Patch 23.5.2014

So I'm not entirely sure why I didn't think of this before, but the naming convention for these updates is being changed to reflect the date they went out, instead of some arbitrary number. Onwards!

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BUSINESS
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Writing was horrendously slow for a while due to real life reasons and a renewed effort to work on my drawing 'skills'. Still in the doldrums, so to speak, between the first two miniarcs (four total), so this arc's shaping up to be an absolute monster in terms of volume. I should (cough) be able to trim the voyage down to a week, maybe two tops, which would be far more reasonable to write each day for. But things happen, and rest assured it won't be a snorefest.

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PERSONAL
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Security deposit has been and rent is now being paid. We have to sort out some utility things (gas, electric, internet) but we're already moving stuff in. We aim to be completely moved in by the end of next week, so I wouldn't expect much writing or drawing to get done over the next few weeks. I will be trying, but not so much I exhaust myself, and something tells me I'll be spending a lot of time with Wildstar once that comes out, too.

That said, I am unusually attached to the thrill of creating things (stories/drawings/ridiculous builds in Transistor, i.e. this one), so even then I'll be trying to manage my time well enough to keep chugging the writing and drawing trains along.

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RANDOM
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On that note, I am also planning on opening art commissions sometime soon™, likely sometime within the next month. The general rules I've laid out thus far are as follows; all of the follow is TENTATIVE ONLY and is subject to further change.

[ GENERAL RULES AND GUIDELINES ]

- Payment will not be accepted until the commission is completed and you (the commissioner) have been given a watermarked copy. Upon verification you will recieve the unmarked version.

- I will default to posting the commission to deviantArt (on this account) unless otherwise requested. You are free to use and print the completed work so long as you credit me as the artist and my signature remains on the piece.

- I don't do R34. For the time being, I will also not do any shipping that involves kissing or heavier romance (see "POTENTIALLY AVAILBLE LATER" below).

- I reserve the right to reject any request for any of the following reasons:

- I do not like your OC. I will try to remain objective but ultimately they will be held to my design standards.

- As a rule of thumb, your OC should be capable of appearing in-show without sticking out like a sore thumb. This primarily excludes:
- Wild, poorly-designed, and patently ridiculous color schemes
- Nonstandard unicorn horns
- Multi-toned or overly dark coats (Luna is the only canon character who has either of these!)
- Obvious or implied Mary Sues

- Alicorns are generally not accepted unless:
- They are visually well-designed (see my favorites for some examples) and have a well-thought-out reason for existing in the MLPverse.
- You're asking me to draw the Fausticorn.

- A request of a canon character is portraying them wildly/profoundly out of character without a thorough, satisfactory explanation.

- The more I like your idea, the better the end product will be. I can't help this directly, but you're more than welcome to convince/persuade me.

- Anything I do beyond what you specifically request will never result in additional charges, and generally speaking, the more creative freedom you allow me, the better the end product will be. Requests that really resonate with me will usually end up with a wallpaper-ready version.

- I am open to reason. If you want to commission me for something that doesn't follow the above guidelines, but you think I'd still be willing to do it, talk to me. I can't guarantee I'll accept it, but if you're reasonable enough, I will be, too.

[ COMMISSION TYPE: STANDARD ]

- Exactly what it says on the tin.

- Any single character, OC or canon

- Base fee includes cel-shading and a basic background

- Additional charges for full color/blending/lighting. More complex backgrounds/accessories will raise the cost a bit (with reason!), but as I said above, if I add anything you didn't explicitly ask for, you don't get charged for it. Inspire me!

- Pegasi with unfurled wings may or may not have a slightly higher price.

- I do not do gender swaps of any canon character.

- References for OCs are suggested but not required. If you'd rather me design an OC based on your ideas, keep reading.

[ COMMISSION TYPE: OC DESIGN ]

- Based on information you provide, I will design an OC for you.

- Ponysonas and regular OCs are accepted, provided they adhere to the aforementioned general rules.

- This will unlikely be a full work, but instead be closer to a raw design sheet. Color scheme, mane design, predominant personality, trademark accessories (think AJ's hat) and cutie marks are the big things here.

- By nature this will greatly benefit from the creative freedom you give me. Loose ideas with lots of room to work with will generally result in the best product.

- Some amount of the following pieces of information will be needed to get started:
- General personality. In the absence of relevant information, this can be extrapolated to infer things like mane style, color scheme, cutie mark, etc. If no appropriate cutie mark can be determined and none is given, they will be left a blank flank.
- Colors (Not necessarily a color schme; just the pony's favorite/iconic colors)
- Mane style
- Cutie mark/defining talent

[ POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE AT A LATER DATE, ARRANGED ROUGHLY IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE ]

- Multiple character drawings (incl. light-to-moderate shipping; basically anything shy of kissing is fine)
- Complex backgrounds
- New type of commission using a given song (or songs) as input
- Non-pony characters (dragons, gryphons, breezies, etc.)

[ BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE ]

- There will be X (currently four) slots available at any given time. This is more or less to alleviate stress on me as well as prevent overextending and promising things I can't deliver. Slots will be assigned as people present ideas I accept; anyone who requests a commission while all slots are full will be declined and asked to try again when one becomes available. I know this sucks, but creating a waiting list would kind of defeat the purpose of having a limited queue in the first place.

- For roughly four weeks after opening commissions, all commissions will be FREE, and I do mean FREE. No charge whatsoever. All other rules (including the slots above) apply as normal. While I will have a number samples of each commission type prior to opening commissions, this period will allow me to amass more samples that came from someone other than me--and you get a free commission.

- At the end of the aforementioned free period, anyone who is currently in the list will still recieve their commission for free. Anyone who commissions me after that period must pay the prices determined by that time.

- Tentative price points are 10USD for a moderately complex standard commission or an OC design commission. Standard commission prices flex based on complexity, but you're welcome to haggle me. OC design prices will likely be flat.

[ AND REMEMBER THIS IS ALL TENTATIVE!! ]