Regarding Galaxy of Scum (Patreon)

Ok, so... there's something that needs to be addressed. And apologies in advance, but this will be devoid of sexiness, and I put on my sarcasm shock collar in the interest of being professional.

Boy, do I love Wizards of the Coast right now.

*Bzzzt*. Good, it's working.

If you're a fan of Galaxy of Scum I ask that you approach this with an open mind and don't be hasty to react, please.

For those who don’t know: Galaxy of Scum (or GoS) is another Patreon that has posted remarkably similar content these past few months. The creator is a Patron and Discord member of Yuki: Space Assassin. On first viewing, it looked like a Jabba/Samus crossover comic, art, and audio series. I didn’t dig much further because I try not to cross-pollinate ideas. When I’m writing NSFW sci-fi, I avoid NSFW sci-fi, so I don’t subconsciously steal ideas.

I'm sure that integrity flows both ways.

*Bzzzzt*. Ow.

His Patreon's grown a lot since then, and his presence online has expanded. And in talking to some members and collaborators, some things have come to my attention. Similarities to Yuki and references to me, specifically in chats. Let me clear up some mistruths:

1. We’re affiliated.

False. I'm not saying this is a misconception GoS’ creator has perpetuated, but a few mutual members (and artists he’s worked with after me) thought so when the topic was broached. A few have assumed our projects are a shared universe.

2. I helped with Galaxy of Scum’s audio.

Half-true. He asked me for audio advice early on and said he was thinking about making “ASMR” content in addition to his commissioned artwork. I pointed him in the direction of a few good sources. That’s about it.

Also, the audio he produces doesn’t qualify as “ASMR.” But “audio fiction,” like Yuki: Space Assassin. I might’ve paid closer attention if I knew he intended to go in that direction.

3. We've shared our plans so we don’t create any similarities.

True, but that was not the main topic. Similarities in his project had been brought to my attention by members and collaborators of mine. So I talked to Gos’ creator again in confidence to address his lean on my audios and artwork as reference material and talked about solutions. Encouraging him to seek other sources of inspiration to avoid similarities.

His reaction was excessively apologetic, and he deleted from his Twitter the audiogram example I gave him, in the middle of our conversation, despite not so much as insinuating I wanted him to do that. My request was for attribution on Patreon and Reddit--which he did, and for him to take steps to avoid copycat work in the future. Yuki can remain an influence, but I'd rather it not be his template.

Since then, he’s commissioned four pieces (comics, art) that don’t follow the plan he told me about and directly reference Yuki audios and artwork. Hence why I'm making this post public. I already tried to address this privately.

4. We’re influenced by the same things, similarities are unavoidable.

Half-true. We are influenced by NSFW roleplaying and Star Wars. There are going to be some unavoidable tropes. But there are similarities too numerous and too specific to be unconscious creative choices.

Attached to this text post is a PDF listing these similarities I’ve noticed after joining his Patreon and viewing all his content; please check it out.

The amount of references is… irregular.

Summary

I'm not asking GoS to remove any content, and my goal with this post is not to punch down. He was very reactionary after our last discussion, and I imagine he will be after this (if you're reading this, please hear me out here on this next part). My request is the same as before: that he take steps to avoid copying my work for future content and broaden his sphere of influences.

But more so my intention with this post is to bring all of this to the attention of our followers who may not be aware.

I also do not want to discourage anyone influenced by my work. I have many followers who've pursued original projects with some similarities (not nearly as many as GoS) who share their work on our Discord.

Let me vulnerable for a sec:

Yuki: Space Assassin took many years to get off the ground and it stands on the shoulders of many past failures and triumphs over fourteen years of writing and editing online, schooling for my craft, writing and editing podcasts, and learning how to write good smut.

Yuki was my fuck it project. I made it on the tail of a soul crushing project backed by a production company. I pitched it and got commissioned to produce. Meetings and notes passed back and forth about terrible gimmicks I could employ, genre accessibility, broad appeal. I hated the entire process, but I did everything they asked, they passed on it anyway. It was a labor of love, my idea, and they owned it.

So I went "fuck it". I'll make something nobody might like, but who cares? It'll be on my terms and I wouldn't answer to producers or editors. It won't be owned by some company, it'll be something I can call my own.

And as Kitten can attest, I sat on that script for one and a half years. Rewriting, retooling, making demos, researching online, studying old roleplays. Until, finally, sending Episode 1.

Beyond the audio and writing, there was even more time to endure to gain a following as I have now. I was overjoyed to have one Patron, let alone the ones I have now. I started with nothing but word of mouth and battling upstream against algorithms biased against small creators.

It’s a path my closest friends, including KittenVox, know all too well. The fact I’ve found an audience that has embraced it is nothing short of incredible and miraculous.

I ask you all to please be civil. But you can probably draw your own conclusions as to how I feel about the hasty repackaging of my writing after seeing its success, my years of work, and especially that of my collaborators.