Update on what happened to my Patreon (Patreon)

So I want to curb any worries you might have from a title like that by saying that my patreon is still up and running, functional, and something I still will be primarily using moving forward as I have been. However, something happened last week that is not great news. This might be a bit long winded, but I'll put a tldr at the end.

As some of you guys on the discord server will already know, a lot of you I feel aren't in the know as of yet, but last week my account was suspended for a few days. Supposedly it was reported?? That bit isn't very clear to me. Regardless I was approached by a rep from Patreon's Trust and Safety team on Monday April 1st about there being content on my campaign page that violated the Community Guidelines.

Now by this time I was not suspended yet. I read the Adult Content section of the guidelines and determined that there were a few picture I did that were incest related (refer to paragraph 3 of the guidelines). More specifically the Cream/Vanilla and Isabelle/Digby posts. So I removed them and replied back to the Rep to say they were removed. However, the next day my campaign page was suspended along with an email reply back saying that I still had content that violated the guidelines. This time I was directed to exactly what it was. 

My Sonic content. 

Or rather, any character from the Sonic series that is canonically under the age of 18. Which to Patreon automatically violates all of paragraph 2 of Adult Content in the guidelines. 

Now I get it, yeah that's all technically true. Most character's canonical ages ARE under the legal age of 18. However I made sure to mention that what I draw does not, in any way shape or form, represent any character under the age 18. Nor was it malicious intention to age them up to circumvent that. I am simply rendering these characters as mature, over the legal age of 18, consensual decision making adults. That's always been my approach as I'm sure all of you can agree. I have never, and will never, render any of my content, paid or unpaid, as sexually glorifying a minor. That's not what I do and not what I support.

Unfortunately, despite my attempt to explain what I do Patreon still deemed it as "sexually glorifying minors." As a result, all of the content on my patreon campaign that was of characters with canonical ages under that of 18 I had to remove and delete. 

I will admit, it sucks. A lot. This past week I've been thinking about my patreon and its future. And my personal future as well. How I can still draw what I want to but still provide content to you guys. As you know I draw a lot of characters like Amy and Blaze. Though characters like Rouge, Shadow, Sticks, Bunnie etc are all safe to post. And yes my OCs like Sophie and Edge are safe as well. But I want to stress that my Patreon is incredibly important to me right now and is the source of most of my income. So the best I can do is comply with the rules I'm given and make the changes that are necessary for it. Again, its too important for me to risk being irresponsible with it. 

I do want to mention that this won't stop me from drawing the things I've always drawn. As I firmly believe what I do, and what I have been doing, are not wrong. However some of those things, given the new limitations based on technicalities, cannot be hosted, funded, or linked through Patreon. That means I can't give you guys that full archive like I planned. Though I might make a Patreon safe version. But still, all of this has thrown a wrench in my plans on the recent changes I made to my tiers and rewards. So I have to think of another solution for those. Which will take another while to get right for me. As I want to make sure I land on the right work flow for me before I dedicate to any changes I make to tier rewards. 

So to wrap all this up, I wanna say thank you all for your support. There will be a shift in content flow here for sure. But I ask you all to be patient with me as I try and figure this out. Ideally, I would have liked to have the answers and a solution for all of this by now, but I simply don't.

I've talked about about this in private with friends, as I felt I needed to come up with an alternative to provide the content I do but in a safe manner that doesn't violate Patreon's guidelines. Its still an ongoing conversation with them. Some of whom do the same thing I do here and are subject to these changes as well. When we have something I will definitely keep you all up to date. 

In the meantime, for my current patrons, I want to set expectations of what you're still getting for the next while. You'll still get early access to SD Illustrations as well as exclusive access to HD versions. Sketches, layered work files, and Archive access (coming soon, though limited now) are all still here. 

Lastly, I want to say to please keep your opinions of whats happening civil. Its a subject I'm sure will get a lot of people heated, but there isn't much I can personally do about it outside of following the rules. I'm trying to spin this as positive as I can. A way to shift my art in a different direction in a way that's good for me. I've always believed that working without limitations can disrupt creativity. Though I'm completely aware with how that very loosely applies to this situation. HAHA! Still, being positive is important. I don't want this to drag me down as has happened in the past. I'm strong, you're strong, we can pull through this!!

Again, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! It means a lot to me and helps me continue what I do. Even with the current changing climate. I just ask that you don't pull your support from me in protest to patreon, as that only hurts me. Not that I think any of you will do that, but I want to make that bit clear. 

TLDR; Patreon suspended my account a few days last week because I was drawing characters that are canonically under the age of 18 despite my style and my approach to age, consent, and generally how I render my art. As a result I had to delete all my sonic content that fell under that description of age. Not all of it, but most of it. Amy, Tails, Blaze, etc. So I can't host, fund, or link that content through patreon. My OCs such as Sophie and Edge are safe and my rewards, for the time being, aren't changing.  THIS WILL NOT EFFECT WHAT I DRAW! But not everything I do will be on patreon. A safe solution to providing all my content is being sought out and talked about, but I don't know if or when that will be. Please keep the conversation civil.