Updating AI Waifus to Hand Drawn, future Timeline and Guidelines

             I’ve been saying for a while now that I intend to replace the AI Tea Waifus with hand drawn art, and that I would do it “soon.”  It’s been pretty vague, and I haven’t given any details as to how the process will work, so today I’m going to fix that by giving a rough timeline and some ideas of what I will be looking for when it’s time to hire.

             First and foremost, this isn’t a fan project, these will be the official mascots for the teas in the business I’ve given my life and sacrificed much for.  As such, I expect a certain level of quality.  There will be no friendly helping hands, no favors, I need to hire those who are best for the job, and I won’t let previous interactions change that.  For those who offered to do it for free, I cannot do that because of this being a business, and also because I’m going full cutthroat businessman with this.  Everyone is free to make free fanart of the characters and I can share them out, but I CAN NOT use them on an official business capacity.  This may be obvious, but any person who formerly demonized me over the AI art, go home, I’m not going to hire you.

             For the “when,” there isn’t a specific date, but rather a checklist.  My current main financial goal is to eliminate all of my debts.  A business with no debts is actually not a common thing (only about 28% of small/medium businesses), but because of certain reasons that is what I wish to accomplish.  After that, if this can be accomplished before year’s end (and it should), the very next step is finding artists.  It won’t be a subtle thing, I’ll be making many announcements over it, and I’ll be stating when I’m getting close too, so there’s no need to pester me over it.

             The reason I specify “before year’s end,” is because the work will be a tax write off, and I’m going into 2025 hoping to save up and buy a home to expand the business. When that happens, the artwork updates will need to be paused.  I cannot predict the future, but based on my best guess of sales trends and other factors, I THINK that by October the 100% debt free goal will be accomplished.  It should also be stated that most of the time I make a prediction of when something will be paid off, it happens even earlier lol, I like to play it conservative.

             Now, as for WHAT I’ll be looking for: it will vary greatly between the various arts.  Apple Cider waifu, for example, I wouldn’t change a thing about her overall look, just the background and pose.  Caramelized Pear Waifu will need a complete overhaul.  So it’ll be a spectrum of various orders I’ll need.

             It won’t be just 1 artist, I like the idea of having a variety of artists work, and they will be credited on the page of the teas on the site.  As for WHO I’ll hire, if you come highly recommended and a good track record of work, we’ll discuss how I’ll pay you.  If I don’t know who you are, however, I MAY have to hold onto payments until the artwork is done.  The reasons for this being: 1. Because of the AI work, there’s more than enough bad actors floating around, I don’t want to get hit with any type of scam, and 2. I especially do not want to get into a “This will be done in 2 weeks!”  “It’s been 6 months.”  “Don’t pressure me!” situation.  That’s been FAR too common of a problem, and I’m not going to put up with that.  This also stems from when I planned on launching a webcomic a couple of years back, and the artist backed out before it could get off the ground.  I’d like to avoid any more canceled projects for such a reason.

             In exchange, any private comments I make or we agree on, you are free to make public.  Ultimately my reputation is a large portion of my business, and if I do anything to screw someone over, others I work with will spread that, I’ll lose affiliates and business, it might be the genuine end of my business.  So I give full permission to expose me in any way you can if I do anything shady like not pay you or underpay you.

             This is all hypothetical too, I might not even bother to do that last part and just pay like 25% every step of the way or something.  I’m just trying to cover my own tracks so I don’t get screwed.  Despite many viewing me as LITERALLY HITLER because of the AI art, $0 would have been paid to artists if it didn’t exist for me (because I didn’t have the money), it helped me raise enough funds by adding a boost in sales so I can hire artists, and between the business and personal life, I’ve spent a few thousand dollars already on small time artists.

             If there are any questions, feel free to reach out.