So i was going over my schedule and just discovered a slight error in my bookings... I had originally planned to be away for 4 weeks when i was filling everything out, but for some reason when i booked it it marked the last few days of December and the first days of January on BOTH months, showing the same week twice... so instead of the 4 weeks that i had planned i got 3....

regrettably this means I'm going to have to adjust the schedule as i had plans for that time. I'm gonna go over the bookings everyone submitted just to make sure there are no special requirements... but otherwise I'm gonna try and keep the schedule as intact as i have it, while shifting everything down one week.

Terribly sorry in advance, and if this causes any major complications, please don't hesitate to reach out, and I'll do what i can to figure something out for you.

Hey Gang, just dropping this here to inform folks... I am now on break, with Christmas approaching i hope you all have a WONDERFUL holiday season out there.

Any projects, Project questions, or stream related questions will Keep until i return. I will not be replying to anything as i will be spending time with my friends and family in the coming days, but if you send me a note with any questions, I can get back to you when I return.

there WILL however be some new posts soon. the first batch is nearly ready and i'll get the remaining works ready in the time following Christmas.

Thank you for all your patience, and we will see all you lovely people in the new year ^^


Till then, be safe out there... Much love,
and as ever...

PEACE! ^^


ADDENDUM: Yes i'm aware that some of the images got posted out of order... I don't know why id posted feb then june... something in postybirb glitched. I'm manually attmepting to correct the issue but i will need to go back and re-post about 50 images... many apologies for the mass of removed images from your inboxes.

2nd Addendum: the issue has been corrected. I will link the sequences at a later point. but for now the first big batch is posted. more to come in the not too distant future!

Still looking to see if anyone has space in their room for mff. I know it's kinda last minute, but my roomie  dan_raccoon has finally gotten a green light from his work for the time off and is looking to go. If anyone knows anyone who needs a roomie. Please reach out to myself or to him directly.

Thank you

welp, I Might as well address the elephant in the room. Most folks know what's been going on on this site by now, So I'm not gonna mix words on the matter.

Should things go pear-shaped with me here on this site, I will likely have to pack up and move somewhere else. That alone is a thought that saddens me, as this has always been a place I could be a part of my larger community, share with my peers and see what wonders they too can come up with in turn...

But it seems someone among the administration has decided that a select group of people no longer have a home here, and many have already been removed or pushed to leave the site. I figure it's only a matter of time before they're on my doorstep for the same reason, With threats and flimsy excuses to be made under the false pretense that I'm doing something that I'm not, and by someone who is not likely to listen to reason, based on what I've seen so far...

I'm not jumping ship just yet, as I don't want to abandon all we've done here over the last several years. and I do hope this all gets sorted peacefully, but i must be ready for whatever is to come.

I'm gonna look into a few options, but should the worst happen, fret not. I won't be going away, just relocating.

You'll be able to keep track of me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/catmonkshiro
and on Bluesky under the same name ^^

One can hope this can be amenably sorted before too much damage is done. I love this site, and I'd hate to see my time here end this way.

Until then, keep your chins up. and be sure to help each other should the need arise. There are many out there already affected who will need some good vibes, please share some love with them.

Take care, all

Aight folks here it goes!

We're gonna be resuming streams tomorrow/today at around 2-3PM EST, but before we dive headfirst into a new slough of art works. i have a few things i need to get out there.

First and foremost, the art posts are all caught up now, I hope everyone has enjoyed what's been put out there so far ^^

Secondly I'm sure people are eager to see the calendar updated, and I've gone through all the forms and are 99.9% ready to post that update as well (need clarification and related info from a few folks)

HOWEVER.... I will not be able to update the calendar until AT LEAST the 17th of January. Seems odd, I know, but like all things... there is a reason.

I have been submitted for Jury duty selection, and I was also notified that one of the cases that I may be assigned to has a chance of taking 5-6 weeks to resolve. so as it stands I may need to move a few names that fall after the 17th in the event that I'm gonna be going to several court dates as a Juror...

That said, there's also a chance they call me and tell me my services are no longer required. and i can resume things as normal. but it's gonna be very touch and go with this until I'm through this, but as always, I'll keep folks informed as I know more.

I THINK that's the lot for now... I'll be seeing you all online in about... well, a little over 12 hours time! ^^

Much love, stay safe out there!

Sorry in advance for the Deluge of art filling your inboxes... tis but the first half of the wave to come. i didn't wanna go too crazy but i wanted to be able to catch everything up before starting the new year :) Postybirb has a bit to go as it's likewise trying NOT to be a massive pain to FA's poor servers...

More to come in a few days. ^^

Hot diggity damn, i never thought I'd see the day...

the art, the whole thing is all posted and up to date right up to our very last stream :D

I'ma go take a nap :P

for those of you wondering why i have not started my stream tonight and have not been to my picarto page yet... i will NOT be streaming tonight, since both projects requested privacy for their images.

so i will resume tomorrow as usual ^^

Just a heads up for people tonight

There is not going to be a stream tonight. something has come up that requires my immediate attention. So we will be doing tonight's stream tomorrow instead.

We'll be fine don't worry, but we will see you tomorrow instead of tonight.

soooo... we finally have to cross this bridge...

As some of you who were in the stream last night already know, one of my regular commissioners informed me that someone had put a piece they had commissioned up for sale as an NFT on Ocean sea. The person selling it did not have my consent or my commissioner's.. neither of us were being payed a cut for our contributions... it was effectively stolen.

Now to get to the immediate point, we have taken the necessary steps and filed for the takedown... But honestly, the whole ordeal has soured my mood in what was otherwise a fantastic night.
If you asked one of these people how they'd feel if they had a car... and someone took their car and took it to a chop shop and sold it for scrap... they'd prolly be pretty pissed...

AND YET by doing this they did effectively the same damn thing. it's maddening the amount of mental gymnastics these people use to justify wronging someone else for their own gain.

anyways... to keep this from turning into a whole rant... i'll close with this.

I DO NOT support NFTs.
I WILL NOT create work to be used in NFTs.
I LOATHE Cryptocurrencies and the idea that NFTs are built upon, the whole damn thing is a racket.

SO!! If you happen to see an NFT featuring a piece of art I have done for myself or someone... please let me know IMMEDIATELY. as I promise you, it will not be there legitimately and I WILL have it taken down.

Thank you for reading.

Hey everyone,

I made a Ko-Fi this weekend for those who might like to send a tip after enjoying my work. No pressure as always, I try to keep things chill around here. ^^ https://ko-fi.com/catmonkshiro

See you in the stream and online. I'll be back to uploading new pics here soon, we've just been busy dealing with a lot lately.

hey gang!

as i'm sure you probably noticed by now i did not pull any pranks on anyone this year.

I'd like you to know i DID briefly consider doing something for April fools day... but I thought better of it with everything that people have been dealing with over the last year and change...

INSTEAD! I am going to promote some positivity and throw some love and kindness out into the world. something i feel has been of diminishing supply as of late.

so I'm gonna fire out some good vibes to help top up all of you out there just doing the best you can to keep pressing forward in troubling times...

Y'ALL ARE AWESOME AND DESERVE MANY HUGS AND PROBABLY SOME KIND OF MEDAL!!

So let me continue to be the fool, and you all stay safe, stay HEALTHY, watch out for each other.

Much love and peace be with you all!


SLIGHT edit: IF you too, believe this is neccessary. please spread some of the cheer around! let's give the people out there a Morale boost as well ^^

for those of you who frequent my streams and know about what's been going on in my life. this news will probably not come as a shock, as it's been kinda at the forefront of my mind recently.

I received an email from my mother tonight, with the news that my grandfather, who's been a little worse for wear lately, has passed on.

This was not unexpected, given his condition recently. Plus, with all the covid restrictions and everything, I am offered one bit of solace. My father was there when it happened. he had come company in his last moments and my Dad tells us that he went very peacefully. basically took a deep breath exhaled and then he was gone. so he did not suffer. which is probably the best possible scenario given the state of things right now.

I really do hope there's something after this life. and that he's reunited with my Grandma. He'd been missing her, and I think he'd want that. I can at least hope he's at peace now.

I may need time to process this tonight, but i've been sorta emotionally steeling myself for this, as we kinda knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later... So, if i don't seem my usual self in the coming days, this is probably why. but i will do my best to press on.

thanks.

because a few people have missed it... just a fast reminder that we will be hosting our year end holiday auction stream will be hosted tomorrow starting at 5PM Eastern.

you can join us at https://picarto.tv/Catmonkshiro

Hope to see you folks there ^^

just a heads up everyone... we're getting a fairly nasty storm atm, so I may not be able to stream until later, if at all.

in the event the stream cannot happen tonight I will simply push everything to tomorrow instead

keep an eye out though, cause if things improve i'll get at least one done tonight

So Mothmonarch and I will be having our annual Collaboration Auction this week. In the past, we've used this auction to cover emergency expenses or fund new things we needed for our workstations. This year, we will be donating all of the proceeds to Campaign Zero, an organization fighting for research-based policy solutions to end police brutality in the US. You can learn more about it here: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#action and they also run https://policescorecard.org/.

We encourage interested folks to take a look when we post the auction tomorrow; we welcome single bidders or collaborative ideas from bidders working together, or if you aren't interested or can't afford it, please help us spread the word.

Thank you.


PS: If any of you would like to see examples of the auction results from previous years, here are the examples from three years previous: https://sta.sh/21eoctbilfbq

Hey everyone, sorry to keep you all waiting for the updated calendar. I finally was able to sort through everything and get people listed as per their specifications.

You can all find the updated calendar, here: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=catmonkshiro@gmail.com&ctz=America/Toronto as per always ^^

Thank you for your patience

Well, we're rapidly approaching Furnal Equinox, but there are a few things i need to work out with you all first.

First things first, if you've been in attendance of the streams, you know I've been discussing adjusting my prices a bit. I'm gonna be making that official now. Though as always, if you had your commission form in before tonight, then you are still going to be charged the old rate. It would not be fair to suddenly bait and switch people like that, and it's certainly not my style. :P

so the new rates going forward are as follows:
singles: $80 CAD
2 characters: $130 CAD

My at con rates are not changing for the moment, as i'm pretty happy with keeping those where they are.

The second thing is how I'll be setting up the calendar. I will not be doing 3 slot days anymore. The working portions of the streams just seem to be running longer and longer, and I'm starting to really feel it. I'm not getting enough sleep, and I'm starting to fall behind on things and I don't want to keep people waiting for work if I can help it.

So going forward I will try and balance things better so we don't have to come back for a super late second half. Sometimes it can't be helped if I get 2 big projects... but I'm better equipped to tackle those once in a while if it isn't a nightly thing.

There's something else more fun I have to report you can look forward to:

This Saturday, I'm going to be hosting a weekend auction stream. I'm basically trying to set aside a fund to update my 7-year-old PC and I've put it off for a few years now :P I'm not expecting anything crazy, but I figure I need to start making movement on this and start building momentum. so be on the lookout for that :)

The other thing i want to bring up, as I mentioned a long time ago... the discussion of a patreon. I think we're starting to sorta crack the shell of how i can approach this without creating a paywall, which I would never want to do. The big issue now is scheduling for it and ironing out final details. but we're getting closer to making it a viable thing for those of you out there interested in seeing more of my own work.

If you're going to ANE, SEE YOU IN BOSTON!!

just look for the tall gumpy-ass Lurch-lookin' mofo in a bandana :P

if not.... See you guys Tuesday when we next stream ^^

HUGS FOR ALL!!

okay! so for those of you wanting to know how things are going in regards to the modem situation!

The modem was delivered! ....to... a post office and is awaiting pickup and will only be available tomorrow despite a slip being sent to our door... and will only be available tomorrow... >.<

so yeah.... While i'm not thrilled about this development... it looks like one more day without Moth and myself being able to really stream. but work has been coming along. all the same.

as for tonight's stream...  Drivergamer127 and  Zephyrr I'll be in touch with you guys shortly.


Thanks you all again for your patience.

Hey guys just a fast update for everyone out there in the internets :P

first and foremost welcome to the new year! full of excitement and possibility!

a few things to touch base on. First thing on the docket, we are back to your regularly broadcast schedule, starting... well... TONIGHT :) I'll have a notice up in a moment but we'll hopefully see many of you there ^^

SECONDLY. i have made 2 new years resolutions. one of which (the one i'm sure many of you will be interested in..) POSTING

I will be taking a block of time every Sunday night and dedicating it to getting as much posting as i can... every Sunday night... until i'm completely caught up on the work being on here as well as on Weasyl. this is not going to be something completed any time soon, as there is almost a years worth of backlog to get posted, but this means i'll be trying to get around 20 images posted every week. I know a lot of people have been asking about when i'll start posting again. and this is how i want to deal with that issue without completely killing myself :P

As I mentioned there are TWO resolutions... but the other one is better discussed in stream ^^

hope you guys are having a great new years so far, and we'll see you fine folks out there!

Merry Christmas! Or whatever you celebrate, may you find warmth and joy in the company of the ones you hold close. ^^

All the best to all of you!

hope to see many of you there!

look for the tall cat out there sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowds :P

A message from MothMonarch and I -

We've been trying to work out how best to talk about a certain issue for a while now. It's tough to get into because Shiro and I always want people to feel welcome to talk to us and be friendly and to engage with our art, but sometimes we need to draw boundaries for our own health and well-being. While we were away, we decided to sit down and figure out how to open up about it; we hope you understand we say the following with appreciation and care for our audience in mind.

We want the streams and our general communities to be positive, supportive environments. Sometimes people have had a rough day or might need to vent a little; we welcome you to enjoy our art and each others' company to lighten the mood or take a moment away from your troubles. That being said, please remember the stream is our workplace, and we are trying to focus and create the art that ultimately keeps us fed and clothed – you are peeking into our offices, and we ask you to respect the space in that way. To address the issue directly: we are artists, not therapists, and the chat is not group therapy. We are not trained or qualified to assist with serious or in-depth long-term problems. Taking over the chat for extended periods with heavy complaints, derailing conversation regularly with blunt negativity, or sending us private notes with extensive detail on personal issues expects us and our audience to fulfill a role for you that we cannot safely fill. It is deeply uncomfortable and inappropriate, and it does not show respect for our boundaries or allow us to best maintain our own mental health. It essentially demands we drop what we are doing, take time away from working for our clients or from needed breaks, and try to come up with solutions for difficulties we are not professionally trained to address. We've had conversations as a fandom that hiring an artist does not automatically buy you their friendship, and this falls along similar lines.

We do want to be helpful, understanding, and supportive. Unfortunately, we are often powerless to offer any meaningful help in serious situations, which has only aggravated folks in the past who expected something of us we are not trained or equipped to provide and found our efforts to respond wanting. We decided to talk about this at the end of our vacation after we have had some time away from streaming so it is clear we are not targeting one person or referring to one incident. We absolutely don't mean to say that problems or negative things can never be discussed at all; we just ask that difficult topics are broached with discretion and respect for all involved in the conversation. Thank you.

Please reach out to a trusted friend or family member or a trained professional for serious issues. If you need some resources, here are a few links:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (USA): https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Crisis Services Canada: http://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/
International Suicide Prevention: https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
International Crisis Hotlines: https://suicidestop.com/call_a_hotline.html

Mental Health America Resources: https://www.mentalhealthamerica.net.....inding-therapy
Therapy Resources in Canada: https://www.onlinetherapyuser.ca/resources

okay guys, we're off here shortly for this family venture ^^

we'll be back in August. Much love!