Update // Spooky month is nigh! (Patreon)

Gather round children, for this is the story of an artist with a crooked hand and a wobble in her sciatica, who day in, day out, would sit, hunched like a prawn left in the sun, over a list of tasks that grew five times longer for every item she completed. One day, when she was just minding her business, quietly moping over the umpteenth field of flowers she was drawing behind a character covered in scales… BAM, Covid got her.

And then Covid decided to stay for tea and supper and then got real cozy and apparently can’t read eviction letters.

So yeah, third time’s the charm - despite having been punctured with all the miracle juice, this round of the rona has truly and fully decked me, right on the busiest month of the year. Without getting too deep into my chart, some of the more disabling symptoms are overstaying their welcome and as a result a few of my more vocal tasks - such as lessons (including recorded) - have had to be put on hold.

It feels like a routine thing to say, but of all times, your patience is really appreciated if you’re currently waiting for something. I will keep making updates in the Discord server so please keep an eye on that to see how things are progressing.

And with that, time to turn the lights back on for the important stuff.

Patreon Glitch pt. 2

You might recall that in August, Patreon had a hiccup which meant an inordinately high number of declined pledges. Although it hasn’t been said officially, the numbers this month are showing something similar has happened again.

To make things even better, there’s currently an issue wherein the option to “retry pledge” isn’t working properly and it’s telling people they’re either locked out of their pledge or encouraging them to pledge as a new patron.

As is the way, the tools I have to deal with this are basically these updates and knocking door to door to walk people through the process, so as a first step I’d like to request that if you’ve been declined - or believe you might be - please check your pledges and delete them and remake them if necessary - which is the one fail-proof way I’ve found to restore things.

I can’t begin to tell you how unfun having to make this a point in my updates every other month is.

StarStickers

Now for the good news: Illustrated rewards, including the new ones and tokens, will be reopening from tomorrow. Please note that as my workload continues to be overbearing, availability will be limited and subject to the priority hierarchy (people who haven’t received a reward > those who’ve received fewest > those who’ve received the most).

Events: Fanfest, MCM London & Art Party

If there’s a silver lining to getting so sick at the start of the month is that SURELY I’ll be in top form by the end, when I’ll be on a relentless marathon of events.

FFXIV Fanfest: I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Fanfest in London and I am excited to boot. I know there are a few patrons going and I would love this to be a chance to meet up, for which we made a special role in the Discord to coordinate (and also help each other out) during the weekend. If you’d like to be part of that, please let me know and I’ll gladly give you the tag so we can keep in touch! I’ll also be making special bookmarks to give away to anyone I meet, which is totally, absolutely not a bribe.

MCM London: Every year I say I won’t do it again and every year I’m a filthy liar. Following the weekend after Fanfest, I will be selling prints and the artbook once more, so if you’re dropping in, please stop by to say hello!

Art Party: I will make a separate announcement with the details of this one, but our yearly Halloween Extravaganza and in-game cosplay contest will return on October 14th! This has always been our most popular and fun event and I can’t wait to see what people come up with this time.

Limited tiers

And now for my usual reminder that all tiers remain limited and are constantly reviewed and trimmed down in order to balance my workload and manage expectations.

That said, should you wish to bump up or down into a tier that's not currently available, please let me know and I'll be more to figure something out for you.

With that, please remember that if you delete your pledge your points will remain on StarStickers for 6 months before they expire.

At the time of this post, the available tiers are:

• Easy tier: 1 slot
• Intermediate tier: 1 slot
• Advanced tier: 2 slots

Personal

Yesterday marked my sixth anniversary of starting this Patreon. Six years of proving to myself that I could be a professional artist, that I could do what I love for a living. It has definitely been a ride, and not without some major highs and lows.

There’s that saying that goes “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life”, which is utter bollocks because I have never worked harder in my life. I have also never been prouder of what I do, or more involved in the community that I’ve fostered. There are a lot of complicated feelings involved in this job and so many life lessons that have made me into a much more resilient person.

As time goes on, it’s becoming obvious that things are changing: social networks aren’t what they used to be, technology is speeding up at rates we can’t keep up with and changes are happening so often across the board that it’s really started making me take a serious look at the future and the decisions I will need to make in order to find a sustainable, and comfortable path forward.

This will inevitably require shifts- big ones- that will most likely turn things inside out for a time until they settle back in place. Some of them will be daunting, some of them might not pan out, but as we near the end of the year, I see 2024 as the point of inflection for many of these changes to start manifesting.

And so for that to happen, the first big move will be- for the first time in six years- to pause billing for the whole of December. This means nobody will get charged for that month, which will give everyone - including myself - a break, sparing wallets for the holidays and giving me a chance to take a breather and plan the roadmap ahead.

I’m not gonna lie - it’ll be scary to go a month without getting paid for the first time in 20 years - but bold moves require bold first steps and this will be a good way to set my resolve for adventures to come.

For now, I want you all to know how thankful I am for all the continued support and faith in me, through my better moments and my worst, over the last half decade and some. It has been an absolute ride and I’m really looking forward to seeing what new trails await.

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With love from under a dragon’s hoard of tissues,

Ony