Hello,

I'm going to do something I try not to normally do and discuss numbers on here and on my other subscription platform. I want to say up front I'm not complaining that I'm "owed" support or anything, but I do have some questions for going forwards.

I've been pleased that, when combining my two subscription platforms together I have, for the most part, been able to match what I was doing on Patreon in terms of subscriber numbers and amount pledged. That's a number I'm happy with as well, don't get me wrong, I'm not ever going to be wealthy doing this, but most months I am able to do a bit better than breaking even which is all I really want. Obviously it's nice to the the numbers go up and I appreciate the extra support a lot as it means I can splash out a little more, but there is a number in my head where I feel... safe.

One thing about working for yourself is that you don't really have a stable income. The amount I get paid at the end of a month can fluctuate a lot. It's something that is always in the back of my head and a constant source of anxiety. I worry that one day I might wake up and you'll all be gone!

So, over the last month or so my numbers have been in decline. Not a lot, I'm not hitting panic stations, but it has been worrying to me. My instinct when this happens is to work harder and write more, it is the stories that bring you all here after all. But when I see a slight decline I start to get into my own head and question what people really want to read.

A story that catches on with audiences can do a lot for my subscriber numbers. "Livy's New Family" and "Sam's Vacation" were the two best examples of that happening. On the flipside, if a story isn't hitting with audiences then numbers start to drop. I notice that sometimes, especially the longer a story goes.

So my question for all of you... What do you guys and gals want to see here? This can be suggestions for new things to create, new story themes, things you particularly like that I don't do or things you definitely want me to keep doing. Literally, any feedback is good feedback right now because my first priority is giving you all what you want :) 

So, yeah, leave a comment or send me a message and I will look at all suggestions, advice, etc.

--- 

The other thing I wanted to talk about is that I will be going on a one week holiday starting on the 15th of this month. I'm still looking at options for what I'm going to be doing with my writing during that time. I could continue my regular upload schedule with updates to the usual two stories but I'm also thinking that I might make it a little special and release two exclusive stories that week instead. We'll see. I don't intend to be out of contact and I will still be doing some writing whilst I relax (believe it or not, I've been encouraged to do that by my therapist!) so if you need me I'll still be available.

Just a short update and a question to you all today. Please do leave a comment about what you want, I will take all advice on board.

Stay padded!

Elfy

Hi everyone.

Recently, Northshore (the company who make Megamaxs, if you haven't tried them, do yourself a favour and get some!) started a new account on Twitter. Alongside their usual account they have started a NorthshoreABDL one. When they did so they stated their aim was to de-stigmatise diapers. They talked about how those that WANT to wear diapers are just as important and valuable as those that NEED to wear them. They've then created a cute group of furry superhero characters (their group name is "The Pack" which is very clever considering they are mascots of a diaper company) and have started to reach out to the community in different ways.

It feels quite... big. Northshore are a medical diaper company, not an ABDL one. This might be the first time a medical diaper company has not only discussed ABDLs but actively encouraged us and jumped into the community with both feet. I've always wondered how much of medical diaper companies sales come from us, clearly Northshore think it's enough that we are worth interacting with directly.

Could they be the first of many? Or are they a one-off? Will we see Tena stands at CapCon? Abena posting art of their OC? Molicare creating fun diapers?

Personally, I doubt we'll see more taking the plunge, but I don't actually think it matters. The fact that ONE company has decided we are a big enough market to cater to us directly is something I didn't think I would ever see happen.

Here in the UK there is a medical supply company called "Dorset Nursing Supplies" who supply lots of different things but, for ABDLs, the most important thing was the nappies. It is only fairly recently, relatively speaking, that the UK market had access to American diapers. The company above supplied Tena (back when they were good) and a few other brands. Anyway, a few years later a UK ABDL company opened called "NappiesRUs." They sold all sorts of brands, including your crazy American ones! When I ordered from them I noticed something interesting. They operated from the same place as Dorset Nursing Supplies. The two companies are either the same, or two halves of a business, one half for respectable people who need nappies and the other for us degenerates. These days NRU is one of THE places to get diapers.

So... how many of us are there? It's a question that's probably been asked a thousand times over the years but it is an interesting one. How many people out there are wearing diapers for fun? From full blown 24/7 lifestyle adult babies to people who put one on sometimes as a guilty pleasure. Getting an exact number is going to be impossible but... I wonder what the scale is.

Clearly there are thousands of us. That NorthshoreABDL account I talked about has only been around for a month or so but has already got over 6,000 followers on Twitter. The ABDL subreddit has 91,000 members and is very active. A few years ago the adult modelling/porn site JustFOrFans released a top ten of people who generated revenue and, I think, 7 of them were ABDLs or age players. Hell, look how many writers, artists, game makers, etc can exist with SubscribeStar, Ream or even Patreon (if they escaped the purge). People, like me, are able to make a living off of providing content to the community, you don't get that if there aren't a lot of you.

I think one thing to say is that the community is getting bigger. I think there are more ABDLs now than ever before. ABDL events like CAPcon sell out in minutes. I have a friend who runs a local munch that has over 100+ regulars. Bigger than it's ever been. There are mainstream sex shops that sell ABDL stuff now. We are catered for at more diverse BDSM events and settings.

I think we have grown from a dirty little offset of the BDSM community to something a lot larger. And really, should we be surprised? The world is more stressful than ever. Everywhere you look bad things are happening, rights are under threat, heck, whole countries and peoples are under attack.

We shouldn't be surprised that more than ever before people just want a time out. Just some time where they can forget all the crap in the world and focus on the crap in their diapers instead. To have some time where they don't need to worry about ANYTHING. Just going back to a time when everything was more innocent and you weren't aware of the problems everywhere. Isn't that how a lot of us started? Even if it wasn't haven't a lot of us found leaving the real world behind for a little bit as an added bonus?

So, to anyone new to the ABDL world, whether young or old, man, woman or anything in between... Welcome.

Tape yourself into your favourite diaper, stick a paci in your mouth, put on some cartoons and forget the world for a bit. You're just a baby after all!

So how many of us do YOU think there are?

--- 

Whilst I'm here I thought I'd give an update on everything I'm working on and an ETA if there is one. NOTE: Listing them here doesn't mean they may not get abandoned or changed before release. Take everything as speculative rather than fact!

Firstly, I have sequels to both Sam's Vacation and Sallas in the pipeline. They might both still be some way off though as work on them has been slow.

I have another story with a Sallas-like vibe in the works. One where women don't develop their motor skills until much later in life. Featuring a young woman who very much resents that fact. Hopefully done before the new year.

Then there is a story of a young woman who starts having accidents and desperately wants to get back out of diapers before she goes off to college. The only solution being potty training during a vacation at a cabin with her extended family. Hopefully done before the new year.

I have a story where a man falls into a strange world populated by Bigs and Littles (ETA: Unknown). A story of a woman who has been in chastity for a loooong time getting caught humping their teddy bear and needing to "earn" humping time by going on a date with him (ETA Very soon). I have a story of two young men who get a weird curse in a VR game that changes them in real life as well as the game (ETA: Still in planning stages). A story where a cocky Youtuber is given a new perspective in life (ETA: Quite a while away). A story where someone is possessed by the spirit of an ABDL leading to a mystery of what happened (ETA: Unknown). Finally, I'm editing an old story that is 160 pages long and very similar to the "Danny" series (ETA: Hopefully in a month or two.)

There are others that exist only as ideas or that are finished and ready to go or that I'm currently not working on but might pick up again soon.

Which story are you most looking forward to?

--- 

Finally...

A comic! I've long been interested in working on a comic. I think I have a number of stories that would do well adapted as a comic. Unfortunately, I can't draw to save my life. Fortunately, I know someone who can. I'm working with a friend to create a comic adaptation of "Livy's New Family". We are a few pages in at the moment and there's a long way to go and I'm still working out exactly how I'm going to post the pages.

I have a specific image that we haven't quite got to that will be a more formal "announcement" but I'm enjoying working on it and I really look forward to when I can start posting it. The story was really popular with readers so I hope the comic will be well-received as well :)

That's all for now. I hope you all continue to enjoy the stories!

Stay padded!

Elfy

Hello!

I don't think this will be a particularly long blog or anything, more just an update on what's going on.

At the start of this month I started to get a very familiar and unwelcome pain in my kidney. Sure enough, I had kidney stones, something I'm only too acquainted with. Over the course of three days I actually peed out three of the little bastards! It wasn't as bad as it could have been. They passed relatively quickly and the painkillers I was given by the doctors actually did a great job.

Since I had so many stones though, the doctor decided I should get a CT scan to make sure things were all OK. They found I still have one more stone in my kidney (boo!) but it's only 3mm and I should be able to pass it relatively easily when it comes (yay!). However, they found something else on the scan.

Totally be coincidence the scan picked up a small 1.6mm spot on my liver. It is never nice to be told the doctors have noticed something like that. At the moment I don't know any more than that. Right now I'm waiting for a referral to the liver specialists to be reviewed to see if they want to do anything about it. After doing research I see that many of these spots are benign and not a problem... But a significant portion are something worse. Fingers crossed.

With that heaviness out of the way... I have a busy month coming up!

My girlfriend will be staying with us for a week and that will include a trip to Brighton where she will be seen by a surgeon before (hopefully) getting a date for GRS. Then, pretty much as soon as she leaves me and my wife have a wedding to attend, the first one I'll be attending as an adult apart from my own. That's pretty wild considering I'm going to be 36 in less than a month. Come on people, we need more weddings!

After that I will be heading into London to watch wrestling at Wembley Stadium. Then the day after I get back (on my birthday, no less) I start jury service! Jury service is something I'm interested in and dreading in equal amounts. I've always been fascinated by court cases and things like that. Seriously, you may be shocked to hear how much of my writing is done whilst watching raw unedited footage from trials. But this is the first time I will be going into a court room myself.

To prepare for all these outings and things I have bought a case of NRU Str8ups. When I tried them before they seemed almost identical to Megamaxs so I'm confident they should do the job. I was very impressed with them before.

What would you wear into court if you were on the jury? Something big and bulky that could handle the whole day? Or something much smaller that will provide protection but may need one or more changes?

I'm someone who doesn't like my routine being changed. I would be quite content to sit at home everyday so having all these outings is going to make it a stressful time and that's before factoring in hearing from the doctor about the spot. I can't say I'm looking forward to the month. Roll on September!

Hello!

How are you all doing? I hope you all enjoyed "Cousin Emmy" which recently ended. I have a few thoughts to share about it. Firstly, it was a challenge to write and took quite a while. I was pushing some limits in some ways. Normally my stories fall into either "humiliation-focused" or "sexual-focused", now most have both elements to differing levels but for whatever reason I didn't find them easy to meld in this one.

I've received feedback on it, some positive and some negative, I appreciate all comments. It's important I know what people want to read after all! Not all stories are going to be as popular as others or push the same buttons but we move forwards.

In other story news "Sam's Vacation" is nearing it's ending as well. I'm very happy with it has been received. Whilst it will soon be over I want to reassure everyone that there will be more Sam. I have another Sam story lined up to start right after the current one ends, a sequel to "Sam's Flight to Babyhood" and I'm sure Sam will make more appearances in the future.

Now, on to the main reason I'm making this post...

So, I just wanted to share some stuff that's been going on in my life. Good things! I'm going to start talking about UK tax rules! Exciting, right? No? Don't worry I'll be brief.

In the UK we have a system called National Insurance which you have to pay to receive a state pension. You need to amass 30 years of credits. Normally, when you're employed, the money gets deducted from your pay check, or if you are on benefits it is paid for you by the state. Yes, the state pays itself.

Anyway, Because I am self-employed I, up until last year, elected to make voluntary contributions. So even though I wasn't on benefits or receiving a wage I was still getting credits towards my pension. Simple, right? Apparently not.

HMRC, His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, have a lot of jobs and one of them is collecting taxes and National Insurance. Last year, for the first time since I left my last job, I earned enough through writing to pay taxes. Not a problem, I did exactly that... and then HMRC's computer freaked out and deleted ALL my credit. 10 years of National Insurance disappeared.

After trying for months to get them to take a look at it they finally fix it. Then a few weeks later I get a letter saying I have overpaid National Insurance and I'm due a refund. Great. I fill out the form and wait...

Now, before I go on I should say there are different classes of National Insurance. The important ones for us are classes 2 and 3. Class 3 are voluntary (what I was paying) and Class 2 are for people who are self-employed but don't make enough to pay tax. The important part is that Class 2 ones are much, much, MUCH cheaper.

So they refunded the difference in the years between 2019 and last year. £3,300.

To say this was welcome is an understatement! Especially as I continue to try and recover from Patreon's purge. It turns out it was well worth harassing HMRC every couple of weeks. The craziest part is I didn't even know I had paid too much, I never asked for it. They told me and then paid me. Not the way you expect the tax office to operate!

What am I doing with the money you ask? Well, I've spent a bunch of it on a new computer. One that will hopefully be good for a long time to come. My last one was ten years old and... struggling. I've also upgraded from Microsoft Office 2016 to Microsoft Office 2024. We are yet to see if the new software results in better stories!

The rest of the money. I don't know. I'm happy to spend it but I haven't quite decided what to spend it on. So how about some suggestions... If you had a not insignificant amount of money to spend on something Little or kink related what would you get?

I need to get some more nappies, for sure. I've been running low for a while. But I'm looking for something a little more... interesting!

Anyway, that's what's been going on with me. I hope you're enjoying the stories and continue to do so in the future :)

Stay Padded!

Elfy