Update: Tier Changes, Bonus Pairing Rework, and more!

Hello, my lovelies!

So, it's been a busy summer, and I feel like it's a good time time to update you all about what's been going on.

tl;dr: Bonus Pairings are being replaced, Garden Volunteer's price is dropping from $20 to $13-$15 (depending on how fast you buy in), I'm dealing with some housing insecurity, and I'm once again accepting commissions!

Patreon Tier Changes

First, we have some changes to Patreon tiers! No prices are going up, so I don't have to do the usual song and dance of warning everyone, but a few prices have gone down, so you might want to check that out.

• There are now two Garden Volunteer tiers, identical except that one is priced at $13 (with more limited slots) and the other is priced at $15, both down from the original $20.

  • This tier lets you submit requests for the monthly Rose Gallery poll, where people vote on a creature or character to get spotlit in a story. So, if you really want holstaurs or think Nurse Poppy needs to make a comeback, it's a good tier for you!

• Lovely Lurker got renamed to Poll Sprite, and there is now a $1 tier called Lovely Lurker, because as hard as Patreon tries to dissuade me from offering a $1 option, I just like giving people the option of a minimum contribution.

• Note that the $1 tier will not give access to Flashfic Friday or Rose Gallery polls, unlike Poll Sprite. It's mostly just what it says on the tin--a lurker tier to give a little. If you were pledged at $3, this probably doesn't affect you.``

• Bonus Pairings are no more! Sort of. Existing Bonus Pairing obligations will still be fulfilled, and there might be some growing pains as we adjust things and play catchup. The Rose Gallery will be extremely similar, but focus on requesting a single creature or character instead of proposing a matchup. They'll also be going back to being a story every month rather than the seasonal cycle we've been doing so far. Bonus Pairings were super fun, and I may still indulge in them from time to time, but I think the Rose Gallery will have a bit more staying power.

  • [We've already kind of been running with this the last couple months, but now it's official.]

• Flashfic Fridays are informally a trimonthly Patreon Perk! Many of you have already seen me posting polls every Thursday/Friday. Unlike Rose Gallery polls, the options of these polls are picked by me, and the output might vary from a full story to a handful of little microfics.

Oh, and as a little extra, I'm considering moving chapter size up a little bit, back towards 4-6k words per chapter, or short story-sized. We'll see!

My Living Situation

Something increasingly funny is that when the year started, I told a family member, “Just you watch. 2024 is going to finally be the nice, boring year we've been hoping for.”

So, it's a good thing we're not superstitious people, or I'd think this was my fault.

To make a long story short, our landlord has put us on a month-to-month lease and is signaling they're going to be kicking us out soon, probably to sell the place. My family and I've been living in this house for two and a half years. It's home to us, but to them, it's property.

Financially, things are tight. Not dire yet—I still have some savings left, and I have plenty of friends in worse straits than me—but I am a few months from living basically paycheck-to-paycheck unless things get easier. To put it one way, it's not bad enough that we're worried about paying for groceries or keeping the lights on, but it's bad enough that my therapist is a cuttable expense. Being forced to move right now is not ideal, especially with a likely rent increase on the way, but we can survive it.

I want to stress again: We are not underwater. We are just swimming in the same current that's got a lot of people right now. Student loans, health care, grocery price-gouging, and skyrocketing rent prices. We have some city council races going right now that hinge on tenant's rights, and you better believe I'm going to be getting very engaged in that as soon as possible.

Overall, my life is just very chaotic. I'll continue to provide Patreon obligations, but series might need to take a backseat, at least until I can clear some commissions.

Commissions Open (EDIT: NOW CLOSED!)

I'm excited to report that I am once again taking commissions!

Price averages $0.06 per word, with some variation depending on length and subject matter. The most variance is found in the space between flashfics and short stories that the shorter half-chapters usually live in.

Average microfic (100-500 words): $40
Average flashfic (1000-2000 words): $150
Average short story (5,000-7,000 words): $375
Average multiparter (9,000+ words): $400 per chapter (each chapter in this case is about the length of a short story)

Tumblr/Cohost

Oh, as a bonus for those of you who made it to the end, I've been posting on Cohost and Tumblr lately! I mostly use them to practice my microfics a bit.