*Important* Huge Change to the Suggestion Box

Hello, folks! I hope this update finds you all well. I'm doing good myself, but I've decided I need to make a big change to my Patreon obligations.

I am going to stop doing Suggestion Box sketches and wallpapers for the time being. I've loved making them, and my art has grown so, so much since I started. But after 9 years of wallpapers, I am in need of some change.

It feels like I'm always behind schedule these days. I think it's too much for me to keep up with. We're in August and I haven't even started June's rewards yet. I find myself unable to make time for anything else besides drawing Slightly Damned content.

Don't get me wrong-- my passion for Slightly Damned and its characters burns as brightly as ever! But I can't even get around to improving Slightly Damned in other ways, like updating the lore and art on the main website.

I'm getting into a rut. It's extremely difficult to make time for commissions or draw things for my friends. I wanna draw more fan art in general, like of a certain cute monster franchise... But also, I think it would just be good for me to mix things up more often so I can keep growing as an artist. Slightly Damned is my life's work, but not everyone is going to get invested in it right away. I want to draw other things, too.

Weekly Slightly Damned pages and related rewards will not be affected by these schedule changes. In fact, they stand to benefit! I've had trouble updating the comic consistently, and I would like to be better about that.

Here's my new schedule:

The suggestion box will open only in the first month of each season for Slightly Damned ideas only.

For the sake of this schedule, the first month of each season is as follows:

Spring: March (note: March 14, 2024 is Slightly Damned's 20th anniversary)
Summer: June
Fall: September
Winter: December

Basically, I've had a "To Do list" of Slightly Damned tasks for a long time now, so I need your help to overcome my choice paralysis. Like I said before, I need to update the art and the lore on the website.  I'd like to design some new merchandise like shirts, enamel pins, stickers, mugs, mousepads... and maybe even dakimakuras/hug pillows? ;3 Maybe I'll just have some random ideas I wanna draw but can't pick what to invest time and effort into first. I could also bring back Q&A comics, Art Wednesdays, or the old sketch + wallpaper format once in a while!

On the second month of each season (April, July, October, January), the suggestion box will be open for feedback for art that is NOT related to Slightly Damned. For example, I might ask people to vote on which cute critters get made into new merchandise for my RAIZAP online store & convention appearances. I could also use some help with deciding which fan art posters to make. Or maybe I'll just wanna draw some video game/anime/webcomic fan art for fun, and I'll ask about which characters to draw! The point is to let patrons guide my hand a bit without having to stick to Slightly Damned.

Knowing my tastes will be important for making fan art suggestions. I will offer my own suggestions or restrict the topic to certain subjects to make it clear what I want to draw that month. If I don't like your idea, for whatever reason, then it won't be included in the monthly poll.

On the third month of each season (May, August, November, February), the suggestion box will be completely closed. I'll use this time as I see fit, whether it's for work, drawing for fun, or just to get some extra rest if I need it. This would also free up more time and energy so I can open for commissions once in a while.

This is what a typical winter season will look like:

December: The suggestion box will be open for Slightly Damned ideas only.

January: The suggestion box will be open for ideas OTHER than Slightly Damned.

February: The suggestion box will be closed so that I can do other things such as draw for fun, open for commissions, or rest.

Repeat for each season.

The suggestion box will be closed for the Fall 2023 quarter.

I need the time to catch up on the June, July, and August 2023 rewards. I will also be working on Slightly Damned Book Three's bonus art now that its Kickstarter campaign has successfully concluded. I'm gonna be busy anyway!

In the future, I am planning to move my online store to Shopify, which should grant me the ability to give patrons a discount coupon. It may be some time before I'm ready to offer this.

The suggestion box will reopen for Slightly Damned-related suggestions in December 2023.

Please let me know what you think!

What are your thoughts about these changes? Are you content? Do you dislike them? I know that this is rather short notice since the new month is almost upon us. I am still very interested in knowing what you think. If you have any ideas for benefits you'd like to see, I'm also willing to hear you out. Your pledges are appreciated and I want to make the rewards worthwhile.

Thank you very much for supporting me! I couldn't be an artist full-time without you.