idolomantises
patreon
Bugtopia... and the Future
🕑 Added 2024-04-15 00:57:05 +0000 UTCHello everyone!
I just want to say, first of all, thank you all so much for patiently waiting for my series to release and for supporting my work as I began developing the series. Bugtopia was a series I genuinely loved and adored and it made me feel so incredibly good that people were turning their heads towards a series about weird bugs and their natural lives.
However, as you can probably guess, it pains me to say that I am concluding the series after season 1. I had 4 seasons planned with new characters to introduce, but unfortunately, I cannot see myself continuing to work with Webtoons and I want to pursue other projects.
This decision was due to a compiling number of issues with the company, the final straw was when they had a mass layoff, fired my editor that I've been working with for two years, and did not inform me for a week, leaving me in the dark until they randomly assigned me with someone else. My new editor is great and I'm glad I'm working with someone so patient and understanding, but this decision to fire my editor without prior warning made me feel disrespected and disregarded, and it killed all motivation I had for properly completing the series.
I also felt incredibly overworked, I was spending vacation days working on comics and avoiding time with family just so I could get something done for webtoons once I come home. I feel like so much time was being wasted away for a company that paid me so little that I had to work twice as hard building up funds on my patreon. This is why I had to pause the ad*lt artwork, I truly had no time to balance art for my my main, my side and Bugtopia. Bugtopia just ate up so much of my time. The pay also didn't make up for it. It's commonly assumed that webtoons authors make about $800 for the episodes they do, but that's not true. In fact, you can make far less depending on the amount of panels expected for your contract. It doesn't help that the artwork i did for banners and promotions were all things I had to draw and didn't get paid for, and the work I gave was either tampered with or scrapped, making me feel like I spent more hours of my day wasting time. There were also comics I had to censor and scrap, likely due to another series being in hot water for its racially insensitive content. But it was just extra work I wasn't being paid for. It also frustrated me because I was seeing other series with far more explicit content getting away with a slap on the wrist (turns out you can't say "fuck" anymore without it being hit with a mature rating, disappointing!)
In all honesty, it just felt like webtoons needed me more than I needed them.
I have tried my best to provide you all with a satisfying conclusion to Bugtopia, even if some episodes may feel rushed or incomplete, but I completely understand if the conclusion isn't to your liking and I do apologize, but I could not continue working on this series if this was the mistreatment I was going to continuously get.
So... What now?
Though I am done with Bugtopia, that does not mean I want to stop projects entirely. Right now, I'm in the process of developing my own indie cartoon! I hope to start production in 2026, but may bump it up to 2027 depending on how I feel.
Indie animation isn't easy, and I don't want to jump into something if I'm not confident I can handle it, so I'm spending a lot of time doing research, as well as developing Monsters and Girls into a proper cartoon (though I am definitely changing the name) and it will be exclusively centered on the demons and angels cast (with yes, Sera and Lili as the lead).
I will also return to ad*lt art, hopefully it'll be either once or twice a month, month at the minimum. I will still hold off on patreon exclusives as they were very mentally draining for me, but I will keep them in the backburner if I ever want to return to them.
I will also be setting up shop, hopefully during the summer, so also build up funds for myself and the cartoon. And maybe in the future, I can sell Bugtopia in physical copies.
Don't feel sorry for me though, right now I am simply overjoyed and I cannot wait to return to my usual output.
I cannot thank you all enough again for enjoying Bugtopia and I'm very excited for what the future holds.
P.S. - Please check Tier $10 and $15 for updated info
Comments
Duyên Duyên
Your art style fits for cartoon. Work-Life balance is very importance, I'm happy that you choose to take care of yourself. Hope to see cartoon in the future.
The Phantom of the Foxera
I understand and will support you in this decision, webtoon has quite infamously been overworking its artists as well as being terrible to their own employees. Im sad this trend has befallen you as well. Burnout sucks, hope you can get through it
V.Ace
As long as you keep doing you i will keep supporting you
Quill
Don’t apologize for the long message! I’m on Bugtopia-webtoons on tumblr (you don’t need a tumblr account to access it). I wanted to keep the canvas series on the website but webtoons being webtoons wouldn’t allow it
Jackie T. Blooming
Wow I'm very sorry for what you went through. :( Burnout is the easiest way to fall out of love with your art and it sucks to hear that the company supposed to foster your art was a major cause of that burnout. It's great to hear you were able to take back the reins of your creativity! Thank you for the amazing work on Bugtopia. I've loved the series since I discovered it on Canvas early on! 💜 It's really awesome knowing that you will get to keep your series too! I have a question, if it's okay: Since you got to keep Bugtopia, is there a chance that the original Canvas run will be publicly available anywhere? I'm mainly curious from a media preservation perspective as it'd be a bummer if those developments from the Canvas series that we didn't fully get in the Originals run were completely lost to time. (SORRY FOR THE LONG MESSAGE 😭🙏)
Drokain Priest
Thank you
Man of madness
Cripes wasn't expecting bugtopia to drop..but I'm glad you aren't gone for good.
Quill
Bugtopia-webtoon on tumblr
Foxy Lovehound
Aw that sucks but your health and happiness is way way more important
Golden_Grim
Thanks for all you have done Quill! You got my support for anything you do in the future
Drokain Priest
I hope you can find you will be able to keep on your journey weather on another platform. On another note do you have a collection of the original Bugtopia comics?
Nezo
You've got my support through and through!
crobarian
Thank you for all of your hard work. I can't wait to see what you decide for the future. I hope we can help in some way as well down the line.
Drew Cornog
While I am sad to hear the story will end soon, I am grateful to have discovered it in the first place. Thanks for creating such an adorable comic, sharing it, and I eagerly await the future to come.
Quill
On the bright side, I actually do get the keep the series after 3 years, so there’s that! 👍🏾
DustyX7
Whatever you decide, I’m pretty sure everyone will support you 100% of the way,good luck!
Skullkid268
I'm sorry things ended up this way. I hope you can get bugtopia away from webtoons and continue it on your own terms. I'll still support you and wish you luck with whatever your new stuff might be
