plankton-in-space - Tumblr blog

[plankton-in-space]

Hello ✨💫⭐️ I'm opening Sprik Sketch Commissions!

The sketch can be in any style from the examples above. If you don't have anything in mind you can leave it up to me 😉.

Please DM me to claim a slot. I'm also available for OC sketches, DM me for more info.

Quick ToS: 

Payment is done once and it's final.

Please keep the commissions rating up to R16.

The file size will vary and will be up to 1500x1500 pixels, 300dpi.

Any use of Crypto/ NFT/ Gener@tiv3 images is strictly forbidden, I do NOT endorse in these activities. Don’t bother to email me if you plan on that.

Those commissions are personal only (which means you may not profit off of them in any way).

[plankton-in-space]

Trying to do this again. Ways to support me.

Hello, my name is Caleb, and I am a disabled trans guy from the global south. I am indigenous southeast Asian.

I have chronic pain, and I am the sole caretaker of three other disabled people. I currently work three jobs, and am desperate for help. All three of my jobs are not stable income, as two depend on me having clients.

My mom and dad are both chronically ill, and both need battalions of meds like insulin, rosuvastatin, b complex to prevent seizures, and so much more (my mom is a survivor of a sepsis attack that resulted in a few minutes of brain death that caused nerve damage. She is a full time wheelchair user, and my dad's heart needs maintenance medicine) my parents medicine alone costs around 700-1000 usd per month- meds alone. And I still have to pay the electricity, water, internet for my work, my sisters tuition fees,.. etc.. for commissions I make around 750 usd, and then another 50-150 usd when folk tip.. I partially lose some of them because in southeast Asia, PayPal takes a small percentage each transaction, and then again for conversion, and then again as a fee when I transfer money to my bank... for my industry work, I've only made 10k usd for work worth three years now, and this is money am not even able to spend, because my contract has a morality clause, which means, if my publisher randomly decides to drop me or the author, I will have to return every penny I make, even if I have already drawn 390 pages of the comic..

I have been workinh so much I only have 4 hours worth of sleep per day for nearly 10 days now.. have no idea what to do.... I have not been able to work on my personal projects, all I want is to be able to play video games and work on my comic and talk to my friends and partner..

For three days now, my dad has been having symptoms that are worrying. Back of his neck is hurting, and his blood pressure is high, and his words when he speaks is slurred. He is afraid, and he is the only person in our household who does most of the housework. I would absolutely love to scrape by enough to get him to arrange a Dr's appointment tomorrow.. and everything else.. wiggle room until I can open again commissions for February. Sorry again, and I hope things work out for everyone.

Direct support: my tipping jars

Passive support, my print shop and patreon..!

My patreon:

Art support/ emotional support

My twitter:

https://x.com/sethpuertoluna/status/1590780936991674368?s=20

My bluesky:

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Mermay 15 (end) - Wedding Fitting 💍 - Process

And it's a wrap! Thank you all for following my journey this year! I enjoyed it in parts, it gave me more time to really think about each piece!

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Mermay 15 (end) - Wedding Fitting 💍 Kou comes from the seas near the Gulf of Thailand and his people's traditions require lots of floating pale color fabrics for the groom, delicate like sea foam. He came to the Capital's famous Weaver's district for the most luxurious seaweed silks. Who is he getting married to though..? 👀

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Mermay 14 - Shedding Scales 🐠 - Process

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Mermay 14 - Shedding Scales 🐠 Merfolk shed their scales once a year and it is an intimate affair. Their tails are highly sensitive and tail care is usuallydone between lovers, spouses or between parent & child. Neleus is famously unattached so he goes somewhere quiet to take care of things!

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Mermay 13 - Breakfast 🍣 - Process

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Mermay 13 - Breakfast 🍣

All merfolk learn from young how to scavenge for food as it is considered a vital survival skill! Their diet is very varied and includes fish, crustaceans, invertebrates, shells and the absolute staple: seaweed. It is great taboo to hunt marine mammals and other large predators, as they are at the top of the food chain and they keep the whole system balanced. Smaller fish are allowed but fishing is always meant as a supplement. Sushi for breakfast, anyone?

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Mermay 12 - Scavenger Hunt 🦪 - Process

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Mermay 12 - Scavenger Hunt 🦪

Neleus lives in a small seaside town and his favourite person is his best friend's daughter, a half-human, half-mer child. She is vibrant and mischievous and he spoils her rotten with treasures from the deep. She even follows him underwater sometimes, as she's an exceptional swimmer. She has inherited her father's strength and her mother's firecracker personality, so even without a tail she's a force to be reckoned with!

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Mermay 11 - Priest 🦀 - Process

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Mermay 11 - Priest 🦀

Kou has gone undercover as a spy many times, with different covers. His favourite is playing the priest of the old religion of celebrating the Depth. The priesthood clothes hide his recognizable lost hand and the crab shell weimao is perfect for hiding his smiles...

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Mermay 10 - Sunrise Lovers 🌞💛 - Process

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Mermay 10 - Sunrise Lovers 🌞💛

Merfolk have 2 forms, one more aquatic and one that allows them to spend some time on land. Their thighs stay covered in scales and their genitals aren't visible in either form. It can get very uncomfortable though if the scales dry too much, so they avoid spending too much time without a large body of water nearby. An old tale says that if you get a scale from a merperson as a gift, you will have good luck for the rest of your life, and so they're popular betrothal gifts between mer & human couples.

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Mermay 09 - Lounging 🔥 - Process

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Mermay 09 - Lounging 🔥

Merfolk & humans are intertwined, connected through the ocean, long-lost cousins. There are tensions between factions of opposing interests & religions, but the Earth and the Ocean are peaceful places to exist. Popular beaches tend to be a lot less peaceful, but one makes do with what they are given!

[plankton-in-space]

Hello! It me!

Hello friends! It has been a while, I’m still here!

It’s my birthday again, today. This year passed so fast and so slow at the same time. 33 is such a nice symmetrical number, though!

Literally nothing went according to plan, there were many dark moments when I thought that life is simply suffering. I felt alone and overwhelmed and I withdrew from social media and from life bc what was the point?

My family is well and healthy, the crisis has passed and we all survived it. I try to let go of past resentments and look at the now of us, which I never seemed to appreciate before. We are here, we are alive and we are all a work in progress. It is so difficult sometimes to focus on that, when life is fast-paced and I try to think of every possible scenario that might happen in the future.

It has been my constant obsessive thought, the future, to the point of neglecting my present. But I’m learning to fight it on so many levels. Future plankton can take care of herself, current plankton needs to eat well, sleep well and be happy!

How easy it is to say “be happy” but how fleeting it is as a feeling. I felt very very happy this year, more so than any other year I’ve been alive. Even when happiness was sandwiched between the sads, it was there, sparkling!

I walked my dog everyday, in the forest, with his two bodyguards (our two stray cats, Aziraphale & Crowley) meowing behind us. They kept me company when I washed my tools with the hose, waiting patiently to be petted by my cold hands in the end.

The sun in my face, clay on my hands. Painting with watercolours after abstaining for years. Running with Kohta Yamamoto playing on my headphones. Learning to meditate. Books, ceramics, comics, art, alone or with other people.

My bestie was always waiting with coffee, gossip, ideas and laughter and I love her so so much. I really appreciated the company and the sympathetic ears when I needed to cry about the world. My other irl friends were amazing too, I was never alone. My brain tried to convince me I was, but I wasn’t. I was teacher, friend, daughter, sister, helper.

And I accomplished so much! I won’t share what, for a reason. I accomplished a lot and I am proud but my biggest success has been letting go. I’m an overachiever ok? I like working and being good at what I do and my biggest flaw is overworking myself to the point of burnout, to prove to myself that I’m worth the love I receive, the attention. Look at me, I am bright and hardworking and pleasant, love me love me love me. But I receive the love and the care nonetheless, and I want to remember that. I am loved because I am me, and I am who I am because I am very, very loved.

And this is the energy I wanna bring into my 33s, into 2024. I am loved deeply and I love deeply and I care. Numbing myself, trying to avoid the hurts and the sadness only numbs the joy, the quirkiness, the sheer weirdness of existence. If I fail, I will try again, if I cry, I will laugh again.

I hope you are all healthy this year, and happy. I hope you notice the sunrises and the sunsets, the flowers and the birds and the seasons.

I don’t know if I will be more online this year or not. Being online takes time I would rather give to me, well, being present in my life. I haven’t decided yet which socials to keep, how often to post, how to reduce doom scrolling without going offline. It’s a work in progress.

But now, in this moment in time, I will post my mermay drawings bc I managed to finish the challenge just yesterday! wahoo!