FW Update17: The FakeryFund in 2024... (Patreon)

Starting next year, The FakeryFund will shift focus to produce content for Sampson & Jewel first and foremost. Commissions will come second, and any other form of work will be a tertiary concern.

Over the course of 2023, the progress of Sampson & Jewel has been unsatisfactory. As far as published work goes, I started and ended this year more or less at the same spot. I would be remiss to allow myself to fall into that same mistake again in the year ahead, so I am forcing myself into a new scenario where I am beholden to progressing the Sampson & Jewel storyline, which is ultimately what I want to do anyway. I hope to make some form of new S&J content every month. That can't happen if I'm always disengaging to do multi-parter, multi-character Character Polls, so they are being discontinued until further notice.

I understand this is sudden news to drop in everyone's laps, and I am also aware that for many of you, this is not at all what you're here for. I first want to extend my apologies for turning things in an unforeseen direction. The previous ways of doing things here for the past 2 years were fun for all of us I'm sure, but coming out on the other end of 2023 with the complete and total stagnation of my passion project has left me incredibly unfulfilled and frankly burnt out.

Secondly, I should mention that I still intend to do commissions every month after working on S&J, so opportunities to order character and OC fan art (as well as Remakerys) will still be available, along with the same discounts as before. Just because The FakeryFund will prioritize Sampson & Jewel, does not mean that I will be discontinuing or deleting all content that is unrelated. I just want to stop putting my own aspirations on hold.

Lastly, I would like to detail out how things will look in the new, restructured FakeryFund:

Tier Benefits:

Public/Free members: Get teaser pages when chapter is complete; full release chapter 1-2 weeks after
$1: "A dollar for the dream!" Basic tip-jar support for the comic to help me keep going

$3: "Count me in!" Read spoiler-free chapter synopsis of current WIP chapter; name included in credits pages (do not need to stay in tier to keep credits placement); read chapter before public release
$5: "Show me more!" Get spoiler-free dev art (characters, bios, plot/lore) and misc. doodles; 5% discount on comms

$15: "Give it to me fresh!" View WIP chapter pages as they complete; receive dev art files; 10% discount on comms
$35: "Show me EVERYTHING!" Read spoiler-filled chapter synopsis of current WIP chapter; spoiler-filled concept art (future characters and bios details, story-critical plot/lore info); receive spoiler dev art files

Content Release Schedule:

1. Chapter Synopses

2. Dev Art & WIP pages

3. Chapter release for backers, Teaser pages for public

4. Monthly Commissions launch

5. Chapter release for public

I've structured the content releases around work that is easy enough to complete and does not distract from the goal of developing and producing the story. This is to ensure that all work is directly for (or a byproduct of) the story, making it all the easier to transition out of S&J mode and launch commissions as consistently as I can. I am well aware that much more of you are here for comms work rather than comic work, so I want to reassure you that I intend to keep that side of business running.

... This has been very hard for me write. I've gone back and forth on going through with this sort of decision for months now. My livelihood relies on you all so very much, so it's a huge financial risk for me to walk away from what can potentially be 80, maybe 90% of my audience's interests. But... I've been stuck on this concern for 2 years now, and it won't stop eating away at me. I'm hoping that by diving headfirst into actually following my dream, I can stop treading water in a never-ending compromise. I'm scared to do this, but I'm more scared of continuing to let this chance pass me by. I don't think there's any other way to say it.

I hope you all understand, and I'd be more grateful than anything if you choose to stay. If otherwise, I'm still grateful that you all were here for me in the first place.

Thank you for everything,
- FakeryWay