End of 2018 NewsLetter

I have so much to talk about with all of you, so let’s get started. I hope you’ll read every word, because this is a very important newsletter.

First, as 2018 came to an end, Riff and I looked over our numbers for “The Depths”. We averaged, according to our Google Analytics, approximately 3,000 page views a week, some up some down,, with at least 5,000 regular readers. Since August of 2018, we’ve had about 90,000 page views. “The Depths” continues to dominate on Top Webcomics, a very important website that lists about 18,000 webcomics right now, and we sit very pretty at #4. That’s #4 out of over 18,000, folks. That is not a fluke. *^^* 

We receive about 10-20 comments on each page now, and we’re starting to become something of a controversy for some. Oh well, we cannot please everyone, which brings me to my next point...

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KJ, our artist, has already been very detailed in writing a journal http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9004210/ about the experiences we both had with a dissatisfied Patreon supporter who apparently thought it was a wise idea to start spreading dissension about us both to the masses. 

Let me be clear, first of all. I do not fault anyone for kinks whatsoever. People love what they love, and that’s the end of it. If you don’t like the things people love, you can either accept them begrudgingly, “man” up and tolerate them as the norm, or simply don’t view or read them at all. That’s how I am with more than a few kinks here in the furry community. ^^

But someone, well, more than a few, inquired as to why so far there’s been no sign of puffy cheeks in the webcomic. Apparently, the puffed cheeks when underwater is something of a “thing”, and I honestly never even considered it as a “thing” before. ^^ So, I did what an ex-librarian does. I researched.  

“Why do people puff their cheeks when underwater?” 

Well, the most common reason is to keep water from getting in your nose and causing you to swallow it and maybe panic. In many cases, a person with goggles on their eyes doesn’t really need to puff their cheeks at all, because there’s an equilibrium at work that forces relaxation in the facial muscles that counteracts with the pressure from the water trying to get in. It’s all very scientific. 

Experienced divers, like the beautiful otter girls of “The Depths”, would NEVER puff their cheeks. I mean, for one, they’re not human, so in all honesty, any rules specifically for humans in the nature of swimming, diving, and breathing wouldn’t necessarily apply. Secondly, these girls would not feel the need to puff their cheeks. Why? They dive all the time! *^^* The puffing of cheeks would occur more with slow swimmers, or novice scuba people or beginning freedivers, etc. Someone very unsure or nervous in the water. In fact, I read that most swimming instructors try to teach kids NOT to puff cheeks underwater. There is such a thing as lung-packing, in which master freedivers, before diving, puff cheeks to force as much air as possible in the lungs through hyperventilation, but it’s EXTREMELY dangerous. But they never keep the cheeks packed while underwater. 

Theo-Wizzago gave a great explanation here as well: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9004327/#cid:55621420

So, now that I’ve explained that a bit, lets find out -  

"Why do some people love to see puffed cheeks underwater?" 

For this, I really didn’t feel I needed to research too much. I think the reason is because it’s depicting peril, a strain to hold breath while underwater. *^^* I could be wrong, but that seems to be the idea. You see a girl puffing her cheeks underwater, and you immediately might think, “She’s trying so hard to hold her breath.” And that’s probably exactly what’s happening here. 

People want to see some proof that these otters and wolves, etc., are indeed HOLDING THEIR BREATH. Add a few details to puffed cheeks like closed eyes, clenching fists, a redness around the cheeks, and maybe a few comic “sweat drops”, and you have a depiction of someone struggling now to stay underwater, and needs air soon. 

So, there you have the puffy cheeks kink in a nutshell. 

Now, how do I intend to proceed? 

I’m going to allow David to have puffed cheeks, because he’s not a diver at all, not accustomed to deep water, and doesn’t have goggles. The undersea world is still very new to him. But, if fans are patient, I do have an idea for a side story in comic form, where Leilani and David have a swim together, and she teaches him how to freedive like her and they both do the puffy cheeks thing for fun. *^^* 

I’ll have to arrange an artist to set this up at a reasonable cost, but I do want to make folks happy somehow.  

I do realize I can’t please everyone with “The Depths”. I can only please most of you. 

I want people to understand something too. “The Depths” is not your project, it’s mine and Riff’s mostly. If you were hoping this webcomic would satisfy every kink or desire or fantasy you have, please understand that that might not happen, and if that truly bothers you a lot, well, you don’t have to support this anymore if you do not want to. 

I created “The Depths” because I love Leilani very much, and always envisioned her as a comic heroine, with several undersea (and surface) adventures. Picture Lara Croft, but as an otter who loves the sea. *^^* So, please bear with me when I say I want to fulfill my desires, and not necessarily yours, okay? Support this project if you care about the comic and where it’s going, and love what you’re seeing, and you wait with baited breath for the next page. 

I want loyal fans, not kink-seekers who will drop out because I’m not doing enough of what they like. =( That's not how it's supposed to be.

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This current story arc of “The Depths” will finish in March, afterwards Riff and I want to take about two weeks off to do some writing, because everything I wrote in the past is essentially not going to work now. 

Why not? 

BECAUSE EVERYONE LOVES MALANA AND KALEA NOW TOO!!! *growls* And I have to admit, the girls grew on me as well. <3 

So, what started out as a one-otter story, where I was going to have David and Leilani sail happily into the sunset to start a new life together in New York City, and have incredible adventures as a tandem in crime-solving…well, that’s not going to happen apparently – well, not exactly. ANYTHING can happen in comics. *^^*

Just wait until you see what we have waiting for you all while we’re on hiatus! *^^*

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The Milestones and Reward Tiers will be changing again soon. OpusFur, whom I hoped would be on board, found himself a fantastic job in game animation, so I’m really happy to see him succeeding and back at work again. Obviously, I deleted the biggest tier, and I’m going to be deleting a little bit more. The Patreon has fallen off in support lately, and I think what bothers people still are the tiers and their setup. So, we’re probably going to drop everything down to $50 limits, and that’s it. We’ll still have cameo chances for people, and free advertising space for folks, but no more ongoing characters. =(

Why not? Because of the massive re-write. =( Now that the webcomic is changing its direction in story, even *I* don’t know what we’ll do next! So how can I include ongoing characters, when I have no idea who the characters will be in the next story? *^^* 

I appreciate a few people have given massive support for the Patreon already and deserve their “air-time”. Rest assured, these wonderful folks are a major priority first, so when cameos start up, I’m giving them to these people for now. They’ll have speaking lines and stuff to do, like the ones I’ve already included, and I’m going to try my hardest to be fair to everyone who has supported, regardless of how much.

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“The Depths” is a wildly popular webcomic right now, but it’s not going to be a kink comic. For underwater fans however, this is seriously your gold mine. It was my intent from the start to bring in underwater elements like drowning, breathplay, sex, catfights, drama, deep-water epic adventures, and so on, and that’s still the case. <3 

If anyone has any questions at all, please share them. And thanks everyone for being a part of this, either newcomers or in it for the long haul. <3 

I mean it very honestly when I say none of this could happen without you. 

Best,

Leilani (and friends)