Buttery Inkling
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Closing Thoughts of 2025
🕑 Added 2025-12-24 08:26:47 +0000 UTCTL;DR: I'll be downsizing how many slots I take on at a time in order to focus more on smaller slots and juggling commissions around. January will also be a paused month on account of it being busy, starting on either the 30th or the 31st of December.
I think 2025 was awful. Was it worse than last year? I don't know. Probably. More than likely. I'm not here to rant about it and all that stuff, because I want to give a game plan of what's to come next...so let me start with what came before.
OC Related Content (Stories/Drawings)
2025 as a whole was a year I feel like I struggled with burnout and self identity when it came to what I drew the most. Even when I followed my heart and said "fuck it", I still let numbers pull me down and drag me under. I kind of figured that Witch Knight wouldn't stand up to scrutiny/success compared to BMD. I also figured (feared) that the Witch Knight Revised reruns wouldn't be successful either, given they're essentially gussying up the old stories and glossing them with a new coat of paint. That doesn't mean the plan is to abandon Witch Knight, no. I'm having fun with this series, and I want more people to recognize my characters and see I can do more than just make fat Pokemon take on struggles in their peaceful lives. See, when writing for me, while I do have to keep in mind that it's a fetish story at the end of the day (something I'm thankful my s/o likes to indulge in and help sprinkle some more of that in with their proofreads), I adore character interaction the most. I love getting into the head of who I'm writing, I love little scenarios and scenes. You might realize this, but my favorite interaction is a back and forth between two characters because the privacy a one on one conversation holds is astoundingly interesting to me. That's when real shit gets brought up, that's when the real problems get tackled. Is OC content gonna slow down? Probably not. I just need to find my mojo for it all. Especially the Gelatoverse, that's definitely my most neglected 'verse. One story and only a handful of pics, each year dwindling past the last...
I made the mistake of hoarding the new designs for nearly a year, and making a backlog of OC content I have no choice but to post now. At the end of the day, it is what it is, but it's still a pain. I'll admit that I haven't been doing enough due diligence to push for Witch Knight OCs to be recognized. I need to post more of them being fat, one of each of the adventurers just so people get a good idea on how their fat distribution works. Maybe then I'll ask who people like more.
Fanfictions
I did an experiment this year in the style of fanfictions, and honestly? I'm surprised they did well. Gormotti Abound and Welcome Home, Isabelle still feel like well written stories because I had a genuine passion for them. The reason why something like Doki Doki Baking Club (shoutout if you remember THAT) failed was because I fell out of passion for that series really fast. With one offs, I feel encouraged to jump in and be indulgent. Even if I don't get that itch often, the fact it happened twice in the same month is a miracle, the idea I can always jump to something like that is fun at least. Expect them often compared to my OC stuff? No. Not a bit. They're gonna be sparse, one or two a year at most.
Art Block/Experimentation
Genuinely hate the ebb and flow of art block I've gotten this year. To make it as least personal as I can, basically, depression spikes flare up, I can't get in the mojo, depression flares down, I get on the grind fest. Hell I did a whole private project in secret for my friends 'til my hand cramped, that's how good I felt. I think it also loops around to a few things. One my mood, I mean obviously. Two, my view count trap. Three, my lack of experimentation. Only recently have I started getting into using two point perspectives for pieces, and to be honest? I'm kind of enjoying it. I want to also take days where I just kind of reference other pieces or other artists. If you're subbed to VeryFilthyThing, she does something similar with her Doodle Dumps where she does anatomy and illustration studies. I'll probably start off easy at first though.
Patreon Plans
I will be pausing January 2026. This is just because a lot has come up in that month in particular, so I'm going to play it safe and just pause that month to let it play out. The pause will start on the 30th or the 31st. There will be no polls, but there still will be high resolution art, a sketch dump, and a Photoshop document dump at the end of the month, or attached to February. That being said, I plan on running Patreon same as it ever was. This pause has been a long time coming, one that I've been putting off since September. I need a month to recoup and breathe. As for general output, I don't know about the pace. I'm kind of erratic when it comes to posting here. Sometimes I'll go a few days, sometimes I'll only go one.
Commission Plans
Something I'm infamous for I feel is opening coms, taking a few slots, getting overwhelmed, then finishing the queue a month later. I'm going to change that by taking on less all at once. You may see me open up more frequently, but it will still be a "first come first serve" basis for now. Instead of eight slots, though, I'll be closing it off at four slots. I'm still keeping the favorite character discount for now, since I feel like it's fair on account of my prices. As for the prices themselves, I don't know. I'm afraid of increasing them, but I think I might on account of me judging my worth. Then again, I have to feel worthy of that judgement, huh?
OC/Canon Character Suggestions
I've kind of been fishing for ideas to draw or sketch on the side, and would always love to hear ideas. Then again, I'd also adore hearing feedback.
So yeah. That's your...3:30 AM update on what's to come in the next month.
