CRITICAL UPDATE (WHIPLASH!)

So, oh wow. It’s hard to even know what to say. This caught fire way more than I ever thought or hoped. Being honest, this was my transition into a goodbye. I even sat down with a pro bono small business lawyer to assess the book and market value for the Thought Punks library in preparation.

And… yeah, no. Y’all were not allowing that.

I’ve paid off my immediate medical costs and bill down payments. I’m hunting for a cheap refurb phone right now as I write this. Even more astounding, Baba Yaga is organizing a stream-a-thon for April 24-27 to help me actually get on good footing with breathing room and stability. And OMG the generous people who’ve already offered sponsored matching donations… it’s too much. YOU ARE ALL TOO MUCH.

I wish this much love and more back to each and every one of you who’s pitched in, joined the stream-a-thon (you can sign up too if you’d like), given boosts, or said a kind word exactly when I needed it. Your understanding and hearts are too real and too kind. Immediate stress relief for me, but still plenty of road left to go towards the goals and giving me the best chance for school success. Can we keep the momentum going through the weekend and start building hype for the stream-a-thon? Very much believe in you (even if not always myself)!

Original Text

Right now I am sitting in clothes that are falling apart, watching bills stack up, with bike I can’t use and a stalled fundraiser. Thanks for the signal boosts and shares. I genuinely mean that. But visibility does not equal help, and a thousand eyes on a crisis does not stop the bleeding.

The fundraiser ground to a halt. Fighting just to cover immediate medical costs took everything I had, and while I was doing that, the rest of the ground collapsed underneath me. I am one bad break from irreversibly going under right now.

Everything at once. The medical bills. The bike unready for the road. The utilities. There is no triaging this. It is all on fire at the same time.

I cannot run a studio from inside a permanent survival emergency. I cannot start counseling school when my basic ability to literally keep myself alive is an open question. This is where I am.

That is why I am asking a question I genuinely never wanted to ask and don’t know the answer to: Does Thought Punks have a future?

Not a rhetorical question. A real one.

If support suddenly comes through, yes. If it doesn’t, here is the hard math: I won’t even be able to sustain a basic life. Whatever spoons I have will be all in on trying to hold on. So, Thought Punks closes. Completely.

The studio dies, counseling school dies, buried in the grave of my inability to stabilize and survive. The IP (Motif Story Engine, Vermillion Vespers, the entire catalog) will go up for liquidation. But that isn’t a strategy. It is a desperate measure to try and cover the immediate deficit, and I am pinning zero hopes on it. If the road runs out here, it all simply ends.

But I do not want it to end. I want to keep writing. I want to get through school. I want to still be here.

If you want that too, if you want to keep Thought Punks open and keep me alive enough to run it, the links are here. Use them. Share this. Share the fundraiser. Put in a good word for me (Rev).

[PayPal] | [Credit/Debit] | [Ko-Fi] | [DriveThruRPG]

I hope this isn’t my last Thought Punks weekend, but it may be. If it is, please know you were all dear to me and will live in my heart as long as I can hold on. I’ll cherish the keen conversations, fun interactions, and overall good vibes. All my love to you for letting me have this journey at all. It’s been a lovely dream.