I Want To Make Sure Everyone Actually Understands The Severity Of This.

The notes are broken. This is what tumblr is all about apparently.

Hello. I’m sorry for begging again but my situation is pretty dire.

Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, stage 4. It came out of nowhere and was caught by sheer luck on an unrelated test. Stage four means my kidneys are shriveled up and almost dead - currently at only 17% working condition. When it drops to 10%, which is stage 5 (prognosis is within a year) I will require a kidney transplant and/or dialysis. You can not live without it, and prognosis for dialysis/kidney transplant patients are 10 to 20 years. I’m very young and I really would like to continue having a peaceful life and work on my art. I’ve had many hardships before - I’ve fundraised to get money for rent because of a homophobic attack I’ve suffered, I’ve fundraised to escape my country, all within 2-3 years. I’m really grateful for all the help I’ve gotten and I believe in people’s kindness.

Please, if you’re able, share or pitch in to my gfm campaign made by my fiancé. Link in the reblog.

My comms are also still open if you’d like to help in that way and get some art.

Fans and Creators of Webtoons!

I want to talk about Line Webtoon’s new “Super Like” program and why it sucks for literally everyone.

What is a “Super Like?”

According to their website, super likes are a new way for webtoon creators to monetize their work. Readers can pay real money to buy a super like for their favorite webtoon, and the creator gets a fraction of that money.

Wait, a fraction? Not all of it?

Yep! Webtoon skims quite a chunk off the top.

30% goes to Webtoon, and then another 30% of that amount goes to the payment processor.

So what do creators get? 49 cents for every dollar their fans try to give them. Literally half.

That’s pretty ludicrous, right?

Interestingly enough, they announced that they had a “tipping system” in the works in the same email they ended the CANVAS creator rewards program (and many comic creators livelihoods)

They said tipping system in their social media posts too

Obviously this tipping system is referring to super likes right? They say they’re going to do a tipping system, and then this rolls out.

But “tips” are not something that buisinesses can just take a cut of, at least not in the United States. According to the Department of Labor, it is illegal for any amount of tips from customers to go to an employer.

Webtoon is trying to walk back this language, of course. You won’t find the word “tip” anywhere on their website page explaining how it works. But those old social media posts are still up.

This is all pretty scummy

But wait, it gets worse!

They removed the Patreon button at the end of episodes and replaced it with this:

Yep! That’s right. Webtoon really said “what if we replace the tipping system that already existed with a shittier one where you only get half of it 🥺”

Unsurprisingly, they faced a ton of backlash.

Webtoon was quick to point out that the Patreon button was only removed from the end of episodes and there was still a button on the creator’s homepage. But of course, the end of episodes is where that button matters the most.

Creators know this. Webtoon knows this.

Eventually, after days of continued complaints from creators on social media, Webtoon went on damage control mode and announced that they would be putting the Patreon button back at the end of episodes—

As of right now (May 11th, 2024) the Patreon button is still not back.

***

So…Super likes are “super totally not a tip.”

But if they aren’t tips…what are they?

Well there’s a bit more to the story of what a super like actually is. After announceing the program, the app updated to reveal a new ranking category on the front page

When you click on this ranking tab, you can see that there is now both a daily and weekly ranking

If you’re a CANVAS creator, you know how difficult and seemingly random it can be to get your comic on the front page of the app—so my immediate worry was that comic creators were going to buy superlikes on their own series to get in this ranking and…

Yep, that’s already happening.

But why would webtoon even allow creators to buy superlikes for themselves? How does that make sense?

Surely goading desperate creators into buying superlikes can’t be that lucrative, can it?

No. I think there’s another, possibly even worse reason.

Fandom wars

If you’re into music, you probably are aware of how common it is for super fans to make concerted efforts to get their favorite musician to the top of the billboard charts. They coordinate over social media, stream music on loop as soon as an album drops to inflate the numbers, buy albums in bulk to increase sales, all so that they can say their fav is number one. It’s especially common among K-pop fans and swifties

This phenomena is well documented

Fans of Webtoons can be just as ravenous as K-pop, so I think Webtoon is trying to capitalize on this. They want to encourage fandom war and make money. That’s why they have this ranking. Not only can super fans brag about their favorite series topping the charts but they can wear their super like proudly on their reader profile that webtoon will be rolling out soon.

They’re just testing this super like stuff out on CANVAS right now, but once this starts up with originals? Oh. It will be a very profitable, very terrible mess.

(Oh and I mean profitable for webtoon, not creators, in case that wasn’t clear.)

***

Anyway, if you’re a creator, do yourself a favor and don’t enable super likes.

If you’re a fan of a webcomic, just donate to that creators patreon or Ko-Fi to show your support. Don’t give a red cent to webtoon because they did not do any of the work to make the series you love, alright?

Also check out my webtoon haha.

Very important announcement! My top surgery gofundme is live as of today! This is a culmination of my ongoing quest of three years to try to get this transition thing going, and I'm very excited to be finally taking concrete steps towards it. Because I'm not gonna lie, life sucks without it.

GOFUNDME LINK HERE

Please share this post around! If my art has ever made you smile or touched your heart in some way, please know that supporting this surgery goal is the best thing you could ever do for me in return. Thank you for reading, and have a good day.

A short comic I made about my experiences as a seasonal worker, and the way places change you.

Prints & PDF

List of Palestinian Evacuation Fundraisers

Last Update: 05/06/2024

All fundraisers have been looked into by me or vetted by others. If anyone notices issues in validity with any of the fundraisers listed please let me know. Funding updates daily!

Fadi Al-Sharif and family ($10,439/$62,500 goal)

Hayam Taha and family (€8,718/€30,000 goal)

Deyaa and family (€7,764/€20,000 goal)

Fatima Alshanti (kr5,085 SEK/kr150,000 goal)

Shahed Ghazi and family ($6,776 CAD/$94,838 goal)

Little Yusuf and family (€5,960/€85,000 goal)

Sara & Huda Hajjaj and family ($240/$15,000 goal)

Mohammed JH Shamia's family (kr20,168 SEK/kr250,000 goal)

Maram Ahmed and family (€1,032/€30,000 goal)

Hamza Almofty and family ($3,772/$35,000 goal)

Mahmoud Jomaa (€400/€10,000 goal)

Dr. Mohammed Shara ($445/$20,000 goal)

Abdulrahman Alshanti and family (kr137,402 SEK/kr350,000 goal)

Besan Almabhouh's family (€5,767/€25,000 goal)

Said Tanani and brothers (€30,935/€50,000 goal)

Donia Tanani and family (€67,538/€100,000 goal)

Hussein Shamiya, his pregnant wife, and son ($8,042/$40,000 goal)

Mohammed Shamia and family ($15,020/$35,000 goal)

Amro Bakr & kids Bakir and Tala (€1,772/€15,000 goal)

Almadhoun family ($18,365/$80,000 goal)

Child Mohammed (€6,420/€10,000 goal)

Sana'a and family (£19,668/£50,000 goal)

Noha Ayyad and family ($23,050/$95,160 goal)

Nazmi Mwafi and family ($5,151/65,000 goal)

Ibrahim Almofty and family ($535/$40,000)

Hamdi Hejazi and family ($10,236/$25,000)

Mohammed and family ($7,620/$25,000)

A small comic about Palestine I created to appeal to more passive family and friends

Anyways if you have the money I urge you to donate to Ibraheem Hadi, a Palestinian who contacted me and whom I promised to highlight in relation to this comic:

gofundme.com

Donate to Help me and my family to evacuate from Gaza, organized by Devlin Downs

Title: "Urgent Relief: Support Ibrahim's Family in Gaza Amidst Devastation" … Devlin Downs needs your support for Help me and my family to

Otherwise there is always a need for eSims to keep Gazans connected

Peace and love

couple or single sketches for 200$

dm if interested!

hi. go buy esims for gaza. go preorder a kufiya from hirbawi. buy insulin for palestinian diabetics who need that help. if you live in the states use this to email your reps (this takes maybe 5 seconds to do). check out this massive list of resources where you can educate yourself in a meaningful and actionable way even if you don't have the financial means right now. from the river to the sea palestine will be free. 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸