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Guys... I'm tired. I am very tired, hah. I think it's time to make a change! When I originally set up my animation suggestions stuff here, it was intended to just be quick little things I could whip out in a day. Just a fun lil' extra. But I can't seem to help myself, I want to make satisfying animations so the work involved has ballooned out to these massive, week or more long endeavors. I thought I could at least limit it by keeping things simple when three characters are involved but I can't even make myself do that. When you take into account that I need to rest for a bit before starting these things so I can go in fresh because animation is mentally exhausting (and fun, but still, exhausting), and I also have to do the painting each month which typically takes a few days, and I need a break after all that before starting the next thing because of the aforementioned exhaustion, it results in the patreon-related work taking up 40-50% of my time. It's a bit too much. It's not that I feel the compensation isn't enough for that time, y'all are pretty good to me and I appreciate that, it's just that with the way things are set up currently, I'm never more than about two, two and a half weeks away from having to drop everything and start up the next big monthly animation. It's resulting in me feeling a little trapped... I never want to start anything adventurous because I don't want to tire myself out or get caught up in something else because the next big animation is never far away. So I think it's time to reel it back in. I'm going to do one more standard animation to make sure everyone gets what they supported me for, but I've updated the tiers already and starting in July the big animations will be no more. However, as a bonus I'll be adding a mini-animation into the same tier as painting suggestions, so we'll still get to have some fun the characters I make! It just won't eat up all my time, hah. Mini-animations, as I've come to define them, have a fairly rigid length and structure so hopefully I should be able to avoid the same ballooning out of control that happened the first time around. 

I fully realize and expect that a lot of you are going to peace out if I'm not making big animations every month anymore- understood, no worries! You have by blessing to head elsewhere. However, if you -do- decide to stick around, you might be wondering what you'll be supporting at that point. Well! I'll still be making the community suggested painting each month of course, and the new mini-animation as well. I'll still be making models whenever I get struck with inspiration, or even sometimes just making a model with the community from the ground up on occasion like we did with Serena, and bumping them up against my other existing models for all kinds of kinky fun. And of course there's all the other little animation tests and doodles I make which, while aren't officially part of the rewards here, I can only do as a result of your support here! It'll also open me up to play around with other bigger ideas. I've been talking forever about wanting to make tutorials, this could open up that possibility. Or get back to work on that interactive video project I was making previously. I've kinda got the idea to fiddle around with comics again sometime, or experiment with game dev some more, both for kinky stuff and otherwise! I'll probably even still make big complex animations on occasion, just, I won't have to do it every single month now, hah. Getting to do it when I feel the urge instead of -having- to do it whether I'm in the mood or not should result in them being even better quality, if less frequent. I've also kiiinda been feeling an urge to start experimenting with my models to see if I can get them capable of lip-syncing and start trying out some voice acting stuff. If there are any voice actors among you reading this and you think you might like to see one of my characters saying something in your voice, stay tuned. :PThe honest answer is I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, but whatever it is I'll have the time and energy to do it now, hah. It's been fun and I think I've learned a lot doing this- a big animation every month is a heck of a crash course on animating, but it's time to wrap it up. So, suggestors, get your thinking caps on and make the next one a good one, because it's probably gonna be the last for a while!

Comments

MattFox

My brain is too fried to make any constructive suggestions for ya right now, but take care of yourself Ru. We’ll be here for ya, it’s no fun getting burnt out. 🤗

The Balkor

As a wise man said, "health is wealth", take care of yourself first before all. (Side note) when you say no more long animations does that mean you'll be doing ones that are like 30sec. To a minute or shorter?

BobPBX

Breaks for creativity are super important!! Enjoy your free time :) Have you considered something as ambitious as an orgy tho?

AngelOD

Good on you for looking after your own mental health. I'm definitely not going anywhere. My support has never come with an expectation of anything other than you producing whatever art you want, whenever you feel the inspiration to do so. Though, participating in the varying polls, be it for art or characters, is quite exciting. ^^

Knotty Sergal

You take care of you first before any of us. I’m not going anywhere lol you’ve got a lifetime sub from me. Plus, I want you to make my Sergal one day.

ContriteCougar

Voice acting sounds fun, but I doubt I'd do it. However I'd so stick around for the potential for tutorials!

Ratatosky

I'm all for doing what's best for your mental health. Besides, I think some of your best/most interesting stuff is the longer more experimental things like the comics. If we get more of that I'm doubly on board.

TheSpartanPenguin

Mental health comes first dude, keep yourself healthy

PsyMar

If you want to try doing big animations again sometime maybe have them be like, painting one month, animation the next month, alternating. Besides, I don't doubt your ability to put exactly as much time into mini-animations trying to make everything absolutely perfect. Take it easy once in a while.

ThatAustrian

Its totally understandable to drop the big animations every month, specially at the quality you provided but also too bad since they were so good. Will you make no bigger animations at all or are they gonna be more long time projects?

Combak

Well, that's a tier drop for me, but I totally understand it Ru.

Fred

I apologize if this comes off angry or critical. Also upfront, I have nothing to complain about! This is not a complaint. Also, I know this is along the same lines others are talking about, but I typed it anyways. I just wanted to say that I've seen this same type of message from many different artists I support, and it's all good! You need to make sure you're taking care of you and your wants, cause most often no one else will! I know not everyone feels this way but you do not owe us anything just because we support you on Patreon. Key word is supporting, not purchasing. This is not a store transaction. So feel free to explore, dabble and delve to your heart's content. In my opinion, most of the folks supporting you here will continue to support you because they believe in you, your vision and what you do!

ComputerHeron

Frankly, you've been doing about 3x the work I'd expect for the amount of money I'm giving so I definitely can't complain xD

BananasTheLeech

I'm a fan of seeing your models talk! Definitely would love to see a cute small date scene, Kat flirting with Mabel and Serena is a cute idea.

Anonymous Donator

Totally understood! I was starting to wonder how you could be so productive and not go bonkers. Find a healthy pace. <3

Roarschach

No worries, Ru; the length and quality of the animations you've been putting out says a lot about how much effort is involved. I can understand that level of effort not being sustainable for a long time and I think it's a good thing you've decided to step back a bit. The constant dread of deadlines is no fun and can really put a damper on creativity. Still, looking forward to the content you do make; the animations and paintings you make are phenomenal.

Bloudin Ruo

I fully support your decision here. You've gotta keep limits and boundaries, or else things will end up chewing through all of your time and become a slog rather than something you enjoy. And feeling trapped, like you can't take time for yourself, do the things you want or even go and do trips or vacations away from your home because of the time needs... That's a sure-fire way into burnout. Of course, it's a little bittersweet because your animations have been nothing short of incredible. But I don't think any of us want your to run yourself into the ground to do them--We'd much rather have a happy possum who loves his work and what he does! I've always been incredibly impressed, but also terrified of your work ethic. You get more done in a shorter amount of time than I've seen from anyone else, both 2D and 3D. I know you spend whole 12-14 hour days on things when you get into them. Maybe take it easier on yourself, yaknow? :) I'm around for the long haul, no matter how you need to change things around here. I know many others are, too. Tone it back, take some time to find a more sustainable workload and we'll all be super excited for the fun new projects you've got on your mind!

missingno3567

I hope you'll still make bigger animations because i really enjoy them, but I'm definitely for quality (and you not getting burned out!) over quantity. I'd love to see you experiment to refine your big projects even more, and tutorials would also be nice

Gamer Vane

No worries!! We're all just trying to figure out what works in our lives, I hope this helps you find yours. The big animations are certainly great for getting a ton of eyeballs, but certainly take a correspondingly large amount of work to assemble. Maybe they're better off being bigger projects with longer stretches of time between them. Maybe better to show off your skills a bit! Less of a regularly expected obligation and more of an ideal demonstration of exactly your own style and talent. Small request for mini animations and loops: throw in the occasional orgasm! Looping animations always feel like I'm being teased when there's no payoff! Even orgasms that happen internally and don't need a big fluid sim setup are satisfying. (Maybe just me?) Trust yourself, my dude. You're on a really cool path and you gotta explore it and see what works and doesn't. It's all progress. I wish you all the best from this new arrangement.

Vellum Artwork | NSFW Furry Art!

Absolutely gotta have your limits and manage them. Totally still support ya! Quality usually ends up being even better when you're really feelin' good about it too. Get some good rest, relax, and enjoy yourself!

Caerdwyn

Do what you need to do. Burnout is a terrible thing.

Jykinturah

I was very surprised you managed to turn out such long animations month to month especially considering it was basically voted on, so not doing that anymore is super fair I'd say! Still love your watercolors! I'm gonna stick around as much as I can, I didn't join this just because of animations after all! I wanted to support you.

Pojodan

Listen to yourself and follow the path that brings you happiness. Some days the path will be a little different than the one the day before and some paths feel nonsensical in hindsight only to make perfect sense later.

Justin Carpenter

I'm here to see you create what you enjoy creating. You owe me nothing. I tuck a few bucks into your tip jar to support you doing what you love -- not to demand content from you. Create what you feel like creating, when you feel like creating it, at your pace, in your quantities. Please do not allow creation to become unpleasant for you -- the real magic of your work is how much you clearly love it. (It shows.)

byte!

I can't speak for everyone here, but I was never here for the porn. I have so much of it already. Gods, if anything I need a little less of it. The reason I'm supporting you is that I see someone uniquely passionate and skilled, and I want to see that flame burn bright, whatever form that may take - the spiciness is an unrelated but welcome benefit. Really I wish I could afford to support you more. I've seen lots of talented artists make posts like this over the years, and I always feel the same way about them: I'm glad that they recognized the burnout before it got too bad, because not everyone does, and the alternative is a lot sadder than "oh no i'll have slightly less porn now." The whole point of platforms like this is supposed to be financially supporting independent creators precisely so that they can do what they want to do. The "rewards" part is just an unfortunate necessity of capitalism. I look forward to whatever you end up doing, because I know it'll be something special - even more so when you don't feel shackled to the whims of the masses. And as I always seem to trip over myself at the opportunity to tell everyone, if you ever feel like the technical aspects of a project are too daunting (with game dev for example) I'd be happy to help out however I can.

Casey Brassard

Ruaidri, we are all here to watch and support things that you love to create. Don’t ever think for a second that you have to overwork yourself to make us happy! We will all be here to support you no matter what.

Wicked Genesis

I've always enjoy your works. i agree that, yes a work life balance is key, and you should enjoy what your making without feeling rushed or pressured in any way or form. So lets tone it down and hit the brakes a bit here. Instead of 1 per month lets do 1 every other month or 1 per quarter. That way you can breath and do what you want to do. Trust me, we will be here if we are able to see your amazing creations.

Runoratsu

Can only speak for myself of course, but I support creators here because I love what they’ve done—publicly!—so far and want to do my little part in helping freeing them somewhat from financial worries, not to get access to more creations / something extra. So for me, I see this as a positive change. You’re doing what benefits your healthy state of mind. That’s awesome! So no, I for one won’t leave.

Kesh

Just work at your own pace. I'm just glad to see your stuff, doesn't matter how often, do what's best for you!

Hyena Grin

I doubt anyone wants to see you burn out, so don't feel bad about needing to take a step back. Much as they are impressive and special, I don't need the big complex animations, and that's not why I subbed! I'd rather see you have the time to either rest or work on your own projects without a deadline. Do your own thing. We're with ya either way.

Harry_Hirsch

to be fair I am here on patreon because I like your art and animations. If a bigger animation takes longer than a month, I do not mind at all. Especially since you always keep releasing other short animations or drawings that weren't up for vote. I just hope that the big animations are not 100% scrapped, only more rare, because I love the way you design the "story" line as well as the animations, especially your expression animation is superb.

Pentalis

I completely support you on not wanting to feel trapped. You should free to explore and take your art in any direction. My support is more of a tip to thank you for all you've shared and continue to share with the community for all these years; it's not dependent on any particular perks. I do enjoy reading your Patron-only journals like this though =)

Garkitty

I’d much rather have an occasional longer animation than none at all. One a month is kind of a ridiculous pace to be frank. A small loop cute tailswish/movement is very reasonable for how little my support is as well as being able to watch the process as part of the community. If you are working on something larger across a couple of months getting teaser stills would be nice but I’m here to support an artist I’ve admired for years. Full stop. You do you, follow your muse and plz don’t burn out.

Rechan

So I was peacing out this month simply because my suggestions weren't winning, so me leaving isn't because you're dialing it back. :P Also, you're doing the right thing, don't burn yourself out.

Gopher

Heh, I had a long (supportive) rant written out here, but I see that others have already said what was on my mind. In short, be yourself and create that which brings you joy. I enjoy your art and wish to support your ideas further. (BTW I really liked how Marble turned out :))

Toxoglossa

been pretty amazed you kept up that pace for as long as you did! definitely deserving of some rest