#semicolonthe5th

[semicolonthefifth]

Judge Dredd “post-it note” doodle

[semicolonthefifth]

IMPORTANT NOTICE: (PLEASE READ THIS DESCRIPTION, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST) Recently I decided to get back into commissions after a very long break (long story short: I was too depressed to try, and felt I wasn't up to task to do a commissioned work). Back in September I decided to get back to doing commissions, by first applying to a random ad I found on Twitter. The post asked for a Lovecraftian inspired work for a comic, with the major request being interior pages, or cover art. It was open to offers, to both show art and provide a price. I went in with works that felt would fit the genre, and an offer: $120 for cover art. The client accepted, and after some talks he and I agreed: I'll be doing a cover art drawing for $120. The plan was to pay $60 on the accepted draft, then $60 on completion. After some back and forth, with their acceptance on the progress, it eventually resulted in the work you see above. With the draft payment settled, all that was left was the final payment. When I approached them, it was there my problems came. Now I want to open first by saying: I was at fault for how this went. I was too naive and sympathetic. The client explained that they were undergoing some surgeries, and that it would be awhile to do payment. I allowed them time, gave my well wishes, and continued on with other work in the meantime. This started as a week, then eventually became a month. Every other day or so I asked them on the payment (again giving my sympathies) and each time they'd say they were still busy. It was only until recently that this changed. At this point I was still sympathetic, but all of sudden they hit me with an out of nowhere comment about how they wished they never approached me - along with a vague accusation that I had "dropped" a cover art on them. I then approached them on the topic, asking they they felt like this. However I also told them that I wasn't in the mood to wait any longer. My patience had run dry and I told them: payment by the 15th, no later. In the time they responded again, saying that I had apparently came to them with a cover drawing when the goal was for interior art - and that there was no discussion on cover art. That is a lie. I have receipts cataloging our interactions, and in multiple exchanges they outright agree and state that I was doing cover art. I even checked back to ensure I hadn't misinterpreted them, and although they asked for interior art on the ad, they also asked for cover art if contacted - to which they explicitly agreed on. As you may imagine, that payment did not come. I responded, but they had since gone quiet. I debated myself on this. My patience has long gone, and I'll admit that I was quite insulted at this. After speaking with some art friends, I decided that the best course of action will be to make this public. I'm still wondering if I should publicly blacklist them. It isn't an easy decision to make for me, as I'm concerned on how this will affect me and that I do not want to promote mob behavior. I will converse further on the appropriate action, but in the meantime this is my warning/request: If you see this work being publicized without my express and open permission, I ask that you report it: either to me, and/or the site/publication. Originally this work was meant to be used as a cover drawing, and I do not want this to be used after their apparent to pay me. If you are an artist, and you're worried about the identity of this client: message me. If I feel that it is safe, I'll tell you who it is so that I don't openly put their ID out. I still wish to do commissions, but I can't lie in saying that this hasn't soured my excitement. I'll certainly be implementing better securities in handling this in future commissions. Thank you, and have a good day.

[semicolonthefifth]

The Maelan clan is an extremely small clan located in the South-Eastern tip of the Conq-Wey-Lay region in the Aurora lands. Nestled deep in the tar bog, these Deltan natives are masters of deception and stealth; they use their lands to outmaneuver any potential invaders, taking them down one by one with aid from the hot black tar pits. Having spent generations in the area, they've formed an understanding with the bog's various wildlife, including the carnivorous Nelgoth: the bulbous, leather and slug-like beasts that bathe in the tar and attract prey with their alluring natural glows. The Maelan have spent so much of their lives in the tar that their skin has become darker than most Deltans, and possess a membrane that is said to grant them camouflage within most environments - thus making the people of Maelan a tribe of natural assassins and spies. Most famous and beloved of the Maelan was Surra, titled Goddess of Deceit, Thievery, Stealth, and the Art of Shadow Puppetry. Her ascension to Godhood came when she, merely chief of her clan, challenged the great Deltan Absolute to a game of hide and seek, and if the Absolute couldn't find her in a month she could then claim their throne. The Absolute, confident that they wouldn't lose, accepted. For nearly a month he searched, going through lands far and wide to find the mischievous Surra. All seemed lost until he looked around, and by his order demanded a flame be lit in every corner of his own room - Surra Maelan was found, having taken the form of his own shadow for all those days, never once letting go. Impressed with her skill, the Absolute gave her the title of Goddess for Stealth and Deceit. In the coming days she would earn recognition for story-telling with her mastery of Shadow Puppetry, and then on further recognition of her Thievery when she stole the banquet for her Clan. Surra would continue to live throughout the age, transforming her Clan to mercenaries that acted as aid to other clans for the right price. However this deed wasn't done out of kindness; her paranoid nature, infamous among even her own clan, would push her to forming a spy network among all the clans so as to keep a constant ear on the Gods and their doings. Through her surveillance she would catalog the events and workings going on throughout Aurora, inadvertently creating the first ever written historical documents following famous clans and figures at the time. She would write down every war, their results, the warriors in them, their relationships, and the betrayals long afterword. It was through these writings that mankind would be able to learn and understand the time before the Age of Want, and then the chaotic centuries after and leading up to humanity's arrival. Human scholars would hail Surra as a writer and intellectual, and with good intention see her as a sophisticated and wise individual. However the most truthful of them, as well the Deltans who know of her and the clan, are quick to remember who she really was: an insane, distrustful figure who never truly allied herself to anyone without a plot prepped in secrecy. The Goddess would perish like all others in the Age of Want, though unlike most others it was not by the War God's hands. Cautious towards even her own people, and plagued by an increasingly unhealthy amount of fear within her mind, Surra Maelan would often lock herself in her chambers and threaten death towards anyone who dared to enter it. Her spies continued to feed her information, sliding their notes into her home without ever going in to see her. When one curious member of her Clan peered inside to see her, they were overcome with a horrid sight: Surra was long-dead, her body barely decomposing in the tar she was huddled in. Her clan would guess at which point she died, be it days, months, or even years before they finally came to her body. Maelan's Goddess died as she lived - hidden in the shadows, away from all sights. She would be forgotten with time, only remembered when her writings were eventually discovered and further donated for study by modern historians.