Yup, a few more items I wanna post.

I wanted to say to those of you on my way-too-long waiting list to be on my commission queue, I'm sorry it has taken so long to get to you. Moving to this province with my folks was an ordeal and one of the most demoralizing and isolating things I've done in my life. It has been the chief reason for my failure to commit myself to my art. I'd always had bouts of depression here and there, that's for certain. I talked about them on tumblr now and again back in the day. But this was exceptionally bad for my spirit and really damaged any good habits or enthusiasm I'd had before the move.
So again, I'm sorry for making you all wait for so long. Some of you I see have been on this list for a year if not slightly longer.
I'm hoping this (bless it, very short) move back to my home province will bring with it a nice dose of joy and ambition once again. I'm actually excited for this one instead of dreading it so that definitely counts for a lot.

I'm thankful that I've been able to reach out and meet so many folks online this past year. You are all so very lovely. While I do miss my IRL friend group a lot, the pain is very much eased by all the fantastic folks who've been kind enough to meet and hang out with me, or even just send me kind comments or DMs now and again. I'm honored not just by that but by every new follower, every comment, and every favorite.

My goal with this stuff, besides making a bit of scratch for my efforts of course :p, has always been to entertain folks, to give them some fun content they can save and come back to whenever they like.
While I'd like to expand somewhat and make a bit more money from my work, maybe doing a patreon someday, I'd be keen to find a format that avoids locking and paywalling content. I'd considered a system many use which is staggered content releases, maybe a month after they're posted to Patreon or whatever other service.
I've also wanted to get into game dev as well and hopefully get your support on that. I have two projects I'm particularly keen on returning to, one of which is a visual novel.

Beyond that I've got all my usual sorts of ideas for comics, stories, and whatnot. Just gotta reform my good habits and maintain them. I've done this properly a few times in my life and they were great times for sure. Daily drawing was something that helped me in a big way and it's what I've been trying to do recently, getting that routine going, getting into the creative space again, and not letting myself languish.



So yeah, I've enjoyed my time very much being able to draw and post this stuff. And I want to do more. I'm not sure what exactly awaits me in 2024 after I move but there are bound to be some lifestyle changes, hopefully leaning on the more positive side this time. :p

Just wanted to get some thoughts out of my head. I know journals get missed a lot but I hope if you do read this ramble and if you take anything away from it it's that I appreciate you all very much and want to continue to make stuff for you. It's my pleasure to do so.

I'm looking forward to 2024 and hope everyone out there has something to look forward to as well.

Bit of a backlog though I posted like 99% of it on twitter already. Pretty sure. :y
Gonna try to chip away at the backlog and post on here and elsewhere.

What is it anyway.. let's see.
Two panty entrapment things, one UB (two if you count something I added to a sketch as a joke), one pussy shot, one ass shot, one impending foot play, one impending vore, one hand held...
Yeah, it's a bit. Figure I'll post em over the next few days to the various sites.

Oh yeah, just as another reminder you can also find me on these sites. I still mainly stick with FA and twitter but man, twitter gets worse all the time. If I get the excuse I need I'm def bailing.
https://bsky.app/profile/5ummerheat.bsky.social
https://itaku.ee/profile/5ummerheat
https://aryion.com/g4/user/5ummer
https://twitter.com/5ummerHeat

EDIT: Also I'm moving soon, around New Year's I think. Been slowly but surely packing everything up. Fairly easy since I didn't 100% unpack from our move into this current place.
That and I don't have a ton of things. Just game stuff, a few pieces of furniture, and my computer setup here.
Hope it goes well. Gonna have to remember to change my addresses and stuff.

So a week or two back I mentioned my birthday was coming up in a VRChat session to some new friends and one of them immediately picked up on it and was a bit unsubtle about wanting to do something for me.

Fast forward to today and after a bit of a wait I'm invited to an office world. The moment I get in I'm greeted by two people at the reception desk talking with these goofy avatars that are customizable (https://old.reddit.com/r/VRchat/com.....of_the_avatar/). They start by greeting me at the elevator and as I step into the area like 30 more of them emerge from the fucking offices and start running down at the hall at me greeting me. Holy shit. XD

Suddenly we're all called into the conference room for a meeting. With a bit of light preparation beforehand they quickly improvised a sketch talking about I guess some kinks not being as marketable as others, with a couple of goofy comments from the room. I was then guided to my own office which was a supply closet (of course it was) with a cake in it.
The bit was over at that point and we soon moved on to playing Prompt or Die (a kind of fast-paced Cards Against Humanity game) and Blackout (essentially just Murder with some slight changes).

Wound down to chit chat as people parted ways. Was a great time about four hours or so. Really made my birthday special, even if it did spill over onto the next morning. Haha.

That was really quite special and I couldn't thank them enough for the good time. Absolutely loved it. :000

It's my birthday today and it seems like a buddy of mine is getting a bit of a gathering ready on VRChat later today at around 11 PM PDT. Thought I'd poke you guys on here to see if anyone wanted in.
No idea how big it'll be but I don't expect it'll be massive or anything.

But yeah, no worries if you can't make it. And even if we don't get to hang out today we can do a lil meet n greet some other time. Always enjoy meeting new folks and hanging out. I'm a bit new to VRC but I've enjoyed spending a lot more time on there chatting with folks which is why I always wanna rope people into getting on there. It's been pretty special.

EDIT: Suppose I don't need to delete this after all. Forgot I could edit journals forever so I tweaked something. :p
Thanks so much for the well-wishes, everyone.

That policy update sure reflects even more poorly on the people running this thing. Twitter is ablaze, FA's posts are getting ratio'd, and dirt is getting dug up. It's quite a sight and while entertaining it is also really dismaying.

In all likelihood I'll continue posting here despite my own misgivings but just so you know when I'm verified I'll test posting a few old things on Weasyl as well, assuming there isn't some disqualifying factor there that I'm not aware of. At the very least they wrote a content policy that makes sense. :p

So all the places I'm located at in case something goes down or if I really can't stomach FA anymore (something I'll absolutely announce ahead of time) --

[ACTIVE]
https://twitter.com/5ummerHeat
https://aryion.com/g4/user/5ummer
FA, obviously

[SEMI ACTIVE]
https://www.weasyl.com/~5ummerheat (just started up, need a vouch or to be verified, email sent)
https://e621.net/posts?tags=5ummerheat (I only post finished works, also tagging for every little thing is exhausting and takes a ton of time)

[NOT ACTIVE]
https://giantessbooru.com/post/inde.....t/5ummerheat/1 (clumsy to use, lack of features compared to e621)
https://5ummerheat.tumblr.com/ (banned porn, could use it to link offsite like I have in the past?)

[CONSIDERING]
SoFurry (seems fine)
Newgrounds (could be good, dunno)
Picarto (discoverability and engagement seems exceptionally low, probs better for streaming)

[WILL NEVER USE]
Inkbunny (dislike the design to say the absolute least)
HentaiFoundary (not a fan, always felt annoying to use)
DeviantArt (dickishly moderates stuff well-within the bounds of their policies, might be good for less saucy stuff)
Pixiv (it just kinda sucks, also you can only block one user before they want you to pay up which is fucking baffling)

Thought I'd let you know that I'm not budging on any of my content. I'm not checking with them what's acceptable or not. They can pound sand. I already had a run-in with them recently and frankly their judgment based on their unevenly-enforced poorly-written policies isn't worth a dime.

I think the biggest thing that bothered me was, after removing the forums so they could hide on discord, they effectively told their entire userbase they didn't want to have any sort of open discussion about this and to fuck off. That alone reflects -very- poorly on them and does not instill in me any confidence in the future of this platform. It is deeply concerning to have the administration take every step possible to stifle open and honest discussion regarding issues with the site. Opening a ticket on FA (just so they can ignore it) is woefully inadequate. I mean hell, that policy update entry has comments disabled. No balls whatsoever.
I'm still waiting for someone to respond to the feedback I gave about their stupid comically broad derivative AI content clause in their policy that got my two stories deleted. ¬_¬

Anyway, if there's any issue after it goes into effect I'll make plans to either do a partial or full transition to a different platform, probably Eka's largely.
On FA here I'd likely just post a cropped or blurred version and link off-site, at least until they policy that away too. :y

Just so y'all know where my head's at. :)
Sorry to see so many people doing purges. Really sad to see.
TBC, I agree with the policy in principle. I even agree with the AI policy in principle. Discretion-based policy enforcement is good in theory but in practice it's a nightmare of capricious nonsense.



EDIT: Also, can I just say.. I've really enjoyed my time on FA. I love y'all. You have been some of the sweetest folks I've ever met and I'm honored to have you follow me for my art, and to have your time and attention. \o/

EDIT MAY 23: lol holy shit, that policy update of theirs the other day sure made waves. What the hell are they even thinking, dude.

By that I mean removed from FA.
..because they were DERIVED from AI-generation, but otherwise contained none of the original AI-generated content. For the record I think this is a stupid fucking rule, some real zero-tolerance policy bulldick, but whatever.

But to reiterate, these contained nary a trace of the original AI-generated content because I used NovelAI as a TOOL to help me, a non-writer, spur on my creativity and help me write something. God help me, I developed a skill. Imagine that!
After multiple revisions and tear-downs (Foxy underwent a crazy huge upheaval and restructuring in particular) there is no way someone could reasonably argue that any content in it was AI-generated.
To be clear: I am staunchly opposed to people wholesale posting AI-generated works as their own. It's patently misleading and dishonest.

Not once did I ever attempt to mislead anybody into thinking ANY AI-generated content was my own, which when you get right down to it is SURELY the chief reason for this policy in the first fucking place.

I will not be reuploading them but you can find them on Eka's Portal.
The Prince
(shrinking, romance, cock vore)
https://aryion.com/g4/view/837371

Foxy
(shrinking, anal vore)
https://aryion.com/g4/view/836569


I will eventually post a story that was fully written by me, providing FA doesn't mind that at some point in the past I asked ChatGPT for writing tips.
Ridiculous.

EDIT: I submitted a ticket hoping they'll reinstate the content (less the foreword about AI) and also nix the warning they put on my account. I think -that- pissed me off the most, like I'm some troublemaking dickhead out to disrupt the community or some shit.
EDIT2: It was upheld because they took my saying it was NovelAI-assisted as an admission. This is absolute nonsense but it's exactly the kind of stupidity you get with zero-tolerance policies.

(forgot to post this message here, only had it on Eka's :p)

Thing ballooned a bit like last time. When I work with Pocket we both get so excited.
It should be a fun one though. Lots of nudity, sorta.. reader foreplay if you will before the big stuff. :D
Should be fun. But it's taking a bit. I've tried to use my break time to iron out other projects meanwhile but gotta be careful I don't burn out. I've done that before and it suuuuucks.

Hopefully we get the concepts nailed down soon but it's looking like I'll dip into next month some. Sorry to those of you who are waiting.
I'm truly excited to get to yours as well, just gets tricky with larger projects.

Couple of folks on twitter were interested in dubbing my bunny comic so I gave em the go ahead. Sounded fun.
Thread here if you wanna check it out, https://twitter.com/DiminishedBoy/s.....33767991185409


I love it. It was such a pleasant surprise. :D

Was on hiatus due to a rather lengthy depressive bout. I feel much better lately, like I woke up from some kind of confused haze.
It really kicked in early June (I think..?) with a general lack of interest in anything. Games, music, cooking... art block set in and just when I thought I was on the other end of the tunnel, drawing a bit again, it got a good bit worse. The only joy I had was sleep. :0

Probably still related to the move earlier this year, just been cascading. I'm getting away from that particular bit of trauma though so that's good, but I suppose my usual blues are somewhat amplified. When I was younger I used to have episodes like these. I'd draw for a month or two straight and it'd be going great, and then... everything sucks and I'm garbage. It was rough. But I'd complete the cycle and get back to where I wanted to be.
They're a very once-in-awhile thing and usually far more spread out (and shorter on average). That's why I insist on blaming the move. :y

Anyway my eyes are burning so I'm going to bed.

Gonna keep drawing for a bit longer until I've got even a bit of my groove back and then I'm gonna see about those commissions I delayed.
I wanna draw vore and mean girls and dumb shit again.

Took a trip out to get our stuff from the storage locker in our old town. Was a bit of a journey and I'm very tired.

Happy to see the reception of Pocket's commission went over well with everyone.
I'll be poking the next couple of people in my queue soon, tomorrow probs. Need to rest for tonight.

Comic just needs a couple more days and it should be done! Been working on it little by little.
Then those of you on my comms queue will be closer. Sorry again for the huge delays!

We're in the new place, got my computer set up all nice at my desk again. Feels good.
There's still a bit to do but most of my own unpacking is done. Just gotta help move some of the bigger things as we slowly rebuild all our spaces, so there'll be some interruptions.

Very sleepy and sore and tired but I'm really looking forward to drawing again very soon. :3

We're getting keys today. After that it's officially all ours.
About half of the essentials we brought with us in the truck will likely get dropped off in there overnight, we'll stay at my sister's place one more night, and then we'll meet the moving truck tomorrow morning.

The day is finally here, baby.

We'll be moving out of my sister's place into a proper house of our own (renting that is) in about a week.
Didn't draw much. Tiny bit. Setup sucks, got sick, avoided being in room due to giant litterbox that serves four cats, lack of privacy, bluh bluh.
Setup needs to be a certain way because my model of Cintiq has this god awful connector that wants to kill itself. Probs mentioned it before. :y

I'll be up and running very soon though.
I wanna finish and post this fuggin comic. Frankly I feel like a dickhead for not having it done sooner. :/

We're at my sister's place, gonna be here for a bit while we find a for real place to rent. Then the furniture will be delivered and I'll have my setup back.
For now I've gotta improvise using a TV table and a keyboard tray/tablet on my lap.

Taking a couple of days to heal up and relax before I start drawing again. That was a complete fucking nightmare.
But we're here so.. yeah.

Good. :y

Thought I'd give a lil update for those of you who have been interested or have already messaged me regarding commission work.
I've found myself busy helping the folks throw junk away the last little while. There was quite a lot of hoard and I'm glad to see it go. >.>
Still have some other things that need to get tossed out or otherwise sent to storage. I've also gotta pack my stuff but frankly I have vastly less crap so it would take me like.. a day to do it. >.>

I semi-frequently tweet about how the current comm situation is as well as other updates about my situation on twitter if you don't mind following on there.
https://twitter.com/5ummerHeat

Sorry for the delay!

PS - After my recent hard drive failure I managed to recover sketches of the current comm from the discord conversation I was having with the client. Work was able to continue almost exactly right where I left off.
I'm currently more than halfway done flats, then it's a shading/detail pass, speech, and done.
Easier said than done but I'm at least getting better at my process. When I sit down for flats I can blast through parts of it pretty quick but it's usually at the end of the day and I get sleepy quickly. :0

Thanks, loves!
I hope you like this beast when I post it. :3

the HDD I exclusively stored all my smut projects on like a moron died this morning, and this strangely raised other problems as well. without that drive running win10 wont boot on my SSD, my main drive. It sees the device in bios, wont boot.

tried using my old win7 installs on drives from previous builds I relegated to storage but when they boot my kb and mouse get disabled.

what the hell even

these problems together seem to have me blocked at every turn. I'm typing this on my phone currently since my PC is effectively busted at least until I figure out why the hell my SSD refuses to work.

been complaining on Twitter all morning in total misery. I feel like such a fuckup.

but the worst of it is over. I'm mostly alright. I'll have a rest and see if I can resolve this later.
what a terrible morning though, jesus christ.

Strictly speaking I'm not wide open for commissions but I am taking them on one at a time in private discussions with folks who've asked recently. That 4-page bunny comic drew a ton of interest and I didn't wanna keep turning everybody down like I always have. :u

Anyway, check out https://www.furaffinity.net/commiss.....ns/summerheat/ if you wanna. It's a bit ugly but I'll organize later. I've suddenly found myself very busy. Haha.
Don't think the prices are too crazy. Bit higher than the averages I was seeing in some places but lower than others. It's all over the map and really hard to pin down but I think I've found a reasonable place.
What's important are the meetings though. Gonna be a bit of negotiation there I think.

Man, sure are a lot of firsts this year...

So yeah, thing is... I'm moving soon from here to the neighboring province. Bit of a big move and I hope all goes well.
But I have less hoard than my housemates so my packing tasks can be taken a lot more casually. We haven't even nailed down a place to move into yet but we have until end of February so...
And when I get there I've gotta go get a job somewhere. Was thinking a part-time thing like before.

I think in the future after I sort out all this commission hullabaloo I'll be okay with opening a couple of slots consistently depending on my schedule. If I can get 4 days a week part time hours I'll do alright. Come home, work on some commissions. Sounds fun.

Meeting another client this morning. Hope they don't mind the commission table mess.
The first commission was a breeze. Matty is the nicest fucking person, I swear. :0

The past few days have been pretty productive. Certainly ramping up.
Even after short breaks, the first few days back are hell because nothing I draw will cooperate. :u
So nothing big just yet. Gotta grind the rust off my shitty brain for a few more days and then I'll be in good shape.

*Started work on ch1 of visual novel thing, switched over to doing rough scripting of the first handful of vore scenes so I know what sorta art to draw. CG sketches will be placeholders for awhile.
*Fiddled with some character designs (merchant and hardass lizard lady). Gotta have a better understanding of em so I can draw the various poses/emotions as the dialogue plays out.
*Spent the last couple of days doodling stuff, trying to loosen up a bit since my character design attempts were really rigid. Rust. :/
*Got yet another idea for a comic featuring that dude and the goblin, doodled like 4/5 of it so far, heavy WIP. Lotta panels, definitely not short, but I'll chip away at it here and there.

That's about it. Should have something postable soon. Not sure what. I imagine the first thing will be some sketches, the usual whimsical shit.
Hope to revisit some of that other stuff I left behind a few months back. Once I get my head in the game it should be a snap to finish some of it.


Recently had a couple of folks send me some really nice messages, on here and on twitter DMs. Thanks very much for the kind words. I appreciate it.

Alright, time for sleep. More art in morning.

o7

Made a little art lately but nothing too grand. Been spending more time on the VN. Got a few more placeholders, did some writing. Intro is largely done less character expressions, sfx, and music.
Gonna bop around to a few different things that need doing, but I'd like to use what I have to plot out the chapter 1 scenario, which itself also has a (much shorter) intro with no smut.
But nbd, it gets there pretty quick.
Wondering how long ch1 will be in the end. I estimate 20 - 30 mins to beat it including bad ends? Friend of mine tested my intro as-is and plowed through it in five minutes.
Probably way shorter if you're just plowing through for the good bits. Haha.

That line from Futurama is very apt here. "It took an hour to write. I thought it would take an hour to read."

Anyway, I'm doin stuff at least. I'm sure I'll get some sketches up on here while I do concept/placeholder stuff.

BGs are going to be a pain in the ass. And gosh dang it, so is Tyranobuilder.
But I'm learnding. :0

I've been around here and there. Haven't drawn much. Just dipping back into it these past couple of weeks, today being a bit productive.

Couldn't get much done for a bit there but I've been doing better this past month. Friends had my back, bless 'em.
Just some issues with the family, like.. a fucking series. Got really exhausting. Kind of a 'when it rains it pours' sorta thing I guess.
Thankfully cooled off a bit ago and I've had time to actually recover.

I'll try to get back on those projects I was doing back then. Goblin comics and such.
Need more creature x human shit, dude.
Gotta put those little losers in some bungholes. :y

Here's what I said on twitter--
Dealing with some heavy life shit lately. I'll try to get a bit of drawing in while I get a handle on it but no promises.
Been coping and clearing my head by hanging out with friends at least.

Sorry for the dawdling. I wanna draw more but I need my anxiety to cool off a bit.

Damn, that thing sure made a splash and it still is since people appear to be reposting it places.
Was getting another bump on twitter and FA and found out it was posted to e621 at least.
Pretty cool. Glad lots of people enjoyed that.

Doodled for awhile yesterday. Feels nice to do that after a hard week of work. Changed my schedule temporarily so it's a bit weird on my energy levels.
Sleeping alright though despite having to go to bed at like 8 PM. :y

Anyway, I'll be drawing all day today. Well-rested. More doodling/warmups to rev up the brain and I'll hit a good stride in a couple of hours.
Breakfast now though. ;3

Yeah, I'll get back to it in a day or so.
A heatwave hit the area a couple of weeks back and it caused some problems at home and at my job, even well after it ended.
Then some other things came up. Got my first COVID vaccine dose now at least.

Lotta stuff just sorta tires me out and then I absolutely cannot be bothered to draw. Usually turn to playing some games but even then I'll tend to fall asleep in my chair. :0

But whatever, I'ma get these comics done soon. I'm thinking I'll be drawing more in a day or so, starting Thursday evening and ideally all day Friday.
Trying to commit but it's hard when you're so frequently exhausted, distracted, and frankly super grumpy. Haha.