A LOT of stuff! (Important, please take the time to read it all!)

Hey everyone!  

So, first off, I wanted to let you all know real quick that the whole Patreon ToS issue has been resolved, hoorah!  It was not a big deal, but according to the person I spoke to, holding a raffle based on chance/luck is simply not acceptable, unfortunately. I had no idea about this, but there's no use in pouting.    I did ask them about an alternative, and they were fine with my choice.  

So now, instead of doing the bad thing, I've decided to hold a “First-Come-First-Serve-contest”, once every month!  

I will announce the contest at some time during the month, and the first person to comment on it with a somewhat precise idea will be able to determine the full concept and details for my next Patreon-exclusive picture!  

The only restriction is that the idea should still be revolving around the characters I've created for this Patreon project of mine (i.e. Madelaine, Richard and/or Benjamin, + any cameos that fit into the setting, such as friends, neighbors, babysitters, trees, etc.), since that's the whole foundation here, but aside from that, only my most fundamental rules apply.  
  
I think this is a nice way of providing additional free content to people that are actively supporting me, but do not have the funds to take a tier that would give them a guaranteed free pic of their liking. My own preferences regarding topics and themes are no secret at this point, and I always find it interesting to see what other people have in mind, to get out of my cozy cozy comfort zone every now and then.  This way, every single patron has a chance of getting one of their ideas out there occasionally, no matter their tier! And it's also a nice little incentive to check out my page more frequently, since you never know when the contest might happen. Can you feel the tension? :o  
  
Now, of course, I understand that not everybody can sit in front of their pc 24/7, so I will do my best to post the contests at various different times, to ensure that everybody will get a similar opportunity eventually.    Most of my supporters are in a completely different timezone anyway, I'm used to working at odd hours ^^  
  
Can't wait to see what the winners can come up with!  
  
  
  
Now, in other news:  
  
Patreon is going to apply taxes to all pledges starting on the 1st of July if I understand correctly. I've already done some work tagging my benefits and stuff, and digging through Patreons support pages with explanations and tips, and you as patrons shouldn't need to do anything yourselves, however, if you notice anything weird or odd all of a sudden, PLEASE make sure to let me know immediately!  I'm not 100% sure myself how exactly this new system will affect my page.    
I would assume that your pledge stays the same, but I receive less money in the end due to taxes being deducted, but I'll have to see how significant that will actually be.    
I hope this won't turn everything upside down, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.  
Just wanted to make sure it has been mentioned.    
  
  
And lastly:  The end of the month is nigh!  
It's insane to see how rapidly these weeks have gone by.    

A month ago I was sobbing in my chair with nothing in hand, and now I'm sitting here with more people helping me out than I can count on both hands. I'm not out of trouble yet, but you guys give me hope, and enough funds to buy the most essential goods to survive. I can live off of rice and water if I have to, I really don't care. The biggest issue are rent, power, and the like, but hopefully as time goes on, I'll be able to handle more and more. My mental state is also slowly stabilizing a bit, and I might be capable of taking on a commission or two soon, which would be a great boost.    

In case you haven't noticed it yet, I've added a benefit to all tiers, granting all you guys a heads-up notice before I open for commissions publicly!    

Once you see the announcement here on Patreon, you can claim a slot instantly, if you're interested. If not, after about 24-ish hours, I'll open as per usual through my public accounts on FA and Twitter.  
  

Hm. What else.  

I've uploaded a new image every single day of the month in order to provide a nice gallery of examples for the type of content I'm planning on showing here, and there's way, WAY more to come. I must admit though that my hand is starting to hurt, my back is sore, and my eyes are dried out from staring at my screen 24/7 for a whole month, so I'll need to slow down a little bit to allow my body to recover.

Don't you worry, the frequent uploads will not stop, ever, I'll probably just post something every two or three days for a bit.

The whole “1 upload a day”-thing was not planned while I'm still struggling anyway, I was just fanatically trying to make sure you guys have a reason to stick with me, while also distracting me from my own depressive state as much as possible. It wasn't healthy, but I felt like it's the very least I can do.    

I will still draw sketches for the remaining few days of this month, but then, starting June 1st, the pace will be adjusted a tad so I don't collapse. A positive side-effect of this reduction in quantity is going to be a better quality, and possibly more coloured stuff as well, so that's cool, right? :)    

I'll also start working on Joshua's monthly image immediately, which he is entitled to due to his tier!  We've fleshed out a pretty cute idea, which I hope everyone will enjoy once it's done ^^  All other projects will be on hold so I can fully focus on his image, I really want to be able to take my time with it since it's supposed to be a worthy token of gratitude for his absolutely crazy amount of support.
I honestly don't know where I'd be right now without him. <3  

I'm also planning on getting a Discord server up and running, but I'll talk about that in a separate post once it becomes relevant.  
  
Alrighty, that's basically it.  
Phew.  
  
Thank you all so much, for everything, and see you all around <3