July Café Cats Wallpaper | Final Looks & Announcement

Its seems like another busy day at the Cafè for Zero and Silver. I wonder how many batches of cookies Silver's had to make to keep up with her little promotion? And do you think that we'll get in trouble for having a cat on the counter where we serve food? The poor baby just looked so tired and we don't have the heart to move 'em.

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July's Cafè Cats Wallpaper is finally complete and with the completion of this one, I've decided a couple of things. First one being that this is still super duper cool! I love that so many of you are all about being in a piece of work inside one of our little brain worlds. Its still amazing. And I do still love it. Which is why the second thing is a little sad, but also something that needs doing. After I get through the list of everyone that needs a slot in one of these, I will be doing one more large one as a wing-it and then I will be discontinuing them for the time being. 

During July I asked for some feedback on my Patreon and a few of you gave me some, which I really appreciated since it helped me out a bit in deciding somethings. One of you said something that really stood out to me because its something I was wondering myself. What was said was basically that I need to step back and consider not only what you all like to see from me, but what it is that I like doing when it comes to my Patreon. There was more to it, but another bit was also talking about how I already do a lot compared to other artists they support and how they would like if a much simpler schedule for myself/my assistant was put into place so we don't get overworked and burnt out. 

All I can say is this: OOF. I felt that. Big time.
Here's why: I've been stressed out about these last 3 Cafè Cats wallpapers. On month's when I have one, I realize that I'm often behind on the other things I had planned for not only my Patreon -- like the monthly wallpaper or regular rewards-- but other commission/personal works as well. And getting new content in like storyboards or dumps is a bit more difficult too. This is entirely my fault as I've been treating these like commissions and while I think they're fun, and I love seeing new characters in my worlds, that sort of is the opposite of what I made this Patreon for. 

I started here to get back into the things that I really enjoyed and missed doing and I have, once again, played myself. I think I forget that you are all here because you liked what I had to say in the first place, or liked the rewards I offered across tiers (no shame in that, I'm glad I'm offering something worth your while), or that you enjoy my work regardless of what it is and chose to be here because you wanted to be. I know our community is small, but filled with amazing people and both Silver and I are extremely grateful for you all every single day. I just need to remember you all are here because you want to be.

With that said, I once more have to find that work/fun balance that I am sorely lacking again now because I have fallen into the trap of practically killing myself to make content. Which is not something that I wanted to be doing again but its a really bad habit of mine that is difficult to kill. 

Its why I am extremely thankful for my fun lore project because I have been able to sort of use it as a means to unwind. As of right now, Silver and I are working on the Lore for Cyrone Delrose -- since you were all keen to hear about our "harpies" based on the votes you left us in Discord-- so that's where we're going to put my/our focus. Silver has been working hard through her writers block to get stuff typed up for it and I will be putting my time into making illustrations to accompany the information. It was already something we were going to be doing for ourselves, and I wasn't sure that it would be something that you all would be interested in seeing in the first place, but I'm so excited that you all want to see and I can't wait to share with you.

Warmest regards,
Artist Zero & Assistant Silver

TL;DR
- I'm always trying to kill myself by doing too much.
- I will be finishing everyone that needs a slot for these and discontinuing them.
- I will be doing one more larger round as a wing-it so that everyone can have another go.
- I appreciate each and everyone one of you. You're all amazing and I'm grateful to/for you all every single day for just being here.
- Silver and I are focusing on our little lore project as a means to help me find that work/fun balance again.