beware Beware: SpiritOfStars

I came across SpiritOfStars's YCH through someone else I Watch on DA and have commissioned before, I had a bit of extra money and it looked like a nice style so I commented on the YCH letting them know I'd be sending a note.

I sent the note that day, 20th of August 2021, and things progressed quickly after that. Note: All communication was via deviantart Notes, and the reading order is from bottom to top.

I was also added to her queue on the original post.

Things started off well; I received and paid the invoice on the 23rd/24th of August 2021 and at the same time I received a lined WIP.

A few months later, in December, I was organising my folders of commissioned art and realised I only had this WIP, I had it in my head that this was already finished so I went looking through my notes for the link, and upon finding none I sent a note asking after it. Spirit replied pretty quickly with an update on the progress. I apologised for my mistake and was happy with this update.

A bit over a month later on the 30th of January 2022, I decided to check in again. Once again I got a fast response, though this time I was advised that she had injured her finger, which had/would cause delays.

While I wish she had reached out about this herself rather than me having to ask, I wasn't too bothered and was happy to wait as so far she was really responsive whenever I reached out (something I mentioned to her). I requested a pic of the updated WIP though, as I had just discovered this site and thought it best to make sure I wasn't being fobbed off.

A couple days later I hadn't heard back yet so I sent another message just in case she had forgotten. A few days later I got a response with the new WIP.

I was really happy to get this response and this WIP, little did I know this was to be the last message I ever received from her. I sent my response thanking her for the update, but to this day it remains unread.

In March I sent a message checking in, but it was not responded to, though it shows as Read.

I followed up again in April, this note was Read as well, asking if she preferred a different contact method, since I figured maybe she just wasn't logging in to dA much anymore (I had not noticed that the Notes were Read until prepping for this Beware).

I didn't send another Note until this month (September 2022), but in the mean time I continued to see artists I follow posting Patreon rewards for SpiritOfStars, meaning she was clearly active online in some capacity, which made me feel ignored and was very frustrating. (I am not including screenshots because these artist's do not deserve their names associated with a Beware in any way).

My next Note I decided to send a more harsh message conveying my frustration and requesting a response. This of course remains Unread.

With no communication and it being over a year since the original commission, I sent one last message an hour ago (1/10/2022) letting them know I was making this Beware, and then set to work on it.

I'm really sad that I had to do this, as again since it wasn't THAT expensive (even if I do always get fucked by the conversion rate to USD) I don't mind waiting if someone is having trouble, but all I ask is for is to be TOLD about delays and have my messages responded to.

Quick note: The early parts are my fault as I forgot about the comm for a little while and so did not follow up for some time, and thus missed the PayPal chargeback window. That said I probably wouldn't have used it or threatened it as I don't want to cause that kind of harm to the artist. I even held off on this beware for a long time because I really wanted to resolve things, as this artist is clearly a Patreon of a lot of artists I know and I didn't want to make things awkward with them. That said, enough is enough.