I just learned Gumroad has nixed The Rue Morgue, so I’ve removed them the Producers page.

They had received notice from Gumroad one night a couple months ago but I guess Gumroad decided to give them time to prepare.

Registration: Out with the Old

I run a message board for 3D artists called Visions of Darkness. Until recently, I was using my forum software’s registration system for visitors to join VoD with, which was quite sufficient for what I configured it to to:

XF checked new registrations against a third-party spam watch system. If they passed the initial sign-up, I got an alert to approve or deny them. If the approval queue didn’t show any red flags, I approved the apps and the system sent out a pre-written welcome email. Unfortunately, the vast majority of new members are never seen or heard from again, which generally means they’re cleverly programmed bots. The net effect was a member roster containing 2045 accounts, most of which are bots, with our last line of defense requiring everyone’s first few posts be approved by me.

Spam bots are bits of software written to seek out and infest message boards with code designed to lure naive users into following links that can compromise their personal data and do serious damage to their devices. They’re the digital equivalent of cockroaches and just as difficult to exterminate once they infect a system. I’ve seen boards taken down for days on end several times over while admins cleaned up the mess they made.

To date, I’ve banned 132 accounts from VoD since we launched in February 2023. I’ve yet to determine how many more bot accounts we have, but none of them have ever tried to post anything.

One of our members used to announce various milestones every time the roster reached another count he was excited about. All I could think was how much I wish they were all people.

This week, I started a system-wide purge and deleted over 700 suspected bots which included any account that hadn’t seen any activity since within 3 days after registering and had a zero post count. I’m going to run an automated update each month through July 2025 using the same criteria until all accounts that joined VoD using the old registration process are gone.

Registration: In with the New

PKF Studios is one of the oldest fetish producers in the community, is owned and operated by JohnM, and has been making videos since the late 90’s. I’ve worked with him and have nothing but praise for his skill and customer service. He runs a board for his studio but doesn’t use his software’s registration system. Instead, he requires new members contact him via email with a brief history of their journey as fetishists and why they want to join his board. I’ve decided to follow his example using his registration instructions as my template. I got his stamp approval on my version the other day and implemented the new process las night.

Anonymity and Lurking

Now, to be clear, anyone who wants to preserve their anonymity by lurking after they join is welcome to do so. I’m less concerned about people contributing anything than I am about making sure our roster has more people than bots. The more bots I can weed out, the more accomplished and happier I’ll feel in being able to confidently say that most, if not all, of our members are real people who enjoy creating and viewing dark art. My long-term hope is that the new process will foster a balance between viewers and contributors.

So, Where’s the New Form?

There’s a ‘Contact us’ link at the bottom of VoD to send me an email. I realize it may feel a bit awkward typing a handful of bullet points to acknowledge you’re not a troublemaker, so I’ve set up an alternate form here on Fantasy Death you can fill out instead. The bullet points are checkboxes, but you’ll still have to describe your history as an artist and/or fetishist. It’s under the CONTACT link on the navigation bar. You can also click here.

I look forward to hearing from you, and hope to see you on VoD! 🙂

The Lance Saga has been removed per the artist’s request due to lack of interest.

Given how long this producer has been active – since the late 90s – I feel it an almost criminal oversight to have neglected to include them on the list of Producers when the site launched. Better late than never I supposed. Nevertheless, I apologize.

Silk ‘N Blood – Bluestone’s Silk Videos. Originally produced fetish videos based on the 90’s TV crime drama, “Silk Stalkings”. Today, they produce modern-day murder scenarios under a project called, “Scotland Yard Cold Cases”, and a long-running series of “Superheroine Peril” videos.

Anyone who’s spent time with AI apps like Stable Diffusion know how incredibly biased they are toward portraiture, which basically means good luck using it to create even a one-off in which your character(s) need to look away from the camera.

I’ve spent countless hours fighting Fooocus on that point alone for every project I’ve created with it thus far, and I am really fuckin’ tired of it. So, I decided to play its game with a couple of POV renders before I finally set the tech aside for now.

Not surprisingly, I had the faces and their expressions done in a fraction of the time it usually takes me when doing angled camera setups – As in 3-5 passes instead of 30-40.

The two pieces are called Strangled Startup and Spring Break Strangle, and they’re both on my AI Art page.

It’s called Hanged Investor and is on my AI Art page.

The new Fantasy Death forum on my 3D art board, Visions of Darkness, is now live! Here’s a screenshot:

Gumroad has removed all of vorefile’s content. I’ve removed the link from the Producers page.

According to his DeviantArt and Patreon pages, he has a backup plan he’ll be unveiling soon.

Just posted a new AI-enhanced 3D render to my AI Art page. It’s called Strangled Plans. Enjoy!

After further consideration, I would rather not pay for two software licenses or deal with any technical issues that might arise on my new Fantasy Death forum, so I’m closing it and expanding my 3D art board, Visions of Darkness, to offer a platform for the fantasy death fetish community. The Fantasy Death Yellow Pages will move forward without a message board.

The new Fantasy Death sub-forum will be available on VoD next Wednesday.