In real life this conversation with Leia Weathington (author of queer sword-and-sorcery comic Bold Riley) took place over text message, so when it came time to writing this comic all I had to do was scroll back and copy her actual responses to me. Thanks for making my job easy, technology!

Matthew and I absolutely love pornography, so when [Porn Studio] Development guy shot us a friendly email wondering if I might consider applying to [LINK REDACTED] ‘Do a Scene with [Performer]’ and write a comic about it, it really started a turmoil of thoughts. We would both LOVE for me to do it, but dang, the hypothetical negatives are just a bit more than I want to take on in my life right now. Everybody who does perform in pornography: you are heroes.

[LINK REDACTED] (See edits below)

To be completely clear: I am definitely not trying to influence anyone else’s mindset about making the decision to perform in porn. This is 100% my personal worries, transcribed from an actual conversation I had with a real life friend. Who knows how many of those fears really would come true? Maybe none! This story is about the things that I worry about, my life, and my personal reasoning for not having taken the plunge on doing a public dirty video like I’ve secretly wanted to for the last decade. I’m sad I let my fears hold me back and my hat is off to all of you folks who do go for it. I started this comic long before I had the chance to start reading Coming Out Like a Porn Star and it’s been really interesting to put some of my worries into perspective with other people’s real life experiences. Not done with it yet, but I totally encourage everyone to pick up a copy!

EDIT December 2, 2015: This comic has now been edited to remove reference to James Deen.

EDIT November 28, 2015: This comic was made before today’s horrible revelations regarding this performer came out. Matthew and I can no longer endorse his site. We are leaving this page intact while removing our affiliate links to his site. If reading this comic made you want to sign up, we encourage you to research today’s news and consider signing up for another site, maybe Lust Cinema instead. Thank you for your understanding in this complicated situation.