Hey everyone~! Transparency time! (Patreon)

Wanted to say welcome to new people, hello long term patrons. You'll notice some updates to rewards as Patreon starts fulfilling rewards manually themselves (meaning I can create the perks and they do the works of shipping and handling so please make sure your address in the system is up to date!). Transparency, ironically considering the lawsuit with youtube over lack of transparency, is incredibly important to our team on Watts. Making sure you know how we are, what's coming down the pipeline as well as answering major questions I see from you guys so we answer the larger questions all at once instead of person by person. I want to make sure you know what you're supporting and why it's important, also just so you feel informed on WATTS UP! So I feel maybe a quarterly update to keep you guys filled in would be cool going forward, let us know what you think of that?

I (Amp) just wanted to pop in real quick and give some updates about life, content, the YouTube and Patreon. Currently we are going through a large lawsuit with the YouTube platform. In short, our content is treated as lesser because of topics even when larger creators are given a pass for controversial and "inappropriate" content. We are lied to, given no support by the platform and we have cases of blatant LGBTQ+ discrimination documented and, I hope, can share the full picture with you all at some point. For more info there are plenty of articles on the issue like this:  https://www.advocate.com/business/2019/8/14/eight-youtube-creators-sue-google-bias-against-lgbtq-content

This next two weeks is also Folsom in San Francisco, and because I hate free time, I am also moving apartments in the city, so I am doing my best to get everything handled.

BUT. That's not why you're here. What's happening and new with Patreon!?

There will also be other merch options yet to be added as well with more to come which I'm especially excited about. I will still be updating the patron only merch options for purchase on a regular basis so you guys get options for merch at the absolute minimum price possible <3

This next week we will be putting up an actual episode on YouTube *gasp* which I know has been a moment and there's good reason for it. We had a travel vlog behind the scenes of porn, a sponsored sex ed vid, and a fun kinky charades with Stephan and Kris that I was also advised we should refrain from because we need to keep a low profile while legal stuff happens. 

I hate that it's come to self censorship to keep the channel alive, but in good time I hope we get back to being ourselves uncensored on the platform.  So we are trying to be cautious while we deal with legal stuff. That said, this week's episode will be tame (enough) and I will start to edit the other episodes we had to can and worst case will just upload them here for you guys as I can.

Podcasts for 5 dollar and up patrons are still being filmed and should be out weekly, make sure to click the "podcast" tag on any episodes to get a list of all the podcasts we've shot. TOP patrons will also be asked for their topics for a podcast episode to help choose a podcast topic soon!  New perks are on their way as time allows. A blooper episode for 3$ and up is on it's way and much much more!

One last note on the lawsuit. t's incredibly frustrating to be fighting the very platform that's given us an audience, but we have the privilege to do so for those that don't have the power or voice for themselves. I know not everyone agrees with our decision to do it, but that's not why you stand up for a community. The platform (youtube) is unjust, unfair, unchecked and only after money, and we have so many examples that this is the case, yet they continue to ignore the issues and blatant discrimination of content. Worse, they provide no support or clarity of transparency leaving automation and biased "manual reviews" to run rampant. 

I want to just touch on Bolt really quick as we still get questions all the time about where he is, how he's doing and what's happened to him.  HES STILL ALIVE!! He's still doing well. He's busy and I can't speak for his want to shoot and edit content, just that he doesn't have the time to do so because he works probably more than I do (i know how is that possible?). He and I no longer live in the same city as well, which makes collaborating in the style we do on Watts The Safeword impossible.  Back in the early days of Patreon, when he didn't have time to shoot and edit Watts, he would take the lead here, but sadly he had less and less time for even that so I took over on patreon as well and you started seeing more frequent videos and posts as well as the planning of the podcast. ANYWAYS, all this to say, there is no bad or hard feelings and trips are being planned to go to Seattle in the future. Whether we shoot stuff or not depends, but I never want to make that an expectation because it would take advantage of our friendship and I value Bolt more than just creating content. So I hope you're ok with that answer, but I just want to make sure people don't think some sort of blowup has happened, because it hasn't. In fact, you should go follow him on his social medias and make sure you're still supporting him on or off the channel. He's on instagram, twitter, and has merch of his own. Please consider saying hi and letting him know you're thinking of him. :)  

Finally, thank you for supporting our channel. Whether here or on YouTube. No matter the amount. I know we don't answer every question or message every time (mostly it's just me because Kris doesn't always get tech), but I hope that doesn't come across as ungrateful, because I can't say thank you enough! Episodes like "looning", "wish reviews", and anything that has even the slightest bit of overhead and production value wouldn't be possible, LITERALLY, without your support. Thank you. 

Much Love,
Amp, Kristofer and Bolt!