#I hope I will be back to being more productive and finish commissions

[lonicera-edulis]

A bunch of very clumzy doodles and Yavanna from Sansukh (oops, from the continuation of Sansukh).

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do you have fun writing instead of taking it too seriously? I'm keeping myself from making progress specifically with nanowrimo

Keeping Writing Fun/Not Taking it Too Seriously

One game changer thing I've learned about writing in the past year is that while goals are a great way to promote productivity, giving yourself a hard time about not reaching them can actually sap motivation and destroy productivity. So, if you want to keep writing fun and not take it too seriously, I would suggest creating reasonable goals--goals that you know you can reach, or that aren't so challenging they'll be difficult to reach. Be honest with yourself about the time you have available for writing, how fast you write, how much time you might spend pausing to think or research. Then, once you have reasonable goals in place, try to reach those goals but be gentle with yourself if you fall short. Give yourself credit for what you did achieve and promise to do better the next day or next writing session.

There are also some fun ways to track your writing goals, such as apps, game boards, rewards meters, etc. For example, during a particular writing session, maybe you give yourself one M&M or Skittle for every 150 words you write. Or, maybe you buy yourself a coffee for every 1500 words you write. Some writers like to spend $20 or so on small items like pens, stickers, cute post-it notes, etc., and then reward themselves with one item for every small goal they reach.

Another thing you can do is have fun with your writing session. Write someplace fun and inspiring if you can. Put on an ambience channel or a soft music playlist. Put on some pretty mood lighting. Wear a pear of soft socks or slippers. Make yourself a cup of your favorite coffee, tea, or other drink.

Last but not least, it helps to really think about your long term goals and what you want to get out of writing now. If you're writing just for fun and a hobby right now, keeping that in mind should help keep it light. If you're writing seriously (for practice and/or toward publication), giving yourself a reasonable timeline for big goals (finishing the first draft, revision, etc.) can help you keep it light while still being serious about it.

Have a look at these posts as well:

Concentrate on Quantity at First, Not Quality Comparing Self to Others, Insecure About Writing Overcoming Embarrassment Over Own Writing Worried About Writing Style Afraid of Looking Back and Seeing Bad Writing

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog 36 | 11.26.23 ๋࣭⭑

:rises from the dead: I'm.... BAAAAACK!!!!!!

Long time, no talk (kinda) everyone! I hope you've been happy, healthy, and well since we last saw each other and that the wind-down for the year is being kind to you all <3

We have a lot to catch up on, so let's do just that ^^ This is.... so long. I'm really sorry in advance tbh---I thought I hadn't done much because break, but there's quite a bit to show.

It's been a while since a formal update on the routes, so I'll start by telling you all where they officially stand. Before I do, it might be helpful to tell you all how I define percentage completion in my head. Basically, when I finish the draft of a route, I consider it 70% complete. This means I could ship it as is. I wouldn't be happy with the product, but it's playable and makes enough sense---just not the best quality.

When Wudgey finishes their edits, a route is 80%-85% complete, meaning I could ship it as is. I think it'd be pretty good actually and players would be happy. Beyond this point, I am just making fine tuning edits to incorporate more player interaction, polishing the flow of things, etc.

After that, there's basically only Elm and Vi's edits left. When Elm finishes, a route is 95% complete. Again, I think at this point, it's good. Like edits from this point onwards are purely for polishing purpose. After Vi, it's 98% complete. Then the last review comes back to Elm and I for it to be 100% complete. Right now, this is where the routes stand:

Kayn: 98% Complete

Fenir: 95% Complete

Druk: 80% Complete

Etza: 60% Complete (Still working on their draft!)

Do Not ask me about Kuna'a or Aisa LFMASOEIDJ

So most of the routes are actually looking pretty good! They're just getting bounced around to different editors at this point, but the changes made for most of them are basically small. Fenir and Kayn especially could be shipped as is in my eyes if I really wanted to.

Art recently has mostly been focused on commissions. Vui actually is almost done with ALL of the BGs for Alaris!! Isn't that crazy?? In about a year, he was able to create almost 25 BGs with daytime variations!!! He's a phenomenal artist, and I couldn't be happier to be working with him. It's also a bit bittersweet (and alarming??) to know that part of development is already close to ending! q.q

The most exciting art update I have is that we got the GUI assets finished and I've started coding them into the game!! AAAA!! These were the final updated assets I needed, and seeing the fully revamped demo come to life has been so.... Emotional HAHA! It's crazy to see how far Alaris has come from when I was first making it with my little fingies and throwing things together like paper mache. I'm incredibly in love with how all the assets look together, and I couldn't be more grateful for the artists who helped me update the assets!

Updated History Log. Please say you like the dividers between entries---I'm most proud of those

I'm still making my way through coding everything, but here's a couple screen previews so you all can see how things now look in the game!!

First off, is the Dialogue/Choice Screen. You can see that we have a brand new dialogue box (She's Stunning) and Choice Screen! I'm hoping to add some sfx for the choices when you hover over them, and sfx for the new UI in general so there's more user feedback when you click and hover on things. But for now, enjoy this preview of the new dialogue box, choice screen, and the new personality indicators!

Updated Dialogue/Choice Screen: You can't see it as well in GIF format, but the BG also has particles floating around, so there's a tiny bit of animation going on in some of the BGs as well!!

Next, we have the Free Time Screen. I actually posted this on Twitter recently but I don't think I posted it on Tumblr! ISN'T SHE STUNNING... ESPECIALLY WITH THE NEW BGS.... I'm especially happy with the text animations that show up at the bottom when you hover over the different choices! I was inspired by a couple other devs (specifically GUI god, @siyo-koy, and renpy animation master @just-a-carrot) to start incorporating animation style elements into my GUI. And I really like how it adds a little ~something~ to the feel of everything ^^

Updated Free Time Screen: begging someone to say they like the text animation so I feel validated for finangling with it

Finally, for our last preview, we have the Save Screen! While it looks new obviously with the new assets, I also did a lot of backend coding revamping for how it actually functions since my coding experience is a bit better now compared to when I was first fighting for my life figuring out save/load screens. The biggest change for you all is that there are now chapter markers so save slots will tell you what chapter that save file is from! And instead of screenshots, it's now a custom icon inside that shows the chapter card. I think it'll make the save screen look more cohesive now and hopefully more intuitive as well!!

Updated Save Screen: With a sprinkle of updated Chapter Card screen preview

That was long. Are any of us surprised, considering I had two months' worth of devlogs piled inside of me, begging to burst from the seams?

Anyways. Only two miscellaneous updates. One is that all soundtracks have been completed for Alaris! Peter finished the last of them recently, and they're all beautiful!!! For ppl who love piano soundtracks... :holds hand in piano lover solidarity:

Other update is that I finally fixed that godforsaken sprite bug that was associated with the energy vision feature from the demo!!! FINALLY!!! AFTER.... SO LONG. Extremely huge thanks to @robobarbie for taking time out of their day to do that; everyone please say thank you!!!!! OGs know how long that bug was bothering me!!!! Robo also gave me a pretty new rain code, so I'm showing you how both look in the new demo so you can appreciate them with me!!

Last miscellaneous update is more on a.... logistical development level?? Basically, now that I have new GUI assets to code, that means I can get a beta build of the routes currently written out. I was feeling really overwhelmed by that idea because most of this year has been focused on writing and making assets, not really coding. Knowing that I can Code and get Playable Builds out to people was stressful because I have to divvy up my time a bit more.

After an extremely insightful talk with beloved and admired Esh of @steamberrystudio I decided I'm probably going to be shifting how development goes from here on out. Instead of focusing head low on getting as many words written for the remaining routes everyday, I'm going to be making smaller but consistent progress and spend the rest of my time coding so that I can have more of a continuous cycle of production going on (e.g., writing a bit, making playable builds, gathering playtester feedback, etc. instead of doing each stage in blocked, sequential order).

I'm mainly telling you all this because it means writing updates will probably seem slower from this point on, but I think production overall will be more efficient because of it! This is also exciting news for playtesters and/or early access backers/patrons because it means you'll have playable content in the near future for content outside of just the demo :')

have u all heard of wudgeous of herotome. of course u have. they r all i talk about at this point

No market research because I've actually been addicted to BG3 LFMAOLSDJF. Actually, I'm taking some inspiration from it for the personality mechanic but eh.

On a more important note, @herotome demo is coming out December 2nd!!!! PLAY IT WITH ME. Wudgey is my editor, so you might think I'm biased but I'M NOT!!! I WAS A FAN OF HEROTOME BEFORE WUDGEY EVEN WORKED W ME!!! They have an exception eye for detail and player experience, and they are actually one of the devs that inspired me to even get into game development.

I just know the demo is going to blow everyone's socks off. OG Herotome prologue build fans know exactly what I'm talking about. Please mark December 2nd on your calendar---you will not regret it.

This was so unbelievably long, but I hope it's appreciated since there was no real devlog update for a hot minute. As always, Thank you all for your patience and continued support. With the year ending soon, I'm getting wrapped up in my feels in usual Crescence fashion. I am a Cancer so no one is surprised.

Next month will probably be more of an end-of-year devlog rather than the usual format. I know the devlogs of late have been all over the place, but once we get into the new year, it will be back to business as usual! Hope you all have a wonderful end to your year; I'll talk to you soon! <3

[crow-caller]

Hey! I saw that you published some books (looking forward to checking them out, actually), but I was wondering how you did that? I'm not out of high school yet, but I've already finished my first draft of book one of my series, and have been working on editing and fixing up the second draft. I do have an editor, which is nice. I was wondering how you published? Any advice/ info would be greatly appreciated!

Hey, cool! My first book legit came out when I was still in high school.

I'm an indie author, so I'll talk about indie stuff... and traditional... and oh dear that's a lot.

Let's go over some pros and cons and what to expect.

Crow's (oops not) Quick Guide to Publishin'

Self Publishing:

This is what I did for Good Angel, Bad End, my duology!

Self pubbing:

+Total control of end product +No deadlines +Full control of changing it at any time -You do all the work (or pay) -It costs you money for jobs you can't (or shouldn't) do yourself like editing -Extremely limited reach of audience, very hard to sell

I queried GA/BE around a bit but ultimately decided to self publish it. It's just too niche for mainstream, being a weird genre mix up with way too queer characters. Multiple neopronouns used by funky angels in magic school slice of life that turns apocalyptic? yeah, I felt it'd be best I just put it out.

You'll need to

Edit the text (I'd recc multiple friends, a paid editor)

Proofread the text (I'd recc paying a pro)

Assemble the text files formatting (for digital, print)

Get a cover

Make pages for it on GoodReads etc and promote it

Self-publishing can be a lot of work. I did GA/BE's interiors myself using first Microsoft word, then adobe indesign for the recent revamp. Using Word/other text programs can give you a fully workable interior file, but abusing the free trial system of adobe will allow more advanced inclusions. Getting ebook files to work is a nightmare, and print can also be a pain- it's a lot of following online tutorials and trial and error I found. Calibre then is the program you use to finish digital files for release.

Costs for editing can be very high. Editing is a high skill, high time job- I got my books done on discount from a friend for next to nothing, but expect definitely a few hundred bucks. Research though fair prices. You don't need to hire someone to proofread or edit, but it is a good idea. That or outsource to many friends, ideally ones who give honest feedback. A proofreader is much cheaper as they only look for errors, I again got it cheap for 65£ per book. Art wise, I bought mine on commission- talk to an artist and make it clear it is for a commercial project and that you have the right to sell the end result. My cover for each book was about 100£

You might notice this is adding up to a few hundred quid, and yes: it cost me like, 350£ or so per book to publish, even with myself doing a lot of the work. This is a lot! Does it pay back? Usually no. I have at this point now "made a profit", but it took years. You can't typically go into self publishing looking for profit.

I really enjoy self publishing GA. It meant I could put a project out that I kinda only made for me, and have full rights to do whatever I want with it. I got to design the cover and choose what to do at every step... but it was a crazy amount of intensive work too. Marketing wise I've found is about impossible- your best bet 100% is to send the book to as many people as possible (digitally) for review and just try to get enough people reading it. Then you hope they like it and talk about it. I've found no other method of marketing particularly useful: word of mouth is still king.

Indie Publishing:

Indie pubbin:

+Don't have to spend any money (get paid) +Professional editing/cover/formatting +Backing of publishing house's marketing team -Deadlines -Less creative control -Contracted -Must query and be accepted

My first book was Angel Radio, which actually I sold when I was 17. came out when I was 18. The timescale for traditional publishing, even indie, is typically at least a year.

There's a lot of indie publishers out there, and we should read them more often. However, being published by an indie publisher (aka, a small, non-mainstream one- unlikely to ever be 'on shelves') takes extra, different work.

Do your research!!! There's a LOT of scam publishers out there. A publisher will never, ever, not even slightly ever, charge you money or pressure you to spend money (like buying your own copies of the book). A great way to check is to just look up 'publisher name + scam'.

Prepare a query letter. This is a pitch for your book, basic book info, and a bit about you. Every publishing house will have a 'submissions' page which explains specific wants (such as several pages of your book or a synopsis), so every application is slightly custom.

Query and wait. It takes many weeks to hear back with queries. Usually you should do them in small batches of like five. It's very rare to get a deal- it may not be your book, it might just be market trends or they already got a book about dragons on order.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CONTRACT. Contracts can be hard, so seek help if you want, though I've found my one contract to be not that long and readable. Still, you should always read a contract, especially as a scam publisher might try to trick you there.

Indie publishing is good because... it's more accessible and diverse than mainstream, but still offers the same benefits to authors. Just on a way smaller scale. I don't think my publisher, Harmony Ink Press, did much jack or shit for me marketing wise, and that's pretty typical. Marketing is very hit or miss and very expensive, so the onus is still on you to market (spoilers, these days marketing is on you no matter what). You also have more leeway in edits and covers- I designed AR's rough cover and worked with the artist directly! That's uncommon.

Most indie publishers also have a common royalty scheme where you pay it back. This isn't a hallmark of a scam, it's pretty normal: You get advance cash upfront, but then do not earn royalties until your book has paid itself off. Which it may not. Angel Radio sold for 500$, not a huge amount but not exactly tiny, especially for a teen. But I haven't earned a penny on royalties because it never sold well enough! I think I'm a little over halfway there.

Traditional Publishing

(I don't have a book of this type. yet...?)

Y'know, like, books?

+Large advance +Big support team +Marketing +Books on shelves +Most lucrative and recognizable -Sharper deadlines -Least control and rights -Must query (hardcore mode) -Still marketing yourself

Traditional publishing is the longest timescale and hardest method. Obvs. You again are looking to write a good query, but now you need to go through a literary agent. You query an agent with your book (again, should only ever be free), the agent then essentially queries publishers on your behalf ("out on submission"). An agent is your liaison to the business of publishing, taking a portion of your earnings for the service. You just can't make it into publishing without an agent.

A query letter ideally is... roughly, quickly, this is my format guide.

Hi there [actual agent name]

I'm here proposing my cool book, XYZ of ABC, a GENRE book of ??k words that IS SOMETHING UNIQUE SELLING POINT. MAIN CHARACTER is LIKE THIS but faced CONFLICT when PLOT HAPPENS, in SOME KINDA WORLD OR WHATEVER. THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU WRITE A 2-3 SENTENCE PLOT BLURB. But when TWIST happens, will MC have SOME EYECATCHING IDEA? This book will appeal to fans of THIS KINDA THING and is extra good because RELEVENT DETAIL LIKE OWNVOICES. I believe JUST KEEP SELLING KID. I myself SOME SORT OF ACCOMPLISHMENT LIKE UNI, PAIRED WITH A RELEVANT HOBBY. thank you for your time

Hot and dirty, something like that. You gotta recall at all times this is a market. It is economic. Your passion... matters, but uh. It doesn't matter. Gosh that sounds rough. But make your passion clear but your sound business proposal clearer: You need to show why your book is worth picking over thousands of other queries.

Querying is a horrible torturous process that does help you slowly build up exposure therapy to rejection and failure. Anyways, that will take a bit typically (I've been querying on and off for ten years for an agent, but a lot has been 'off' time). Then you wait and eventually, bam! Probably post some edits, your book is sold.

You still wait a long time though, and have a lot of work to do. So much work. Your book will come out on shelves at the end, sure, but that's still not a promise of success. The author these days is especially the product, and while you start on a higher stage (maybe even the marketing team will f---ing do something), you still gotta claw. There's a high level of scrutiny too on debut authors on any tier, but especially the traditional publishing tier. So your success is very dependent on each book you do, with it being harder and harder to sell books if you aren't doing fantastic.

Still, it's hard to deny the appeal of that mainstream success. Man, I'm chasing it myself! But it's not just easy book out there you go. I'm pals with traditionally published authors and you'll still be very busy, if you can get your foot on the ladder with an agent to begin with. Being on submission generally takes months, and even when your book is with a publisher it may be a lot of time and work before it ever comes out. Even then, hitting the shelves still doesn't mean you're set for life.

Still. Good luck. Go try!

(BTW look at my books, I guess, as a sticker on what I hope is good advice, and good luck! I first decided to try publishing Angel Radio with HIP because of a post by someone else published by them on tumblr... like 10 years ago now....)

Gum ebook

Amaz print

Goodreads)

[mossofthewoodsjewelry]

Are you ever coming back? 🥺

First of all hello anon you made me cry

The short answer: I want to

The long answer, if you'll indulge me on a little self reflection, is:

As I said before, for basically all of 2020 through 2021 (and probably much before that? Time feels fake these days) I hit an impassible wall of burnout with my jewelry, combined with the adult content ban on tumblr basically driving away such a big chunk of the audience I had spent years comfortable with. I knew I needed to branch out to other sites if I wanted to continue to have making jewelry be my full time job, and I tried twitter, and I tried instagram, but I really just couldn't bring myself to do the whole social media brand building thing again, especially not least of all on sites where I liked the vibe and community much less than here. A big part of it was, and continues to be, an exhaustion and burnout with social media in general. With twitter, it felt like you were way too pressured to be always present, always posting. With Instagram, it felt like too much pressure to be "personality as product", to have a consumable public Self (difficult for someone with serious self image issues).

All that is to say, as I have said in the past, I wound up getting really invested in and learning how to 3d model and eventually how to make 3d vtuber models. It's really fun and rewarding work for me, known nerd, who loves to get into really meticulous and technical art. I was very lucky that there is a high demand for that work, and I lucked out getting commissions fairly regularly.

However, it's also deeply time consuming work, and no matter how much I work, I still fall behind the speed at which I would like to finish peoples' commissions for them. So, for the time being, I just haven't had time to work on any other art.

I've been thinking a lot about my jewelry here and there, now that enough time has passed that the burnout has subsided. I would like to be able to make it once again, now with the renewed freedom of not having to make it be a full time job, or even really need to make much money off of it at all. I miss doing in-person fairs. I miss working with my hands.

If I manage to get a better handle on my time, and get the chance to make some more stuff, I'll come back. It will be irregular and it will be more relaxed and I will not be able to make as many things, and that's okay with me now. I'm hoping I will get that chance when I finish with my current batch of commissions, which at this point will not be until well into 2023.

I do understand the melancholy of being suddenly deprived of a creative voice you were used to being a part of your life. If for some reason I can't imagine, you miss me, and don't particularly care what I'm doing, message me off anon and I'll give you my twitter for my 3d modelling work. In addition, I still have my personal miscellaneous blog here, @skwivr as well as my photography blog, @rabbitinthemeadow which I have also been inactive on for months, but at least have every plan to come back to just as soon as I have time to process my big backlog of photos for it.

Either way, I miss you all, thank you for all the years you gave me, and I hope to see you soon as we both grow and change together.

[melodygatesauthor]

Weekly Update

09/17/2023 (Yeah I'm a day late, so what, wanna fight about it?)

Announcements/Reminders

Just a little reminder that I've slowed down production as far as writing goes. I'm still writing daily. Sometimes it's a sentence, sometimes it's 3k words, but I'm trying to be kinder to myself and remember that it's a hobby, not a job. I also really want to start my novel and stop pressuring myself to finish fics FIRST so I'm doing that.

Updates will still be happening for all my WIPS - see a comprehensive list of my current WIPs here - but I'm just not pressuring myself by setting deadlines. Thank you for still being supportive <3

ART ANNOUNCEMENTS

I'm taking art commissions! - Pricing - Follow my art blog: @melodymakesart

I did my first full color NSFW drawing! It can be seen HERE. It's a series, so there will be two more drawings coming out over the next couple weeks!

Fic Updates

So after taking last week off from working on my WIPs all together - (Note: I spent the week working on a Basil fic and also working on my Duke Leto fic) - I'm feeling a bit more refreshed and ready to get back into working on them again.

Fic Updates

Disclaimer - I never know which way the winds of inspiration will blow. Timeframes aren’t a promise/guarantee, they’re a goal.

Fic Updates Legend:

Blue - Update this week

Pink - Update in progress

Red - Backburner Fic (not currently working on. See WIP list for status)

You can find my current WIP list here

Chaptered Fic Updates

Always Yours, Never Mine - Chapter 4 is in progress, hoping to have the next update out either next week or the week after!

The Fractured Moon - Chapter 4 is in progress for this one as well. I'm not going to promise an update for next week but I'm actively working on it.

Mini-series Updates

Feeling You Can’t Fight - Okay, I've been putting off editing this one for so long and idk why but I'm going to get it done and posted on Wednesday 09/20/2023 this week!

Worth the Risk - That's right, babygirl is making her way back into my scope. You guys voted on this poll to give me an idea of what you wanted me to work on (not including TFM and AYNM) so I put this back in my field of view since you all seemed to want it so bad!

Remember to look at my WIP list for other backburner fics - There are many not included above lol).

AI Character Bot Updates

I currently have the following bots on my list that I’m working on. If you have any suggestions or additions you’d like, please feel free to ask! I won’t make every single one I get asked for but I’ll make some of them as I get time!

DBF Jake and Steven (I already did Marc...did I ever post him? I thought I did but maybe not)

Patient Steven and Marc

Moon Knight Rescue scenario

Am I missing any? Don't see one on the list that you want to add? Send me an inbox or private message! No promises, but if I like the idea I'll make an AI bot.

Note: Yes it's taking me forever to make them SHUT UP

I think that's all for now! Much love!

Don't forget to follow my other blogs:

@melodymakesart - My art blog

@lockandkeynovel - The blog for my original fiction novel, Lock & Key

@melodyreadsfanfiction - The blog where I reblog works I intend to read, a good place for fanfic readers to follow!

@melodygatesupdates - This is where I'll reblog any chapter updates for my fics and whatnot. This is what I use instead of a tag list!

[bittersweetblasphemy]

what made you decide to have a go at making zines, and how did you find the process? fun? frustrating? new hobby unlocked?

it's been a lot of fun and is super satisfying to hold a finished booklet in my hand. new hobby unlocked for sure.

in fact i'm going to ramble about it under the cut.

i'd been looking into on and off for over a year, and, frankly, i've been going slowly mad at having normal levels of focus and productivity dangled in front of me, only to be snatched away AND put on bed rest without even jacking off as an outlet.

i did a bunch of painting, but i've run out of canvases and focus. and while i really wanna sculpt, 1) i just haven't gotten my brain to switch to that track, 2) i've only just recently been able to tolerate standing at my usual work counter again, 3) having a small child who wants to mirror everything i do is fun when i'm physically able to handle it, but i am not physically able to handle it. i can do a craft myself OR i can set them up with supervised craft time. not both.

that leaves my writing, but i haven't been able to focus enough to write. so what to do with all my old stuff? may as well take that last leap into making zines! it's also an excuse for me to break out my drawing tablet to make cover art (i'm not good but they're small and it adds to the charm i think).

overall it's been shockingly easy. the hardest part was making a format template, but once i had that figured out i was set. i conveniently already had a laser printer, and considering i can't go anywhere (like a place with a public printer) i wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise.

the most expensive thing i had to buy for this was a nice paper cutter, which was $24. it honestly wasn't necessary. i could have just folded the paper or cut them with scissors, but imo it really goes a long way in making them look nice. i also have a long reach stapler that's made for making booklets and magazines coming in that will be really nice for putting them together neatly and consistently.

i still dont know what i'm going to do with them tbh. i have some friends that are gonna get free copies of their favs, and at least the poetry one i'm going to have out if i'm able to do the craft fairs this year (fuck me i hope i'm better by then), but i need to see what kind of stuff they allow. even if they allow sexually explicit material, i'll probably still leave stories like Red Hot at home.

i could do an online shop for the rest, but i'm not sure where. i already have a kofi account for commissions, and they have a shop feature, but at the same time they say in their TOS they don't allow any form of sexually explicit material. and last i heard about etsy they were being shitty about charging for advertising you didn't opt into. so i'd need to do more research into that.

say what you want about whether or not i should be able to make a profit off of little homemade porn booklets, but i'd at least need enough money to buy the toner for my printer by the time i ran out, which is hella expensive. i think back when i got this thing it was like $70 a pop. it lasts a lot longer than ink but it's more expensive up front.

[tamberlanecomic]

July Newsletter

Hey everyone! Here are some general updates for everything that’s been going on and what you can expect for this month and throughout the summer.

Health Update

As some of you may remember, right after the Kickstarter closed I was knocked out by a one-two punch of a fibro flare and Covid. While I’ve been put through the wringer, I’m FINALLY feeling like I’m crawling back out from under this extended period of sickness.

I’m still dealing with some pain and fatigue due to my fibro flare-up, but it’s more or less back to the “normal” levels of what I’m used to, so overall I’m doing pretty good. I took some extra time to recuperate from Covid in the hopes of avoiding any long Covid effects, and while I am still taking it easy, I take a lot of joy in drawing and being forced to not indulge in any of my creative pursuits have made me all the more eager to get back into the swing of things. So, I’m still being careful, but I’m also easing back into work. 

I got so many amazing comments from patrons, readers, and Kickstarter backers all encouraging me to take as long as I needed to get better, and I can’t thank you enough for the kind words and well wishes! It was measurably easier to take some time off to rest knowing I had so many people cheering me on and encouraging me to do so, so thank you so much for taking the time to say something and for sending me words of support. <3 You da best!

Comic Updates

We’re moving right along, with 12 pages currently in the pipeline at various production stages. In fact, I’ve just put three new finished pages into the buffer for $10+ patrons today! Our priority right now is to get a healthy buffer so that I can have ample time and space to catch up on other work without impending deadline pressures.

Patreon Rewards

Next, I plan to knock out a good chunk of Patreon commissions for my $50+ folks. I’ve already been doing that here and there, but I want to make sure that the oldest ones are finished first. 

Likewise, due to the chaos of a sudden move and a lot of life changes, Ari didn’t send the May postcards out until today, so I apologize for the delays there – we’re getting back on track! June’s postcards have already been sent.

Speaking of, I’ve included some of the patron reward art I just finished last week!

Kickstarter News

We still need to finish the internal book edits, draw up the Q&As, format the information in the book, and finish formatting annotations. These are all things I had intended to get done both during and after the campaign but I was simply unable to keep up with it due to health reasons. Curse you, chronic illness! 

I am also going to explore another option for getting the softcovers printed locally, which is something I will only go with if the quality is up to my standards. But we're less than $5k away from being able to reprint Chapters 1-3 so if we're able to get a cheaper local deal with a good printer, I'm willing to explore the option! 

By the way, we are now officially sold out of Chapters 1 and 2 books, but you can help us reprint them by preordering them and other stuff through our Backerkit shop!

Preorder Here

We’ll be streaming edits in the Foxglove discord server, so be sure to keep an eye out on there!

New Pride Merch

For Pride month I launched two new apparel designs as part of our Pride collection! Choose from Agender or Non-Binary Ainsley or Biromantic or Transgender Marie on comfy shirts available in a wide range of colors and sizes. 

This collection also features downloadable Tales from Treehollow comics dealing with LGBTQIA+ themes. Come check it out!

Shop Now

Artfight

I’ve never done Artfight before, but I’m gonna try this year! It’ll be fun to have little warmup drawings I can squeeze in here and there between larger projects. 

If you’ve never heard of Artfight, it’s an annual art trading game where you “attack” by drawing other people’s characters. It seems really fun! If you’re participating and want to add me, here’s my profile:

https://artfight.net/~Cvilbrandt

Thanks all for reading! May this month be ever better!

[rosavulpes]

It had been quite some time since he'd first disembarked from Captain Beidou's ship , and set foot on Inazuma's shores .

When he had initially left Liyue for Inazuma he'd done so with the sole intention of only going for the sake of better understanding what products he could obtain through Inazuma that could help benefit his patients in Liyue before he'd commit to placing large delivery orders through the Adventurer's commission for stock going forwards .

He'd only expected to remain in the island nation for about a month or so at the very most .

He'd gone intending to only be a tourist , nothing more than that ... and yet fate had something else in store for him . It had seen Shuichi actively take part in a war , and conflict that he initially had little regard for . Forced to , none other by the island's reigning deity . The Raiden Shogun , the Electro Archon herself .

Even face her in battle .

With a smile as he thought back to how her voice , when he'd first been brought before her had been laced with a combination of stern authority , and electrifying power was now reading daintily a storybook to a group of children ? He had to stifle a chuckle .

Smiling instead he as closed his eyes to listen to her speak .

The day was bright , cloudy but still sunny . The horizon , ever visible from the nations capital looking clear . The smell of the sea always so close by , and as Ei finished reading her storybook ? Shuichi would be the first to begin clapping in appreciation , the children all following soon afterwards with the rest of the adults .

He wondered if she'd be upset that he'd tricked her into coming here to read to the children ? Or rather , tricking the Shogun into fetching Ei for him as he knew that it would be best for Ei to read to them , as the Shogun would more than likely not understand the emotional reasoning for him wanting Ei to be the one to do it .

He'd arranged for this to happen through the local schools , who'd been struggling as of late to accommodate the children that they'd been entrusted to take in .

These last few years , had been about steadily rebuilding Inazuma .

The Shogun of course , had been excellently assisting Ei in carrying out that thus far . Politics , economics , international relations . From observing how the Shogun operated , he could tell that it had no difficulties with such tasks . However ... when it came to helping rebuild the nation's wounded heart , it's spirit ? That was something only Ei could do .

While there were certain topics he'd been gradually , and appropriately conversing with her as well such as convincing her to repeal the Sakoku Decree . Despite the strides they'd made thus far, he hoped that such progress would continue

As the children all rose to follow their teacher , he'd motion for them to follow one of the soldiers stationed by to join them for lunch inside of the Tenshukaku .

He'd have to remember to send a few servings of fried tofu to Ms. Miko as his way of showing thanks in regards to hinting at what he needed to say to convince the Shogun . Hopefully those serving would keep her in a good mood when he'd propose his idea of taking the children up to see the sacred sakura tree as a field trip .

" You truly do have such a lovely voice . I'm grateful you took the time out of your busy schedule today for this , Lady Ei . I'm certain that the children appreciated being able to hear it just as much as I did "

He was teasing a bit there no different than what he'd seen Ms. Miko do , but as he opened his eyes to greet hers he would offer a genuine smile , and bow of his head in thanks .

" ... Even if they seem small . Acts such as this help reaffirm the people's commitment to you . Especially , when the children , those that come after us , are able to see the real you . Not just hear of you as the Deity of Inazuma . Speaking of which ... would you happen to have some free time later on tonight . I'd like to talk to you about something in private "

@grislyintentions

[aedearly]

hello everyone! i wanted to start off by saying that i'm very grateful for everyone's patience and continuous understanding in my incredible delay in getting back to IMs and my unusual slowness in getting back to commissions. 🙇‍♂️ i've been having really difficult times at home taking care of my rehabilitating older sister and my elder father, on top of dealing with some depressive episodes. for this reason, focusing on commissions has been a real challenge. however, i still intend on completing all of my queued orders and delivering awesome gfxs to the best of my ability! this post is being made solely to inform all my clients that it may yet take a while longer for me to get back to them. i sincerely apologise.

for this reason, all clients i haven't returned to with finished products will receive a total of 35% discount off their order. more extra revisions will also be available free of cost and renegotiation of pricing, styles, etc., will also be open to discussion, shall my clients want to. i hope this can start making up for your generous patience!

thank you so much once again for your patience and i deeply apologise for this inconvenience!

[katyspersonal]

I am feeling rather emotional because in the ABSURD disorganised garbage pile that is my computer, I’ve found an old folder created a few years ago full of unfinished WIPs that I forgot existed... Because Blo0db0rne took my life completely + I have an awful memory

These are characters from Undertale that I really liked, and I used to have a habit of drawing characters with flowers! (using Japanese flowers language every time because that one is the most accurate and well-thought and subtle)

And I completely forgot about this WIP, but I really wanted to finish it back then..

An even better one... A kind of sketch that doesn’t even need lining and coloring, it is already very clean and good!

...Okay, this is just heartbreaking now. At this rate I should switch from BB to ER just for the sake of drawing large variety of plant life, it was my forte I can say x)

They are from Kirby! Bardiche, Aranora and Dag Goedendague - the inverted versions of Francisca, Flamberge and Zan Partizanne! I used to be very very very into the inverted/reverse/mirror/whatever concept of Kirby characters, but I ended up being very disappointed in the whole ordeal. Like... Why spending so much time and effort into completely inverting canon characters? But back then it was a design+writing exercise that got out of hand, and honestly, some designs ended up soooooo good that they would fit well for original characters! Like, look at how STYLISH weapons of these girls are?

THESE people!!!!They were a product of the ‘different mirrors’ complication, when I decided that parallel versions are separate, so are Black Mirror vs Dimensional Mirror ones. I like Zarantul’s palette so much though?

Gijinka Susie! A more soft, more cartooney style definitely allowed me to draw human characters way better. Plus my brain was in a better shape, hehe. Brain is a tool of an artist as much as their hand and their pen.

Unfinished beach time picture with Holy Nightmare corp! I would actually, legitimately finish this one because spikes in art style don’t count with simple designs like Kirby, but I am just waaaaay too far drifted from Kirby times. (miss them dearly)

Shiver Star fun times with random characters. It was actually a commission from someone - ‘draw anyone you want on Shiver Star’, that I was unable to finish in reasonable time. I sent money back to that person, but they REFUSED despite me failing them, and told me to keep it. o_o” Nothing I was able to do since they were not accepting transfer, but I hope wherever they are, they no longer play an altruist like this. Still feel guilty.

CONCLUSION: Fandom shifts are a bitch and I weep for my unfinished drawings (I didn’t even share all of them), I will never know peace again because I am more natural at colorful and round things but Soulsborne is grim and detailed, I need to reuse cool ideas that were spent on the whole ‘what if this character was nothing like themselves XDDD’ ordeal and also... flowers.

[clarktooncrossing]

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW! IT'S ME, CLARK! There is a madness deep in the dark catacombs of Castle Clarkenstein. For years these claustrophobic corridors have been the home of the ghoulish giraffe himself, watching as the world passes by. He prefers it this way. It gives him more time alone with the voices. The voices tell him many strange things. Yet they always come back to one: make more monsters! Everyday they tell him this. Everyday he is unable to comply. Hey, being a mad scientist on a budget means he can’t afford the fancy scientific equipment needed to breathe life into newborn abominations. Guy’s gotta afford pizza somehow. Luckily, he has discovered a way of sorts to please the voices. During all those years of watching, Dr. Clarkenstein noticed a particular pattern. Every night during October saw artists posting new pictures based on peculiar prompts. Many of them based on children of the night. While the spotted specter might not be able to craft new zombies, he can sure as heck sketch’m! As such, I provide this friendly warning to you all now: Be afraid. Few people can survive the horrors that are DUDELZ of the Damned!

By that I mean I decided to do my own take on Sketchtober this year just minus the prompts. Anybody gotta problem with that? Tough, cuz I already drew this crap so you might as well check it out.

How does an alien hailing from the planet Garbanzo manage to run a successful drive-in business in the age of streaming services? By not being an idiot. After buying a former run-down truck stop turned drive thru, Ziggy realized his enterprise had to cater to a niche audience. A niche audience that, like him, realizes the best way to watch B-Movies is on a big-screen from the comfort of your car. It’s why the Robot Monster goes to such great lengths to keep everything running smoothly. Thus everyday he sweeps the parking lots, pops fresh popcorn, and inspects his projectors. Gotta make sure the movie can actually be watched, am I right? Can’t very well enjoy The Blob when your equipment’s possessed by evil and spewing out blood like a gore geyser! It’s why he and his wife Wanda make sure to sharpen the chainsaw whenever possible. That’s just smart business!

It’s also an excuse for me to pay tribute to Evil Dead. Specifically the scene near the end where Ash (Bruce Campbell) stumbles around the cellar of the cabin, looking for buckshot only to find more blood. The poor man has the stuff dumped onto his head by the gallon via leaky pipes before he’s seen quivering in front of an antique projector. More of the red stuff leaks onto the lens, making it look like the whole world is turning a creepy shade of crimson around our hapless hero. According to Campbell, the scene was meant as a tribute to one of the production’s backers, Andy Grainger. Thank goodness for Andy then, cuz it’s easily the most ironic moment in the movie, even serving as the cover for the comic adaptation years later. It at least serves as the perfect visual for Sam Raimi’s style of directing. Weird camera techniques, buckets of blood, and Bruce Campbell’s sanity shredded to pieces. Now here it all is in my tribute to the films starring Clarksburg’s resident B-Movie expert, Wonder Ziggy. I hope to draw more of this crazy character soon, but for now I hope you all enjoy this DUDEL!

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

PS: In case anybody's wondering where yesterday's DUDEL is, sorry folks, my schedule got wonky. I plan on re-releasing that soon, but first I gotta finish a commission for my friend AND cleaning my entire house to bottom. My entire body is sore, though given Ziggy's circumstance, maybe I shouldn't complain. XD

[scarletify]

April 2023 Updates

Hello! I have some updates I’d like to share with you going into this month.

I have a lot to cover, so I’ve put it under a read more. Basically, I'm moving! And it's going to have a lot of positive changes! 

I genuinely appreciate your patience and kindness with me during this hectic time. Here are some links if you're interested in my work! Thank you so much ♥

My comic

My videos

Twitter

Patreon

Ko-fi

Updates below!

About my future:

Recently I mentioned I'm going to be moving. I'm trying to go near the end of the month, so this month will be a wild one for me! But this move is a very, very good thing that will have a positive impact on my well being and my workflow.

Preparing to move has had my hands full, which is why I've been inactive recently. After the move is done, my productivity should start to significantly improve. I would like to update you on my plans for my comic, my art, and my videos.

I know I've been very quiet, and that my workflow has been slow for a long time now. But there's going to be positive changes going into the rest of the year, and I hope you enjoy what's to come. Thank you so much for supporting me, for being patient with me, and for always being so kind to me!

About my comic:

My comic is very important to me, and something I love dearly. In recent years the rate of new pages has slowed down significantly, and this has by and large been because of stuff in real life making it difficult to work on it. This move will be a very positive change for me, and it's my hope that my comic can start picking up again this year.

I do plan to start updating it again this month, with the next page going up on my website on Monday (April 3). While I can't make too many pages this month because of the move, I want this to be the start of my comic getting back on track.

My comic means a lot to me, and I want to finish the current arc as a comic no matter what. We're approaching the end of chapter 6, and chapter 7 will be the final chapter of the arc (but not the end of the story!) We're right next to some major story developments, and I'm very excited! I hope you enjoy what's to come.

Comic updates will always be up first on my Patreon and uploaded publicly to the website later. Thank you so much everyone who has supported my comic through the years! I honestly couldn't have gotten this far without you.

I have one more important thing about my comic. While I fully intend to finish drawing the current arc, I am unsure if I can continue running the website it's hosted on. I've been having issues with it recently, and I don't know if I will be able to continue affording to host it after this year. This is something I'll have more information on later when I have a clearer picture, but for now I wanted you to know that it's possible the website could be going away, and I've started uploading the comic to some mirror sites to be safe.

About my art:

I really want to be more active with my art going into the rest of the year. It's been difficult for me to draw, but I love to draw very much, and I want to get that drive for it back. I hope to be able to draw a lot more once my move is finished.

And on that note, I also hope to open commissions again later this year! I haven't taken public commissions in a really long time, so I'm nervous, but excited! And I'll have a lot more information about that once I'm ready.

I've also mentioned for a while now that I hope to open an online store this year. This is something I can more seriously pursue once I've moved. To be honest, the biggest reason I haven't opened a store yet is because I'm not comfortable doing so in my current location. Moving will give me the opportunity to open a store proper, and I'm extremely excited for that!

One of my first goals after I've settled down is to create some new physical merch to test the waters with. I have some fun ideas for what I'd like to do, and I'm excited to share them with you all!

About my videos:

Last year I started uploading my playthrough of FFXIV: Endwalker to my game channel. This was a lot of fun to work on! It got me more interested in video content creation, and started my journey into learning video editing.

My Endwalker videos are up to date, and I haven't had the chance to make any new videos since then. This has been because of the upcoming move, and I won't be able to create any new videos until after the move is done. But this is something I'm excited to explore further! And I have a lot of things I want to do!

While my channel currently focuses on Endwalker, this isn't the only thing I'd like to create for it. I have other games I plan to upload to the channel in the future (including a lot of Final Fantasy games), as well as some shorter videos separate from my playthroughs. I hope you enjoy them!

And finally, something really big coming from this move is it will afford me the opportunity to start streaming! This is something I haven't been able to do because of the internet speed in my location, so I'm very excited to start exploring this more seriously soon!

Again, thank you so much for all your kindness, patience, and support. It’s been a rough few years for me, and I couldn’t do this without you all. Thank you for everything ♥

[prometheanglory]

helloooo it’s not quite new years get over here in america but i have some end of the year sentiments to get off of my chest before 2022 is up 🥸 this is rly long teehee

it’s been !! a really busy year!! oh my god i didn’t realize how little i posted until i saw my tumblr wrapped T_T honestly, at some point i wondered if it’d be for the best for me to formally announce a hiatus — some parts due to university and work, and other parts due to personal conflicts that made it difficult to feel confident or proud that i was creating.

it feels kinda weird missing vinh’s birthday for the first time in a while 😅 (granted, i drew something for it but i didn’t post it bc i didnt finish/i got nervous) .

moreover, it felt weird being so distant from twst and my own tumblr? admittedly i scared myself off from doing as much as i could this year, so i have less to physically show that i’m still around and i still care just as much as i did in 2019. it’s hard to do stuff that you like when ur in the constant process of shoving ur foot in ur mouth or feeling really self-conscious, or well. sometimes it’s just hard to not feel insecure about what you want to make and what you perceive other people expect from you?

i admit that i’m still trying to rebuild my foundations so that i can feel secure and proud of myself. it’s been a really, really long road to take but i have all of 2023 and more to orient myself. i’ve been trying to get into new things and explore new ventures, and that has been… a very nerve-wracking process for someone who’s never done anything before (did you know how many emails and phonecalls i had to make to get anything done/set up just to take commissions….. i’ll tell u what, it’s definitely over 10)…

all in all, i just wanna get back on the horse _(:3 」∠)_ i’ve been a bit of a ghost, but i’m still here. i still wanna thank everyone who still pops in every now and then when i pop up every once in a while 😅 i really appreciate you guys hanging around and everything yall do, especially as a community. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a more vocal oc community before? it’s an environment that i appreciate more than anything and i don’t intend to let my gratitude go unspoken for. you guys are really sweet and supportive, and god, i can’t keep count on my fingers for the sheer quantity of amazing creators that i’ve seen here. i hope that with 2023, i get my hands on a better time management schedule so that i can properly give back into the community T_T

well anyway, i planned to do this many months back — here’s a list of random stuff i’ve been working on throughout 2021-2022 that i meant to announce but i never got around to but hopefully it’ll come trickling out in 2023 🤭

new dorm incoming, and a (pseudo) new dorm project

new ocs approaching :-) some canon, some fandorm

diversify my posts a little…….. cannot promise that i won’t still spam vinhs but i can try 🫡

organize blog a little more

stagrove uniform+chara revamp / sprites

oc design + sprite revamps (sarge / lola / imp twins / holly / edgar /xuehai are the ones i have on hand rn, but everyone’ll get their turn 🤓)

potential new vinh sprite (since the july one was just drawing over the old one 🤡)

stagrove episode is being gradually picked up again

i swear to god i’ll go through my inbox

get into merch production (charms/posters/stickers… u know the deal)

get through commissions faster and more frequently T_T

try to do a new style of commission…? (community votes on a subject/character/etc and when the goal is met, the art gets published for everyone to see or smth)

do a follower milestone celebration (potential giveaway?)

i swear to god i’ll get to that malleus daki design.

if malleus works out i prommy i’ll do leona daki too

oc personality or matchup quiz

more fun/detailed oc reference sheets

oc masterlist + oc profiles on toyhou.se

incoming comic project and more to come hopefully

[beansnake]

retirement + the future

Hey everyone!

I’ll cut right to the point: I am retiring from being a full-time artist. I’ll give further details below the readmore, but I know this will be a very long post due to my propensity for being verbose as all hell and don’t want to beat around the bush about the core update. Also worth noting this is a slightly edited copy+paste of a public post available on my Patreon. But tumblr hates links so... Anyway, onward!

Transitioning out of this job is something I’ve wanted to do for a while; it has been taking a great toll on me (multiple repetitive stress injuries a year, constant financial stress, and a huge amount of burnout), so I’ve been investigating other job opportunities for the last six months. I’ve finally found one I’m satisfied with in the form of a full-time remote position that I’ll be starting on July 11th.

I know this is a bit short notice – after all, the 11th is a little under two weeks away – but I didn’t want to make any grand announcements until this change was 100% locked in. Now it is, I wanted to provide some closure for the many, many incredible people who have been supporting me for so long. I also want to outline what will be happening with Patreon, any possible commission openings in future, and my art going forward.

I’ll split this into sections for easy reading: what I’ll be doing in the lead-up to the 11th (The Final Days), my plans for patreon/commissions (Art for You), what I want to do about art in future (Art for Me), and finally some words for my regulars/patrons (Many Thanks).

THE FINAL DAYS

As many of you are probably aware, I still have multiple commissions in my queue and some Patreon rewards to finish. I am also currently dealing with another RSI flare and my usual back problems. I had hoped to finish most of these in the past week, but I know all too well to not push myself when I’m in this state.

So! My tentative plans are: use this week to finish the Patreon pieces and stream them if needed to inspire increased productivity. Then use the remaining week to crack down on the commissions sitting in my queue. It is possible I will run over both of these deadlines due to my RSI flare, which I’ll discuss with those I’m working for right now. Please keep an eye on your messages/email if this is you!

ART FOR YOU

After finishing the commissions in my queue I will be closed permanently for commissions. It may happen that I’ll do the occasional paid piece here and there at my whims, but I have no plans to open regularly or publicly.

As for Patreon, this is something I want to discuss with my patrons. I think I’d like to keep it open as-is at least until the end of the year, but what I do after that is very open. I’m also not entirely sure how much time I’ll have a month to do rewards, so I will likely limit reward slots to 3-5 a month. This is a very ‘play it by ear’ situation.

Again, all of this will be discussed with my patrons – via the discord server and through the most recent post on my Patreon (sorry no link bc tumblr etc), if you aren’t in said server. Please give me your thoughts and input, you all have supported me through a lot of tough times and I really cannot express my gratitude enough.

ART FOR ME

You may be asking yourself, ‘Birov are you just not going to draw anymore?’ The answer is… I’ll probably always draw. Art has been the love of my life for years upon years. As much as I’ve struggled with burnout for the last three, I know I’ll never stop drawing permanently. The only uncertainty is how much I’ll be drawing.

My theory is that I’ll probably draw very little for the first few months while my brain resets and realizes art is something I can do for fun and isn’t just my job. After this period, I have the feeling I’ll be drawing a lot more than I currently do.

But who knows! I do know I have a lot of personal art endeavors I’d like to undertake and having a clearer work/life balance may actually encourage me to undertake them. I also want to get more into drawing for-fun fanart… The world is my oyster I suppose.

So the answer to this really is… I don’t know how much or what I’ll be drawing once I start this job. But I do know I’ll keep sharing whatever I do make with everyone. I just hope you’ll continue supporting me wherever my whims take me!

MANY THANKS

I’m not really sure how to start this section… I have a lot of very intense and deep-seated emotions about the overwhelming support I’ve received in the years I’ve worked as an artist. I’ve been so, so fucking blessed; I’ve worked with almost exclusively kind clients, grown a very tight and kind community, and been given so much love I literally cannot pay it all back.

To my beloved regular commissioners: as I said, I’ve been blessed to almost exclusively work with kind people, and you guys are the core of that. So many of you have been coming back to me year after year, asking after my health with understanding for any delays, and just generally being so good to me in so many untold ways. Thank you for trusting me time and time again to make your imagination reality. It was an honor of the highest order.

To my dear patrons: many of you fall into the previous bracket, but even if you don’t, you’ve all been taking such good care of me. Without Patreon, I would have been in such dire financial straits – especially with all of my health problems. Having both the financial security and the community y’all provided me with was seriously so life changing. Thank you for always telling me to rest, for working with me to create a system we all enjoyed, and most of all for being kind to each other as well as me. I owe you all so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you <3

To my followers (new and old, though some of you have been with me for OVER TEN YEARS!!): I wouldn’t be here without you. I can’t believe how many versions of me and my art you’ve all played witness to. Thank you for loving all (or almost all?) of them. I hope you’ll love where I go next.

So… That’s the end of it. Goodbye to Birov-the-Freelancer (for now, possibly forever). Thank you all again. I’m saying it a lot, but it truly is all I can do as I look back at my many years as a commission artist. I was lucky, is all I can think. It would be stupid on my part to not be insanely grateful.

Thus, for the final time: thank you for supporting me, loving my work, and being so good to me. And thank you for reading this incredibly long post. It’s kind of dramatic but I won’t lie, this feels like an insanely huge change in my life. I honestly at points never thought I’d do anything else but this. Forever. So forgive me the theatrics. Plus, it’s just my nature.

Anyway, I’ll end it here before I ramble anymore.

– Birov <3

[simpystarrr]

Since you like the dabble so much that you did art for it, I decided to extend it for your enjoyment, hope you like slight angst :)

049 lays on his bed, confined to his designated cell as sickness consumes him. He was all too aware of the facility staff watching him more than they usually do, it was rare for SCPs to fall ill after all. If he strained his hearing, he is sure he'd be able to hear to annoying sound of their pens clicking or the tapping of a keyboard.But he payed them no mind, all that mattered was that you were beside him in his time of weakness.

You wore the jade ring, allowing you to gentle cradle his hand. Never before had he been so thankful for the little SCPs existence before than he had in this very moment.

He allows himself to take the time to study your features extensively, trying to etch your very being into his mind. If he chose to study the arts instead of medicine, he is sure that he could paint your likeness solely from memory alone.

A series of coughs stir him from his thoughts, reminding him of why he's in this predicament; he was sick. His mood soured, even as you lead him to sit up and handed him some water to ease his dry that, he couldn't help but think of the worst. It had been so long since he last fell ill.

He understood that sickness and disease was in his job title. In the past it was shockingly common for doctors to contact the ills of their patients, it was an occupational hazard that he had been aware of since the start. Many great doctors of the past, stuck down in their prime by the very plagues they dedicated to cure and now he fears the same is happening to him. How could he have been so vain to believe he was immune to the pestilence when he lies trapped in bed by its afflictions, he couldn't understand how so many were able to be productive while infected.

His thoughts came back to you as he felt your thumb gently rub over the ridges of his knuckles and slowly intertwine your fingers with his. You repeatedly tried to comfort him by downplaying his illness. He know it was a common practice to try and minimise an illness as to not stress out your patient but he repeatedly told you that he know the severity of the pestilence so you need not lie.

He wonders what you would do once he is gone. Would you be consumed with grief and opt for an early retirement or perhaps you would elect to finish his research? He smiled fondly at that notion, the idea of you dedicating yourself to rid the world of the dreaded pestilence to rob you of him brought him more contentment then you could ever know. It would be as if he was the love interest in a classic romance, while his passing would be a tragedy it would spur you on to greatness.

He sighed through his nose and allowed you to lull him to sleep, your thumb drawing pattern in the back of his hands. The last thing he saw was you trying hard not to shake. It saddened him how you must have finally come to terms with how he might not wake but instead fall into an eternal slumber. His own thumb rubbed over your knuckles in return, he prettied his dreams by picturing the jade on your finger is replaced with a golden band.

Seeing him finally resting, you had to cover your mouth to stifle your laughter. Maybe 035 is starting to rub off on his old friend as you would never have imagined that 049 would be so dramatic over a mild fever or a common cold. If he had access to a pen and paper, you are positive he would have written down his will and obituary.

You look over to the observation room, thankful that they allowed you to bring 049 his medicine and the extra blankets often given to D-classes. The recent containment outbreak resulted in the heating system being out of commission and even tho the blankets aren't the highest quality, they are better than nothing.

The staff give you a nod, permitting you to stay longer. With that authorization, you take a seat next to bed and throw a spare blanket over your shoulders. You simply sit there, hand in hand with 049 as you smile fondly.

A/N: that turned out longer than expected but I like your art and headcanons so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I believe this is like crack taken seriously but the idea of 049 being a drama queen over a cold was too appealing. Hope you enjoy and keep on keeping on. ~ Kraken 🐙

S: AAAAAAAAH! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! Thank you for submitting this beautiful piece of writing!