Patreon structure update (Patreon)

Hey, all you wonderful people taking time out of your day reading this. Thank you so much for doing that by the way, it's highly appreciated <3

I am currently writing this coming down from a pretty aggressive anxiety attack that I started having almost 24 hours ago. I'm scheduling this to be uploaded tomorrow, Saturday, because I'm currently not sure if I should write this in my current state of mind. Not because the meat of this post, the Patreon restructuring, isn't going to become a thing - but because I am very much not well at the moment x)

The reasons I'm not well are pretty personal and I'm not interested in airing those issues in public. Thanks for your concern though <3

Anyway, to the meat of the post. TL:DR at the bottom.

It's been 6 months of drawing stuff for you all and it has been absolutely wonderful. I genuinely feel like the challenge of drawing on a monthly basis and the pressure of performing for all of you has made me a far greater artist than I was last year. I feel like this was what I really needed to truly evolve as an artist. 

The Josie comic was so much fun, it pushed me to draw the kind of lewd content I had always wanted to draw but always felt like I wasn't really able to. Erotic material is what I want to draw and it's always been something I find inspiring, but I also always felt like it's too transient and that since I'm a pretty slow artist, drawing lewd stuff would never be worth it for other people. It's like I'm up on stage and I'm supposed to perform a song but I'm too cagey about my own material so I'm just singing a cover. Iunno, it's really hard to explain. Point is that the Josie comic was SO MUCH FUN.

And the Princess Lumina comic finally got me to apply myself in a very focused manner. Unlike the Josie comic, I wasn't sure how to draw it, but I decided that I had to just sit down and focus on it and just fricking do it. And I completed 5 pages in just a little over 3 weeks. A few years ago, I tried to work on a webcomic (more on that in a future post), and I struggled to push out one page a month.

The fruits of the last 6 months can be seen in those two comics. I'm faster, more focused, I'm having way more fun and it's all thanks to you! <3

But I have definitely hit a bit of a snag. As I said in a previous post, I'm currently in a little bit of a burnout but the keyword is "little." I'm sure I'll be out of it this weekend as long as I take care of myself. And that's the second keyword, "take care of myself."

I really need to do a better job at that and that's why I'm restructuring the patreon starting this month with the latest comic. One thing that I know has been very rough is that I feel creatively constrained doing one comic a month, because that limits how long they can be. The longest comic I've made so far was the Symbiotic Horror comic and that one was only 6 pages because of one filler page.

Five pages a month is just about all I'm able to push out at this rate. And while I think that with more practice I could definitely do more, the stress of doing so is partially to blame for causing my recent anxiety attack. Underlined and bold is that I want to draw longer comics.

I had already planned on implementing a similar change next year, but my mental health comes first and I can tell that I need to do this now or there won't be any comics in the future. So here's the change:

Comics from now on will not be monthly items.

Rather than getting 5 pages a month, I will now draw longer comics, around 6-10 pages or longer if needed. And suggesting and voting on new comics will commence roughly one week after each comic has been concluded. I will still do everything I can to release at least 4 pages a month for my own health's sake, but I will also try to do a little more because I want to become a faster and better artist. 

I am also going to include my own ideas more frequently because I have some pretty good ideas that I'm sure you guys and gals would like :)

Accompanying this slowdown is a change to the Tier system. The currently hidden $10 will be removed and a new $3 tier will be created. The $3 tier will serve the same purpose as the current $4.50 tier which will remain only as a legacy tier for people who think I'm worthy of that extra $1.50. 

Pinups will be unaffected by this change, there will still be 2 pinups a month, same voting schedule, same rules.

And that's about it. I want to stress that this is a change that comes not only from the anxiety attack I've been in for the last 24 hours but also from the light burnout I've had the last week, as well as the fact that this was a planned change for next year. This is not a whimsical change I just made up on the spot, it's really important for me that I do this. And I hope that you may read this and think it'll be a good change. Because in the end, there might be fewer comics, but there's going to be more of each comic.

TL:DR.

From now on, comics will not be 5 pages long, monthly items, but instead they are going to be longer (6-10 pages or more) and you'll get to suggest and vote on them a week after each comic has been completed.

A new $3 tier will be created to complement this slowdown, getting the same perks as the $4.5 tier. The $4.5 remains as a legacy tier for people who feel I'm worthy of those extra $1.5.

Pinups are unaffected.

Thank you so much for reading and an extra big thanks for your support <3