Behind the Scenes: A Personal Chat (Patreon)

Hey there! Cat here.

I've been thinking about how to write this one for the last couple of months. I know the frequency of chapters, streams, videos and posts has changed. So I wanted to take a little time to talk about why.

tl;dr: Chronic illness is awful and we are doing our best to get back on track. Thank you for your patience and support.

As many of you know, I started off the year in the hospital for a week where I was diagnosed with idiopathic Gastroparesis. In short: my stomach digests food at a critically slow rate. This led to massive diet changes including no more caffeine, alcohol, zero fast food, and swapping to five small meals a day. It also comes with a slew of side effects that I've been working hard with two doctors to medicate successfully for the last six months.

The medications carry their own side effects, like debilitating fatigue and brain fog (both incredibly conducive to writing, let me tell you). We've tried seven different options at this juncture, and, as of this month, I think I'm finally on a cocktail that's helping.

I don't talk about it often, but I also undergo treatment for Major Depressive Disorder, Severe Anxiety, and PTSD, and navigating Gastroparesis has flared these to the extreme. Between all of this, Ry's dealt with medical issues of his own.

Suffice it to say, chapters, streams, and videos took a back seat.

In addition, (as many of you know) both Ry and I write commissions to pay the bills. Our dream is to one day work on our primary, personal stories full time, but we're still quite a ways away. A number of the commissions we complete are pieces our clients request to keep private or that wouldn't appeal to our wider reader base.

We also understand that you're here for one or more of our main stories, and even the related one-shots don't fulfill that same need. However, paid commissions are what take priority above all else, which means less time to work on the extras on the good days.

We can't believe we're almost to July already, and we fear that we've let you down. I feel awful that Snailgirls hasn't had an update since the beginning of the year, that it's been forever since we've edited a workshop, and that I haven't streamed as Ravyn in so long. Every day, I feel like I should be doing more. You guys deserve the world for your support, and you're always at the forefront of our minds.

Between commissions, I've been working on piecing together the art for volume 6, set up BackerKit and the art for all the Kickstarter goodies, and then a couple of extras like the Ravyn shirts and a Ceres shirt collab with Catgirl Riot. We're very excited for UwU Con again this year, where we submitted 3 panels this morning. We're aiming to do one a day.

At the end of the day, we can't thank you enough for your patience, kindness, and support. You help us get closer to our dream. You cheer us on during our worst days. Through it all, you keep us going.

Thank you for waiting for us.