We've hired a tiny intern engineer

Surprise! This is something that happened back in October! The wife is about 7 weeks along right now and very tired. And she's already filling out her bras a little more...

This will be our first child. It's a big step and we're both very excited. But as big a step as it is, it also means a lot of changes. Pregnancy and raising a kid takes a lot of time and energy, I'm told. I've been considering how I'll balance everything and shift my schedule, but at the end of the day, it's impossible for things to stay the same. As my wife and I embark on this journey together, I honestly just want to enjoy this time in our lives. Working on the Patreon content, essentially as a second job, tends to make every month feel like it's on fast-forward, and this special time isn't something I want to sacrifice. So to cut to the chase and stop beating around the bush, here are the changes you can expect to see going forward regarding my patreon and content.

Art: Stays the same. No changes to captions, animations, pin-ups, story art, etc.

Expanding Horizons: This will be wrapping up fairly quickly. After that, the art needs 8-ish months to catch up. Then after a lot of editing and polishing, I plan to self-publish it as a hard copy. Several patrons have expressed interest in this, so it will be nice to see this monster sitting on a shelf. There are currently no plans to start a new series after Minerva's story concludes. It's a fun project, but it's a MASSIVE investment in both time spent writing and money for the art when only a handful of people read it. Most months I feel like I'm writing pages and throwing them into the void. It's just too difficult a medium for most people to keep up with or jump into. For those who read it and love the characters, know that I'm very thankful, and it's only grown into the story it has because of you.

Button Busters: December will be the last month of Button Buster stories. I know some will be disappointed to see these go, but I feel like it's time. They've become a huge source of burnout for me, and it's rare that I haven't dreaded working on them in the last 1 or 2 years.

The monthly story: The monthly story will remain the same with 3-6 illustrations as time allows between them and the animations. Having only a single story to focus on and worry about per month sounds like bliss, and with less burnout, they should hopefully increase in quality and reclaim some of the old magic I feel they used to have.

I know there may be a significant portion of you who aren't fans of this decision, but this is what I feel I need to do for my own mental health, the sake of my growing family, and transitioning into fatherhood. If you had asked me several years ago what I would do with the Patreon once a kid came along, I probably would have said close it up altogether. But now that we've grown so big, and things like Swell Tales, our Discord community, and most importantly, our artists, rely on the income generated from your generosity. So while change is hard, I really hope to continue our contribution to the expansion community and supporting artists and budding writers, and I hope you all will be along for the ride.

A lot of you have been here from the very beginning. Some of you have become very close friends and I treasure those friendships. Whether you've been here from the start 8 years ago or just joined today, thank you for all of your support and love of swelling things. Let's keep those seams bursting!