Onyrica

Update // Spring ain’t Springing (Patreon)

Published:

2024-03-04 12:34:24

Imported:

2024-03

Tags:

Update

Content

I feel like I’m in a unreciprocated relationship with March, where I love its warmer, longer days, flowers blooming and my mood lifting with sun, while March remains cold, keeps bringing clouds to my door so I can’t leave the house and pounds me with seasonal allergies I didn’t even know I had.

I think we need a counselor.

Weather comments out of the way, this update should be a short one so hopefully we’ll catch some of the stragglers who stubbornly refuse to read my notes and then waddle around confused at the changes I made a year ago.

Personal Updates

So February went exactly as I expected, which was tough and riddled with distractions.

Notably, my mother got diagnosed with two severe diseases, so I had to fly out to spend a week figuring out the details. Thankfully things seem to be manageable at the moment, so for the time being it’s largely a waiting game, though of course not one without its worries and anxiety over the future.

Despite that, I managed to get a good chunk of work done, though if you saw fewer updates last month it’s mainly because said pieces are either very intense and are taking a chunk of time to complete or because I can’t show WIPs until they’ve been completed. Hopefully this month will find its chill so that I can bring you what I think are gonna be some of my cooler pieces this year.

StarStickers

As mentioned in my last update, rewards will remain closed this month (and most likely next as well given my propensity for saying I’m only going to accept 2-3 rewards in a batch and then accepting 6-8 thanks to my people pleasing inclinations).

Of course you can still purchase prints and the other merch, as well as mentorship sessions. And as mentioned last month, I am also looking at introducing some new types of rewards soon to diversify the offering further, so please look forward to it.

Workload

Over the last couple of months I have received several comments or concerns about the progress on commissions and rewards. I know things seem to move slow sometimes, but I do want to reassure everyone that I am continuously working and moving that list along.

To give you an idea, this is what said list looks like at the moment: Workflow board

To spare you the count, there are 88 items on that list - which doesn’t include the 20 lessons I teach every month, the time it takes to write these updates, do administration, run the server or the other myriad of things involved in running a business.

I know that it’s frustrating to wait for a long time - it’s definitely frustrating for me too. But that’s why I also keep these lines of open communication so that everyone can feel like they can check on where they are, how I’m progressing and ask me any questions they might have.

Additionally, it’s why I’m also committed from this year to start making major changes, such as closing down illustrated rewards for all new patrons from the end of 2024, so that all patrons who are in the system at the cutoff point get undivided priority. I outlined that, as well as other plans, in my January roadmap update here.

Ultimately, I do want everyone to know and understand that my work for my patrons is and has always been my priority and that nothing that has been booked at any point will fall through the cracks - even if I’m 65 by the time we get there.

Tiers

The usual reminder that tiers are still limited and that current availability is as follows:

Easy Tier: 2 slots
Intermediate Tier: 2 slots
Advanced Tier: 2 slots

In closing

Despite how stern this update may have come across, I am actually feeling very resolved to keep to the roadmap and remain consistently productive despite burnout and life issues heaving at me like dogs looking at their dinner. I started this year with my mind set on seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I’ll be damned if I don’t make a steaming beeline towards it.

And of course I am intensely grateful to have you all along for that ride. I know things are spicy for everyone right now - the world’s just a bit crumbly and intense and nobody’s quite feeling right in themselves. So to have this community, to have so many people understanding and appreciating what I do despite it truly means the world and I am really looking forward to making good in return.

So with that, I leave you with all the lay of the land and a whole bunch of appreciation for anyone who follows it:

—

With love and a country’s worth of Benadryl,

Ony