Interviewed by fan

Here's a special something! I was interviewed by a lovely reader named Elliot with really interesting questions to answer to for their research paper, back in September 2019. I thought I could share it with you here, just in case you'd be curious. Here goes!

1. What motivated you to start writing your webcomic?

I started my own webcomic because I was reading and loving a few of them already, back in the day (around 2008-2009). Many of those webcomics, if not all, had queer representation in them. Heck, one of them was called "I was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates Out of Space". Around 2010, while in art school, I was living an interesting kind of lifestyle, and chose to start sharing parts of it through a comic of my own, "Go Get a Roomie!" 

2. What was the internet landscape like when you started, and how has the internet changed since then?

I had a small following on deviantArt at that time, and began publishing little strips of my little webcomic there, knowing it would be welcomed in all of its playful humor and naked bits. LGBTQ+ content was already an accepted thing at that time, especially on these sorts of platforms. It was not as diverse, perhaps, in its content on sex or gender, nor as precise in its terms and phrases as nowadays. Diversity in characters, and their many colors and shapes, also grew as years went on. Webcomics, being so connected to the internet, closely followed those trends. And that was something that I have greatly appreciated myself when I discovered webcomics for the first time: I could read stories that followed a more diverse crowd, and some that I could relate to... unlike what better known medias would show, like hollywood movies. This was also a big reason as to why I needed to express my own story through comics.

3. Has this change impacted the content of your webcomic, or the way in which you share it with fans?

As mentioned before, webcomics are closely linked to the internet and its social platforms. Unless a creator purposefully blocks contact between themselves and their readers through social medias or comments (which is a choice to respect), there will always be communication between the creator, the comic, and its readers. Whether it is consciously or unconsciously. If I were to start Go Get a Roomie! over again, it would not go in the same direction as it went, and I would have not talked about certain things, certain characters, the same way as I did back then. Knowledge and information on trans people were not as open and public as they are now, for example. Nor was the internet so strict when mistakes were made when talking about these matters. It is, I think, to each creator to find their balance in this medium. What to take from the internet and its many voices, and what to leave to hear our own voice.

4. How would you describe your fanbase?

At its core, I find my fanbase absolutely amazing, supportive, and caring. Sometimes the caring side can take a turn, and heavily criticize a page that they took personally, or find that it is not suitable as is. But I believe it stems from a deep care they have for the medium, and a desire to find comfort in it, or be the best it can be. From what I've seen so far, however, most of the community trusts me and my creativity to take whichever direction I choose. And that, I find, is extremely humbling. And encouraging!

That, and it's thanks to them that I can live off my passion, through platforms like Patreon.

5. Do fans reach out to you? If so, what are some of the most common reasons they do? What do they want to tell / ask you? And do you take the time to respond? Why / why not?

Aside from the occasional readers who notify me of malicious ads running on my website, most reach out to me through emails, or twitter, to thank me, or let me know of their enjoyment from reading my comics. The ones I personally love most are longer emails that explain how and why Go Get a Roomie! have changed their lives for the better, how it may have helped them to find themselves, love oneself. Those will make me cry, of joy.

I may not have the time to respond to everyone, but I do take the time to read, at the very least, all "fanmails" sent my way, and usually reply a heartfelt thank you when touching words are shared. 

6. How has having a Patreon changed the way you interact with your fans and with the comic?

I have never thought about how Patreon might change the way I go with my comic work, apart from maybe the few moments when I need to update my Patreon and my work on comics has to wait an hour or two. 

There is a change in how much I share publicly, via social platforms. With Patreon, the whole concept is to give to people who donate something exclusive, that the general public might not have access to. To be frank, sometimes it's a little annoying, as an internet creator who has the habit of putting every little doodle on deviantart, twitter or tumblr, and want it as spread out and seen as possible. But at the same time, exclusive content is how one can best reward its patrons, and it's a matter of accepting that as a fair trade. 

I also use a less thought-out speech on Patreon, as I might do here. I find it a great platform to have more "friendly" dialogue with people who go out their way to support you and your passion. It creates a more intimate interaction with a more specific group of people than, say, twitter, where conversations can go out of hand quicker, just because it is less predictable with whom you are speaking with.

7. what was the story behind the kickstarter? What did it mean for you to ask for money from people who’d previously enjoyed your work for free?

Kickstarter, like any other similar crowdfunding platforms, gives you the chance to publish your own creation without passing through third parties. It is a direct deal with the people who financially support your project, a deal based on trust.

Asking for funds to print Go Get a Roomie! in physical books was not difficult for me, the choice to give money to the project was entirely up to the person, and if they wanted to continue consuming the comic for free online, there was nothing from stopping them. 

The part that is challenging is living up to the promises made in terms of crowdfunding rewards. There is the content you promise, and the estimated time you promise them for. The first kickstarter, for example, failed to fulfill the promise it made in terms of time of delivery. It was a first experience for me, and the people who were there to help carry out that project, and many mistakes were made during that time. The second kickstarter was much smoother, as many lessons were learned from the last experience.

8. you do meet-ups with your fans. What inspired you to do this? Has meeting them changed anything about the way you interact with GGAR?

I do not remember the first time I suggested a meetup with fans. It might have started when a webcomic colleague and I were hanging out (in around 2012), and that colleague had the idea of a meetup with our readers, which happened to be very fun for everyone. From that moment on, whenever I travel somewhere, and have the time for a "GGaR meetup", I make one happen! It has been a wonderful experience every time.

Speaking to a fan in real life, as intimately, is very different from talking online. It has also taught me, in its early days, that there were boundaries to find and respect. That too much intimacy and bursts of friendliness might lead to blurred lines that were crossed once or twice. I had to find my comfort zone and limits, and listen to others', and that was a very important lesson to learn.

9. How do you think inviting people to submit fan art for GGAR contributes to the community / fanbase?

As someone who absolutely loved making fanart of my own, and started building followers that way on the internet, it was an equally absolute joy to see fanarts pop up for my own webcomic. And I do not see myself doing anything but encouraging this.

When asking for Guest Strips, for people to submit their fancomics of Go Get a Roomie! or my other webcomic, Headless Bliss, so I can publish them on my websites while I take a vacation, it also helps me greatly. The artists behind the guest strip has their art and links shared to a wider audience, through my website, and I get a break for a week or two, while still updating my websites with content.

I've done this myself for other webcomics, and it was both a joy to see my guest strip appear for a webcomic I loved, and have new readers come over to check out my webcomic through promoted links.

10. You feature a lot of queer characters in your webcomic. Do you identify as queer in any way? If so, has this had an impact on the kind of content you create?

I enjoy the phrase "spiritually queer". I feel like being queer is deeply rooted within me, as if it was a mission given to me at birth. But equally as important as it being a mission, it is just how I enjoy living as, and is as natural as it is for me to enjoy beer or tea. 

This side of me greatly impacts my creative work, especially so in Go Get a Roomie!, where it is so interwoven with the story and the characters. Although it is less explicit, there is also queerness in my other webcomic, Headless Bliss, and will most probably be this way for all future works of mine. Especially in a world where, I feel, it is so lacking in it.

11. Do you think your comic has created a community? If so, in what ways?

Yes. Through Go Get a Roomie!, a community has formed in a way I couldn't have imagined. In my personal vision, the community that lives around this comic is a beautiful echo of how the comic lives itself. There is love, respect, humor, and also insecurities, fears, search for oneself, search for loving oneself, and loving others. All of this is present in both the comic, and the people reading the comic in how they speak about it, and to each other, and to me. Almost as if we were all an echo of each other.