that really made me dig deep and rediscover some things about myself and the work that I do. Things that have gotten a little lost over time; in the grind of making this happen, as it were.

Recently, I've been following Louis Rossman's whole YouTube adblocker saga and I swear it's been the single most enlightening thing I've watched or read about recently insofar as helping me rediscover my own philosophies on why I do what I do.

While I was writing up all those comments, it just so happened that Louis posted a video that had this in it. Watching it today felt like he was speaking on my behalf:

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxPLLe5dDdHhf-HIjZ4h5HkxjyQAZwr059?si=tYIHlnVuqC9O5G4N

(The entire video is very good and has other points I'd say are worth discussing with regards to "free services" online, but that's not what I'm talking about here today)

Granted, there's a little mental work needed for the analogy to make sense from what he's saying about how he runs his business, to how it relates to my own; but a few of the things translate rather directly to what I do and why I do it:

I want people to have as much [content for them to enjoy] for free

I don't want people coming to me because I've made their experience more annoying

I've always tried to make the experience better for people even if they're not paying me

Yes, I left in the part about "being here if you want to pay me" because it's also relevant, but the bottom line remains the same.

I do this for my audience. My fans. Perhaps those who would be my customers, too.

I am always taking stock of my experiences while browsing other people's work. All these different websites. Admittedly, a lot of things bother me way more than they perhaps should, but there's always a nonzero chance that there is someone else in my audience who feels the same way that I do about any one of my personal pet peeves.

So, why wouldn't I curate my work to address them?

A large part of this issue relates to accessibility, and while I think that accessibility for those with disabilities is important (also why I made scripts to help me add Alt Text to my posts), I'm talking about accessibility in the sense of how easy it is to access my stuff.

A major problem I've dealt with in my life and that led to me needing therapy for the past 2 years or so has dealt with what motivates me to do what I do.

Throughout the process of practicing better mental habits and emotional resilience, I've learned to focus inwards and do things for my own sake, and if that's not possible, then for the sake of doing them at all. I'd been wasting a lot of time trying to do them for the sake of other people's approval, which is a fool's errand - especially with how difficult it is to get and hold people's attention online nowadays (if you're still reading this, thank you).

Although I've made massive progress on this front over the years, that doesn't mean I've stopped making art for the benefit and enjoyment of other people. Far from it. I just feel like I rely on it way less now, but my drive to share and share alike is still there and I don't want to lose it either, because I know that people genuinely enjoy seeing my art.

My frustration and upset in my prior post is with how much harder this has gotten in a very short amount of time. Having a single point of failure (*cough cough* FurAffinity *cough*) is never a good thing, but the sheer amount of fragmentation and proprietary barriers put up within the community's online presence is fucking staggering now when compared to just 2 years ago, and it was pretty goddamn bad even back then!

I just want people to get to see and enjoy my art because I want it to be free, and the sheer glut of all these platforms popping up aren't facilitating that any more. They feel like a hindrance put between me and my audience, and that's what pisses me the fuck off.

Yes, PostyBirb exists and I use it too, and bless the devs who still maintain what feels like a Sisyphean task, especially given how bad it's gotten lately. But the choices that they make with how they maintain their software can and does act as another barrier in this painful layer cake of misery that is "Posting Online" for artists like me. I'm not a fan of having another third-party piece of software influencing and potentially dictating who can post and where they can do it, which is why I do it anyway even if it's unsupported and really annoying.

It sucks for me, and it sucks for the sites, but that's what I chose to do for myself

and my audience, too.

Thanks for reading.

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    Do you take art trades or collabs or requests or ideas or something?

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    I honestly really like your art! (the non-fetish art anyways .w.)

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      Sorry there isn't as much of it, but thank you very much for the support! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it! :>

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    Course you're here too <3. I'd follow, but I've already got you on FA and IB. Still, friendo bun <333

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    Cool style - cooler banner :D

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    hi.