I know it’s been a while since I’ve had any stories for you.
So long that a good chunk of my followers may have long since assumed me gone for good, or may only know me as a Twitter feed with an excellent collection of sex-positive, literary, and cheerfully nihilist retweets.
So, hi.
To those of you who have been here through this journey, it’s nice to see you again.
If we haven’t met before, I’m Jayne and I’m Bellesa’s Smut Queen.
Though I haven’t felt like one for a while…
Half a decade ago, I walked into a sparsely furnished loft office boasting shiny hardwood floors, nice natural light in the mornings, and walls with oddly dusty red bricks. On one wall, deep purple letters were mounted spelling a single word: Bellesa
On that day, I sat in my minimalist glass desk and made a list of the biggest, loftiest goals I had as the newly instated founder and VP of Erotica for a little porn company with a big dream. At the very top of this list, I wrote: Audio Erotica
Bellesa’s erotica operations have been fairly quiet for the last year and a half.
Because I couldn’t do it all.
This most recent chapter forced us all to adapt in may directions. Personally, that meant indefinitely abandoning my old day-to-day as Bellesa’s erotica editor, and to divert energy and support as needed while we weathered the pandemic’s shock to our systems (which, as wild as it was, was fortunately mostly quite positive for Bellesa as a collective).
It wasn’t without its difficulties and identity crises, of course. And it has taken a lot longer to recover from that initial shock than anyone could have anticipated though. I know a lot of people have moved on, and I don’t blame anyone for that. That said, I am unfathomably grateful for those who never lost faith in me, even when I did myself.
The rest of the shadows I’ve met in this time, and continue to dance with periodically still, don’t need to be addressed much further here. The struggles are part of the journey but there’s no need to dwell on them now.
Because we have officially launched audio erotica as a thing on our Bellesa Plus platform.
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Bellesa Plus is pay-what-you-want for unlimited access to a huge library of ethical porn and adult content. No ads, no up-sells. Pricing starts as low as $1/month and goes up to the highest option $35/month, which includes a free toy. (All users get the same full access to all content available on the platform, but can unlock extra rewards depending on the level of their subscription.)
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I have so many people to thank for keeping me afloat through all the times I had one foot over the edge, ready to jump ship. Too many to list here, but you know who you are and I am forever grateful. Your unwavering emotional support in moments when I really didn’t think I’d make it means more than I can ever write.
Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this story so far. Thank you to all of the incredibly talented erotic creators whose voices I’ve had the privilege of working with, both through the pen and now the microphone. I am nothing short of awestruck by what these bonds formed as far back as 5 years ago have resulted in.
Particularly Lauren Emily, Anne Stagg, and Oya Calor, all of whom not only provided inaugural stories that helped lay the foundation for Bellesa’s erotic story collection, but have since returned to lend their voices this newest iteration of what we have created here together. And to Louise Kane for sneaking into a Smutathon slam with the dreamiest voice that I hope to work with again in the future.
And though I’ve already extended this thanks to them and I’m sure none of them will read it here, it is worth noting my appreciation for Bellesa’s whole dev team for making this first shot at aural magic happen. It’s even nicer and more functional than I’d anticipated. They’re truly some of the best robot wizards in town.
It means a lot to me that we all came together to make this happen. We did it, we made it; that this silly little thing I wrote on a sheet of ruled paper is fully formed, alive, and out in the world right now.
Let’s see what happens next.
cover photo: by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash