Here is the idea

Ok, so here is what I'm thinking. Ok? Ok. 

The Original Plan in 2013:
Matt and I make three Oh Joy Sex Toy comics a month, with the fourth strip being produced by a guest.

The Way the Plan Actually Worked Out:
Guest comics three times a month with maybe (maybe) one comic by Matt and me.

IN OUR DEFENSE, we spent over a year making two whole freaking books (400+ pages combined) while still maintaining OJST's weekly schedule, there literally wasn't time to produce all the comics needed on time for all our different projects 😭Simultaneously, I also had to get enrolled in two consecutive mental health programs at the hospital for the last eight months because my "brain" "broke" last year 😬

The Problem:
Burnout from overwork and progressively worsening mental health stuff from past shit compounded by the abuse that comes with this line of work. (I guess... sex... is a sensitive topic???? WHY DID NO ONE WARN ME)

What My Heart Needs:
Time to recuperate. Time to work on things that aren't OJST. Time to tell the stories I want to tell. 

What My Life Needs:
Money.

Going to the hospital twice a week is expensive, yo.

Matt and I are in an extremely privileged position where OJST actually fully supports the both of us? And, like, pretty comfortably? I mean, as long as neither of us gets hit by a car or has a baby or some kind of horrific disaster like that. Earning a pretty decent living from making your own uber-niche comics- do you know how rare that is in this field??? Hell, in any field! Honestly, neither of us want to rock this boat; this sweet, sweet bonerific boat. And money aside, neither of us are creatively done with OJST yet. There's still so many topics we want to cover, experiences we want to share, and artists we want to pay to do the same. 

The Solution (hopefully):
I work on OJST for two weeks and then work on Other Stuff for two weeks. Other Stuff like... autobio comics. Oh, how I've missed autobio comics. But also other creative projects as well. 

OJST will continue to update every Tuesday like normal, but now alternating between a comic by us and then a comic by a guest, so we can continue to collect our weekly Patreon payment-per-comic here*

*(Helpful people are always quick to suggest that I change my Patreon payment set-up to monthly and just skip this whole payment-per-comic issue entirely, and I'm afraid we just can't afford to do that. I was an early adopter to Patreon before monthly billing was really a thing and I got established as getting paid-per-creation. OJST updates once a week and there's 4-5 weeks in a month, which means I get a payout from Patreon worth 4-5 payments at the end of the month. If I were to switch to charging monthly, I would only get that one single payment, so I would lose about 3/4 to 4/5 of my income which is... a lot. More than Matt and I can afford.)

Say What You Just Said:
-OJST's weekly update schedule stays the same, Patreon continues to pay per OJST comic. Literally nothing changes for our readers and patrons.

-On the OJST site, each week alternates between a comic by Matt and me, then a guest comic, then a comic by Matt and me, then a guest comic, and so on and so on. (We actually started doing this over a month ago!)

-Behind the scenes, I'll be producing OJST comics for two weeks at a time, followed by two weeks working on Other Stuff.

-I'm... gunna start running some autobio comics exclusively on Patreon?
I'm afraid to jinx it by saying that here, but, well, that is the plan: running autobio comics here for patrons. These stories will not be billed! It's just the OJST comics that people will pay for, like normal. The autobio comics will be an additional bonus for people who join the (as yet nonexistent) tier to read them. 

Look! I've already been drafting up a ton of them.

I have pages and pages of this stuff. Like, so many pages. 

Wait, So What Was Up With That Collage At The Top of The Page?
Oh, right! Yeah! 

I dunno. 

I did another Feelings Collage and then I figured posts with pictures are more eye-catching. Prove me wrong.

(This one is about feeling anchored even when my thoughts and feelings are trying to fly away. I'm feeling a lot healthier and grounded now, even though my same mental issues are still there. I'm learning how to live with them. The lemons don't actually symbolize anything, I just thought they were pretty)