Welcome to my Patreon page! I’m Fay Onyx and I am a writer, artist, and podcaster.

What I Do

There is one thread that runs through all of my work and that is dismantling oppression and centering those people who live at the intersections of oppression. This ethic is at the core of everything I do and it shapes not only the content of my art, but how I create it in the first place.

My latest project, Unfamiliar Heroes, is a podcast series in which three disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill players and a game master play story-focused tabletop role-playing games where all of the player characters have disabilities, diverse minds, and/or chronic illnesses. In its core values, this project prioritizes participants with intersecting oppressed identities. Unfamiliar Heroes is part of the Writing Alchemy Podcast.

I have also just written Magic Goes Awry: A high fantasy role-playing system that is light on rules and heavy on magical mayhem. My goal in creating this game was to capture the fun of Dungeons and Dragons in a game that was free and accessible to a much wider range of people. I created this game to have little math, fewer things to keep track of, and more room for creativity, while still having enough options and detail for people to create a diverse range of fantastical characters with exciting abilities.

The other major project I focus on is my fairy tales. These are lively stories with intersectional characters that tackle serious topics while maintaining the spirit of whimsy and humor that makes fairy tales so great. These fairy tales are then produced on my podcast, Writing Alchemy, where I lovingly enhance them with music, sound effects, and thoughtful discussion.

In addition, I also write articles on my personal experiences and social justice topics. Currently I am writing The Trope of the Week Series, which is a set of articles about common harmful patterns in the way that disabled characters are represented and how to do things differently.

Background

I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten tired of the lazy way that the majority of books, movies, TV shows, and games recreate the same oppressive patterns over and over again. And sadly most stories that make strides in one or two areas, fail make changes in any other, leaving those of us living at the intersections of oppression out in the cold.

I believe that it is time for art that steps away from centering cis, straight, white, monogamous, able-bodied, middle and upper-class men.

In my work I strive to make a new center, rather than just inch away from the old. From the very beginnings of character and world creation I think consciously about each choice and the larger social messages they send. In this I work to be aware of all oppressive patterns, not just the ones that affect me personally.

This does not mean that there is no conflict or depictions of oppression in my work, however, just that I want to create conflict and depictions of oppression that does not reinforce oppressive messages. As a human, I know that I will never be able to do this perfectly, but the goal that I am ever striving towards is to create stories that people can enjoy without reservation.

Your patronage will help pay for my costs and give me income that will pay for living expenses so that I can devote more time to this project (rather than needing to earn income in other ways). Thank you so much!

Important Information

Reward Levels: Many people in my community struggle economically and I don’t want to create system that adds to economic privilege, so I have decided to make the rewards the same for all reward levels. The different levels posted on this page are there to fill out the page and act as reminders.

The Rewards: Most of my energy will be going into creating content for everyone to enjoy, however I also want to make some exciting rewards. Note that I am still figuring these rewards out, so there might be some changes as I go forward. Right now, I am planning on giving all patrons early access to podcast episodes. My podcast release schedule is not yet up to this (I am still finishing them at the last minute), but I hope to get it there soon. Once my page reaches the $200/month level I will start commissioning artists to do illustrations for my fairy tales and the Unfamiliar Heroes games. Patrons will be able to vote on the content for these illustrations. If I reach $500/month I am going to do one bonus episode per year and there will be some voting on the content for these episodes as well.

Have an idea of a reward you'd like? Please let me know!