2024 is finally in the past, for some it was good, I know on my end I’m thankful to leave it behind. There were some good moments but there was also a lot of stress and overall tiredness that came from the year, both IRL and within the online space.

I will say that some good accomplishments were made and seemed to be progressing towards a few others. At the moment, I think it’s a time to at least solidify what’s been in the works, what is working and what is going poorly.

I do know that 2025 is going to have it’s own set of challenges, and this Monthly Update is to hopefully lay them all out for people. There is sort of a lot I want to do, a lot I want to discuss so this is going to be a big-ass list!

Right now, the most basic ones “Hi-Res” and Variants has not been kept up with. To be honest, this is mostly because of me not really having the energy to keep up with those rewards. That sounds terrible and let me explain. Originally, I had it so that it would all come at the end of the month so it would not clog up people’s feeds with “Look at this greyed out box? OWO” which I personally consider an eyesore and gives off a more unwanted feeling. However, because of wanting to keep it tidy and my lack of energy, instead of doing it monthly it just… has not been coming out.

During November, I have been working in Postybirb to get everything scheduled at least minutes earlier before it gets posted. This year, I want to make sure to post around the same time as the usual upload. What I was doing might have had the right intention, but my Monthly Supporters deserve better.

I also went and reworked some of the tiers. In most cases, it was putting art rewards away. That time and energy is NOT keeping up and even at the highest tier it was not being claimed. So I decided to shelved those for the foreseeable future. I am hoping to bring it back but probably not for a good long while.

I’ve also added a percentage off Merch as well given that now it’s being sold so why not give a discount to Monthly Supporters? 🙂

With a good proper printer, I’ve gone ahead and started a new tier! This is more of a Mail Club of sorts, where once a month the supporters of this tier get a postcard and 2-3 stickers. Of course this can change but the core will try to remain the same. The price ($20) is to make sure it covers materials for printing, ordering and the shipping of the item(s). On top of other benefits like more discounts.

I’ve normally pride myself on one artwork a week with a few breaks, but due to the lack of time and energy I have to only do 1 artwork every 2 weeks at the very least (about 2 a month). It sucks but I just don’t have the proper time to do so. I’ve gone ahead and planned out the art for sure and I know some people might be noticing the change. I know this will hurt me in the long-term, but if I want my art to at least survive, this is the best to do.

You think I was done with the amount of sites I post to? NOPE! We ain’t done so here’s two more!!

If you are on any of these platforms, I’ll be posting there so follow or subscribe there if you wish!

So… why do I upload to so many sites? Back around 2017, I use to be one of the creators on a site known as Vid.Me, a site that was created in the (at the time) YouTube Adpocalypse. I ended up focusing more on it than YouTube, but due to multiple different factors the site went defunct in late 2017-2018. After that, and especially when it came to art, I wanted to make sure to upload to as many platforms as I could or at least Postybirb is allowed to upload to.

There are other sites I have to do it manually but I want to make sure that even when one site goes down, my work is preserved on other platforms. The only exception to this point is Twitter due to the technological fallbacks/features removed overtime. It can be a herculean task, but I do believe it can benefit me more in the long run.

But all of that would not be possible without Postybirb! Please go and support the developer if you can, they have done amazing work to make this app so good.

This is something I always feared but knew it would come eventually. In both numbers and especially word of mouth I have basically been designated as a or sometimes the mermaid artist. If you take a look at my art, it’s easy to see why. So, why does this somewhat worry me? It’s actually because of what I saw what happened to TF2tubers. When seeing those creators branch out, I remember seeing a lot of them not just getting backlash but threats as well. Creators like RTGame and Jerma ended up getting it and were able to escape the TF2 hole, others like Skymin and Soundsmith are practically stuck and unable to escape even after several attempts. I haven gotten any threats (yet) but it’s clear I am drawing with the fish folk, and that decision is my fault mostly. Regardless I’m going to keep trying to do some more variety and what makes me happy. Hell, that’s what got me into the merfolks to begin with. Well see what 2025 has to offer but I will say no matter what area I’m put into, just going to do my hardest to make art.

Plans for Comms and YCH

At this time, Commission Prices are remaining the same. I am down from earlier in the year but I’m still planning on taking commissions. YCHs are also not changing, and I’m hoping to work on some more later this year. I’m not sure if a new one will come out by 2025 but I’m hoping to!

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been streaming for but I think this’ll be my 10th year or more doing it? Either way I ended up coming up with a lot of ideas or at least a bucket list of stuff I would love to do. The problem is just fitting it all properly. I’ll probably list them all out privately and go from there. Some are collabs I would love to do but that depends on many different factors.

I’m also hoping to plan a day to just carve out a general streaming day for most likely art or some games. That is much more up in the air but I’m hoping to get something down soon.

Ok! For the longest while, I just have the general thumbnail for my streams on YouTube. IT’S NOT BAD but at the same time it is very much abundant and I just struggle to just put something together or even a template in time these days. I do plan to go back to many and adjust with better thumbnails.

But what if this happens again? Simple, I’m going to make generic thumbnails for categories or more common stream topics. It’s not a perfect solution but I feel like having something like this would help out a lot in the long run.

It’s a short-term solution for a long-term problem but it’s a good temp for the time being!

Been thinking back and forth, I’m probably going to work on a new overall look for the model. I don’t know when I will get around to it, might not be until late 2025, but I’m slowly wanting to go away from the current model that I have. That’s all I can say as I still need to work on it.

Good news is that I got invited into 2 different conventions!! I am currently trying to submit to more but the fact I got into 2 is so amazing! So, I’ll be prepping and posting about those when the time comes!

Originally, these were focused on being for cons only, but I think offering them in the online store might be a good idea. The only thought is what to have printed on them? I can go with the original prints I did for sure, but what about the newer ones? That is something I need to think about but for the time being it’s an idea I’ll probably end up doing.

So, looking at the Ko-Fi store, I think I would like to adjust it to make it so multiple are under one roof for certain items. But even then, I do wonder if it might be more limiting. So let’s make sure to look into that. Something like Shopify might be nice but I want to see from a few artists first before going forward. Etsy is always an option but has become a dumpster fire that I’d rather avoid if possible. VGen is having it’s merch beta soon so here’s hoping that works out. It’s a good old we shall see but it’s a thought.

I can’t be iffy about doing so anymore. I do need to start promoting more of my merch and art. I often did not promote just due to energy and not wanting to annoy people. NOT ANYMORE (sadly), If I want to succeed, I gotta push forward! So expect more of me promoting myself, my commissions and my merch.

God, it’s been a while since I’ve done a main video, huh. So, there are of course plans but a good chunk have faded over time. Some solid ones like a follow-up to the “What Is An OC?” video. So I’m hoping by 2025 I can at least get one video out. I don’t know when I will be able to but here’s hoping eventually.

In the past I use to make a few shorts but due to being so focused on the PC, it was always limited. And then I just got burnt out and never recovered. I think what hurt is that I focused so HARD on art and not do some variety to stop myself from burning out. So I do want to get back into doing Art Time-Lapses again, but I need to do other videos like some games, art books, dumb shit, all the good stuff.

I do want to rework the boarder a bit before trying again but so far I think maybe a few to get the wheels going is a good idea.

The OC Ballot for 2024 is still going strong! So far, 14 people have casted their vote and helped decide what 2025 will shape into (art-wise). I’m still hoping to get a few votes before the end of the ballot and get an idea for the rest of the year!

If you want to still cast your vote before January 15th, check out the link here: https://forms.gle/2T72XtTU2BqYb5n78

I always had this idea but in 2025 I want to get all the characters I want and then halt (or at least wind down heavily). I have so many OCs now, at the time of writing, about 426 OCs which is many more compared to other creators. Practically could be considered it’s own Comicbook-verse. XD There are some ideas I’ve been wanting to work on for a while but after that I’m going to stop (or just wind down) on making more characters.

The con of so many characters is that many of them need some sort of spotlight or some characters end up overlapping. Of course overtime I’ll be work on reboots and revamps of the characters that have already been created, but adding to the growing number is something I think I’ll stop (or slowly stop) doing.

(*There is every possibilty that I’ll continue to create more characters so fully closing the door might not be the best bet. But I do want to at least wind down to let the other characters breathe.)

I’m not going to lie, I started doing DnD over a year ago and it’s become one of my favorite past times that keeps getting more and more interesting. Because of this, I’ve wanted to have more of my characters sort-of DnD-ified so I can have them come into any campaign or even used by any person as an NPC in their campaign.

I’m hoping to have a few done in 2025, and once completed I’ll have way for people get them in their campaigns. In the meantime, I’m going to have some fun with the one I have made!

OK, WE ARE DOING MONTH OF OCs! NO MATTER WHAT GOD DAMN HAPPENS! I’ve been putting it off due to not getting around to working on but LORE DUMP is in swing!

But, because of it being a ZINE more than anything, I really can not do this one alone. So, I’m looking for a few mods, graphic designer or two, and people with experience on putting together zines. If interested, check out the form here: https://forms.gle/KzK1qgc8NJNjcpFy9

The decision to move over to Bluesky has been beyond beneficial. As of right now, I am well above 1,000+ followers! Most of them might be through Art Shares and Starter Packs but the networking has been beyond amazing! What this translates to is not entriely sure. As mentioned earlier, I don’t promote myself as well as I should but I will say is that even casual posts get at least 1 like, which is more than the other platform.

Meta sites are dead with only inches added to Facebook and Instagram, with Threads NOT MOVING. This might be because I don’t interact much on there, but even steady inclines happen or more active dips and rises occur. Twqitch is a goiod example, while it has been growing, there has been dips to where it ends in the same area. Mostly due to going live and people noticing and becoming dis interested.

New sites like Cara and Sheezy seem promising but also look like their at a stand still but will keep trying. Newsletter was started but at a much worse flatline so it was halted. I’m hoping to add more data soon as more sites are being watched over.

I do want to see if I can get more feedback and involvement. I know that my community is mostly of lurkers at this point and I understand why, I just hope to get more ideas and interactions with you guys since you’ve all been so supportive over the years.

It’s a thought but expect more to be added at least to the VIP-section of the Discord server as I try to get more feedback and ideas.

I never thought I would get here but here we are. This mostly means my health isn’t as good as it use to be and need to do little things in order to improve myself and mind. I already took a nasty fall and got a cut by my cat, both have not healed fully and I doubt they will at the old fast rate. I explain this because time is coming and it’s usually relentless.

However, I am looking forward to it. Like I said, I never thought I would get here and I’m happy to still be learning, just in different areas than originally thought. I want to try to do a video going over those 30 years. Some people would be like “Oh god, I’m getting old,” but I don’t really feel that way. Life goes on, things change and evolve. We can remanence about what could have been but it’s better to use that time to learn and become better, it will involve more trial and error but I’ve learned that it makes things better. You may not hit it right the first time, but you eventually will.

So.. this is a lot, and the majority of these are promises I want to try to keep. I have plans for 2025, a lot of it centering around my passion and hoping to make it into at least a part-time work. Things are going well and the last stream that I completed helped lay groundwork for future streams. As I’m writing this, it’s the eve of the new year and I lack a lot of the energy I originally started the year with, so apologies if parts of this comes off very half-hazard.

I will say, nothing is set in stone and I’m always trying to get better as well as fit everything I want to do in the time that I have. That’s just the thing tho, time. It’s something I want to get better with and trying to adjust to. I’ve been trying to better record and keep track of time, sometimes it doesn’t work out but it’s better to learn now and get better over time!