Tier Updates a Long Time Coming (IMPORTANT)

(note to self: "A Long Time Coming" is either a great smut title or a mind-numbingly obnoxious one.)

The What

Hello, my lovelies! So, I'm not gonna beat around the bush for once. Straight to the point, I am going to be making the following changes to this page:

• I will be taking a break from the Alrek/Larya chronology, and may start playing around with settings other than the Cloistered Lands.
• I will either be shortening my standard chapter size by about 20-30% or increasing them by that amount but reducing them from weekly to biweekly.
• I will no longer be promising regular Bad End/flashfic polls or guaranteeing them as a tier reward. If I do post any such polls, it will be because I'm excited about concepts and want your thoughts, not because I "have to". I will still be providing existing Bad Ends to $5 pledgers, however, along with any others that get commissioned.
• I will no longer be offering D&Dazes games, and will only be running rules-free erotic roleplay sessions for the foreseeable future. My "Seven Kisses" group will for now be a tentative exception to this.
• I have drastically reduced the number of slots available for the roleplays, and removed the $30 tier. Anyone who was pledged to the $30 tier will be given one more game by the end of the year to make up what they're owed!

Is that all? Gosh, I think so. Now I'll try to explain the "why", for those who want to know.

The Why

Listen, I have a lot to say here. The first thing, though, is simple: I don't want to lean on the transactional side of things anymore. I need this Patreon to exist primarily to support my writing, not as an exchange of tender for services rendered.

I know some people will choose to cancel when they see this news. I was trained by a rocky financial education to be terrified of debt, to do anything possible (within moral limits) to make money. The idea of "turning away money" is unfathomable to me. Ironically, though, in my eagerness to say "yes" to every offer, I ended up putting myself into debt of a different kind, which I've discussed here before.

So, let's see. In order:

Taking a Break from Alrek/Larya/the Cloistered Lands

I have more to say here, but for now, I'm keeping it simple and non-drastic: I've been writing these stories for nearly eight years. I kind of want a break! As in, a break to write other smut, a break from writing the same characters and the same setting and the same messy storylines. I was eighteen when I started here, and nearly ten years later, my goodness, I cringe at some of my older work. Having to work nonstop within its framework...

Yeah. For now, I'm just taking a little break from the main Alrek and Larya storyline, and I'll delving a little more into new settings and characters. Nothing drastic, just a shift in focus. Intrepid Pawns is still getting finished, I promise! I'm actually working on a Swish/Mier story even as we speak, too!

Shrinking Chapter Size

This one's pretty simple: I want a smaller workload! I'm open to people's thoughts on which I should do--would you rather get a bigger chapter every two weeks, or a shorter chapter every week?

Bad Ends/Flashfics

So, this one is sort of the crux of the matter, in a weird way--weird because Bad Ends and flashfics themselves are fine! Honestly, they're a little extra work, but extra wordcount was never really the problem. My problem is the bookkeeping. Simply remembering to post the polls, keeping up with the new commitments every month... it should be so tiny, but it pulls my momentum in the opposite direction. I want to focus on writing, not Patreon management.

So, I'm cutting the polls. I might still write Bad Ends when I feel inspired, and I'll still take flashfic requests, and I might even post polls when I want advice, but it won't be a Patron Perk anymore.

I'm also cutting back on my roleplay work for similar reasons--between scheduling the games, prepping the games and working on the D&Dazes system, it's just not, well, writing, and I want to focus on my writing a lot more these days.

In Conclusion

I'll be sending refunds out to my $69+ pledgers next month for this missed month, and I'll also issue refunds to anyone of a lower tier who wants one.

I'm hoping to get to a place soon where refunds stop being a thing for me. To stop missing rewards, yes, but also stop being in a relationship with this Patreon where I feel like I owe things. I hope that makes sense to all of you.

Thank you as always for your support. This Friday I'm planning to post a short flashfic and maybe the next chapter of Intrepid Pawns. I'm also working on a sequel to Violets and Roses following Rose's struggles serving the Brat Baroness!