Summary of the 750 Celebration Ramble

What's next?

- There are a couple ideas I'm not going to talk about yet, but in general, what's next is figuring out the next stage of my content, which will edge more toward figuring out how to make my SFW stuff more appealing than it will worrying about the erotic side of my content.

Since you had talked about switching to more SFW content, what will that entail?

- It'll look a lot more like the Thursday type content I've been releasing on YouTube. There are other experiments I'm wanting to try with SFW stuff, but those are the strongest contenders for what the future of my content looks like.

Will you have a new content schedule?

- Yeah, more than likely. We all know the shit where I posted every single day in October was out of control. I'm one guy and it's difficult to maintain that kind of presence alone (I just only have so many ideas and so much creative energy to give to the process at any given time). The content itself will also likely shift around, but I'll follow the analytics for the short term and make more drastic changes down the road at another milestone. For now, I'll still be posting many times a week, so don't worry too much.

Are commissions reopening?

- In fact, they already reopened (until sometime in early December).

What're your plans for how you'll do commissions going forward? More/less/not at all?

- I've explained this before in some detail (I believe both in text and in rambles), but the idea is that it's a concept of mutual fairness. At some point, it's no longer going to be fair to me to spend all my free time doing audio work (which commissions obviously mandate--or at least strongly incentivize). At such a point, I will have to raise my prices. However, this is where the "mutual" aspect of the fairness comes in: at a certain price point, commissions are realistically only going to be available to people who have very deep pockets. I don't want my listeners to feel as though they have to be rich in order to be a "real fan," or be bitter that other people get what they can't because they have to be able to buy groceries that month. When I've reached the point where my rates are so ridiculous that's the case, I will simply no longer accept commissions. I don't yet have a solid idea when this will be.

Is there a new patron goal? If so, what is it? 

- Probably somewhat premature to discuss, but 1000 would be the new goal. I have absolutely no idea what the reward would be. Maybe more Thursday type content on Patreon. All of this still feels surreal, having just left my job in favor of being a full time content creator.

When you transition into exclusively SFW content, will that include Patreon? Or is that only for public platforms?

- We'll have to play this by ear. My suspicion is that I will end up having a Cardlin-esque structure where my public catalogue is SFW and my Patreon still receives some amount of NSFW audios. Everything's negotiable. We'll see how the landscape shifts.

What will happen to the existing NSFW content?

- After the transition, as it becomes unrecommended, I will probably just delete it instead of moving it to that section of the table. Putting your best foot forward is important, and that's only going to be more true as time goes on. I am neurotic about making sure people don't listen to old shitty audios and the fact they're still listed at all is, quite honestly, strictly a courtesy to my long time listeners. I don't want new ones to listen at all. Once I've moved on completely to SFW content, I will no longer extend this courtesy and will just start chopping audios once they no longer fit the current standard of content.

If you ever decided to do a series or even a sequel based on one of the Thursday audios, which one would you pick?

- I would choose Needs of the Many, KZFM, or Out of Place.

Would you consider doing SFW audios that are more of a fantasy setting or something historical?

- Sure. Historical requires a decent amount of research that I often don't want to do, so it'd have to be a setting I'm interested in. Fantasy is similar in that respect, I guess: I want it to be a type of fantasy I like (and that translates well to audio: no fuckin' swordfighting). Not as much research required for fantasy though (if at all). 

Do you have any plans for Youtube?

- I'm going to rebrand with the thumbnails (don't worry, artists: the beta listener and I are just mulling over the options! We'll get back to you), tinker with tags, reboot the schedule, and see what happens. If YouTube continues to bear no fruit, then I'll have to figure out another platform. I can't constantly piss in the wind on YouTube. It's obnoxious.

What was it like sending out your first commission?

- "I hope it's slightly less shit than the other garbage I put out." It really wasn't, though. My Little Graduate was not a good audio.

What was "the point of no return" for you?

- I was facing up to the reality that this wasn't going to be what I wanted it to be, deciding on what to do with the content when I stop producing it so regularly. I'd considered bombing it all and moving on to something else entirely (maybe hitting up more normal voice acting jobs and seeing if I could land something there since, at the time, I was much smaller than I am now and didn't have nearly the same risk of exposure). Then Cardlin asked me to collab with him. The rest is history.

What’s an audio you thought would be less popular and people loved it? vice versa?

- Climb the Ladder deserved better. It's one of my most brilliant improvs ever, if not the. I had absolutely no ideas, premise, anything. On pure instinct, I hit record, and just went. I didn't even know it'd be M4M. Whatever came out of my mouth resulted in that audio, and I thought it was total gold. So did my beta listener, actually. It didn't do that well. C'est la vie.

- The opposite would have to go to Chemistry. The situation was kind of unique (and in a way, dire) because someone else had posted their best performing audio of all time, and it was killing. I was convinced I just shouldn't post that Tuesday. I kept throwing away recordings and doing it over and over and over. At something like 4 AM, I gave up, edited the last contiguous take I did, packaged it, and uploaded it for my beta listener. They absolutely inisted I post it. No matter how good an audio is, no matter how popular you think it's going to be, you cannot prepare yourself for the earth shattering success that came with Chemistry. That audio obliterated previous standing records and is, to date (11/23/19), my most played audio on Soundgasm.

Which audio is your current “pride and joy”? NSFW or SFW (or both)

- There are a lot of candidates for this. I'm kind of a big believer in always upping the ante, so I tend to think my most recent stuff is my best. 

- Tell Me What You Need, Where the Heart Is, and To A Man's Heart are all pretty high up there.

- If I were forced to choose, I'd say To A Man's Heart because it broke the last record I wanted to take.

How were you able to manage having a full-time job and posting audios nearly every day?

- Anyone who has held two jobs knows the answer to this: you sacrifice sleep, or your social life, or a bit of both. I knew people who worked 2-3 jobs and they would always act like they'd "just seen me," but in reality it had been 7 months and I thought they died. I became that person when I started getting very serious about audio porn (as a business) early this year. I slept less. I saw my friends less. I didn't get out that much, honestly. I would get home from work, unwind for a bit, then go through and organize my shit, make sure everything's fine, then record, then sleep what little I could, and go back to work and rinse/repeat. I for sure managed a lot on a little, but I wouldn't generally recommend it. I also think I make better psycho audios when I'm sleep deprived.

What’s the thing you’re looking most forward to in this process of change? 

- Not going to work. I might be able to see my friends again.

What advice would you give to yourself 3 years ago?

- Appreciate someone while they're still around. Write your own scripts. Start practicing improv. Find the beta listener. Try harder.

What’s the best part about being a creator? The hardest part?

- The best part: creative fulfillment (and money). It's satisfying to be able to just create. You gain a massive skillset doing this. I think people at large underestimate how much one person has to do to make all of this come together. I brainstorm, I "write," (in real time) I perform, I edit, I package, I advertise, I organize. All of these skills are, in and of themselves, valuable. To realize you've developed all of them simultaneously gives you a sense of pride and accomplishment that you can't find in Battlefront.

- The hardest part: I forgot to answer this.

Do you have any experience with vocal training?

- No. I've never had any professional vocal training. Won't be going Super Saiyan any time soon. Hit me up, Sabat.

What's the best advice another performer has given you?

- "If you don't like it, delete it." This completely molded the way that I view and create content.

Do you research topics before incorporating them in audios?

- It's happened before, but it's admittedly somewhat rare. I tend to perform audios where I already know the subject matter well enough.

On which platform do you prefer to interact with your audience?

- Probably Discord. It's self-engaging (people entertain themselves), participation is spontaneous and voluntary (not the result of an ask or a direct response to a post), and it allows me to speak to one person without seeming exclusionary (and also being able to direct things more generally to everyone reading at once). It's also moderated, which means a lot of bad behavior is filtered out for me and I don't have to deal with it. Shoutout to the Discord Modd team.

Any plans to expand your merch?

- The big issue here is art. I'm a big believer in being as fair to other people as I expect them to be to me, especially in regard to use of content. I don't want to take advantage of artists and rip their work for free to make money off merch, but I also can't realistically offer to pay them (my merch isn't THAT popular). You may be thinking, "but they volunteered," and that's true, but there's a power dynamic at play here: I'm a content creator they like, and they'll do things for free for me. Similar to a dom recognizing subspace, it's my job to step in and recognize that there's a line not to cross as a content creator where it becomes taking advantage of my fans rather than accepting their contributions. It's another negotiable point, and I'll definitely look into it if there's interest. 

Would you ever consider doing audios based off of pre-existing characters?

- If I really like something and want to make a fanfiction type audio out of it, sure. I still believe in being fair to content creators that are much bigger than I am (to the extent that I find my work capable of financially harming theirs). I will not accept commissions based on fanfiction, for example, because it's legally and ethically gray to do so. Please don't go out of your way to misinterpret this as a condemnation of what other creators do. Everyone has their own moral compass, and I am not shitting on other people for how they decide to use their talent.

You should make a gaming channel where you post gameplays! I think a lot of people would tune in :)

- I disagree. Despite the shift in content with the streams with Cardlin (and Yuuri), the vast majority of my base still wants to hear the sort of content I produce myself in its entirety. There's a vocal minority that thinks "everyone" wants to hear me candidly, but there is for sure no data to back that up. Consistently those audios are voted, played, viewed the least, and interaction with them is extremely minimal. People like my content more than they like me, and that's by design. This is a sign that I'm doing well. 

Are there any plans to expand your team now that you're getting bigger? Would that give you more time for the creative part?

- No. The biggest expansion I'd need right now would be organizational, but I'm reluctant to cede that amount of control to someone else. In a very real sense, that's the most forward-facing part of my content. That's what people interact with in order to find what I do, which is obviously a huge pain point already, and giving it to someone else to potentially fuck up is not in my immediate plans. The beta listener does a great job (and herself wears many hats, anyway) and Modd has done a great job with Discord (including recruiting other mods who have also done a great job). Currently, I'm going to remain a "solo" act.

You are nice. -[l-bomb], Ralph

- Thanks, Ralph. Commissioning more hard limits any time soon?

Now that you have a bit more time, are you going to look again at hosting your content yourself?

- I've been looking into it. It'll be cheap to test. We'll see what happens. There may be another solution as well.

Will you ever liveblog like you did at Gen Con again?

- Nothing has ever generated so much vitriol as when I did that. There are a lot of Tumblr anons who seem to believe you become paralyzed when receiving a blowjob. This aligns with my idea of how much sexual knowledge most Tumblr anons have. It was entertaining, so maybe.

Any audio in particular that you regret posting?

- Anything that's about 2 years old at this point. Most recently, Satin.

tinder tips? give us your best pick up line

- "I make a lot of money creating great audio porn. Want to feature in it?"

how do you feel about harry styles’ new album and will u listen to it

- Why are you like this?

whats the story about the chair that broke

- I sat on it for a long time. Then it broke.

Would you prefer success on youtube or tumblr (prior to the porn ban )

- Probably Tumblr. It has a way of creating cult status. YouTube would be extra money, but I care more about the kind of influence I could wield with a big Tumblr base (which, itself, also translates to good money in some ways anyway).

what brand headphones/earbuds do u recommend

- Sennheiser/Audio Technica.

do you always sit when recording, or do you ever stand/laydown/etc?

- Shout out to shitty audios like Battery Saver. 

what's the shortest commission you've ever done

- Some 3 minute rant about flat earthers.

would you ever voice or dub a hentai?

- I mean...are they paying?

Are you going to invest in making a soundproof room for audio recording?

- My shit sounds pretty good right now, but I might make that a Patreon goal or something in the future.

Did you know that putting a comforter over your head and mic while you record is effective sound proofing?

- ?????????????????????????

Why are people in your discord so much nicer than the tumblr anons

- Anonymity doubles as a disguise for douches.

What question do you want to answer but never get asked?

- "Can I pay you for your trouble?"