I Said Hey, What's Going On?

OK, so. 

Where do I even start? 

This is a vintage The Little Mermaid bedsheet from the '80s that I bought off of eBay with the intention of cutting into smaller sections and embroidering. I laid it out on the floor to take some "Before" pictures to post next to the future "After" embroidered pieces. 

This has nothing to do with the content of this update.

Incredibly, about HALF of you patrons participated in the poll, which is just a shockingly good turnout. I dunno 'bout you, but personally I have email notifications turned off for most of the Patreons I support and I just check in on them in one swoop about once or twice a week using the site's feed. Because I assume everyone moves through the world like I do, I just assumed only about 10% of you folks would even SEE there was a poll, and a smaller percentage would take part. But no! You guys TURNED OUT. And the results genuinely surprised Matt and me, and most importantly, gave us some actual numbers to work with as we strategize what the future of our comics life looks like. 

-The Future of OJST

Now, keep in mind, we are figuring this out as we go. We're just looking at six to twelve month chunks and are going to be re-evaluating as we go to see what's working, what's not, what adjustments can be incorporated as challenges or feedback come up- that kinda thing, you know? 

Matt is working with some artists to keep on as regular contributors, people who will commit to turning in one comic a month (for six months). He'll also continue to bring on one-time artists to fill in the remaining update days, just like we've already been doing with our guest artists. But, that's the thing: With me gone, they're not "guest artists" any more. OJST is going to transition away from being "Erika and Matt's Thing Where They Regularly Feature Guests" to... "Oh Joy Sex Toy: The Repository of Sex Comics From All Different People". Sorta like The Nib, but just for raunchy stuff. That's a good tagline, actually, "The Nib: But Pervy." I'm sure they'll be super stoked about our re-branding with no Cease and Desist orders issued.

In any case, it's looking like FOR SURE OJST will be able to update at least twice a month with the contracted regular contributors, and possibly three - four times a month with an assortment of one-timers filling in those remaining Tuesdays. This new team will not be going into effect for another couple months, though. So, again, we're just running all the guest comics we'd previously acquired before I realized I would be quitting.

Matt will continue to be the editor of all these comics, but he won't be writing for them. This also means sex toy reviews are going to drop way, way back, just because it's a loooooot harder to get those comics from outside artists. The focus of the site will be on nonfiction stories, probably with our artists doing first-person reporting or memoir-ing about their experiences. Sex education will still pop up, I'm sure! But the already-established trend with our outside artists tends to be about first-hand accounts. Oh! And smut. Artists love to pitch us dirty stories, so I'm sure we'll still be running plenty of those. Haha, cartoonists: watta buncha dirty pervs. 

-Patreon

Nothing is changing at all right now. This Patreon will continue to bill per-OJST comic update and I'll continue to post my bullshit here. Further down the road, this /ErikaMoen Patreon will transform into /OhJoySexToy (or /OJST, since Patreon might have a problem with 'sex' being in the username? We have many, many things to check-in with them about, and that is one of them). When we make that transition, I will be simultaneously launching a fresh, new, billed-monthly /ErikaMoen Patreon account where my bullshit arts and crafts will go live from that point onwards. Mind you, this is going to take months to happen and I'll keep you all updated as stuff develops- NOTHING IS CHANGING AT ALL HERE FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE. This is going to take so, so, so much work to prepare. 

-Why I'm Leaving and Why Matt's Not

You know what? I wrote way too much in this section (and I'm not even done) so I'm just gunna make a whole separate post for it.

-QUESTION FOR NEW PATRONS:

So the last few days there have been a flood of new sign-ups for this Patreon out of nowhere??? What gives? New patrons, where did you come from? Was there some article or something that directed you here??? WHAT GIVES. ...Also: hi! That's cool that you're here, sorry about that, you just kinda caught me off-guard. Would you like to meet my cat? Her name is Tig (As in 'Notaro'). She likes screaming and rolling on sheets that smell like different laundry detergent than the kind we use at home.

My angel.