Future posts and the Fanbox Leak

So, there is not much I can add about my feelings regarding my discovery of the pirated content from my Fanbox site, that I didn't already mention on my SFW Twitter yesterday.

To be honest, when I found out about it, I was really close to lose all motivation and hope and fun about my work. But I had to learn eventually to move on. The leak is performed by an automatized mechanism through cookies and a session key provided by a Fanbox supporter, so that the Post Feed of the Fanbox will be duplicated and the posts get copied along with links and zips, too.

Pirating stuff is nothing new, it happens a lot, especially in the anime/deep weeb field and I don't intend to discuss any morals behind it, since I'm certain most of us are guilty of it in one way or another and one side can argue about that thing a lot endlessly. It still sucks that it also hits many very small indie artists though and what I read about those people who runs and frequently use this site is, that they don't know any better how hard it is for people like me to rely on such few income sources due to our life circumstances and situation.

They lump us all together, and see us as greedy, but the irony behind their motivation to make content from artists accessible for everyone is, since it's an independent creative field that they are explotiong without anything in return (not necessarily in financial terms, but any kind of support or appreciation) and that these hosters make the most profit from it because they put ads and popups on their site while constantly expanding their huge servers. These organizers are the ones who have the money and resources, and while they additionally profit from the traffic, any small potential for artists is nipped in the bud.

I think, what frustrates me the most about my exposed content is, that I considered this content like an insight in my current works, I looked forward to it to show it to everyone as soon as everything is fleshed out and refined. I don't intend to keep everything in secret for "exclusivity or 'rich' people"... I don't even ask much, that few bucks barely 'compensates' my hours and days of work, but that's not the actual point why I'm making all this. By stealing it and uploading it somewhere else before I can, it also kills off my chance for exposure and takes away much momentum, like for clients or "secret" projects where I got the greenlight to show content from it as a preview here, clients, who intended to present the content to the public first.

Also for my own heart-and-soul projects like upcoming doujinshi I don't consider this a "safe place" (in terms of intimate and good feel) anymore where I can show my project previews without fears and share the anticipation.

With that in mind, I've decided to hold back most of my panel previews and pages until I think they've reached the refinement stage. And don't get me wrong, nothing will change on this site in terms of content. I was just planning on showing a lot more this November, since I really wanted to get serious about doujinshi chapters, but it just doesn't feel right knowing that the first pages have been already leaked somewhere else where no one can pinpoint me as the source).

Again: aside from some initial plans for additional things, nothing will change here in terms of content. The only thing that will change, and I've already taken the initial preparatory steps to try it out, is that my work can be downloaded directly from my online drive. That's an extra step or two, but I hope you understand. I hope you will understand why I'm doing this and why it greatly affects my drive and motivation for all of this, so that genuine supporters don't have to cut corners just because of others. Of course I am aware that it won't protect my content from piracy forever, no online content is safe in the long run, but I'm not willing to make it easy for thieves who just don't care.

At the end of the day, it's just an ethical question/decision as to why someone would support an artist. Not primarily because of exclusivity, but because some of you are willing to support my will to create. Or that's what I want to believe.

This has made me think a lot about my own consumption of art and my enjoyment of it. When we realize that sources of our joy are being destroyed because they have not been adequately supported, it is often too late. For the same reason I think, there is barely much variety of high quality Ero-OVAs with elaborate animation work outside of the independent realm these days. Appreciation can be a huge life source for creative drive, not alone, but it HAS a lot of impact and power. Not many people who enjoy an artist's work are vocal about it, and not all support shows up in the form of financial backing. I'm aware of that. But it should also be a reminder to all of us that a creative drive can be fragile in the face of such hostility, and when it feels like being powerless in the face of exploitation.

Anyway, don't feel obligated to do but if you want to share your thoughts on it, always feel free to do so. Just bear in mind, that I really enjoy your accompany and still eager to show you stuff, but don't want to keep those doubts and struggles a secret. Thank you for your patronage!