u/Chance-Variation-967

(Reposted from r/paypal)
Hi everyone! Recently had an encounter with a commission scam here on Artfight, unfortunately not long after finally deciding to open commissions (something I'd been on the fence about for a long time). The scammer went by David003 (though has now been banned) on Artfight & rice780 on Discord (presumably still active). I have also provided a screenshot of their Email. I'm not sure how common this is on Artfight or if it's anything new, but just in case I thought it was best to post.

I was approached by them on Artfight in DM's & was commissioned to draw a cat that (at the time) I assumed was their pet. I was slightly confused as the image was a kitten (ginger & white), I'd assume that if someone wanted a pet commission it'd be a memorial thing for an older cat, but anyway. Really I should have asked for more photos of the cat then, but was waiting until I completed lineart to start colouring, not even sure if this was a real cat. Other people who have encountered this scam under the same paypal name (presumably Domian Castro) that I saw were sent images of people instead, so they target multiple types of artist! Originally they did actually request that I draw a person, but I turned them down as I only draw feral & thats when they sent an image of a cat instead. At the time I assumed maybe the human character was just an anthro version of this cat or something, but I never saw it so I can't be sure. Their language surrounding my art seemed kind of clueless also (if that makes sense? I can provide more explanation in the comments if needed) & it did make me a bit unsure, but I have dealt with people like that before for smaller commissions & it was fine, just odd language use.

After I sent traditional rough sketches over for choosing a pose they liked, I requested the first part of the payment (half of the original £8). Until they started talking about being really appreciative of me taking the commission on & that they were willing to send me $500 to "support my art" or something like that. Instead of the £4 I told them they needed to send, they 'sent over' $500 & started asking if I had recieved it & also sent a screenshot of their transaction (which was almost definitely fake).

After they 'sent money over' (supposedly $500, massive overpay for an £8 commission, by the way), the pressing me to check spam, the tone of the email, etc etc & seeing no money in any account I had I was suspicious. I checked online if anyone else had ran into this & promptly blocked them after seeing a few posts on here describing the same thing.

I'm a slightly paranoid person & was just wondering if after blocking these people there should be anything else I should worry about in terms of them being able to contact me/hassle me further? All they have is my email thankfully & I've blocked them on all platforms they contacted me on (Artfight, Discord, Email) & reported them where I could, but I need my mind to be put to rest! Also, that money doesn't exist,, right?? & My Paypal/Bank account won't be penalised?? If anyone has dealt with this before I'd love to hear from you!

Copy paste of their email provided below for said scam (which I have reported also). Thank you to everyone on this subreddit whose dealt with this before & anyone commenting on previous posts about this scam, you saved me a possible £800 just ahead of a big upcoming life event where I could really do with keeping my money! I'm not sure how long these sort of scams have been active but I figured it's best to post anyway. Stay safe 🙏

Their Email, recieved in my spam, after they allegedly sent $500:

"Domian Castro sent 500.00 USD
NOTE: The only solution is to follow these instructions. 

There was a slight problem depositing money into your account.

You received a payment of $500.00
(Domian castro) deposited USD, but since your account status is not a business user, this amount exceeds your limit and a limit has been applied to your account, so there is an issue with depositing the amount to your account.

You will not be able to deposit funds into your account until your account limits are increased.

NOTE : You must take this emergency action to extend your limit.

To pay an additional $300.00, please contact the account sender (Domian castro).
When you increase your account limit by depositing USD into your account, a total of $800.00 USD will be immediately credited to your account.

(Domian Castro) has also been notified of additional payments that need to be sent to your account.

**Note** : You will be refunded **$300.00** .
The sender will immediately return the USD and send it to you.

*Thank you for your interest in this issue.*

Don't see money in your account?  Don't worry. Just follow our instructions and reply to this email if you need assistance."

End of their Email.

After my last post I had plans to make another KCD peice, but since the previous one was based on a post card illustration of Trosky, I wanted to do something that was fully made up by me from the ground up. I am a very big fan of medieval artwork & it's use of imagery to convey important messages, as well as cynology. With the setting of KCD fitting into the medieval time frame it presents hundreds of avenues to go down in terms of making illustrations that reference the game while also keeping an authentic medieval style.

I have only recently completed the lineart for this, but I intend to colour it also (see the original plan I drew up on image 2). Wish me luck, as it's my first time trying to colour with embroidery. I figured I'd post the lineart now just in case it doesn't go as intended, haha. Unfortunately that does mean the green overlay ink is still visible, since I'm leaving it up as a guideline for colouring.

The rest of this is to explain the symbolism I added throughout the image, so, TLDR, it is also included in shortform on image 3 if you'd rather just use that, haha.

In the centre of the peice is Radzig's sword, where the handle (& therefore the ownership of the sword) is depicted as the main source of bloodshed in the game (at least for Henry).

Around the handle of sword is a ring of Hungarian Viszlas, each one depicts a different KCD villain (all from KCD2, which I didn't realise until later (sorry to Runt, I guess??)). At the top is Istvan, followed of course by Erik, but the order of the rest (Brabant, Aulitz, Sigismund & Von Bergow) is random.

I awknowledge that very few of those villains are actually Hungarian, but originally Toth was the only one there until I added the rest so it's his fault, not mine. Viszlas are the national dog of Hungary, & are elegant hunting dogs associated with the nobility (also very fitting as Henry has a habit of making enemies way above his standing, haha). Interestingly, there is evidence that suggests they (or an early form of the breed) would have existed prior to KCD!

The same cannot be said for our protagonist Henry, depicted as a Cesky Terrier, the national dog of Czechia. I had the option to choose a bigger Czech breed like the Bohemian Shepherd, buut I liked it as a symbol of Czechia/Wenceslas' side & thought depicting Henry as a terrier (whose purpose is to kill & hunt down vermin) specifically was quite fitting. Not only do they have very brave & fiery temperaments, but it really drives home the concept of Henry being more of a plucky underdog (a mere blacksmiths son) in comparison to the nobility he is so often pitted against (the Viszlas above him).

There is more basic symbolism also in the positioning of everything, which I'll gloss over quickly. Henry is shown in front of the Leipa & Skalitz* shields (*which by the way i NEVER want to embroider again), as if to defend them from the villains & bloodshed above. The viszlas form a ring around the handle of Radzig's sword specifically, acting as a barrier to Henry getting his hands on it. The point of the sword however, is facing outward beyond the circle & directly over Henry, as the main source of the harm he tends to get himself into. "Audentes Fortuna Iuvat" is written at the top of the border, as an overarching theme for both the scene I made (with 'the brave' being a plucky little terrier facing off against a noble hunting pack) & of course the game itself. Finally, an anvil & horseshoe are depicted at the bottom of the border, as a foundation for Henry to stand on & the basis of his character.

Thankfully, for anyone still reading, that's all! While I said I'm planning to colour it next, please do not expect to see it finished any time soon, haha. I expect that it will take a few months at least, primarily because of me being totally new to colouring in embroidery. Nonetheless, wish me luck & please enjoy!

Images in order show the embroidered lineart, the coloured digital plan i drew up beforehand, an annotated version of that plan discussing any symbolism & finally close ups of the embroidered lineart.

Jesus Christ be praised!

I recently picked up embroidery, & after completing some other smaller projects, I thought it would be fun to take on an illustration of Trosky (I believe the original illustration I used is from a postcard). It is undeniably my favourite castle in the game, I'm a sucker for geography & such an iconic bit of landscape merged with a medieval castle had my jaw on the floor the every time it was shown in game. Whats not to love!

I of course took a few liberties in adding the text & a cross at the foot of the cliff for a special someone (hopefully on the right side, haha). It took about two-three weeks to complete, mostly because I am lazy. I was originally going to embroider with dark purple & red, but switched to a dark blue & red just before I started. I'm very glad I did, and, I suppose in the end, red & dark blue matches Von Bergow's outfit, so its a win win.

First image is the finished peice, second showing the cross & third shows some WIP photos & the original layover.

Jesus Christ be praised!

Edit: Very sorry for the repost, I decided there were better photos of my accordion that I missed out on, haha.

I thought this would be something fun to do on the sub & a nice opportunity to see some neat boxes. Afterall who doesn't love showing off & singing the praises of their main accordion?

My main accordion for the past year or so has been this Hohner Carena III which I am ever so pleased to have. I really haven't seen any Carena's other than my own, but have seen many other Hohner variants of the same style/timeframe. I do wonder what makes them so unpopular compared to the other variants, as to me it's been perfect for a first "proper" accordion.

I bought it online from a charity shop (I know, risky) and got very lucky in that it was in more or leas perfect condition (only one key that I never really use struggles in one register on push). It's been very clear that someone took good care of it before it was sold. I chose a 120 bass as I'm the sort of person that likes to have everything available to me, even if I don't use it, and it has been such a joy getting to know each part of the accordion with this model! I am also quite guilty of favouring especially big accordions, they are so much cooler in my opinion! I don't travel with it, so the weight wasn't an issue for me. I've only had it out with a few friends once, but it's still really fun to bring it out. It has really helped me to love & appreciate this instrument & I have grown with it so much. I also, personally, think its quite charming for a regular old Hohner.

For anyone looking to buy a starter accordion, I would definitely recommend these sorts of Hohner's, they're quite simple depending on the model but still worth the money, plentiful for repairs & buying, & can be fairly cheap if you look around enough.

Looking forward to seeing many other stylish accordions!

I was thrilled to find out KCD2 had a photomode option, it was something I always really wanted in KCD1. I absolutely love having a photomode in any game, and the settings available in KCD2 are really sweet! Here are some of my favourites so far, with the final one possibly being my new favourite vista spot in the game that I discovered a couple days ago.

(Mod for Henry's outfit linked here .)

So sorry if I burst any eardrums with autoplay, accordions take no prisoners in terms of volume.

I am a sucker for a good soundtrack in games, and (as usual) Warhorse's music team did not dissapoint. Istvan's KCD1 'theme' (for lack of a better term) in cutscenes has always been one of my favourites to hear, and I was thrilled to see it return so often in KCD2 as well, >!even after I tossed the man out the window.!<

With Warhorse sticking so much to realism, it's so awesome to have a soundtrack matching that vibe too. I've loved hearing some more traditional instruments being included across different songs, they always compliment the cutscenes so well. With that I was interested in seeing what I could get out of my accordion playing some of the songs, thinking it should fit in pretty nicely. I did my best to get what I could out of this short snippet from the first game.

Disclaimer! I sit on pretty much diddly squat in terms of a musical upbringing & I am sure there are many far more talented members of this subreddit possibly ripping their hair out at the sound I just unleashed upon them, if that is you please accept me & my accordion's most earnest apologies.

I can read sheet music to some extent, but on accordion it has always been quicker & easier for me to just play by ear. What with lacking much musical training I am aware that that can go wrong quite easily, but I try my best (though I am also skeptical about the middle section on the bass only). Furthermore, fullproof accordions are damn expensive, so like many amateur players I have a slightly older accordion (probably 50 years old at the least). While I did get lucky with this one, there are a few buttons & keys than can be out of tune depending on how they're played. Accordion tuners are few & far between where I live, so unfortunately the best I can do is keep playing it as is to slow it down in going further out of tune. Despite all that, please do what you can to enjoy, haha.

Jesus Christ be praised!