The Magpie's Nest

God bless the inventor of Ko-fi, my heart aches when I see my friends or the creators getting me through these last few months having trouble but even a $2 Patreon is $24 a year and those add up fast. Three bucks one time with no obligation on either side, just a “I saw the link on the same day I got a great coupon, so it evens out”? A nice way to feel like I'm doing something to not just be the proverbial free rider mooching off this unofficial system.

Look big windfalls like my tax refund I am morally obligated to put towards refilling my rainy day fund or saving up for a laptop before this one croaks, little windfalls I refuse to feel guilty about passing on. With the ability to do so anonymously I can even defeat my anxiety about people wondering why I gave to one person and not another. (really I have to keep it random because if I start trying to weigh need against need I end up getting all weird about whether I have the right to spend anything that isn't strictly necessary and I am not going back there)

The only thing is it uses paypal meaning I get about 3 receipts including one that lists a recipient name that isn't the one on the Ko-fi. Now after the first time I learned the wording so I could toss it into my records folder without looking at it, and its not like I can remember names when I want to, but I worry that people might not realize that even if Ko-fi is discrete, Paypal is handing their legal name out. There are so many reasons why someone might not want to have their legal name out there from dead names to stage names to simple privacy.

I assume it falls under the usual unspoken rule of "I see your paypal name, I am looking away"; but I worry about everything, especially with it being used for the first time by a lot of people, so maybe the moral obligation goes the other way? I should be the one to give them a heads up? Or is that putting them in a bad spot by making them acknowledge that I already saw it?

I suppose I could try to put that concern in a tumblr post and hope it gets seen by people considering/using ko-fi. concerns:

• Is it too close to vague blogging? because I have a rule about that


• I have a small follower count, would it seem too directed at anyone I have donated to, coming across as "I know your dead name" defeating the point of not contacting them directly?


• In the unlikely event it the post does get attention, would it risk advertising a weapon for unsavory types who could use it to get the legal name of anyone who has their ko-fi link posted


• Is it going to make anyone I haven't donated to think I don't judge their need worthy? Like here I can make it clear that its not by prefacing with my hang ups, financial situation, and that I really only do it like twice a month is okay. Tumblr isn't the time or place for stuff that messy/personal for me. Hell just posting directly instead of scheduling is messy for me on Tumblr.

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the Archive of Our Own has won the 2019 Hugo Award in the category of Best Related Work! This is the first time an OTW project has won — or been a finalist for — a Hugo Award!
"All fanwork, from fanfic to vids to fanart to podfic, centers the idea that art happens not in isolation but in community. And that is true of the AO3 itself. We’re up here accepting, but only on behalf of literally thousands of volunteers and millions of users, all of whom have come together and built this thriving home for fandom, a nonprofit and non-commercial community space built entirely by volunteer labor and user donations, on the principle that we needed a place of our own that was not out to exploit its users but to serve them."~from Naomi Novik's acceptance speech

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Come on over and share your fandom (or rather fics thereof) with me in the comments.