I'm starting to think that October is cursed. For the past 2 years every time this month rolls around, people important to me have to move. Not want to. Not start looking into it. Have to, because something has gone wrong, and their current living situation is no longer workable.
This year is, sadly, no different. But before we get into that, let me get my patron shout-out in, because you all are the ones keeping my numbers up, and ensuring I can keep the bills paid!
- Chris Dundon (To Valhalla, my friend!)
- Brenton Ayres (You're doing more than your part to keep the wheels turning!)
- Tracy Bailey-Mathews (Hopefully some of what I write is helping with the campaign!)
- Joy Von Holle (One of my oldest and most appreciated supporters on this list!)
My patrons are what make these blogs possible... so if you want to make sure I keep putting out fresh posts, consider heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, and consider making a pledge today. Or, if you don't want a subscription, consider tossing a tip into my jar on The Literary Mercenary's Ko-Fi page instead!
For less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day, you can sponsor a creative of your very own!
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
The Small Favor (Which Is Sort Of Time Sensitive)
I talked about this a little while back in Author and RPG Designer Alice Liddell is Moving, And Really Needs Our Help To Make It Happen, but apparently there's been some confusion regarding that post, so I wanted to clear that up for readers. I thought I was clear at the time, but to re-iterate, Alice is not moving because she wants to. Her life circumstances have taken another downturn, and she has to move... worse, this move is happening unexpectedly, and without a lot in the way of preparation, so she doesn't have the budget saved up to just get new housing with a snap of her fingers.
She's working hard, but the math simply isn't mathing. As such, I'm asking folks who read my blog to please consider pitching in to help her land on her feet so she can get through this crisis.
The post I linked above has the exhaustive list of ways folks can help (both paid and free), but I wanted to narrow that list for this week to focus on 3 distinct things people can do.
- Buy her a Ko-Fi to help her pay for necessities (moving truck, administrative fees, etc.)
Again, there are more ways you can help in the original blog link at the beginning of this section, but I wanted to narrow things down, and sharpen the call to action. Our hope is that we'll be able to handle this situation quickly, and get things settled into some kind of normalcy... but any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated in getting her through this unexpected challenge!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
We're coming up on a year since I started putting together the trailer and first episode for The A.L.I.C.E. Files, the audio drama series I launched on YouTube in partnership with Alice Liddell which is best described as Alice in Wonderland pushed through the filter of The X-Files. It's been a year of learning a bunch of new audio and video editing tricks, writing scripts, plotting the overarching story, and trying to reach out to find an audience who is willing to dive into the world of these strange stories to see where it is we're going.
We recently finished Season 1, and we're digging into episodes for Season 2, I wanted to let folks know that we put together an Ask Me Anything to wrap up our initial collection of stories. I also wanted to take a moment to talk to folks who made it this far, because we really need your help in keeping this project going right now.
Don't worry, we aren't asking for money. We just need you to click a few buttons on our behalf... shouldn't take more than 30 seconds or so, and it would make a huge difference to us!
So come on in, and let's see if our tales can entice you!
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Answering Some Questions (And Making A Simple Request)
To begin at the beginning, after the Season 1 finale we first put out a video from Director Harrington, asking as many folks to give us their questions and curiosities as possible. And while we did have to prod a couple members of our audience, we did get quite a selection of queries when all was said and done!
And once we had all of those questions (and we collected a few others from social media posts and the comment sections of our other videos) Alice and I sat down in front of the camera and decided to give our viewers what they wanted... as best we could, at any rate!
While we're making good progress (in my opinion, at least), we've got a long way to go before YouTube actually starts sharing revenue with us... and that is where the favor I have to ask comes in.
For folks who don't know, when I proposed this YouTube collaboration between Alice and myself about a year ago, my hope was that we'd be able to get the YouTube channel monetized, and that we could turn it into a legitimate source of income. These things take time, but my hope was that after a season of stories we'd have built up some momentum, and we'd be close to hitting a couple of goals. If it took us a little longer, well, that was okay, because we had plenty of time and ideas to go through.
Well... it turns out that time is something that isn't actually on our side anymore.
First and foremost, to get a channel partially monetized (which gives you access to super fan tips, subscriptions, etc.), YouTube requires you to have 500 subscribers, and 3,000 watched hours in a single 365 day span. To get a channel fully monetized (which is all the previous stuff and you now get a cut of the ad revenue on your videos) YouTube requires you to have 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 watched hours of content in a single 365 day span.
At time of writing we have 396 subscribers, and somewhere around 2,100 watched hours. So if we keep a steady pace, we should clear that first hurdle by the end of 2026... unfortunately, things are changing in January 2027.
And it is giving us a MASSIVE headache...
I wrote about this over on my sister blog The Literary Mercenary in the post Thanks To YouTube's Recent Announced Changes, The A.L.I.C.E. Files Needs Your Help!, but if you didn't see it, the short version is that YT is doubling the amount of watched hours it takes to get fully monetized. So instead of 4,000 hours (which already takes something going at least a little viral to actually clear), you'll now need 8,000 hours in a single 365 day span... or 22 hours a day, every day, without fail, for an entire goddamn year!
If that sounds like they're just trying to avoid ever paying smaller creators a part of the revenue the site rakes in from advertising... yeah, that's basically what's going on.
And while that is bad enough, there's even more difficulties on our horizon. Because the real Alice is being forced to relocate herself rather rapidly, and moving on practically no notice is expensive. I gave the details on how folks can help in Author and RPG Designer Alice Liddell Is Moving, And Really Needs Our Help To Make It Happen!,however, the short version is that she needs as many income streams as she can possibly get to try to land on her feet.
So if you want to make sure this project gets to at least finish the second season, and that we can keep the lights on and food in the cabinets, please go to The A.L.I.C.E. Files on YouTube, subscribe to the channel, and give Season 1 a watch! Because if we can get at least 104 more subscribers, and just under 1,000 more hours, we'll at least be able to eke out enough to keep telling more stories in the short-term.
Thank you in advance to everyone who can help. We're strained to our seams over here at the moment, but I'm hoping that if we call the banners we can get enough folks to rally behind us that we can storm YouTube's battlements, and actually make them share the bounty that we're earning!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
First and foremost, I wanted to apologize to folks. Things have been truly hectic on my end of the screen, with a lot of people in my circles having to pull stakes and get out of their current situation in a hurry. And one of those people is my partner and co-creator Alice Liddell. She is facing a serious uphill battle, she needs to move quickly, and could really use some help to make the ends meet on this rope trick.
I know money is tight for everyone right now, so let me say this up front. If you have money you can lend to the cause, please do that. But if your belt is tight, there are things you can do that don't cost a single red cent that will help. The full list is below, but please, if you've read this far, we need as many hands on deck as possible, and in whatever capacity you can.
Thank you in advance to everyone out there. It really means a lot to us.
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Here's How You Can Help
I'll get right to the point this week. We are facing a lot of expenses, and a lot of bills to make this happen. And while Alice and myself are cranking out as much content as we can for folks' enjoyment, it hasn't made us wealthy. And if you want to help get her settled in a safe place of her own where she can keep writing books, streaming, and recording more audio dramas for folks' enjoyment, please take a look at the following list.
If You Just Want To Donate Money
This is the most direct way to help ensure that Alice has cash in-hand to pay bills and cover costs. If you just want to give Alice a little extra money to cover costs (even if it's just a couple bucks), then go to her Ko-Fi page, and send a small donation.
If You'd Like To Buy Some Coffee
In addition to a Ko-Fi page (which is a place that people can go to just give Alice a tip), she also has a partnership with Bones coffee. Given that massive layoffs were just announced in the trucking industry, and the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is still closed, it might be best to have enough bags of brown joy on-hand to last you a month... or two... or six.
So go through Alice's link, buy some Bones, and you'll get tasty coffee, while she gets her affiliate payment.
If You'd Like To Buy Some Books
Alice writes a lot of books, and she's got a little something for every taste. From Succumb To Darkness, which is about vampires during the French Revolution, to Geisha Hands, which is a historical novel which she also illustrated about a geisha's life in Japan, there are a lot of options. Check out her main Amazon author page (as well as her secret Little Alice author page which has even more books) and grab something for your next read. Kindle is good if you don't mind digital, but if you get a physical copy she can sign it for you if you run into us at an event!
If You'd Like To Check Out Her RPG Supplements
Like myself, Alice has also published several titles through Azukail Games. So if you're one of the regular RPG folks who come to this blog, I'd recommend taking a look at her titles:
While I can recommend each of these titles, I will say that if you want to get all of them we should have a bundle deal coming out for them soon. If you just want one or two, though, it's a good idea to pick them up sooner rather than later!
Free Things You Can Do To Help
The previous sections are all things that are guaranteed to put cash in Alice's hands relatively quickly, and in a lot of circumstances you also get a tasty bit of merch. But if you want to go the extra mile (or you just don't have the extra money to spare for the other options right now), then please do the following things:
- Subscribe to Alice's gaming YouTube channel KHR Arts (she needs 17 more subscribers to cross the monetization minimum, and then all she has to worry about are the watched hours before it starts paying her every month).
- Subscribe to The A.L.I.C.E. Files (this is the ongoing audio drama series she and I have been working on. We're only 109 subscribers and 1,000 hours of watched content away from unlocking the initial monetization options, which would allow us to start earning with that channel).
- Subscribe to Alice The Author (this is Alice's channel where she talks about being an author, and you could subscribe to all 3 of her channels for the hat trick. This one is only 43 subscribers away from the initial payout level, and only needs 1,000 hours and change to cross that goal, thanks to a recent semi-viral video).
- Follow Alice on Instagram, and interact with her posts (Instagram is one of the only social media sites where she was/is monetized, but she's been effectively shadow banned for being too LGBTQ+ friendly. So let's boost her numbers, and force the algorithm to give her the exposure she needs to get paid)!
- Follow Alice on Twitch (she hasn't been streaming since the basement flooded, which was the inciting incident that has led to the current troubles... but she'll be back to it as soon as she's in a space where she can, and having a bigger audience waiting for her would be pretty nifty).
All Your Help Is Deeply Appreciated
It feels like every time we turn around there's another creator, artist, or community that's in desperate need of help. So if you've read this far (especially if you did at least a few of the things I listed above), thank you. Every little bit helps, as the old saying goes, and we're just doing our best to roll with the punches... but this one is an uppercut, and it's got us seeing stars.
So again, thank you.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
It's been one hell of a ride thus far, but I wanted to take a moment to throw some confetti in the air, and to celebrate the completion of Season 1 of The A.L.I.C.E. Files! It's been nearly a year of work (if you count all the pre-launch efforts that went into the first few episodes), and we managed to get everything out without a single delay, and only minimal problems. And even though we aren't where we need to be with it yet, I didn't want to just let this accomplishment pass by without remarking on it.
And whether you've been following the project since its inception, or you're just now hearing about it, I wanted to take a moment to ask for your help. Because in order for us to keep the wheels turning, we're going to need help from listeners like you.
Don't worry, though, we aren't asking people for money.
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
What's The Show About (And What Can You Do To Help)?
For folks who are just joining us, The A.L.I.C.E. Files is a YouTube channel I launched in partnership with Alice Liddell earlier this year. The two of us combined our efforts to produce audio versions of various stories (our own stories, public domain stories, and a couple of fan works), which are all part of an overarching narrative about a young woman designated Alice who has accepted a position with the Carroll Institute. This shadowy organization explores parallel dimensions, and the stories that Alice witnesses are the reports sent back by the agents who went through the Rabbit Hole... and even if they didn't make it back, their stories did.
So the vibe is one part SCP Foundation, and one part Delta Green, with a hefty dose of Alice in Wonderland thrown in for good measure!
The trailer is only a few minutes long, if you want to check it out for yourself before reading any further.
Now, the plan for Season 1 was to essentially lay out the general format for the show, and to get listeners used to Alice's new routine. We follow her as she explores the parts of the building she's allowed inside, we meet several of her coworkers, and we get little hints here and there of the greater lore of the setting. Mostly, though, the first season focuses on the files she witnesses on behalf of the Archive. However, sharp-eyed folks (or just those who read the entry Can You Spot The Clues in The A.L.I.C.E. Files (What Are Your Theories?)) may have also noticed that we started dropping plot seeds early, in addition to putting a couple of ARG elements into the show for those who enjoy trying to follow the bread crumbs of an unfolding mystery.
As far as Season 2 goes, Alice was given a serious choice in the finale. Confronted by a bizarre being she can't explain, she's handed a key, and a mystery. Will she report it to her superiors? Will she follow the mystery as it's handed to her? Or will she simply push it out of her mind, put her head down, and just try to keep doing her job? Our goal with Season 2 was to start branching out into an in-universe storyline, and to incorporate a number of popular creepy pasta stories and ideas into the plot, in addition to the more traditional dramatized stories we put together in Season 1.
However, if we're going to get through this, we're going to need help from readers like you.
Again, we're not asking for money. Just the press of a few buttons, and your ears.
Our goal when we started The A.L.I.C.E. Files was to get the channel monetized so that we could earn money from ad revenue, audience tips, and all the other methods available to creators. It would be a tough road, given that YouTube requires a channel to have 1,000 subscribers, and 4,000 hours of watched content in a 365-day period (which is roughly 11.5 hours a day, every day, all year long), but we were confident that we could do that. It might take us a while, but we knew we'd be able to get there eventually.
Unfortunately, thanks to a decision from YouTube, we don't have eventually anymore. We have until the end of the year, sink or swim.
I recently laid out the details over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, but the short version is that YouTube is doubling the amount of watch hours a channel needs to have before it can be monetized starting early next year. So we no longer have a couple of years to build up multiple seasons and a large enough audience... we have just under 4 months, and the clock is ticking!
So whether you're just finding out about the channel, or you've been cheering us on since we started back in the spring, please, do the following to help us keep the wheels turning:
- Upvote episodes you like, and leave comments (the algorithm likes it when people do that)
- Share the show on your social media pages to help more people find out about us
At time of writing we have 369 subscribers, and we're just over 1,600 watched hours. We've still got some time left, but we need as many people out there to please add your voices, hit the buttons, and tell people about this project.
There are already a lot of shows that got a 1-season trial, and then disappeared due to audience disinterest. If we can get people to click that subscribe button, and actually show up for our episodes, we've got at least 3 seasons planned. Possibly 4, if folks really want to see more! But if we get the door shut in our face by YouTube, then sadly we might have to move on to something different instead.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
Regulars on this blog likely know that in addition to writing RPGs, novels, and short stories, I also do a fair bit of work with audio dramas and dramatic readings. It's why earlier this year, in partnership with Alice Liddell, I was part of the launch of the ongoing audio drama channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files over on YouTube. While most of the episodes we've put out so far have been dramatizations of original fiction by Alice and myself, and narrations for public domain stories, we recently provided a glimpse into a fan story set in the world of Exalted, using the Dark Pack agreement.
But how File 006 - The Butcher's Toll came to be is almost as interesting as the story itself... so I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone the background of this tale, and let you know how you can expand the story of Barabbas the Butcher if you enjoy this little glimpse of his adventures.
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Try It, You Might Like It!
I have played a lot of different games in my time, but generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of wuxia RPGs, and I'm not a big fan of games where the PCs are mythical in terms of their power. Knowing that, you'd think that Exalted, as a game, really wouldn't do it for me... after all, what I just described is kind of the game's meat and potatoes.
However, Exalted (and specifically Exalted 2nd Edition) is a good friend of mine's favorite game (or, at least, one of their top favorites), and they were determined to find some way to share this experience with me. I wanted to find some way over the barrier, as well, because I knew a lot of folks who enjoyed Exalted, but everything I found about it just left me kind of struggling to find purchase.
This was the book that unlocked my interest. Because while I found the fallen magitech setting of Creation interesting, the standard solar exalted just weren't really grabbing my attention. Ditto for the lunars, the sidereals, and even the alchemicals. But the idea that mutilated gods that had been banished to hell, twisted into terrible, broken reflections of what they once were, stole some the solar exalted souls and wrenched them into corrupted weapons to set loose upon the world to reclaim it again in their name... well, now that was something I could get behind!
However, while I read the base book and the infernal book cover-to-cover (not an easy or pleasant experience on a screen), I felt the need to create a character who didn't have some great, grand destiny. Someone down-to-earth, who would have been happy to live a simple life, had circumstances gone differently. Someone that the world wronged, and let down.
And thus Barabbas was born.
A simple butcher, he lived with his wife, his son, and his daughter. When the servants of a Death Lord assaulted his village, and kidnapped his sister-in-law (among other folk), he took up his hewing tool to try to save them. When one of the dragon blooded came with his men, he thought they'd been rescued. Instead of helping the people of the village, the dragon blooded had the survivors all thrown in irons, and the village burned. Torn from the rest of his family, Barabbas was condemned to a mine. He led a failed uprising, and was the be painfully tortured and executed in front of the other slaves.
So when a servant of Malfeas, the broken king of hell, offered Barabbas power, he took it without a second's hesitation.
I was so proud of this character, and his tale, that I made an audio introduction to share with the rest of the players. I had been planning on doing the same for other folks who were interested so we could have a bit of a sizzle reel. And while we had the first few sessions of the game, sadly, it had to go on hiatus almost as soon as it began.
But That Doesn't Mean The Story Ends There
It's been years since I put Barabbas together, and I have copious notes about his tale. His journey through hell, which of the yozi that he spoke to, and which of them gave him gifts that he accepted. I have details about the places he went, the allies he gathered, and even about what his war against slavery would become as he tears apart Creation in search of his wife and children. The vibe I was going for was Conan by way of The Incredible Hulk, if he was powered by hell, with a heavy dash of Journey to The West.
And if that sounds like a story you'd want to hear, then there are steps you can take to make it happen!
Do I have your attention?
File 006 is what's called an "orphan" file by the Carroll Institute... to translate that for the audience, these "orphans" represent possible starts to a longer series of stories, should folks want to know more.
This could go a number of different ways. For instance, further reports could happen in the series canon, dropping every now and again when Alice is in the office and reviewing material from the archive. Alternatively, we could put the stories together as a side project that goes up between seasons of the main plot. We could even give the series its own slot, much like how Alice's Adventures in Wonderland currently has a chapter-by-chapter playlist.
A lot of that, though, is going to depend on what you want as our audience!
So if you are someone who would like more than just this little sample of Barabbas's story, here's what you need to do to make sure we hear you, and have the resources to make it happen:
- Leave a comment on the video telling us you want a sequel
- Share the video on your own social media pages, and tell your friends about the show
Sadly, we're a long way off from the 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours we would need to get the channel fully monetized. But, in fairness, if The Butcher's Toll can get 17,000 views, I'm pretty sure that would put us over both goals quite smoothly.
And if that happens, we'll basically be free to write, record, and edit whatever kind of episodes you all want to hear!
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Table Talk. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
It has been one hell of a June/July, and I'm trying to juggle a lot of crises. Still, with that said, I wanted to make sure I gave my shout-outs to all the folks who help me keep my bills paid over on Patreon, and anyone who would like to find themselves on this shout-out list should go to my Patreon page and pledge at least $10 a month to help me keep this blog (as well as my sister blog The Literary Mercenary) up and running!
So, a big thank you to:
- Chris Dundon, my newest patron (To Valhalla, my friend!)
- Brenton Ayres (You're doing more than your part to keep the wheels turning!)
- Tracy Bailey-Mathews (Hopefully some of what I write is helping with the campaign!)
- Joy Von Holle (One of my oldest and most appreciated supporters on this list!)
In addition to this shout out, though, I wanted to take a moment to signal boost a couple of folks out there who could really use your help. So if you have some spare time to push a couple of buttons, watch a few videos, or subscribe to a new Patreon or two, please keep reading!
Because everything is rough, and the wheels don't stop just because we're tired.
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Creators Who Could Use A Lifeline
While I'm still very much on the scramble (and it seems like every time I turn around there's some new bill I have to pay with money I was planning on saving), I want to take a moment to shine the spotlight onto two creators who could really use a hand up.
The first is my partner, Alice Liddell. Alice works with me on the YouTube channel The A.L.I.C.E. Files, we've done many conventions together, and I was the one who introduced her to Azukail Games where she's published supplements like 100 Dangerous Plants or the tome that is 100 Stat Boost Potion Recipes (it's the length of a full novel, so be aware that's what you're getting when you see the price tag).
However, in the recent storms that swept over the Midwest, the basement she lives in was flooded. This damaged a lot of her stuff, and it has drastically disrupted her ability to work as the place is dried out, she tries to salvage what she can, and to figure out how she's going to get back up on her feet.
So if you're out there, please consider checking out any of Alice's RPG supplements, buying some of her books found on her Amazon author page, or just buying her a Ko-Fi so she can keep her bills paid during this recovery period.
And if you don't have spare dosh lying around, Alice is trying to get several of her free content streams monetized. So in addition to subscribing to (and watching) The A.L.I.C.E. Files, consider checking out her author YouTube channel Alice The Author where she talks about what goes on behind the screen, as well as her gaming YouTube channel KHR Arts, and stop in to say hi on Twitch as well! It might be a while before she streams again, but as soon as the environment allows, she'll be back to it!
The other person I want to give a shout out to is Owen K.C. Stephens. For folks who don't know, he's one of the more established folks in the gaming industry, and you'll find his name on Pathfinder, Starfinder, and dozens of other games, as well as hundreds of other supplements. He's been fighting with a lot of physical ailments (cancer was chief among them until recently), and he's also had to recover from flooding and other home damage.
So, if you'd like to help Owen pay his bills and keep what he has so he can continue making the kinds of games we enjoy, consider hitting him up on Patreon, or even getting yourself a copy of the Owen Stephens Summer of Survival TTRPG bundle if you haven't done so yet! And if you've done all of that, but still want to help out, Owen also has a YouTube channel of his own, which you should subscribe to and watch to get his numbers up.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
We've all heard that philosophical argument about how if a tree falls in the forest, but there's no one around to see it or hear it, did it actually fall? Well, that's kind of what being a creator is like. Because it doesn't matter how amazing your art is, how engaging your book might be, or how deep and thoughtful your video essays are, because if no one knows they exist, they can't actually become fans of your work. And since most creators don't have money to spend on advertisements, or doing dozens upon dozens of conventions where they take a loss every time as they try to build an audience, we rely on social media to get the word out about what we do.
And while social media enshittification has been hitting hard, I've been managing to tread water... until recently. Because the last piece of driftwood I was clinging to seems to have snapped underneath me, and now I'm back to trying not to drown.
And this, of course, involves the hive of scum and villainy that goes by the name Reddit.
A hand up would be deeply appreciated right now...
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
The Social Media Saga (And Why This Is Such A Problem)
The official term for what we're all struggling with these days is Platform Decay, but most of us refer to it as Enshittification. Essentially social media started off as a free, functional way for us to keep in touch with our friends, family, and creators, celebrities, etc. that we liked to follow, and it mostly worked. But over the past several years it's been deliberately sabotaged, twisted, and made impossible to use as a creator (and nearly impossible to use for regular people, too). I talked about this more in-depth in The Reason Social Media Sucks For Everyone These Days (Not Just Creators) a while back, for those who missed it.
For those who like numbers, I have a couple of Before and After averages to share, from about 10 years ago, and today. Keep in mind that my subscriber count has only gone up between these two time periods, so if anything I should have held steady, instead of decreasing to a fraction of engagement.
- Average Facebook spread used to net between 400 and 1,000 impressions. Now it's barely 25.
- Average Twitter blast used to net between 100 and 250 impressions. Now it's less than 20.
- StumbleUpon netted me between 50 and 500 impressions. The site is unusable anymore.
- Digg would net between 25 and 1,000 impressions. AI slop broke the site entirely, and it's closed.
For sites that aren't listed, Tumblr and LinkedIn both have significantly lowered engagement. Pinterest is a ghost town that's jam-packed with AI slop. Google+ is gone, of course, and sites like MeWe have never been worth more than a few dozen views. Blue Sky has never been great for creators (though it's quite a nice platform for journalists and news creators), and places like Discord and Mastadon have no discoverability because all the servers are separate, with no way to cross-pollinate.
And in the midst of all of that, Reddit was a website that has been chugging along. You could even keep using the old version of the site, which made it easy to see and understand at a glance what was happening. My current Reddit account has over a quarter million karma (not bragging, just pointing out the amount of positive interaction I've had on the site), and it's been active for 11 years.
Then I was shadowbanned last week. No warning, no explanation, just POOF, your account is gone. I appealed, and got it back, but the issue I was facing was that even though the decision was made by a random bot (and was immediately overturned by a human), being shadowbanned immediately hid all of my submissions to the website.
So while my karma count was still intact, over a decade of posts were just swept under the rug, and unable to be seen by users. And while I don't usually use language quite this strong around here, this incident has fucked me as a creator... and to make it worse, at time of writing, I was randomly shadowbanned again, likely because a bot just decided that I'd crossed an unspoken line and had to be removed, even though nothing about my behavior has changed in a decade on the site, and it's never been a problem before today.
Why This Is Such A Big Damn Problem
The reason this is a massive problem for me is two fold. The first is fairly obvious; if I'm shadowbanned on Reddit (or if I keep getting shadowbanned by AI-driven bots) then I cannot share links to either my work, or anyone else's work. I try to maintain the balance and not just talk about my stuff all the time, and I mix it up with videos, RPGs, etc. by other creators that I enjoy, and think more people should hear about.
However, I want to circle back around to how it has hidden a decade of my submissions, essentially making them unusable. Put another way, that's somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 posts just poofed out of existence like a Thanos snap. That's also a low-balled guess as to just how many posts I've made over the past 11 years.
If you want to know what that's worth, most days when I check my DTRPG earnings, I had between $10 and $25. That's not an amazing income, but it adds up at the end of the month, and it paid most of my half of my rent. Ever since I was shadowbanned, and all those posts were removed? I'm making somewhere between $3 and $8 a day. This past weekend I had the first day in 4 years where I didn't sell a single thing on DTRPG at all, and it's directly correlated with this decision.
This shadowbanning didn't remove any of the blog entries I'd written, of course. It didn't delete articles or videos. It just made all those things less visible, effectively slamming the door on people randomly stumbling across my work while running searches or browsing the site. And again, if people don't see this blog, my videos, my supplements, etc., then they can't interact with them, which means I can't pay my bills.
EDIT: Apparently it's just regular banned, as my account was basically shuttered up. There's no "shadow" about the whole process.
And since no other sites are working either... you see where this is going...
The bigger kick in the nuts here is that while Reddit can absolutely erase over a decade of submissions to the site on the word of a bot, it can't restore them. You basically have to ask the subreddit mods to pretty please go through the removed posts and reapprove them, or resubmit those posts. Mods are not willing to do this, and certainly not to the extent that would be required for some of the subs I regularly post in where there are hundreds (potentially thousands) of posts going back for years (since some I posted in weekly, and others I posted in daily). And while there's nothing stopping me from resubmitting my posts (except the site's bots deciding that me submitting things is suspicious), I built up that 11 year archive organically. I didn't just show up all day, every day blasting my own signal for hours at a time. I shared my own stuff, yes. And then I shared actual plays that I'd seen. Or I commented on a topic. Or I told everybody about this other game, supplement, etc. that I'd seen. Or I shared bundles, such as the Owen Stephens Summer Survival Spectacular to help Owen Stephens pay the bills for his fight against cancer. You get the idea.
You can't just replace all those posts in a few months, or even a year. It took me 11 years to submit them in the first place, it would take me a decade to get back to that point. And even after that decade of posting, assuming everything went perfectly and I wasn't randomly shadowbanned, I still wouldn't have my archive restored. Because you see there were a lot of subreddits that I was no longer allowed to post in, but they still had all my previous posts acting as one more place someone might stumble across me... those are gone, and cannot be replaced.
So... yeah. I was already trying to crawl out of the muck, and now because an overzealous collection of 1s and 0s decided I wasn't up to their secret standards, I've now been kicked in the teeth, and thrown back down into some fairly desperate circumstances as a result.
What I'm Going To Do (And How You Can Help)
Wallowing isn't going to help me, especially since I need to get back on my feet before yet more bills come due. Unfortunately, there's only a few things I can do. First and foremost, I'm trying to appeal the shadowbans, to get some statements from the site about what's happening, and to stop this cycle from happening again. I'm also looking for alternative sites, Discord servers, and communities where I can make up at least some of the lost audience potential. And, lastly, I'm going to keep making stuff for people to enjoy, and hope that I can overwhelm the algorithms with the sheer volume of projects I'm churning out.
I don't really have any other options.
However, I'm basically at the mercy of you all. I'm in the Colosseum fighting for my life, and I need the crowd to roar in my favor so that I can be allowed to live and fight another day. So if you made it this far, I have a list of things you can do to help me for free, and a list of things you can do to help that will cost a bit of money... not much, though. As art goblins go, I'm a fairly cheap pet.
- Share my articles, videos, RPG supplements, and anything else I make on your own social media pages (and if you're a Reddit user, tell your favorite subs about stuff I make out of spite)!
- Buy Some of My TTRPG Supplements (link goes to a pin board, but you could also search "Neal Litherland" on DTRPG to get the full 200+ list of things I've made)
The reason I put all of this out there is that I literally do not care how my bills get paid. If 50,000 people decide to buy copies of my hardboiled cat novels Marked Territoryand Painted Cats, then I'm going to pause a lot of projects to write a third installment in that series. If a bunch of people decide to support me on Patreon, then I'm going to make sure my blogs are polished up, and that everyone is getting their money's worth. If a couple thousand people decide they want to get my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic, then I'd focus on expanding that game, or if folks picked up supplements like The Blade Itself: Corrupt Equipment For Hunter: The Vigil, Like A Good Neighbor - Portraying True Fae in Your Chronicle, or Night Horrors: Primordial Peerage, I'd put a lot more time and energy into extra content for Hunter, Changeling, Beast, or other spheres of the Chronicles of Darkness.
And, of course, if folks want to see more of The A.L.I.C.E. Files, I'd be making bigger, longer, and more complicated soundscapes to tell some of my rather... involved stories.
This whole situation has put me in something of a bind, but I'm not just sitting here twiddling my thumbs hoping things get solved. If you can help, please do so, because I need every hand up I can get. Even if you just follow my Patreon as a free supporter to stay up-to-date, or you just subscribe to the YouTube channels, or share my supplements online when you see them, it makes a difference. And if a few hundred individuals who think their efforts won't matter all pitch in, then you're going to be a damn potent force.
As always, stay tuned for more updates, and thank you in advance to everyone who helps me stop this slide toward the cliff's edge before I go over.
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
It's been about two years since my first RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic dropped. And while I've been trying to keep putting out fresh content for it by talking it up here on my blog, making a series of videos called Tactical Plastic Report over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel, and writing as many supplements for it as I have time and space for, I wanted to take a moment to reach out to all my readers and fellow players out there. Because I could keep taking stabs in the dark all day, but I want to know what you want from the game going forward. I want your thoughts, your curiosities, and most of all, to answer your questions...
Which is why I think it's time to put together a second Ask Me Anything for this game!
My ears are open!
But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to
get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of
spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning,
consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.
Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!
Wait, SECOND Ask Me Anything?
For folks who are just joining us, I actually put together an AMA when the Kickstarter was still running for Army Men several years ago. The video appeared over on the High Level Games YouTube channel, and it's still there if you want to take a look at it!
Now, I didn't intend on making that original AMA, but during the early days of the Kickstarter we were getting a lot of questions... or, more specifically, we kept getting the same question being asked by dozens of different people. As such, I figured it would be a good idea to take some of the most common questions, lay out the answers, and provide the truth straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.
However, it's been a hot minute since that video came out. As such, I thought it might be time for a sequel! So if there is something you're curious about regarding Army Men that wasn't answered in that original video, what I need you to do is put your question in the comment section of Tactical Plastic Report, Episode 16: Should We Have Another AMA For Army Men?
Now, I'm asking folks to leave their questions on that video for 2 reasons. First and foremost, it's a much easier comment section to monitor, and it will be seen by myself as well as Adrian Kennelly, the fellow behind Azukail Games. Secondly, it would be nice to get some extra upvotes, comments, and views on that video to help it spread its wings a little so that maybe the algorithm will help it reach more people's feeds, and thus I can get even more feedback before I start putting together an AMA!
So if there's something you've been curious about regarding the game itself, any of the supplements currently on the market, anything else that might come out for it in the future, or even about what goes on behind the scenes and what my experience was like with Kickstarter, BackerKit, and so on, leave those curiosities in the comment section for the above video, and if we get enough folks weighing in I'll be able to take some time to answer!
Army Men's Releases (At Time of Writing)
If this is your first time coming across Army Men, and it sounds like something you'd like to check out, consider grabbing the following materials to start digging in!
- Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic - The base rulebook which comes with everything you need to run or play the game, as well as an initial adventure to give you a jumping off point!
- Army Men: Threat Assessments - The first supplement released for the game, Threat Assessments is full of additional adversaries for your troopers to come across to really beef up the rogue's gallery.
- Army Men: Medals of Honor - This supplement introduces the Medals System, which is a way for you to reward your players, and to give troopers unique bonuses that carry through based on their past achievements. A good way to note successes, since equipment is requisitioned, and characters don't receive loot.
- Boots On The Ground: Baker Team - A ready-to-play squad of troopers, Baker Team is ready to roll! Ideal for a pick up game, or for players who want to try out Army Men but aren't ready to make their own characters, this supplement can also be used as NPCs if your troopers need a little help on their current mission.
- A Night At Breckon's Beacon and Assault On Outpost 13: The first two stand-alone missions, the first involves searching for a squad that simply disappeared while out on maneuvers. The second involves an apprehension gone wrong, and a syndicate figurehead being held at a remote outpost. Troopers need to provide support, but will they be able to hold onto their captive when others come to spring him?
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!
To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!
