Closing Thoughts For August

Man, it’s been an eventful August, but here we are on the other side of it.

Thank you again so much for supporting my work, especially given the tricky Tier-change and all.  As always, am grateful there’s the trust in me to keep delivering.  I hope you’ve been enjoying my works.

As September and the end of summer approaches, my thoughts turn to the future…

I shan’t lie: been very worried about ongoing Great Internet Clean-Up Campaign (to put it euphemistically*)… just the other day, a content creator popular for those Videotuber things that are predominantly of one particular gender and not-withered-on-the-vine type found themselves disappeared…  please don’t sound it out in the comments, just we know the type, right?  (The opposite of what I draw.)

I’ve not logged back in on this platform’s app on my phone and have since relied on email notifications for messages and things.  So I apologise if I’m a bit late in my responses and that—I’ve been very reluctant to haunt the website outside of the necessary.

That neatly brings me to my point.

I had been planning a poll (yes, another one) to determine what to do about the ‘pausing Patreon’ situation.  Usually, every 2 or 3 months, I take a break from here to prevent myself from burning out.  I usually forewarn Patrons of this and pause charging since I’m not doing anything.

However, I’ve been repeatedly told that I’m the only one who does this semi-regularly. 

Also, I really should leave the decision up to the Patron themselves whether they want to stick around and are happy to pay; or they’d rather dip out and then come back in when I’m active again.

It’s been weighing on my mind for the past few months: back in the old days, when Patreon was a charge-on-the-first-of-the-month type deal, I’d thought of my method as ‘doing the right thing’: it didn’t feel honourable to take money for no work.

But some have said they’re happy to cover me for the month’s inactivity because the volume of work I produce offsets that. So I don’t know…

I should state I’m not pausing for September by the way: things will carry on as normal since I kinda need the money and I’m not as fast with commissions as I used to be.

I guess what tipped my hand is that since November 2024, Patreon has implemented the anniversary-style subscription billing method as the default for Content Creator Accounts.  This means you’re going to get charged on the date on the exact same day you signed up, rather than defaulting to the first week of the month.

I’ve noticed that’s been the case for some other Patreon Content Creator Accounts I’ve signed up for.  I don’t know if that’s the case with me since I’m on the old-fashioned (by today’s standards) “you get charged when you sign up and then again first week of the month”… or whether since November 2024, that’s changed…?

But for the moment, I’m more inclined just to give a heads up when I’m going to pause and then leave the decision to you, the Patron, whether you want to cover me for the downtime or not.  I’ve noticed some dip out and then come back later anyway--- but naturally, it’s none of my business what every individual’s financial circumstances are. 

I’ve noted that my attempts at trying to do the ‘right thing’ in this department sometimes backfires… so perhaps it’s for the best I take a more hands-off approach?

I don’t know, what do you think, if anything? 

I’d be receptive to hearing thoughts, especially as it’s been quite some time since I was last an audience-member on another’s account, so I don’t know what the done deal/accepted standard is these days.

Beyond that, I’ll continue to do my best to honour my commitments on here and keep producing the work you want.  Admittedly, the beginning/end of the month is when my anxieties are peaked, so forgive me if I go a bit off-rails… or “out-of-pocket” as modern vernacular goes.  I am trying to get a better handle of my mind so it doesn’t affect productivity too much.

Please look forward to next week’s update, which will illustrate what I’ve produced over the course of this final week of August.  If you choose to bow out for September, thank you again for supporting me here for the month.

Stay safe, stay well and do the best you can.

Humbly yours,

‘Kamiduzaurus.

P.S. Thank you for your birthday wishes!

P.P.S. I’ll move Battlefield Foxglove to archive-only.  We know it’s not one of those types of stories but given recent developments in the real world…

*I know it’s really annoying having to read-between-the-lines and guess what I’m inferring to.  But I’m trying not to tempt fate by being too blatant and then end up in trouble.