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Environment Design?
Posted a week agoSome games/design-related thoughts/questions, dunno if anyone’s got input:
I’ve been thinking about dabbling in RPG Maker or something. Even though time is at a premium and the vast majority of my focus has to be on commissions, I’d be lying if I said that was the source of all my original content woes. Money’s the driving factor for sure, but I’m also at a bit of an impasse creatively. Over the years I’ve been doing this I have a pretty good feel for the look and vibe of Mira’s planet, but not so much her life. To go deeper there I’ve been thinking more about worldbuilding, both lorewise and just literally. I’ve sketched out stuff like Mira’s giant arcade or her house and stuff, but would like to make something a bit more tangible. I’ve been mulling over what the best way would be to quickly visualize interior/town designs… there’s Minecraft I guess, or putting time I don’t have into learning 3D software like Blender or something… I did watch Vinny play a truly bizarre random assortment of homebrew games including stuff like Yoshi Goes To Tesco, which reminded me game dev needn’t be about making a work of genius and elevating the medium or whatever, it can also be a shitpost or pretty much whatever you want. So yeah I dunno, maybe I’ll look into something like RPG Maker to help me map out areas of Makara and start helping me iron out some stuff that’s kinda needed it for years! Dunno if anyone can vouch for its ease of use for a total newbie, or if it’d even be effective at the kinda thing I’m describing.
Unrelated tangent of stuff I’ve been playing the last few months (which all started with H for some reason):
Heretic/Hexen-
It was pretty wild seeing this get rereleased, though with the tear Nightdive’s been on I was always crossing my fingers. Heretic is real primordial memory shit for me; a pretty decent chunk of my formative years was spent watching my brother play various DOS sharewares, and playing/accidentally deleting them when he’d be fool enough to let me on the computer. But yeah, Heretic rules. It’s basically Doom with a fantasy theme, and it’s one of a handful of games I’d describe as like… ASMR-ish? xD Similar to Super Metroid, the soundscape of Heretic is crunchy in a really ear-pleasing way. Definitely been fun dipping into this one again.
Hades II-
This is a good-ass video game! It doesn’t quite hit as hard as the original did for me, but that’s not even really a critique. Hades I was the first Supergiant game I’d played, and getting hit all at once with the sheer artistic and vocal talents they’d been refining for a decade was pretty intense! As a result I played that shit to death, but I don’t see myself hammering the sequel quite so hard anytime soon (I was also single during a pandemic year, there was some time for Hades >w>;). On top of that, I do *slightly* prefer the cast of the original… I think Zidane from FF9 just gave me a predisposition for smartass protagonists.
I’ve had some fun with roguelikes over the years but I got that curse–which happens with some genres I think with a lot of people–where I played my favorite one first, and no matter which you try after it doesn’t quite measure up in some way. In this case, pretty much every game with this kind of structure is competing for 2nd place to Enter the Gungeon. That said, for now Hades II takes that spot soundly. It’s gorgeous in motion and you can bring a big ol’ pet frog that gives you extra lives.
Hollow Knight: Silksong-
It’s kinda hilarious in retrospect that my thought process went “Oh, I finished Hollow Knight, everyone’s saying Silksong’s a nightmare but idk beating the first one should give me a leg up” when (a.) that was in 2017 and (b.) I never 100%’d Hollow Knight… I peaced after I hit credits and didn’t really get into the optional extreme sections that might’ve hinted at what was to come. It’d be a bit like beating the original 3 episodes of Doom on Hurt Me Plenty & hopping right into The Plutonia Experiment… 8 years later. Maybe in Plutonia you quicksaved right in front of a Revenant’s rocket, maybe in Silksong you take enough damage during the boss runback that it’s not even worth the attempt, and it’s these moments that you decide what kind of gamer you are today! In my case I tapped out shortly after Act 1. I had the piss and vinegar during college to beat Timesplitters 2 Hard Mode and Cave Story’s Ballos fight and that kinda thing, but I don’t think that’s where I’m at right now! This game is mean. It’s good–probably even great–but I don’t feel capable of meeting it where it’s at right now xD I bring up Plutonia because it kinda reminds me of that expansion in terms of using enemy combinations to masterfully mess with player psychology. Maybe it’ll change in the future after a few drinks or something, but yeah, Silksong’s won this round >w>;;
I’ve been thinking about dabbling in RPG Maker or something. Even though time is at a premium and the vast majority of my focus has to be on commissions, I’d be lying if I said that was the source of all my original content woes. Money’s the driving factor for sure, but I’m also at a bit of an impasse creatively. Over the years I’ve been doing this I have a pretty good feel for the look and vibe of Mira’s planet, but not so much her life. To go deeper there I’ve been thinking more about worldbuilding, both lorewise and just literally. I’ve sketched out stuff like Mira’s giant arcade or her house and stuff, but would like to make something a bit more tangible. I’ve been mulling over what the best way would be to quickly visualize interior/town designs… there’s Minecraft I guess, or putting time I don’t have into learning 3D software like Blender or something… I did watch Vinny play a truly bizarre random assortment of homebrew games including stuff like Yoshi Goes To Tesco, which reminded me game dev needn’t be about making a work of genius and elevating the medium or whatever, it can also be a shitpost or pretty much whatever you want. So yeah I dunno, maybe I’ll look into something like RPG Maker to help me map out areas of Makara and start helping me iron out some stuff that’s kinda needed it for years! Dunno if anyone can vouch for its ease of use for a total newbie, or if it’d even be effective at the kinda thing I’m describing.
Unrelated tangent of stuff I’ve been playing the last few months (which all started with H for some reason):
Heretic/Hexen-
It was pretty wild seeing this get rereleased, though with the tear Nightdive’s been on I was always crossing my fingers. Heretic is real primordial memory shit for me; a pretty decent chunk of my formative years was spent watching my brother play various DOS sharewares, and playing/accidentally deleting them when he’d be fool enough to let me on the computer. But yeah, Heretic rules. It’s basically Doom with a fantasy theme, and it’s one of a handful of games I’d describe as like… ASMR-ish? xD Similar to Super Metroid, the soundscape of Heretic is crunchy in a really ear-pleasing way. Definitely been fun dipping into this one again.
Hades II-
This is a good-ass video game! It doesn’t quite hit as hard as the original did for me, but that’s not even really a critique. Hades I was the first Supergiant game I’d played, and getting hit all at once with the sheer artistic and vocal talents they’d been refining for a decade was pretty intense! As a result I played that shit to death, but I don’t see myself hammering the sequel quite so hard anytime soon (I was also single during a pandemic year, there was some time for Hades >w>;). On top of that, I do *slightly* prefer the cast of the original… I think Zidane from FF9 just gave me a predisposition for smartass protagonists.
I’ve had some fun with roguelikes over the years but I got that curse–which happens with some genres I think with a lot of people–where I played my favorite one first, and no matter which you try after it doesn’t quite measure up in some way. In this case, pretty much every game with this kind of structure is competing for 2nd place to Enter the Gungeon. That said, for now Hades II takes that spot soundly. It’s gorgeous in motion and you can bring a big ol’ pet frog that gives you extra lives.
Hollow Knight: Silksong-
It’s kinda hilarious in retrospect that my thought process went “Oh, I finished Hollow Knight, everyone’s saying Silksong’s a nightmare but idk beating the first one should give me a leg up” when (a.) that was in 2017 and (b.) I never 100%’d Hollow Knight… I peaced after I hit credits and didn’t really get into the optional extreme sections that might’ve hinted at what was to come. It’d be a bit like beating the original 3 episodes of Doom on Hurt Me Plenty & hopping right into The Plutonia Experiment… 8 years later. Maybe in Plutonia you quicksaved right in front of a Revenant’s rocket, maybe in Silksong you take enough damage during the boss runback that it’s not even worth the attempt, and it’s these moments that you decide what kind of gamer you are today! In my case I tapped out shortly after Act 1. I had the piss and vinegar during college to beat Timesplitters 2 Hard Mode and Cave Story’s Ballos fight and that kinda thing, but I don’t think that’s where I’m at right now! This game is mean. It’s good–probably even great–but I don’t feel capable of meeting it where it’s at right now xD I bring up Plutonia because it kinda reminds me of that expansion in terms of using enemy combinations to masterfully mess with player psychology. Maybe it’ll change in the future after a few drinks or something, but yeah, Silksong’s won this round >w>;;
Requesting help for August Rent
Posted 2 months agoHello everyone, dropping a line cuz I figure I’m overdue for another update. And once again it’s a new month so rent’s breathing down my neck again ><; It is a bit of an emergency, as I think we get an eviction warning on the 8th if we can’t pay by then. Asking for help if anyone has anything to spare, as much as I’d like to say financial stability is getting closer I’m overwhelmed at the moment and could really use the help, or spread this journal around if you’re comfortable doing so.
( https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=0 < KO-FI DONATION PAGE)
___
-$1.7k (rent)
-$180 (student loans)
-$300 (personal loan repayment)
The last couple week of July were difficult; my wife had some recurring vomiting & pain related to gallstones. Thankfully no extended hospital stays were needed, and symptoms could more or less be managed at home, but it was pretty brutal for a while. I do wish the gallstones could’ve been dealt with on the first ER visit, instead of being another thing to worry about in the back of the mind ><
Been trying to manage my anxiety as best I can but I feel a bit like a frog being boiled; nothing I’ve been doing seems to be working well enough. I can still work but seemingly not fast enough to catch up. I’ve been able to keep afloat with help from people and loans and the like, but not enough where stability feels within reach. I’m not organizing and communicating effectively enough, and it’s weighing on me as bills continue to stack up.
It’s also not lost on me that we’re in the middle of a really censurious push on the internet. With all the ID laws & product removals seeming to happen all at once, it’s clear Project 2025 has its sights set on all of us over here, and its counterparts all over the world (if you want to keep abreast of everything going on with internet censorship, Ana Valens has been doing great work on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net ). Truth be told, I've never been less certain about my future as an artist, NSFW or otherwise. I’m not sure what the future holds, all that can be done is keep fighting for now I guess. The future is unwritten.
In a desperate attempt to avoid being all gloom and doom at all times though, I wanna talk about video gamesss
Stuff I been playing:
___
Deltarune: after chapters 3 and 4 it’s safe to say I’ve got the Deltarot. The OST’s pretty much been on loop while I work, along with hour-long YouTube theory videos, practicing Black Knife on guitar, the whole nine yards. I think it started last year sometime after watching Jacksepticeye’s playthroughs of UT/DR; his enthusiasm for the games was pretty infectious and made me give Deltarune another look before the new chapters (I feel like games like UT/DR & Night in the Woods REALLY benefit from their online presence despite the downsides, it’s super fun watching people voice & connect with the characters). I think on release I was pretty unfairly dismissive of DR; Undertale was obviously really concise and thought-provoking, and after the first two chapters of Deltarune I wasn’t sure whether it was stacking up. I’m not sure if I first played Chapter 2 on a bad day and the humor just wasn’t landing or something, maybe the wait between chapters had me doubting the release schedule, but I didn’t end up finishing it for quite awhile. Chapters 3 & 4 really drove home that I had only been engaging on a surface level, and after a more thorough playthrough & attention paid to the plot I realized Deltarune’s shaping up to be the most beautifully intricate spider-web of an RPG I’ve possibly ever played. I think the last RPG that was on my mind this much might’ve been Final Fantasy IX, which was literally like the first RPG I ever played. Of course, at the heart of both those two games is an ABSURDLY likable cast, everything else is gravy. So, yeah! Excited to see where the story goes next and doubly excited that the wait won’t be nearly as long this time.
___
Songs of Conquest: I’d been craving a Heroes of Might & Magic kinda game for a couple years when I found this game was getting a Switch release. Obviously PC’s the ideal platform for this kinda thing, and if I really wanted HoMM I could just play through one of those again, but fuck man I really can’t PC game these days. I spend my whole work day in front of the computer and my butt’s REALLY sick of this chair by the time I might wanna play a game for a bit. But I digress, this shit definitely gave me what I wanted, and importantly it’s visually YUMMY like Heroes, too! Fun-ass campaign, expanding and building towns and amassing your armies of monsters is always compelling to me haha. I did notice I was letting the auto-battle rock for a decent amount of it though; partially due to the pretty brutal load times on Switch between map and battle scenes, and partially because watching the AI battles didn’t really give me confidence that I could do them any better xD With some work I’m sure I could get a better grasp of essences and positioning and all that, but for the time being I’m pretty sure my tactics haven’t evolved too far beyond my childhood approach (get the biggest number of units and then you win :v) The game’s a bit too concerned with balance to let you get away with the EXACT shenanigans you could in Heroes (i.e. raising enough skeletons from enemy corpses that no force in heaven or hell could stop you) but it’s still a really good time!
___
Ocarina of Time: Master Quest: YOU CAN’T JUST HIDE A SWITCH INSIDE A PAINTING TEXTURE YOU MONSTERS.
( https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=0 < KO-FI DONATION PAGE)
___
-$1.7k (rent)
-$180 (student loans)
-$300 (personal loan repayment)
The last couple week of July were difficult; my wife had some recurring vomiting & pain related to gallstones. Thankfully no extended hospital stays were needed, and symptoms could more or less be managed at home, but it was pretty brutal for a while. I do wish the gallstones could’ve been dealt with on the first ER visit, instead of being another thing to worry about in the back of the mind ><
Been trying to manage my anxiety as best I can but I feel a bit like a frog being boiled; nothing I’ve been doing seems to be working well enough. I can still work but seemingly not fast enough to catch up. I’ve been able to keep afloat with help from people and loans and the like, but not enough where stability feels within reach. I’m not organizing and communicating effectively enough, and it’s weighing on me as bills continue to stack up.
It’s also not lost on me that we’re in the middle of a really censurious push on the internet. With all the ID laws & product removals seeming to happen all at once, it’s clear Project 2025 has its sights set on all of us over here, and its counterparts all over the world (if you want to keep abreast of everything going on with internet censorship, Ana Valens has been doing great work on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net ). Truth be told, I've never been less certain about my future as an artist, NSFW or otherwise. I’m not sure what the future holds, all that can be done is keep fighting for now I guess. The future is unwritten.
In a desperate attempt to avoid being all gloom and doom at all times though, I wanna talk about video gamesss
Stuff I been playing:
___
Deltarune: after chapters 3 and 4 it’s safe to say I’ve got the Deltarot. The OST’s pretty much been on loop while I work, along with hour-long YouTube theory videos, practicing Black Knife on guitar, the whole nine yards. I think it started last year sometime after watching Jacksepticeye’s playthroughs of UT/DR; his enthusiasm for the games was pretty infectious and made me give Deltarune another look before the new chapters (I feel like games like UT/DR & Night in the Woods REALLY benefit from their online presence despite the downsides, it’s super fun watching people voice & connect with the characters). I think on release I was pretty unfairly dismissive of DR; Undertale was obviously really concise and thought-provoking, and after the first two chapters of Deltarune I wasn’t sure whether it was stacking up. I’m not sure if I first played Chapter 2 on a bad day and the humor just wasn’t landing or something, maybe the wait between chapters had me doubting the release schedule, but I didn’t end up finishing it for quite awhile. Chapters 3 & 4 really drove home that I had only been engaging on a surface level, and after a more thorough playthrough & attention paid to the plot I realized Deltarune’s shaping up to be the most beautifully intricate spider-web of an RPG I’ve possibly ever played. I think the last RPG that was on my mind this much might’ve been Final Fantasy IX, which was literally like the first RPG I ever played. Of course, at the heart of both those two games is an ABSURDLY likable cast, everything else is gravy. So, yeah! Excited to see where the story goes next and doubly excited that the wait won’t be nearly as long this time.
___
Songs of Conquest: I’d been craving a Heroes of Might & Magic kinda game for a couple years when I found this game was getting a Switch release. Obviously PC’s the ideal platform for this kinda thing, and if I really wanted HoMM I could just play through one of those again, but fuck man I really can’t PC game these days. I spend my whole work day in front of the computer and my butt’s REALLY sick of this chair by the time I might wanna play a game for a bit. But I digress, this shit definitely gave me what I wanted, and importantly it’s visually YUMMY like Heroes, too! Fun-ass campaign, expanding and building towns and amassing your armies of monsters is always compelling to me haha. I did notice I was letting the auto-battle rock for a decent amount of it though; partially due to the pretty brutal load times on Switch between map and battle scenes, and partially because watching the AI battles didn’t really give me confidence that I could do them any better xD With some work I’m sure I could get a better grasp of essences and positioning and all that, but for the time being I’m pretty sure my tactics haven’t evolved too far beyond my childhood approach (get the biggest number of units and then you win :v) The game’s a bit too concerned with balance to let you get away with the EXACT shenanigans you could in Heroes (i.e. raising enough skeletons from enemy corpses that no force in heaven or hell could stop you) but it’s still a really good time!
___
Ocarina of Time: Master Quest: YOU CAN’T JUST HIDE A SWITCH INSIDE A PAINTING TEXTURE YOU MONSTERS.
MAY/JUNE RENT EMERGENCY ($ needed by 31st)
Posted 5 months ago(UPDATE: 5/30: Holy crap everyone!! Got both months' rent paid, thanks so much ;.; was NOT looking forward to trying to get another loan or some shit, as always you guys blow me away 💙💙💙 Bills still coming up so planning a discount Wormhole series of some kind but that's a lil' bit off
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=100 )
(text from pinned piece)
(Ko-fi goal/donation link: https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=6 )
Hello everyone,
It REALLY seems like this year does not want to let up. Just mentally recapping everything I kinda have to sigh. Lost my best friend and got a kidney stone in January, brutal flu in February, medical bills coming in throughout March, general financial panic throughout April, and to top it off May’s seen my wife have to go through a week-long hospital stay and most of my family having to find new work.
Looking like therapy/mental health stuff will have to go on the backburner for now. As of yet no practitioners I could afford to see have been able to be arranged, fingers crossed for the future because I do think anxiety has held me back & continues to in ways I can’t even estimate. Near agoraphobic in retrospect but I digress.
My wife’s found a new job which has been pretty great so far! No bites on my end yet.
Going to try to continue to get the backlog sorted and get communications running more smoothly; Currently this is the state of things, no small contributor to my anxiety:
- April car payment (late) ($329)
- May car payment ($329)
- April/May electric bill ($310)
- April/May Xfinity bill ($340)
- May rent ($1700)
- June rent ($1700)
- January past-due medical bills ($2000)
Mostly focused on rent at the moment because we’re going to get evicted if we can’t pay up within about a week, but I only have a few days to get all this stuff done, otherwise power/internet may be disconnected, and may have a delinquent mark on my car loan. The medical debt is the least of my worries at the moment all told. Would take out another loan if my credit was in a state to do so. Open to suggestions ><
(if you’d like to help us out we could also definitely use some groceries: https://ko-fi.com/riendonut )
Alternatively if you have Venmo/Cashapp those would work as well; PayPal’s capital loan taking 25% of all income has remained a real millstone around my neck.
Thanks to everyone either helping out or spreading this around, this community's been the only thing keeping me afloat for so long. Just hoping this mess can be managed in time :(
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=100 )
(text from pinned piece)
(Ko-fi goal/donation link: https://ko-fi.com/riendonut/goal?g=6 )
Hello everyone,
It REALLY seems like this year does not want to let up. Just mentally recapping everything I kinda have to sigh. Lost my best friend and got a kidney stone in January, brutal flu in February, medical bills coming in throughout March, general financial panic throughout April, and to top it off May’s seen my wife have to go through a week-long hospital stay and most of my family having to find new work.
Looking like therapy/mental health stuff will have to go on the backburner for now. As of yet no practitioners I could afford to see have been able to be arranged, fingers crossed for the future because I do think anxiety has held me back & continues to in ways I can’t even estimate. Near agoraphobic in retrospect but I digress.
My wife’s found a new job which has been pretty great so far! No bites on my end yet.
Going to try to continue to get the backlog sorted and get communications running more smoothly; Currently this is the state of things, no small contributor to my anxiety:
- April car payment (late) ($329)
- May car payment ($329)
- April/May electric bill ($310)
- April/May Xfinity bill ($340)
- May rent ($1700)
- June rent ($1700)
- January past-due medical bills ($2000)
Mostly focused on rent at the moment because we’re going to get evicted if we can’t pay up within about a week, but I only have a few days to get all this stuff done, otherwise power/internet may be disconnected, and may have a delinquent mark on my car loan. The medical debt is the least of my worries at the moment all told. Would take out another loan if my credit was in a state to do so. Open to suggestions ><
(if you’d like to help us out we could also definitely use some groceries: https://ko-fi.com/riendonut )
Alternatively if you have Venmo/Cashapp those would work as well; PayPal’s capital loan taking 25% of all income has remained a real millstone around my neck.
Thanks to everyone either helping out or spreading this around, this community's been the only thing keeping me afloat for so long. Just hoping this mess can be managed in time :(
MAY RENT EMERGENCY
Posted 6 months agoHello everyone,
2025 continues to be cursed. My wife & I got sick again; it seems like the flu, it’s been a couple weeks again of hacking up our lungs over here... it was a very sore/tired kind of April. An attempt was made at an intake appointment for therapy but as of yet unable to establish care. Found that I couldn’t really manage the cost even on a sliding scale system; they’re going to try to set me up with someone in my price range but obviously that’s likely to take some time. Won’t stop my brain from trying to eat itself alive in the meantime but it does feel good to be proactive about it at least.
Additionally I’ve been interviewing/applying various places about a part-time job, so far just rejections. Going to keep at it but the process has been discouraging to say the least, especially as nothing in the world is getting any saner and the rest of this year is a big question mark for everyone. I’d be shaking even if I weren’t already drowning in debt. I’ve been doing this since 2014 and I’ve drawn since I could hold a pencil, and I’m not ready to stop or anything, but I’ve never felt so unsure about what to do next. Admittedly I don’t know how to make ten years of drawing butts on the internet look good on a CV.
The recurring issue is that every single day, some bill or daily necessity wipes me and takes me into the red, and then I have to panickedly figure something out; it’s made it so both financially and labor-wise I’m just breaking even most of the time. As costs rise and time becomes an ever hotter commodity, I can’t afford to just keep staying afloat, I need to make some kind of headway. I don’t know how to do that with bad credit & while everything seems to be imploding, but that’s the objective.
Again, mostly a vent this month, sorry about that >< I’ll continue trying to balance new and owed works; at the moment trying to raise money for:
-May rent (due the 3rd) ($1600)
-IRS payment plan (3rd) ($300)
-student loan payment (3rd) ($127)
Rent in particular is a bit of an emergency this month as we’ve already been late once this lease length;
I did want to clear up some of the doom and gloom though and thank everyone who’s supported us through these difficult times. You guys have been so understanding and generous. It’s thanks to you that we could go get medicine and stuff when we got sick, and as ever we’re very thankful.
If anyone can help out for rent this month it would be greatly appreciated <3
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
2025 continues to be cursed. My wife & I got sick again; it seems like the flu, it’s been a couple weeks again of hacking up our lungs over here... it was a very sore/tired kind of April. An attempt was made at an intake appointment for therapy but as of yet unable to establish care. Found that I couldn’t really manage the cost even on a sliding scale system; they’re going to try to set me up with someone in my price range but obviously that’s likely to take some time. Won’t stop my brain from trying to eat itself alive in the meantime but it does feel good to be proactive about it at least.
Additionally I’ve been interviewing/applying various places about a part-time job, so far just rejections. Going to keep at it but the process has been discouraging to say the least, especially as nothing in the world is getting any saner and the rest of this year is a big question mark for everyone. I’d be shaking even if I weren’t already drowning in debt. I’ve been doing this since 2014 and I’ve drawn since I could hold a pencil, and I’m not ready to stop or anything, but I’ve never felt so unsure about what to do next. Admittedly I don’t know how to make ten years of drawing butts on the internet look good on a CV.
The recurring issue is that every single day, some bill or daily necessity wipes me and takes me into the red, and then I have to panickedly figure something out; it’s made it so both financially and labor-wise I’m just breaking even most of the time. As costs rise and time becomes an ever hotter commodity, I can’t afford to just keep staying afloat, I need to make some kind of headway. I don’t know how to do that with bad credit & while everything seems to be imploding, but that’s the objective.
Again, mostly a vent this month, sorry about that >< I’ll continue trying to balance new and owed works; at the moment trying to raise money for:
-May rent (due the 3rd) ($1600)
-IRS payment plan (3rd) ($300)
-student loan payment (3rd) ($127)
Rent in particular is a bit of an emergency this month as we’ve already been late once this lease length;
I did want to clear up some of the doom and gloom though and thank everyone who’s supported us through these difficult times. You guys have been so understanding and generous. It’s thanks to you that we could go get medicine and stuff when we got sick, and as ever we’re very thankful.
If anyone can help out for rent this month it would be greatly appreciated <3
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
(HELP GOTTEN THANKS SO MUCH) Asking for help with some bi...
Posted 9 months agoHello everyone, at this point I'm just spiraling so I figured I should at least try to reach out; I'm currently at -$217 on my bank balance from a loan payment and I've yet to pay utilities.
Planning on responding to everyone's comments from the last journal entry, thanks so much to everyone who's reached out.
it's been a truly horrendous start to 2025 and it's affecting everything. I haven't been making near any original stuff because the time and energy just isn't there. I really like my characters but any work that goes into them is work that's not directly making me any money which is no longer viable, and that's nagging at my brain the entire time I even try. and that's just an awful-feeling spot to be. it's a recipe for daily burnout. even commissions are getting a healthy chunk taken out upfront now because of the PayPal loan I just needed for rent. I'm not even making what I'm making.
At this point I don't know what to do.
I dunno it's 4 AM maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. Er today.
http://ko-fi.com/riendonut <<< my ko-fi link if you'd like to help, if nothing else thanks for hearing me out ><
(EDIT: out of the negatives, thanks so much peoples ;.; <3 sleeping does indeed help I gotta fix my sleep schedule ><)
Planning on responding to everyone's comments from the last journal entry, thanks so much to everyone who's reached out.
it's been a truly horrendous start to 2025 and it's affecting everything. I haven't been making near any original stuff because the time and energy just isn't there. I really like my characters but any work that goes into them is work that's not directly making me any money which is no longer viable, and that's nagging at my brain the entire time I even try. and that's just an awful-feeling spot to be. it's a recipe for daily burnout. even commissions are getting a healthy chunk taken out upfront now because of the PayPal loan I just needed for rent. I'm not even making what I'm making.
At this point I don't know what to do.
I dunno it's 4 AM maybe I'll feel better tomorrow. Er today.
http://ko-fi.com/riendonut <<< my ko-fi link if you'd like to help, if nothing else thanks for hearing me out ><
(EDIT: out of the negatives, thanks so much peoples ;.; <3 sleeping does indeed help I gotta fix my sleep schedule ><)
2025 off to a bad start
Posted 9 months agoFound out last weekend one of my dearest friends since childhood died very suddenly and unexpectedly. I can't lie it's really done my head in a bit. We hung out and met his wife only a few months ago. He was one of the unambiguously best human beings I've ever known and the world is much, much poorer without him.
there's a Goo Goo Dolls lyric that's just been in my head: "I'll become what you became to me"
Money issues still really bad. Took out a PayPal loan for Dec/Jan rent but between that and the other bills/loans, the money's gone and now I get to pay it off ^^; last payment to the IRS bounced and I have to call about that.
there's so much I want and need to do and it feels like life's just open-ass dumping on us over here at the moment...
idk feeling pretty bad right now. Someone hug the birb ><
there's a Goo Goo Dolls lyric that's just been in my head: "I'll become what you became to me"
Money issues still really bad. Took out a PayPal loan for Dec/Jan rent but between that and the other bills/loans, the money's gone and now I get to pay it off ^^; last payment to the IRS bounced and I have to call about that.
there's so much I want and need to do and it feels like life's just open-ass dumping on us over here at the moment...
idk feeling pretty bad right now. Someone hug the birb ><
Making It Through December If It Sleighs Me
Posted 10 months agoHello everyone! Happy December. Know I keep coming on here to apologize for the lack of responses & consistent uploads, living day-by-day due to our financial situation has proper screwed up my scheduling (hence this post coming at 4 AM lol); however it is something I need to take an active role every day in fixing. Wanted to once again thank everyone for bearing with me as I get stuff out.
October was pretty intense; Moth's mom's health has been touch-and-go this year and a decent part of the month was dealing with that. The main stressors right NOW are:
• The good ol' cat Cricket. Normally we trim her claws & she would scratch things up (the carpet IN FRONT OF THE SCRATCHING POST usually tbh -__-) to keep em tidy, but in her older age she's gotten less active AND less tolerant of nail-clipping. To get it taken care of would require a couple vet visits, but we're also on something of a time constraint because we don't want to wait for the claw to actually become impacted.
• Taxes. I've had rocky times paying self-employment taxes during the best of years and while I'm on a payment plan I'm well behind and starting to get letters. Not sure what's going to happen there but trying to get it ironed out.
• The car. Currently behind on the payment for our car & the registration is expired; needing to renew it ASAP but have to pay an additional two fees for that.
• The rent. The ever-present one but definitely the biggest. Had to take out some high-interest loans to cover rent these past couple months and it's obviously not a sustainable solution.
Everything else--paying off debts and bills and stuff--are present too but they don't send me spiraling into the abyss like the above! I do wanna thank people for sticking around during this time, I don't want to make it seem like it's ALL doom and gloom. I do think I'm making some fun stuffs, just need to (somehow) pick up the pace of putting stuff out. One of those situations where I work all day but nothing seems to get finished. I dunno, hoping 2025 can be a more organized time. Hope everyone's holiday months are going well so far.
Unsure what to do longterm about this; can post my ko-fi here I suppose. Considering a GoFundMe, though even that feels like too much time spent, though maybe that's an indication of how serious it is ><
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
October was pretty intense; Moth's mom's health has been touch-and-go this year and a decent part of the month was dealing with that. The main stressors right NOW are:
• The good ol' cat Cricket. Normally we trim her claws & she would scratch things up (the carpet IN FRONT OF THE SCRATCHING POST usually tbh -__-) to keep em tidy, but in her older age she's gotten less active AND less tolerant of nail-clipping. To get it taken care of would require a couple vet visits, but we're also on something of a time constraint because we don't want to wait for the claw to actually become impacted.
• Taxes. I've had rocky times paying self-employment taxes during the best of years and while I'm on a payment plan I'm well behind and starting to get letters. Not sure what's going to happen there but trying to get it ironed out.
• The car. Currently behind on the payment for our car & the registration is expired; needing to renew it ASAP but have to pay an additional two fees for that.
• The rent. The ever-present one but definitely the biggest. Had to take out some high-interest loans to cover rent these past couple months and it's obviously not a sustainable solution.
Everything else--paying off debts and bills and stuff--are present too but they don't send me spiraling into the abyss like the above! I do wanna thank people for sticking around during this time, I don't want to make it seem like it's ALL doom and gloom. I do think I'm making some fun stuffs, just need to (somehow) pick up the pace of putting stuff out. One of those situations where I work all day but nothing seems to get finished. I dunno, hoping 2025 can be a more organized time. Hope everyone's holiday months are going well so far.
Unsure what to do longterm about this; can post my ko-fi here I suppose. Considering a GoFundMe, though even that feels like too much time spent, though maybe that's an indication of how serious it is ><
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
October SUUUCKED
Posted 12 months agoHello everyone, wanted to apologize for the lack of updates & spotty responses lately. Keeping a consistent schedule lately has been basically impossible; Moth's mom's health has been declining for a little while now and we've been talking & working with family members & friends to work out the best course of action going forward. It's been a turbulent and difficult time, but at the very least the fact that we're communicating regularly has helped keep everyone more grounded.
I'd like to apologize for failing to provide that communication to you guys lately. Just before all this Moth lost their job because their (acting lol) manager at work was a majorly mean piece of work. So yeah, everyone's schedules and moods and general exhaustion have been pretty rough as of late. I'd like to thank everyone currently waiting for their patience. Despite how long I've been taking with things lately I can count the amount of unpleasant interactions on one hand, and I don't want it to go unappreciated. <3
Moneywise you can imagine things are equally rough with all this. Rent's due tomorrow and I'm still in the hole from last month's car payment; over the next week need to raise around $3k all told.
Going to be posting a series of adoptables, mostly older designs that I still like but haven't given love lately; I think they turned out pretty neat. They'll probably be $249 as a buy-it-now price. It'd be nice if the bulk of rent could be paid that way but just going to have to see how things go!
As I'm still dealing with quite a backlog, commissions will be an absolute last resort.
Hell I'd take out a loan if my credit wasn't for shit x~x
(If anyone has anything to spare I have a ko-fi, would immensely appreciate it <3 https://ko-fi.com/riendonut )
I'd like to apologize for failing to provide that communication to you guys lately. Just before all this Moth lost their job because their (acting lol) manager at work was a majorly mean piece of work. So yeah, everyone's schedules and moods and general exhaustion have been pretty rough as of late. I'd like to thank everyone currently waiting for their patience. Despite how long I've been taking with things lately I can count the amount of unpleasant interactions on one hand, and I don't want it to go unappreciated. <3
Moneywise you can imagine things are equally rough with all this. Rent's due tomorrow and I'm still in the hole from last month's car payment; over the next week need to raise around $3k all told.
Going to be posting a series of adoptables, mostly older designs that I still like but haven't given love lately; I think they turned out pretty neat. They'll probably be $249 as a buy-it-now price. It'd be nice if the bulk of rent could be paid that way but just going to have to see how things go!
As I'm still dealing with quite a backlog, commissions will be an absolute last resort.
Hell I'd take out a loan if my credit wasn't for shit x~x
(If anyone has anything to spare I have a ko-fi, would immensely appreciate it <3 https://ko-fi.com/riendonut )
SEPTEMBER UPDATE
Posted a year ago• Wanted to give a shoutout to DuragonArt ( https://x.com/DuragonArt/ ), a fellow furry artist currently undergoing a medical emergency. He urgently needs to raise funds for a bone marrow transplant on November 1, and is seeking donations. They're halfway there, but still have a way to go; they've had to sell off art equipment and character designs to make ends meet, would be an absolute travesty if their naughty drawings could no longer flow. Please consider donating or grabbing a commission from 'em if you can, or just spreading the word:
https://ko-fi.com/DuragonArtFund
________
• Me & the wife were hoping to be able to move out of this place to be closer to family, but it's looking like that's not going to be possible. We'd need to raise a pretty absurd amount of money and there's no way fam/friends could foot the whole bill. Maybe with a lot of saving we could get it done next year but when every day's just trying to get bills covered it's hard to get plans in motion. Currently paying off quite a few loans & back taxes while trying to juggle the backlog remains difficult; still after other employment to help ease it up a bit but would prefer feeling somewhat stable with my current workload.
• To that end going to be opening commissions over the next day or two; both YCH and full color varieties. As always thanks to current commissioners for bearing with me. Communication has been inconsistent and it remains my biggest daily hurdle. Looking into a day planner or something so I actually remember to write folks back -___-
• Steamworld Heist 2 is rly good
https://ko-fi.com/DuragonArtFund
________
• Me & the wife were hoping to be able to move out of this place to be closer to family, but it's looking like that's not going to be possible. We'd need to raise a pretty absurd amount of money and there's no way fam/friends could foot the whole bill. Maybe with a lot of saving we could get it done next year but when every day's just trying to get bills covered it's hard to get plans in motion. Currently paying off quite a few loans & back taxes while trying to juggle the backlog remains difficult; still after other employment to help ease it up a bit but would prefer feeling somewhat stable with my current workload.
• To that end going to be opening commissions over the next day or two; both YCH and full color varieties. As always thanks to current commissioners for bearing with me. Communication has been inconsistent and it remains my biggest daily hurdle. Looking into a day planner or something so I actually remember to write folks back -___-
• Steamworld Heist 2 is rly good
June Update (RENT EMERGENCY)
Posted a year agoHello everyone, hope you're well.
While I'm getting my stuff organized and finally finishing things at a pretty consistent pace again, expenses have still been outpacing me and uhhh right now I have a single dollar in my checking account out of the $2k or so we need to cover just the rent and car payments. Depending how the next few days go may need to take out another loan, but I've already done that in an effort to focus on the backlog and it's not been enough.
All this is to say, things are still very hard and very stressful but at the very least still here and enjoying life w/the wife and kitties :> As always I want to thank everyone currently waiting on a pic; working on reaching out to all the folks with updates, and hopefully getting the backlog into shape in a reasonable time.
While I'm getting my stuff organized and finally finishing things at a pretty consistent pace again, expenses have still been outpacing me and uhhh right now I have a single dollar in my checking account out of the $2k or so we need to cover just the rent and car payments. Depending how the next few days go may need to take out another loan, but I've already done that in an effort to focus on the backlog and it's not been enough.
All this is to say, things are still very hard and very stressful but at the very least still here and enjoying life w/the wife and kitties :> As always I want to thank everyone currently waiting on a pic; working on reaching out to all the folks with updates, and hopefully getting the backlog into shape in a reasonable time.
Apr 7 Update: RENT EMERGENCY
Posted a year agoHello everyone; just an update before I begin uploading stuff and trying to get bills sorted.
My backlog still isn't anywhere I'd like it to be, but once again I'm in the position of needing more work; need to cough up about $2k for rent (late fee didn't help), and eviction stuff starts the 8th if we can't pay.
Needless to say stress has been through the roof this past week; truly sorry I've been so behind and scattershot lately, with both of us seeking extra employment hopefully the pressure should ease off going into the year but for the time being things are still razor thin. I'll probably need to open new commission slots regardless, as much as I really don't want to, but if anyone has anything extra to spare we'd be extremely grateful ;.;
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
All told it's been a very hard time workwise, and I just wanted to thank everyone again for being so understanding. If I owe a pic and you'd like to stream it during some free time, feel free to hit me up with a time and I'll see if it works. I'll be reaching out to peoples all day regardless, but yeah.
Just hoping we'll be ok ^^;;
My backlog still isn't anywhere I'd like it to be, but once again I'm in the position of needing more work; need to cough up about $2k for rent (late fee didn't help), and eviction stuff starts the 8th if we can't pay.
Needless to say stress has been through the roof this past week; truly sorry I've been so behind and scattershot lately, with both of us seeking extra employment hopefully the pressure should ease off going into the year but for the time being things are still razor thin. I'll probably need to open new commission slots regardless, as much as I really don't want to, but if anyone has anything extra to spare we'd be extremely grateful ;.;
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/riendonut
All told it's been a very hard time workwise, and I just wanted to thank everyone again for being so understanding. If I owe a pic and you'd like to stream it during some free time, feel free to hit me up with a time and I'll see if it works. I'll be reaching out to peoples all day regardless, but yeah.
Just hoping we'll be ok ^^;;
UPDATE (FEB 1)
Posted a year agoHello everyone!
HAPPY 2024!
Life update- after so much of November/December spent in and out of the hospital w/Moth, I'm really happy they're feeling better. We've been hanging with the kitties and job-searching and thrifting and all the usual good stuff :>.
ALSO wanted to announce I'll be opening some new YCH slots--and possibly some regular color slots--over the next day or two. Backlogged commissions will be getting priority, and it REALLY isn't my preference, but with rent coming up and some... REALLY aggressive collections people hitting me up, I don't have much else I can do at this point.
I'm aware a new batch while I'm backed up and still catching up on so much in work and life isn't the best look, but at this point I've taken several loans and called in all the financial favors I can. I'm looking for a part-time job (so far unsuccessfully) to cover some gaps, but in the meantime I'll just be working, streaming, posting, and TRYING!! I think streaming in particular would be a good idea, in general I need to be much more reachable and I'm having trouble maintaining lines of communication; just working in a more accessible place could be helpful.
Wanted to thank all current commissioners again for bearing with me as I work through communications and WIP phases; I've received so much understanding and grace through this turbulent time and I truly appreciate it.
HAPPY 2024!
Life update- after so much of November/December spent in and out of the hospital w/Moth, I'm really happy they're feeling better. We've been hanging with the kitties and job-searching and thrifting and all the usual good stuff :>.
ALSO wanted to announce I'll be opening some new YCH slots--and possibly some regular color slots--over the next day or two. Backlogged commissions will be getting priority, and it REALLY isn't my preference, but with rent coming up and some... REALLY aggressive collections people hitting me up, I don't have much else I can do at this point.
I'm aware a new batch while I'm backed up and still catching up on so much in work and life isn't the best look, but at this point I've taken several loans and called in all the financial favors I can. I'm looking for a part-time job (so far unsuccessfully) to cover some gaps, but in the meantime I'll just be working, streaming, posting, and TRYING!! I think streaming in particular would be a good idea, in general I need to be much more reachable and I'm having trouble maintaining lines of communication; just working in a more accessible place could be helpful.
Wanted to thank all current commissioners again for bearing with me as I work through communications and WIP phases; I've received so much understanding and grace through this turbulent time and I truly appreciate it.
A DONUT APPAERS
Posted 2 years agoHello all, given my rather inconsistent uploads and even inconsistentent-er communications, I just needed to update a bit on what’s up.
Basically, Moth (the wife) has been suffering from a cyclical vomiting illness on and off this year; most of November for them was: vomiting, excruciating pain > ER > discharge > repeat… for weeks. We’ve had two extended hospital stays over that time—during which we received care at such a patchy pace that agony was often the only choice for hours at a time. All of this is to say that I love Moth very much and looking after them during all this has been pretty taxing. It’s definitely meant less time to draw, and on top of that the hospital’s semi-restricted internet meant I couldn’t even bloody update you guys.
Financially, family’s been able to help some, but after car troubles and trying to square away some debts it’s been a temporary fix; we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s been tough but we’re back home with the kitties and recovery finally seems to be taking. Currently we’re just trying to stay positive and have a restful holiday month while things get back on track, and I’ve been getting back on the horse with regards to drawing and responding to everyone from the past while; again, really sorry for disappearing on y’all, I’m not great with responses at the best of times, let alone in crisis mode with SHIT HOSPITAL INTERNET GODDAMN.
Some miscellaneous notes on games I played during the hospital stay n stuff.
KoF XIII- man what a beautiful game. Also what a hard game.
Super Mario RPG Remake- I FINALLY FINISHED SUPER MARIO RPG. I had it on SNES as a kid & Virtual Console elsewhere, but I think Booster’s Tower was the farthest I’d gotten. Nishimura’s score was perfect then, and it’s perfecter in the remake.
I dislike asking like this, but I REALLY want to leave my backlog alone as much as I can. We’re doing everything we can to get caught up on work and bills but there’s no getting around that this year has been extremely difficult. I know times are tough for everyone—and always remember, foods before lewds—but while we look for work to get caught up on things, we still need, uh… groceries x~x
Thanks everyone, hoping from here on out things can get back to normal :>
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
Basically, Moth (the wife) has been suffering from a cyclical vomiting illness on and off this year; most of November for them was: vomiting, excruciating pain > ER > discharge > repeat… for weeks. We’ve had two extended hospital stays over that time—during which we received care at such a patchy pace that agony was often the only choice for hours at a time. All of this is to say that I love Moth very much and looking after them during all this has been pretty taxing. It’s definitely meant less time to draw, and on top of that the hospital’s semi-restricted internet meant I couldn’t even bloody update you guys.
Financially, family’s been able to help some, but after car troubles and trying to square away some debts it’s been a temporary fix; we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s been tough but we’re back home with the kitties and recovery finally seems to be taking. Currently we’re just trying to stay positive and have a restful holiday month while things get back on track, and I’ve been getting back on the horse with regards to drawing and responding to everyone from the past while; again, really sorry for disappearing on y’all, I’m not great with responses at the best of times, let alone in crisis mode with SHIT HOSPITAL INTERNET GODDAMN.
Some miscellaneous notes on games I played during the hospital stay n stuff.
KoF XIII- man what a beautiful game. Also what a hard game.
Super Mario RPG Remake- I FINALLY FINISHED SUPER MARIO RPG. I had it on SNES as a kid & Virtual Console elsewhere, but I think Booster’s Tower was the farthest I’d gotten. Nishimura’s score was perfect then, and it’s perfecter in the remake.
I dislike asking like this, but I REALLY want to leave my backlog alone as much as I can. We’re doing everything we can to get caught up on work and bills but there’s no getting around that this year has been extremely difficult. I know times are tough for everyone—and always remember, foods before lewds—but while we look for work to get caught up on things, we still need, uh… groceries x~x
Thanks everyone, hoping from here on out things can get back to normal :>
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
State of the Donut 2023
Posted 2 years agoHello everyone, just wanted to offer a blanket apology for being hard to reach at times, and inconsistent with uploads/updates. Financial and health issues this entire year (Moth--the wife--has been quite ill with stomach issues that we've still yet to really get to the bottom of) have slowed my work pace considerably and necessitated more slots being worked on overall; I'll be setting aside blocks of time to respond to everyone I haven't yet, and WIPs will keep on going out. I wanted to personally thank everyone who's responded to progress updates so far, y'all have been extremely understanding and considerate and I'll appreciate that about you guys forever :)
Hmm, on non-account notes, I've been pretty into The Outer Worlds! Been having a New Vegas hankerin' for a couple years now, but my non-PC-gaming ass didn't really have a way to play it... but this has been even better! 100% completely my shit (there's even a quest named after The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World which made me nerd-squee).
I'm hoping to dip more into maybe some DOS/non-porn-comic related "content" once I have some free time... which should be somewhere around 2068 :V Hope everyone's doing alright. As for me, it's REEENT TIIIIME........ ;.;
To that end on top of commissions I'm also gonna be offering up a few adoptables I've been (verrry slowly >w>;) cooking up over the past months! There's some tax, car and rent bills to cover and I figured this might be a fun way to make some muns... Depending how it goes, might extend adopts from Makaran aliens to Makaran monsters & such :>
Hmm, on non-account notes, I've been pretty into The Outer Worlds! Been having a New Vegas hankerin' for a couple years now, but my non-PC-gaming ass didn't really have a way to play it... but this has been even better! 100% completely my shit (there's even a quest named after The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World which made me nerd-squee).
I'm hoping to dip more into maybe some DOS/non-porn-comic related "content" once I have some free time... which should be somewhere around 2068 :V Hope everyone's doing alright. As for me, it's REEENT TIIIIME........ ;.;
To that end on top of commissions I'm also gonna be offering up a few adoptables I've been (verrry slowly >w>;) cooking up over the past months! There's some tax, car and rent bills to cover and I figured this might be a fun way to make some muns... Depending how it goes, might extend adopts from Makaran aliens to Makaran monsters & such :>
State of the Donut
Posted 3 years agoI'm uploading again for realskies!
For a long while I've had difficulties being reliable with uploads, updates, streams, correspondence... y'know, being professional and all that. It's made me at best inconsistent, and at worst probably hard to work with, so I wanted to offer a blanket apology for that >< Honestly my executive functions have been lacking for a long-ass time (*cough*undiagnosedADHD*cough*), and I finally feel I'm taking positive steps towards actually fixing the underlying issues. Talk to people who know about these things!! But, yeah, it's led a lot of work being overdue.
HOWEVER due in no small part to meeting a wonderful partner who gets shit *done*, I'm finally like. Insured, my work is organized, and it feels like my life isn't in limbo anymore.
The moral of the story is if you feel affected by some kinda mental blockades, definitely don't just keep it to yourself and hope the situation improves on its own. Passivity's admittedly a folly of mine... workin' on it!
So, yeah, I've still got quite a bit of work ahead of me (and uh, the money issues haven't gone away either... you might have noticed shit ain't getting cheaper ^^; on a related note I'm gonna be offering up some commissions tomorrow/soon to be done a bit later in the month... taxes and car repairs are brutal), but I'm glad to feel like I have a sense of the size and scope of what needs to be done.
As far as original stuff goes, I'm hoping to write and do more comics on Makara, Mira's home planet! It's fun to write and I shouldn't have stopped doing it. Alien sex adventures ahoy!
I hope everyone's doing well ^^
For a long while I've had difficulties being reliable with uploads, updates, streams, correspondence... y'know, being professional and all that. It's made me at best inconsistent, and at worst probably hard to work with, so I wanted to offer a blanket apology for that >< Honestly my executive functions have been lacking for a long-ass time (*cough*undiagnosedADHD*cough*), and I finally feel I'm taking positive steps towards actually fixing the underlying issues. Talk to people who know about these things!! But, yeah, it's led a lot of work being overdue.
HOWEVER due in no small part to meeting a wonderful partner who gets shit *done*, I'm finally like. Insured, my work is organized, and it feels like my life isn't in limbo anymore.
The moral of the story is if you feel affected by some kinda mental blockades, definitely don't just keep it to yourself and hope the situation improves on its own. Passivity's admittedly a folly of mine... workin' on it!
So, yeah, I've still got quite a bit of work ahead of me (and uh, the money issues haven't gone away either... you might have noticed shit ain't getting cheaper ^^; on a related note I'm gonna be offering up some commissions tomorrow/soon to be done a bit later in the month... taxes and car repairs are brutal), but I'm glad to feel like I have a sense of the size and scope of what needs to be done.
As far as original stuff goes, I'm hoping to write and do more comics on Makara, Mira's home planet! It's fun to write and I shouldn't have stopped doing it. Alien sex adventures ahoy!
I hope everyone's doing well ^^
Gonna Upload a Buncha Stuff Soon
Posted 4 years agoHey all,
Sorry for the inactivity here, it's been a hella busy year with hella ups and downs. I'll fill in w/more details, but I'm still catching up on stuff; regardless, I'm alive and well, just trying to figure out my next move(s) I suppose. I'll give a more detailed update in a bit, and also start uploading some o the good stuff I been doin ^^ hope everyone is well.
Sorry for the inactivity here, it's been a hella busy year with hella ups and downs. I'll fill in w/more details, but I'm still catching up on stuff; regardless, I'm alive and well, just trying to figure out my next move(s) I suppose. I'll give a more detailed update in a bit, and also start uploading some o the good stuff I been doin ^^ hope everyone is well.
Let's Attempt 2021
Posted 4 years agoI mean despite my attempts I'm not a positive person and things aren't fine, haha. I feel pretty separate from everyone in my life, whether online friends, real friends or family (I've not physically been around someone I know in almost a full year now lol, anyone else?); I'm hardly alone in feeling that way at the moment but that doesn't really help anything.
Won't make any grand proclamations about new projects or plans, I just want to deliver, and be more available if I can. I've always retreated inwards as a response to most things, if anyone has any helpful tips on not doing that that don't involve drinking please let me know :p
I'm gonna try and get back to streaming at least 3 times a week. Considered making a Discord as well if I can find some folks who'd want to like. Mod or something, idk how running one of those works but it might be fun.
I don't know. I'm kind of dreading this year and, uh, every year that comes after but I'll do my best.
At the very least I've learned a lot about myself lately and even though it's definitely not all good I think I at least have some kind of plan now.
Hope you're all doing well.
(Update) thanks peoples for leaving so many kind messages. I'm never quite sure how to respond but they're helpful nonetheless.
Won't make any grand proclamations about new projects or plans, I just want to deliver, and be more available if I can. I've always retreated inwards as a response to most things, if anyone has any helpful tips on not doing that that don't involve drinking please let me know :p
I'm gonna try and get back to streaming at least 3 times a week. Considered making a Discord as well if I can find some folks who'd want to like. Mod or something, idk how running one of those works but it might be fun.
I don't know. I'm kind of dreading this year and, uh, every year that comes after but I'll do my best.
At the very least I've learned a lot about myself lately and even though it's definitely not all good I think I at least have some kind of plan now.
Hope you're all doing well.
(Update) thanks peoples for leaving so many kind messages. I'm never quite sure how to respond but they're helpful nonetheless.
Bruh
Posted 5 years agoI know right now I'm in a position to put up or shut up with uploads at the moment but I'm pretty excited. I feel like today dicking around in my digital art I FIIIIINALLY discovered how to give my primarily digital lasso-focused work a somewhat organic, painterly look. Which is only a vibe I've been trying to achieve for like 6 freakin' years now.
Long story short, uh. I have a lot to do this coming week or two or three or ten, but I think I'm on the beam. I have faith in my manic energy :p Pls send Boomer juice, sleep is for the weak. Monster energy: any blue kind specifically. how do I get a sponsorship?
Long story short, uh. I have a lot to do this coming week or two or three or ten, but I think I'm on the beam. I have faith in my manic energy :p Pls send Boomer juice, sleep is for the weak. Monster energy: any blue kind specifically. how do I get a sponsorship?
November Onwards
Posted 5 years agoAs I discussed lately I'm staying home this holiday season, due to family concerns over COVID. It's a serious drag cuz this is my favorite time of year, but that's how it goes, and I'm very lucky all told.
That said I hope you guys are all doing okay, I'm trying to figure out myself if there's more I can do over the winter that would be fun for people. Draw streams/game streams/voice streams/Discord servers/other stuffs are all things I'm thinking about xD
For the time being though I'm just working, as sad as the holidays will be I do kinda need this time if I'm honest. Besides which, I need some time to work off the quarantine tum...
That said I hope you guys are all doing okay, I'm trying to figure out myself if there's more I can do over the winter that would be fun for people. Draw streams/game streams/voice streams/Discord servers/other stuffs are all things I'm thinking about xD
For the time being though I'm just working, as sad as the holidays will be I do kinda need this time if I'm honest. Besides which, I need some time to work off the quarantine tum...
RELIEF
Posted 5 years agoOkay so.
Thanks to godlike assist from loved ones I have rent squared away for next month. No more wildfire smoke, no more life distractions.
And I don't need to take on more commissions.
I can just work.
Please keep an eye on your notes peoples, I'll be shooting WIPs a shitton this week xD
It's hard to describe in words the relief I feel right now.
So Septermber was a really fuckin weird month but at the end of it I'm feeling pretty good. I think I've leveled up artwise, and now I just gotta prove it with these latest commission batches. I'm excited ^^
Thanks to godlike assist from loved ones I have rent squared away for next month. No more wildfire smoke, no more life distractions.
And I don't need to take on more commissions.
I can just work.
Please keep an eye on your notes peoples, I'll be shooting WIPs a shitton this week xD
It's hard to describe in words the relief I feel right now.
So Septermber was a really fuckin weird month but at the end of it I'm feeling pretty good. I think I've leveled up artwise, and now I just gotta prove it with these latest commission batches. I'm excited ^^
Couple Updates
Posted 5 years agoHad that freakout journal from the beginning of quarantine and I guess it's kinda a bummer on the profile so figured I'd update a bit, nothing much fundamental has changed except my attitude I guess.
My behavior for awhile during the past few months was extremely unhealthy. Bigtime carbs & drinking & not even going outside. I've since stopped drinking, eating is a harder habit of mine to break cuz well, I've had it for longer. Trying to get an exercise routine going, at least reading outside for an hour a day, and generally being less online. I'm trying to narrow my focus and so far I think it's helped a lot. I'm still worried about a lot of things but day to day I'm feeling better, at least, and some of the pics I've made lately have been my favorites in a long time. Hoping I can keep that all going.
I'll just leave here saying I'm truly grateful to this community for keeping me afloat all these years, I've never gotten my 9-5 mindset perfectly straight but all y'alls have always been truly understanding, so regardless of what happens in the next few months or years, thanks for that.
Anyways I need to work. I'm broke, extremely bigtime broke boy.
MY CURRENT COPING STRATEGY: Becoming obsessed with a new game every week. So far I've been through: Blazblue, Monster Boy, Blasphemous, Project Warlock, Trials of Mana, Streets of Rage 4, prolly a few others I'm forgetting. Hope everyone else is dealing with things too.
My behavior for awhile during the past few months was extremely unhealthy. Bigtime carbs & drinking & not even going outside. I've since stopped drinking, eating is a harder habit of mine to break cuz well, I've had it for longer. Trying to get an exercise routine going, at least reading outside for an hour a day, and generally being less online. I'm trying to narrow my focus and so far I think it's helped a lot. I'm still worried about a lot of things but day to day I'm feeling better, at least, and some of the pics I've made lately have been my favorites in a long time. Hoping I can keep that all going.
I'll just leave here saying I'm truly grateful to this community for keeping me afloat all these years, I've never gotten my 9-5 mindset perfectly straight but all y'alls have always been truly understanding, so regardless of what happens in the next few months or years, thanks for that.
Anyways I need to work. I'm broke, extremely bigtime broke boy.
MY CURRENT COPING STRATEGY: Becoming obsessed with a new game every week. So far I've been through: Blazblue, Monster Boy, Blasphemous, Project Warlock, Trials of Mana, Streets of Rage 4, prolly a few others I'm forgetting. Hope everyone else is dealing with things too.
Out of town until 12/29 <3
Posted 6 years agoHI EVERYONE,
As I said I'll be away until late on the 29th (visiting family and having fun 6-hour layovers at LAS), so I'm not likely to be online or drawing much. I've thought about looking into an iPad Pro if I were to win a lawsuit or something, I haven't found working on the go to work all that well for me most of the time.
My backlog's still as big and fat as most of the asses in it, so catchup will unfortunately resume well into the New Year, but I believe in the thicc powers to get through it.
Thanks to everyone waiting on a pic for bearing with me this long, if I've got a resolution for 2020 it's to stagger out my commission offerings more regularly, and hopefully get out in front of rent rather than have to scramble for it every month (though I don't think I'm gonna be able to kick that one in this month, barring finding a suitcase of money -__-).
I've said this before but I can't say it enough, yous guys are the most supportive, understanding, and helpful community I've ever witnessed, thanks for riding with me all this time, and here's to the thiccest 2020 of all, happy holidays and see you soon! ^^
As I said I'll be away until late on the 29th (visiting family and having fun 6-hour layovers at LAS), so I'm not likely to be online or drawing much. I've thought about looking into an iPad Pro if I were to win a lawsuit or something, I haven't found working on the go to work all that well for me most of the time.
My backlog's still as big and fat as most of the asses in it, so catchup will unfortunately resume well into the New Year, but I believe in the thicc powers to get through it.
Thanks to everyone waiting on a pic for bearing with me this long, if I've got a resolution for 2020 it's to stagger out my commission offerings more regularly, and hopefully get out in front of rent rather than have to scramble for it every month (though I don't think I'm gonna be able to kick that one in this month, barring finding a suitcase of money -__-).
I've said this before but I can't say it enough, yous guys are the most supportive, understanding, and helpful community I've ever witnessed, thanks for riding with me all this time, and here's to the thiccest 2020 of all, happy holidays and see you soon! ^^
Adoptables?
Posted 6 years agoEllo lovely peoples ^^
I'll be honest, looking at what I'm gonna need for rent/taxes/bills/travel over the next couple months, I really have no idea how I'm gonna pull it off without laying HEAPS of other commissions on top and I just can't. Not with the queue I have now, and not with the time I have remaining before I go to visit family.
So I'm gonna look into adoptable auctions maybe? I've done it like once before and it didn't go too terribly well, but maybe now that I've grown a bit in both followers and ability I'll be able to make some characters people would actually want ahaha.
I've been going through some of my past draws looking for one-offs/characters I haven't drawn in forever, and thinking of sprucing them up with new drawings and offering them up as adoptables. Are there any people would wanna see listed in particular?
I'll be honest, looking at what I'm gonna need for rent/taxes/bills/travel over the next couple months, I really have no idea how I'm gonna pull it off without laying HEAPS of other commissions on top and I just can't. Not with the queue I have now, and not with the time I have remaining before I go to visit family.
So I'm gonna look into adoptable auctions maybe? I've done it like once before and it didn't go too terribly well, but maybe now that I've grown a bit in both followers and ability I'll be able to make some characters people would actually want ahaha.
I've been going through some of my past draws looking for one-offs/characters I haven't drawn in forever, and thinking of sprucing them up with new drawings and offering them up as adoptables. Are there any people would wanna see listed in particular?
Ko-fi
Posted 6 years agoHey guys!
My bank account isssss GRIM today (the end of the year always is but normally I have more than $5 in it) so I figured I'd shamelessly plug my ko-fi page if you wanted to support the butts. No worries if not, I'm just extremely stressed today haha.
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
My bank account isssss GRIM today (the end of the year always is but normally I have more than $5 in it) so I figured I'd shamelessly plug my ko-fi page if you wanted to support the butts. No worries if not, I'm just extremely stressed today haha.
https://ko-fi.com/riendonut
Much Ado About Rent
Posted 6 years agoGoing forward I need a more concrete game plan. Over the past few years I've always been hanging on by the skin of my teeth. The rent's certainly not getting any cheaper and at some point I'm gonna need to think about health insurance, I'm not gonna be in my 20s forever. That said I just checked my bank balance and almost freaked out.
All of this is to say, over the next couple days I'm gonna be opening ANOTHER batch of comms, but truth be told I'm not sure if it should be more sketches because I owe a great many still, and just the sight of THAT MUCH MORE added to the queue might overwhelm me, and it's also just absolutely not fair to you wonderful peeps to have that kind of backlog, but as always I'm out of options.
In future I may go through my back stuff and redraw some one-off characters I like, and put them up as adoptables if that's something people might be interested in?
If there's also other comm types people would be interested in, let me know.
Been thinking THIS TIME of maybe opening up 12 $100 full color commission slots on Mon/Tues, with the understanding that in all likelihood the wait for finishes would be substantial.
Sorry if this journal was rambling or incoherent. I'm half-stress and half-tired at the moment.
Been playing some Dragon Quest XI. I need some puff puff :c
All of this is to say, over the next couple days I'm gonna be opening ANOTHER batch of comms, but truth be told I'm not sure if it should be more sketches because I owe a great many still, and just the sight of THAT MUCH MORE added to the queue might overwhelm me, and it's also just absolutely not fair to you wonderful peeps to have that kind of backlog, but as always I'm out of options.
In future I may go through my back stuff and redraw some one-off characters I like, and put them up as adoptables if that's something people might be interested in?
If there's also other comm types people would be interested in, let me know.
Been thinking THIS TIME of maybe opening up 12 $100 full color commission slots on Mon/Tues, with the understanding that in all likelihood the wait for finishes would be substantial.
Sorry if this journal was rambling or incoherent. I'm half-stress and half-tired at the moment.
Been playing some Dragon Quest XI. I need some puff puff :c
