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[unipacas]

A Letter from Julia Baritz

To the Pillowfort Community, 

Transparency from myself and my Staff is part of the foundation that makes Pillowfort so great. The news I am about to share is not easy. But it is important for you, our community, to know what is going on.

Pillowfort has always relied on the generosity of our users. We are proud to be user funded. Over the years we have been able to operate using the funds from our 2018 Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $60,000, in addition to ongoing payments and donations from you.  I am extremely grateful for the support we continue to receive. 

However, despite cost-cutting efforts, we have struggled to break even in revenue since 2021. The funds from the 2018 Kickstarter have been depleted to cover operating costs and to ensure our Staff receives the compensation they deserve.  I will never ask my Staff to work without being compensated.  

We are now at a point where Pillowfort is in danger of exhausting all current finances in the next six months if we continue the current funding/spending trajectory. This is not hyperbole. This is the unfortunate reality of what the platform is facing. If we do not change course now I will have to end contracts with our entire team soon and, eventually, Pillowfort would no longer be able to operate. 

For the past two years I have not compensated myself for my work on Pillowfort. My commitment to Pillowfort is not for personal gain. I was fortunate enough in my privilege to have adequate savings to cover my own personal expenses for a while. I sacrificed what would have been my own compensation in order to ensure my third-party contractors (Staff) could be paid. 

I take full responsibility for the current state of Pillowfort. It has been challenging being a first-time business owner in such turbulent times. Looking back now there are ways I would have managed things differently with the knowledge I have now.  If we can recover from this, I will continue applying what I have learned these last several years to make sure we do not reach this point again. 

I knew Pillowfort was going to be a difficult enterprise due to the very things that I believe make us great: we don’t have shareholders or venture-capital investments (which often leads to shifts away from a company’s primary mission as they are directed to achieve revenue and profit growth to benefit investors); we don’t compromise your privacy by selling user data to third parties; and we don’t host third-party ads that would disrupt your experience. We also pay much higher payment processing fees because we host adult content. Compared to other social media sites that have millions of dollars in corporate investments backing them, things are much harder for us. 

In spite of every hurdle we face,  I truly believe  Pillowfort deserves to exist. I believe in Pillowfort’s mission and I am determined for this platform to succeed. I am not going to abandon this platform until every possible option is exhausted. That is why I have decided it will be necessary to initiate another, more ambitious fundraiser. Our goal will be to raise $25,000 by December 31, 2023. 

This amount is based on the following: We are at risk of the IRS reclassifying Pillowfort as a hobby instead of a business because Pillowfort has not been profitable for several years. If we are reclassified as a hobby this would prohibit us from deducting expenses which will make our financial situation more dire.  The $25,000 amount will make up for our existing year-to-date losses as well as cover our projected expenses (Staff Compensation & Operating costs) for the remainder of the year. 

Raising this amount will also buy our staff the time needed to complete the following projects geared toward increased long-term revenue: 

Finish Progressive Web App development to allow Pillowfort to reach a much broader audience on mobile platforms.

Add the ability for users to pay to promote their posts.

Add the ability for users to gift Pillowfort Premium to other users. 

Once these features are in place, Pillowfort will be in a better position to bring in reliable revenue than we have been recently and will hopefully be on the road to continued self-sustainability.

If you appreciate that Pillowfort is beholden to its users instead of shareholders– if you believe in Pillowfort’s core principles of user privacy control and freedom of expression and creativity–  then I ask you to consider supporting this fundraising effort.

We will post more information soon regarding rewards for reaching our goal (yes, we will be offering a profile badge to donors, and more!), so stay tuned for details. This time around we are also planning to have rewards geared toward users who help spread the word about us too. We understand that not everyone can support us financially right now.

If you can’t donate to the fundraiser there are still many ways to help us. Here are some examples: 

Talk about us to your friends and family.

Write about or make a video about us. (Psst: Use #Pillowfort on other platforms like X, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and Bluesky so we can find your posts!) 

Invite your friends, family, and colleagues to Pillowfort using your Invitation Keys to allow them to join immediately. 

I am forever grateful for your past and continued support. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this message. Let’s work together to make Pillowfort a robust site for years to come.

Best Wishes, 

Julia Baritz Founder & Lead Architect

[unipacas]

Thank you for sharing your Spider-Man AU fanzine with us! Your style is so amazingly cute! 💕💕💕

Really wish I was more aware of Miguel and just Spider-Man in general before (stuck mostly on the Avengers/Iron Man side of the house) cause I would have been there with ya gushing on them from Edge of Time alone (seriously need more EoT PeterxMiguel love)!

Thanks again and take care!!

wahh thank you so much for reading and going out of your way to send such a sweet message!! 🥺😭

edge of time is sooo good and i rly encourage ppl to look up the playthroughs on youtube because the pete/miguel in that game is the slowburn romance i didn't ask for but took over my life anyway LOL! im happy you like it too >w<

thank YOU for the nice words and take care as well! ♥

#ask #i am still here!! just had a rough month and not rly in the right headspace to make art but i hope i can get back into it soon ToT

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please will you spare some spiderdads 🥺🤲

HELL YEAH HERE U GO ANON!!! girldads (:

#across the spiderverse #spiderdads #peter b parker #miguel o'hara #gabriella o’hara #mayday parker #spider-man #fanart #my draws #dilf romance....................... #old men yaoi............... #AU where they arent spider-man ig???? just girldads doin their best???? #long post

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@ all the hobie enjoyers blowing up my inbox this is 4 u!!!! <3

#across the spiderverse #hobie brown #spider-punk #spider-man #miles morales #miguel o'hara #fanart #my draws #i wanted to draw another big jacket. forgive me #there were SO many of u who wanted more hobie HAHA sorry i couldnt do all of the specific requests!! #I know there r mistakes im just so lazy im not going to fix them! thanks #anyways @ the ppl who requested hobie playing guitar + hobie/miles here u go #also the ppl who wanted hobie to make miguel's life a living hell. you are all correct

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For the request thing, would love to see Peni in your style! Only if you want to. Love your art btw <3

thanks so much! i've been meaning to draw her properly, i hope she'll do lots more in the next movie ☺ i love her big jacket!!

#across the spiderverse #peni parker #miles morales #spider noir #spider-man #fanart #my draws #peni and miles big jacket squad.... #only quick messy art now. i am busy. but i want to draw spider-manz 😭

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lots of people wanted more hobie + spider teens so i am here to serve!!!

double date :3

#across the spiderverse #hobie brown #miles morales #pavitr prabhakar #gwen stacy #gayatri singh #spider-man #fanart #my draws #theyre doing that barbie meme in the last panel btw LOL

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hobie on the brain...🎸⚡🤘

#across the spiderverse #hobie brown #spider-punk #mayday parker #miguel o'hara #gwen stacy #peter b parker #pavitr prabhakar #spider-man #meows morales #fanart #my draws #i love drawing hobie he's so much fun (': #im sooo tired and lazy. i cut mad corners in these #soweeee

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double date :3

#across the spiderverse #gwen stacy #gayatri singh #pavitr prabhakar #miles morales #fanart #my draws #spider-man #they just watched barbie or something #it's a date between gwen/gayatri and pav/miles btw. just to be clear #LOLOL #i wanted to draw gayatri :3 i love her design so much!

[unipacas]

You’re art is very just and I love the little chibi art, it’s so silly and cute. Do you have any art tips? Or like how do you make you’re faces expressive?

Omg this is so nice tysm 😭💕 i actually am v proud of my expressions so this means a lot!

Idk if I can give you any helpful advice waah, i can only say that i have very specific visions for how i want expressions to come across and I'll often redraw them over and over again until they feel right?? The key is to exaggerate EVERYTHING, whether it's making things super big or small, depending on the kind of emotion you want to convey. I usually go into things with a pretty clear idea of what i want the mood/energy to be, so it helps to plan! And dont worry too much about whether it looks realistic 😂

I'd also recommend looking at diff kinds of art (i take a lot of inspiration from manga and old cartoons) and experiment with what feels right for you :3 i also find that adding little squiggles or line effects add a lot to expressing energy in your art! So just go wild and have fun with it! Good luck and thank u for the message 🥺🫶

#ask #i dont rly know how to give advice idk what im doing either hahs #i usually just channel the energy i want conveyed and black out im sorry. this is so unhelpful 😂

[unipacas]

according to the artbook these are miguel's faves and that's so cute to me......🥹💕

#across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #jessica drew #ben reilly #margo kess #lego spider-man #spider-man #across the spiderverse spoilers #fanart #my draws #i included lego even tho he wasnt in the artbook. bc we all know he's miguel's number one LOL #i was also surprised to see that margo is supposed to be like. on his main squad?? which is so cute to me?? #she betrayed him 😂😂😂 left him for a cooler clique #im also SO into miguel/ben maybe i'll draw them lol i think they are so funny #i guess lyla is there too #lyla #HAHA

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trying to be brave and share more doodles/WIPs here, i’ve been redrawing some spider-man 2099 comic panels in my AU and im having a blast LOL....his mom 😭😭💀

more sketches under the cut bc i don’t want this post to be super long lol

ok ty for looking, or sorry that u did LOL

#his mom....being a spidey stan and having a shrine #she just like me fr #i love the 2099 comic sooo much it's such a wild ride. he doesnt want any of this #im like....kind of playing around with maybe making miguel his own mini zine?? DO NOT HOLD ME TO THIS #but i have enough material at this point to actually do it......lies down #i love him so dearly.....shawty a lil unpleasant. a lil offputting #ANYWAYS READ HIS COMIC IT'S SO GOOD. IF U CAN LOOK PAST THE THINGS THAT DIDNT AGE WELL LOL #hey uni are all your sketches this messy/bad? ya <3 #but to be fair isnt my finished work also messy and bad <3 take care now! #my draws #spider-man #doodles

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ur Spider-Man art is so so cool I love how u do expressions so so much oh my god

Thank you so much omg!! 🥺❤️ i love drawing silly little faces the most, so I'm happy to hear this ☺️

#ask

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wademotions on youtube dubbed this and did SUCH an amazing job, look at it!! 🥺💕

need them to be bffs and i will keep manifesting idc 😂❤💜

#the personality.....the distinct voices.....chefs kiss #I LOVE IT WHEN PPL IMPROV IT ADDS SO MUCH MORE TO THE EXPERIENCE AAA....

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Here ya go

https://youtu.be/4Y5SUrkBxtE

Yay, thank you!! It's awesome to be featured alongside so many cool artists 🥹 I'll link it below so people can see, they did a great job!

#this was the person! PHEW!! 😂 #i loved this! #ask #i made it onto the thumbnail too........confused but flattered!!!

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AY YO YOUR COMIC MADE IT INTO A COMIC DUB!

Oooh can you link me? :3 i recall giving permission for someone to dub, hopefully it's the same person! 😅

#if it's someone who DIDNT get permission then...well....thats too bad HAHA #ask

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need them to be bffs and i will keep manifesting idc 😂❤💜

#across the spiderverse #miles morales #miles g morales #spider-man #prowler #fanart #my draws #across the spiderverse spoilers #i like the idea of them having diff colored eyes bc their moms do!!! #ive seen ppl draw G with green eyes which i love but i just followed the yellowish hue from the movie :3 mightve just been the lighting but #anyways i love them!!! ive been putting off finishing these until i got the artbook and then i STILL didnt rly follow the artbook #such is life #i think that G would still be a nice boy but he has to be much more assertive bc of how his universe is ):

[unipacas]

I wonder if you can do HoloFang?

i didnt know this was their ship name until i looked it up! how cute 🥺i love them......💛

#across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #lyla #holofang #spider-man #fanart #my draws