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Columns @winstalgia2/29/2024, 12:35 AM

Bobby @ponett

Bobby @ponett2/29/2024, 12:21 AM

i've been in a very weird headspace for a while now, and not just because of the burnout i've become a broken record about. thanks to how well slarpg did i'm currently seeing the greatest financial success i've ever seen in my life, but it also feels like the bleakest time in recent memory to be working in any sort of creative field. it feels like the business side of things is beating the art side to a pulp

platforms i rely on like tumblr and twitter are constantly making the worst decisions possible. communities i'm a part of are fracturing. tumblr has been my main home on the web for over a decade and now it feels more precarious than ever. i cannot even begin to imagine how i would move thanks ken penders in particular off of tumblr in the event this was necessary - the blog is huge, and built specifically for the format of tumblr. every weekday i wake up to news of more layoffs in the game industry, be they AAA devs or workers at small studios. my fellow indies are struggling to find funding. everywhere you look every tech company is investing heavily in AI slop. shows and movies are getting wiped out by cowardly executives, and the stuff that does manage to come out often feels more and more cynical. even the spaces for criticism around these fields are in a death spiral, with thoughtful writing being replaced by clickbait content mills

not all of this has a direct impact on me as someone completely independent, but it's hard not to let it get to me. and of course the terrifying political climate in florida and the ongoing global pandemic that america seems hellbent on pretending isn't real aren't helping either. nor is the fact that i feel like i'm starting from scratch after a decade bound to rpg maker

it's just very difficult for me to start on a new multi-year project when the future is so uncertain and bleak right now. anyway don't be surprised when my next game is way more cynical than slarpg lmao

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in reply to @ponett's post:

Orchidbark @orchidbark2/29/2024, 1:14 AM

I deeply resonate with everything you've said here, and while I'm sure it's not exactly comforting, you're not alone in how you feel.

Despite its flaws, tumblr was basically my home on the internet for so long, and the recent precarity has basically made it impossible to ignore. And like you said, everything else around the space of being a creator or just being a human being living in the world right now is compounding and its just like damn... where am I supposed to exist right now?

For what it's worth, I've followed your work since your old fluttershy ask blog, I loved SLHRPG, had been anticipating SLARPG and was wowed by it's success! Whatever you decide to do for your next project, I'm sure I'll look forward to that too, however long it takes! Ꮚᵔꈊ’Ꮚෆ

Dragaroth @Dragaroths-hideaway2/29/2024, 9:51 PM

In the least bleak way I can say it, the history of man is one told over and over again, with different costumes, and different actors. This too, shall pass.

Because of the hard work you've put in, you've gotten yourself to a place where, it might not impact you as much. That's good, but I can understand the feeling of hopelessness, at seeing it play out.

but.
People have gone through this before, in a multitude of places, in a multitude of ways. The one constant of it all is that they are ok, and that things are ok.

I know there's a BUNCH of old tools people made for cleanly exporting blogs on tumblr, back during the ole' porn exodus, so a few of those might still work well for getting the blog out in one piece. As for business -- you've also been very smart in that you aren't beholden to a lot of the crap happening. I would suggest keeping that at heart, and, if anything, just being a good guiding voice that It's Possible.

Keep being you, and making what you like, and don't let yourself fall victim to the negativity around you. Stumbling, Falling Down, Taking Breaks -- all of them absolutely understandable. but don't let it all make you forget that you don't have to BE like that.

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