Overdue Update (Summer 2025)

A lot has been going on in my life over the past six months, hell a lot has been going on in this country for everyone over the last six months. This might be a long update, and it might meander a bit as I have a lot of thoughts about things and I'm struggling with how to phrase it all but I'll start with good stuff. My husband and I recently moved from our crappy little apartment into a beautiful (rented) home in February and we are so much happier here. All of a sudden we have a nice, big yard where we've been gardening up a storm, we have a dedicated office now for both of us and a guest room. In our last place the guest room was also my home office and it was super annoying. So we have room to breathe, try new hobbies, the cats and other pets are happier and I can go outside into our private backyard wearing nothing but a smile and soak up the sun when I want to! On top of all that our landlord is just a sweetheart and we're becoming good friends with him! Crazy I know but very welcome.

Now onto the less exciting stuff. Due to us living in an uncertain political and financial climate here in the U.S. I have noticed more and more patrons leaving each month and I doubt it's a coincidence. This is starting to worry me more than it was as for several years my monthly paycheck via patreon was steady and reliable and now it's dropping pretty significantly with each passing month to the point where I need to make some changes here soon. I have spoken with members of my discord stream and they have made suggestions and I have been listening. I will likely start doing some original characters for adoption each month as a way of hopefully bringing in a bit more pay. I hope these don't feel too intrusive and of course you only need to participate and bid for them if you're interested. I still have no want to do commission work because it tends to be very stressful and I don't like the added pressure they put on me.

In addition to an overall decline in patreon subscriber numbers, some of you will know that a group of religious, anti-porn zealots called Collective Shout have recently applied pressure to Steam and itch.io through their payment processors, namely VISA and Mastercard to remove or at least delist and hide all of their legal, NSFW titles. This happened literally over night. As you know I have two adult titles up on itch and they are no longer discoverable through the site and likely will be removed in the near future. This really hurts actually. Itch.io has been a critical passive income for me ever since I first put up Maybe Valentine's Day Isn't the Worst years ago. Not a month goes by without some folks buying the game, and recently Pocket Rockets as well. This is a major unforseen blow to my finances and I don't think there's anything I can do about it other than signing some petitions. If you would also like to sign them, here are a couple links.

https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy

https://www.change.org/p/tell-mastercard-visa-activist-groups-stop-controlling-what-we-can-watch-read-or-play?recruiter=848024754&recruited_by_id=6cdf07b0-f4a0-11e7-aae5-f3a091574505&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490659394_en-US%3A8

This is Itch.io's official comment on what is going on currently: https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content

My biggest concern is that because Steam and Itch are being forced to capitulate, thus marking a victory for Collective Shout, that sites like Patreon and Subscribestar will be targeted next. I truly hope this isn't the case because, well, that will be the end of me and what I do for a living. I feel a lump in my throat and knot in my stomach as I write this because I don't want to stop creating adult art for folks to enjoy. Even with all of the added stress and pressures I face just because I make adult content, I really love the work and don't want to be shut down. I wish people could live and let live and make space for adult content creators who are plying their trade legally and through regulated sites. I'm getting so tired of dealing with backlash and fallout and always wondering when the hammer is finally going to come down, all so I can barely make a living doing this shit. Add to that the way artists are being used and discarded thanks to AI 'art' and it all starts to feel overwhelming. I'm not at the point of giving up yet, but I am starting to look at job opportunities out in the real world because I don't know how much longer I can put up with the uncertainty of this career path. It really fucking wears a guy down over time.

Lastly, I am going to be taking a week long summer break at the start of next month because my mental is fucking shot and I need time to clear my head and relax. So when you don't see new posts from me during that time it is because I'm on vacation, not that I've given up on my patreon.

Lastly, a very heartfelt thank you to all of you who continue to support me and my work. I know we are living in crazy fucking times and none of us really know what tomorrow holds and I appreciate every single one of you who still wants to, and is able to put a few bucks every month to keeping this artist's dream alive. I hope I gain some new perspective during my vacation and I wish the best for each of you too.

With a heavy heart, and the faintest glimmer of optimism

-Dudebulge