SPONSOR OUR WORK!

This page is for sponsoring some of my and Ependa's joint and personal projects. Think of it like independent crowdfunding.

Rates for these pieces are deeply discounted compared to regular commissions simply because we want the opportunity to work on them, and can afford to charge less for that time.

PLEASE NOTE that there is no material reward for doing this beyond seeing pieces completed or projects moving. We will of course document and post as much progress as we're able on here and social media, but more nebulous asks like sponsoring development may not seem to pay off immediately/may have WIPs that are difficult to show.

At most, sponsors will get hi-res versions of completed pieces or pages they helped contribute to, so please be sure this is what you want. We are not in a position to, nor plan to be in the habit of offering refunds on work already completed.

This page and its contents are current as of 2/10/2025.

It is VERY MUCH a work in progress so expect to see it updated here and there are days go by/we think of more images to add to the pile.

These are all the current WIPs that have yet to be finished. As noted, some will have a time estimate remaining for how long completion will take.

If you'd like to see a piece receive more time and attention than what is listed on the estimate, mention that too. We may have more ideas we want to play with but just don't have time for. That being said: this won't always be an option.

First up is the untitled first meeting between Phoebe and Lacey.

Set in the US in the mid-1800s, it aims to introduce the not-so-ordinary world these two inhabit, as well as Phoebe's shadowy "employer," an eldritch being that's either posing as, or quite literally is the Cait Sìth of Fae legend.

Fae or eldritch, it's got a thing for cats and a commanding presence, so may as well humor it one way or another. How it came to the Americas from Scotland, much less why, is anyone's guess

The story follows Lacey's POV, and we've already posted some info/samples from it in one of our more recent updates.

Since I'm pitching this to the audience as a thing to finance, however, I'll be a bit more straightforward: this is a story about contemplating suicide.

NOTE: this theme is discussed pretty plainly in the text, and in this pitch. If this is a sensitive topic for you, it's probably best not to read on.

Phoebe doesn't come to meet Lacey by chance. Cait Sìth follows death, per its calling card, and when Lacey arrives in its territory - the Mercantile - it can smell it on her. But rather than send its attaché to attend to Lacey's soul once it's been shaken loose, it sends her with an offer, instead.

Phoebe believes it's for an odd job within the Mercantile, as is often the case with meetings like these-- and she's not necessarily wrong. But there's another purpose behind it, one that Cait clarifies to Lacey personally.

Cait's domain; a dreamscape network of crannogs, river/lakeside dwellings the ancient Celts were known to build.

A snip from the writing:

Lacey turns to look, and sees a figure approaching. The catlike silhouette of the head is expected - memories of her previous dream are present and clear - but the body that seems to manifest around it isn't, so much.

It's a cat's head atop a human body, arms taken off mid-bicep; a black spectral mass, like dense curling smoke, forms the rest of the limbs, lithe and willowy. The body is that of a woman, mostly nude and badly mauled, with Pictish designs on her skin. Where scars (or wounds) should be, there is more of that black smoke.

There is something about Cait Sìth's own distinct scent cues that should bring Lacey up short. She'll take a more intent pull at the air to 'check ID,' which is famously a bad idea with eldritch types.

Lacey becomes very suddenly *aware* that something is very wrong. Not with the scent itself, but with the information contained in it; it's making her vision wobble and pull apart, like the air just turned to paint fumes.

She has the wherewithal to go into a defensive stance in case this is the prelude to an attack, and takes a careful step back. All at once she feels impossibly small, the world seeming to unravel into an undulating mass of black smoke and innumerable cats eyes, all looking down at her with interest.

The vision settles back into Cait's face as it speaks to her. "You'll want to develop some discipline for that nose of yours, pup," it says. "Pick your moments."

"What the hell is that?" she asks; chances rubbing at her nose with the back of her hand. It comes away bloody.

She tries not to startle, catching sight of it; brings a hand back up to her face and feels it slick with blood from her nose.

"That," Cait replies, as Lacey looks to it in alarm, "is as close to my true name as you dare get."

Unbeknownst to Phoebe, the offer is about her.

Cait has never much concerned itself with her overall wellbeing. It takes care of her, doesn't task her with anything she can't handle-- but it has never felt overmuch inclined to make things easy on her, either. It's given her long life, phenomenal healing, and even a sometimes-enviable job (not that it goes into any detail about what that means). The rest, she's been free to manage on her own.

"I've given her the means to live," it confesses, "but not terribly much to live for. Faced with the decision you're facing now, I can't say for sure that she'd choose to stay. And I find, after all these years, I'd prefer that she did."

Lacey, rightly, asks, "What do you expect me to do about that?"

"I expect nothing," Cait says. "I only ask that you be kind. Even if all that kindness amounts to is the word 'no.'"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll know," it assures her, "when the time comes," inviting her to live just a little longer to see her questions answered. "And, should you find you're better off not knowing, I can always find someone else, and you can go on to generously feed what I'm sure will be many hearty generations of insects."

The choice, ultimately, is hers.

Lacey offers up a drop of her blood to mercantile security.

It's the first steps in a new life. Or the first steps towards a complete one, anyway, as Lacey continues to come to terms with not only the supernatural world she's stumbled into, but how it collides with a rapidly industrializing America still licking its wounds in the wake of the civil war. It touches on small town religious trauma, catastrophic loss, and the effort it takes to move on.

Current status is that the script is mostly written, Ependa is working on sketching out the panels while I'm working on the set designs for the finals. If people want to actually see those sets as they're being built, please let me know.

DEVELOPMENT

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