#i'm just trying to get through a long comic backlog first

[hibiscera]

now we have the duality of me developing my amethyst story which is all ages vs me developing my killer moth + gotham rogue stories which are for an older audience. my range.

also just the fun of being able to bounce between the two depending on what my mood is. (:

[pkmn-redirect]

Chapter 2 - Page 24

First | Previous | Next | Latest Index (chapter 3 info under cut)

Chapter 2 has finally concluded! A whole 8 pages longer than the first!! Woo!! I have a feeling they may just get longer as we get more into the story haha. Oh well! Like last time, I'll be taking a break between chapters to rest a little, get the plot points for the next chapter more polished, and try to get a solid backlog of pages ready. Going to take about of month off- POSSIBLY a month and a half? Depends on how well prepping the chapter goes (I have doomed myself by setting it in ancient Ecruteak City and am not as familiar with classic Japanese architecture as I would like hahaha- time to find some refs and do a bunch of studies!). Either way- it will be back in mid-late November! That DOESN'T mean that the comic feed will be quiet though! Like last time, there's a between chapter Interlude page that will be going up on October 11th! And after that, I plan to post some behind the scenes development stuff on days that the comic would normally update- so if folks want to they can get a look at how I put this together. If folks are interested, I could also open up the ask box for a little while? Do a bit of Q&A for comic related things (I won't be answering anything too spoilery, but you're welcome to ask!). And since it has been asked for (and rightfully so, this thing is getting long and difficult to navigate) I've compiled a pinned masterpost to make navigation easier for folks on mobile. There's been an Index Page set up for the web version since the beginning- unfortunately it's hard to get to normally on mobile, so a lot of folks didn't have an easy way to thumb through pages, and that's no good! So- fixed! I'm also in the process of going back and putting "Prev", "Next", "Read from the Beginning", and "Latest" links on each page update. Which honestly I SHOULD have been doing from the start, but hey- live and learn I suppose? Also ALSO am going to see about getting the Neocities page for the comic that I started months ago more finished so it has its own home away from Social Media- but that's a bit lower priority at the moment haha.

But yeah! Honestly, thank you all so much for reading! The response to this silly little passion project has honestly blown me out of the water, I can't believe how many people are keeping up with it now. :'D I love love LOVE reading reactions and speculation in the comments and tags! Thank you all for sticking around so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy this self-indulgent little project as it goes!

~Ann

[pale-opal]

So

What writing projects do you have in the works?

👀

!!!

I am so glad that you asked this question! I honestly have a lot of ideas, and I have been wanting an excuse to talk about them for a while. So if you don't mind me rambling for a little bit:

So the first thing that I've been working on is a sequel to the first fic that I uploaded for this MMX rewrite that I've been working on (an AU called Collision Course). I'm trying to get a backlog of 30 chapters together before I release the second part, and I'm on Chapter 20 right now. I wanted to have it released well before this time, but I kept hitting walls with some of the chapters that came before the current one. However, I think I should be good once I reach Chapter 21 (the story will start to reach a point that I've been really excited to work on). I'm hoping to have it out before the end of the month.

@crystalclear365 and I have started planning for this one fic that we decided to write together - I won't go too far into it because we both want it to be a surprise, so all I will say is that I hope you like cooking shows. >:)

I also like to write essays sometimes, and there's been one that's been sitting in my drafts for way too long. I want to have that out by the end of the month, too (it's been a blast working on it, but I want it gone). I have other ideas for essays past that, but I think it would be best if I finally finished this one first.

I also have a bunch of AUs that I've been mentally workshopping for good while. Here are a few that I want to talk about:

There's a slice of life human + modern AU that involves Shadow Man being neighbors with the Wily family, along with shenanigans such as Bass skipping school on a near regular basis, Piano and Waltz (cut characters from the Megamix manga and the Dreamwave comics respectively) being in girl scouts, Snake Man trying to set Shadow up with Berkana, Star Man being a community theater teacher, Wily being a deadbeat (if there's anything most of my AUs have in common, it's that Wily is a terrible father and Shadow Man will adopt nearly all of Wily's kids if you let him), Zero and X being lab partners, Blues being a runaway... there's a lot going on. I'm definitely going to have to make a proper post explaining this one at some point (and not just because I feel like I'll implode if I don't write something for it soon).

I also have a human + zombie AU that has a bunch of lore, so I can't talk about it too much without giving it its own post - so to sum it up, a bunch of the characters from the Mega Man series got turned into zombies during the apocalypse, got found by some scientists that are being led by Gate, got experimented on, got some of their sentience back while losing some of their zombie-tendencies, and escaped. Now it's everyone else's problem. It features events such as Red learning how to love and be less selfish after half-zombie Axl looks at him one day and goes "Yup. that's my dad now.", Shadow Man adopting half-zombie Zero (because of course he does), Snake Man slowly succumbing to the infection because he took too long to amputate his bite (oof), and Lunime trying to convince all the other former infected to rise up against the humans. And the half-zombies can speak to those that are fully infected, while all the humans get to stand around watching like this:🧍‍♂️

I have a vampire AU I haven't put much thought into. I do have a few details though: Red is Axl's biological father in this one, and Axl is half-vampire (Red is human, though. And an ex-vampire hunter. So he's going through it). Blues is a vampire hunter who is really good at his job, but hates doing it. Shadow Man's family act like rejects from the Addams family. Dr. Light is a retired hunter. I want to write a oneshot for Mouthwashing at some point (I saw a playthrough of it not too long ago and I may never be the same (/pos)), but I'm still working out the main plot beats. There's also a bunch of lore I have for my OCs, but to talk about that would take hours (seriously). I have some other oneshot ideas for the Mega Man franchise as well, but I'm saving those for special occasions (one of them I am saving for April Fool's Day. It is November. Bear with me). But uh... yeah! That's about it. Thank you again for asking! I hope I didn't talk too much. 😅

[luthwhore]

hello, love your blog, was wondering if you have any clex fic recs?

oh man, i have been binging clex fic pretty much nonstop since i started getting back into smallville several months ago, so i can definitely make some recs! with that said, i'm relatively new to the clex fandom, so i would also recommend checking out @clarklexlois's fic rec page, which is super comprehensive and where i found a lot of things myself! i believe @raelis1 also posted a fic rec list a while back that was full of a lot of old gems, many of which are not on ao3 and/or are only accessible via the wayback machine, so i would definitely check out both of their rec lists at some point.

editing to add: @reedrichards also has a rec list posted on their old blog still accessible here!

i'm not sure what specific flavor of clex you're looking for, so I'll try to provide some variety, but given that quite literally 95% of the clex fic on ao3 is smallville-based, most of these are mostly or entirely based on smallville canon.

also, i'm trying to limit this list to no more than one fic per author, but many of these authors have a ton of fic and i would highly recommend looking through their other work!

-

smallville-based:

the identical series, by @lanninglurksnomore. 400k+ words and 20 years in the making. technically still a WIP but the latest chapter was posted about a week ago. since the fic was started at the end of s1, it's heavily canon-divergent, but lanning's characterization of lex and handling of his mental illness is excellent, and the fic really captures lex's relationship with lionel perfectly.

string theory, by spqr. this is technically an omegaverse fic, but the omegaverse aspect is exclusive to kryptonians. loosely set post-series, but it's pretty light-hearted and fun.

let it snow, by mskatej. sharing a hotel room / sharing a bed / snowed in fic. exactly what it sounds like. i really like how bratty the author writes clark in this fic, it feels very true to his canon characterization.

the hinge moment, by @tasabian. basically all of this author's fic is set post-series and blends smallville characterization and history with comic elements, so it feels like a really wonderful blend of the two. i would frankly recommend their entire catalog of fic because they have some of my favorite characterization for clark, but this one in particular does a masterful job of showing the tremendous amount of pressure clark is under as superman.

switch: a comedy of terrors, by rivkat. this one is a bodyswap fic. if you like bodyswap fics, you will love this fic. rivkat has a huge backlog of clex fic and all of it slaps. i think i lost about a week just digging through all of their fic.

marked, by seperis. this author has a very lovely, almost stream-of-conscious style that makes for a very pleasant reading experience. this particular fic manages to hit shaving kink, make-up/feminization, and collaring. 80% porn but then it sneaks angst in on you at the last minute. this author's fic tends to have a very grounded, bittersweet feel to it.

light the torch, by ang3lba3 & Birthdaytoasts. clark/lex/lois. alien heat/mating-cycle fic. if the idea of that triad interests you, this fic will be everything you could want and more.

long time coming, by BewareTheIdes15. by far the most recent fic on this list -- it was just published this month -- but so, so, SO good. post-series, canon-divergent, fix-it-fic of sorts. fantastic characterization all around, snappy prose, and generally a delight to read.

seduction, by lenore. **heavy trigger warnings on this one for lionel being a massive creep.** the first fic is, by it's nature, a pretty uncomfortable read and also not technically a clex fic, so if the tags/summary does not sound like something you want to read in graphic detail (i personally skimmed some parts), you can skip to the second installment without losing anything for the very cathartic follow-up.

manual transmission series, by bipolypesca. this fic is old and only available on the wayback machine, the only thing on my rec list that isn't on ao3. it's very long but so worth it. the characterization for both clark and lex is excellent and it's one of the few long fics i've seen really delve into clark's very specific anxieties around his fear of sex and specifically of hurting people with his powers during sex, as well as the specific prejudices and issues two young queer men living in a small town in kansas would be subject to.

-

comics-based:

wien's law, by obscureshipyard. (unsure if this author has a tumblr.) exclusively comics-based, though the author does have some more smallville-based works i think. features lex as a trans man, if that's something you're into. there's some triggering content and the first few installments are pretty angsty, but it ultimately has a happy ending.

an alienated property, by kantayra. superman and lex, trapped together on a red sun planet. (i'm honestly surprised this trope isn't more popular because it's a lot of fun.) this fic is tagged with smallville, not comics, but it feels more in line with the comics dynamic to me.

a universe of possibilities, by kitsunesongs. dub-con. based on the superman: the black ring arc and may be a little confusing if you haven't read the arc it's based on, but there's so little purely comics-based clex fic that i feel like i have to include it.

[petra-creat0r]

Annual Update 2024

Alright everyone! New year, new updates for all my stuff!

Starting with ...

AtDFF and AYC

(The new signatures for my main art, AtDFF, and AYC)

As some, and by that I mean most of you have probably noticed, I rebooted AtDFF... again. I technically started a revamp all the way back in 2020 where I was redrawing the older updates to better match the current style and reformat the asks and text for better readability, but that didn't impede on the main updates (well, besides putting more onto mine and the rest of the team's work load.)

The Reboot

This past year though, I made the decision to completely reboot the comic for a few reasons. One was an attempt to renew my motivation, another was wanting to rework some of the lore, yet another was being inspired by @askfallenroyalty to remake the comic and post to ComicFury, but I think the main factor was... I wasn't all that happy with it. I think I kept comparing it to other comics, especially Fallen Royalty, which is my own issue, please don't go blaming anyone else. I knew I could do better, especially after over 5 years working on this, but now looking back, part of me feels that, rebooting it again is, in a way, diminishing those years. Even with the 2020 revamp, prior to it you could go through the updates and really look at how my art has progressed, and though true you can still scroll and find the old updates, it's just... not quite the same. Same can be said for the 2023 reboot.

Does that mean I'm going back on the reboot? No. I already have the next updates planned (I just haven't had a chance to work on them that often) and I really like the new lore of the world that I've come up with. I just think this will be the last time I ever reboot the comic. Whatever happens, happens, and I need to just roll with it. Even if what happens is our little roadtrip getting derailed into a corn field again, lol.

Comic Fury and New Comic?

With that said, what do I have in store for the new reboots of AtDFF and AYC? (yes AYC got rebooted too, I just haven't posted the first update like I did with AtDFF) Well, I mentioned a Comic Fury, which surprise. Both AtDFF and AYC have their own Comic Fury pages now! Don't worry, I still plan on posting to Tumblr as well, but now you can also find them on Comic Fury. Along with another comic I'm planning to do (eventually), Undertale-ish: The Comic. Ever wonder what Ish Frisk's journey through the Underground was like? Want to see what happened in most (not all) of their 800 runs? Want to see this child grapple with their self insecurities, perfectionism, and the responsibility of having full control over time and an entire civilization's lives in the palm of their hand? Want to see Chara as a ghost? Well that's what you'll get with Undertale-ish: The Comic! Coming I don't know since I such at scheduling and time management for these things!

Schedule

Speaking of scheduling! When are any of these comics coming out? Well... I just said I suck with schedules, and I can't promise really... anything when it comes to release but like... I know I for sure would like to release things... regularly? Even with the start of the reboot, I started it in April, and that stuff extended until at least August. Every summer I naively think "Oh! I'm gonna have so much time to work on the comic!" and then I get a summer job. Because I'm nearly 20 and going to college and even if I'm still living under my parent's roof, I can't entirely rely on my dad to pay my tuition. Only for half the year. Then during the school year, I have classes, and I feel burned out by the time I get home, and- It's a whole thing I need to find someway to work around or else nothing gets done and my brain just screams at itself. So, I think scheduling is something I'm gonna figure out throughout January, and try and get a backlog of updates ready throughout February to April or May so maybe we can start posting again in summer. Does that feel like a long wait? Even being near a year from the first update of the AtDFF reboot? Yes. But also I'm trying to over estimate and give myself the time and space I need while still attending college, and I wouldn't just be working on one comic update, but multiple. I'm trying to give myself space and some grace instead of making promises that feel hollow after a while of being unfufilled.

Lack of Motivation and How to Fix

Another thing to address, is my motivation when it comes to these series. I don't think it's accurate to say I've felt completely unmotivated to work on either comic, I mean, I was motivated for some of the beginning of last year to full on overhaul them, but I will say that, these comics have started to feel like a job. It's been something I've felt for a couple years now, where I've been having less fun with the comic as it's begun to feel like actual work. Believe me, I'm super excited for some of the later plot points of both AtDFF and AYC, and I love Undertale-ish and these characters but to get to those points or character moments, it feels like I'm slogging through what comes before it, which isn't good. This is something that sure, rebooting helped for a bit, before I got caught up in school and other stuff, but it's not a permanent solution and I've felt myself slipping back into the comic feeling like a job.

So how might I remedy this? Well, I think the solution might lie in another series I started this year, Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3. Even if DJSSuC3 is more Deltarune focused, I've enjoyed drawing Chicago and my other fankids pretty much daily as, there's not that much pressure on it. Definitely not like there is with AtDFF or AYC. I don't have to line, or even color them since, they're just little doodles. I don't have to worry about missing a day since, I'll just do multiple the next day. They're quick, they're easy, I can just draw whatever idea I have with the characters I want, I'm having fun. Back when Ask the Dreemurr-Font Family was nothing but an ask chat on Amino, that's what I did it for. For fun. I wasn't worried with popularity or being like other creators, I just did silly little character driven roleplays for fun. I think that's been my issue with the comics. They aren't fun anymore. They're work because, I feel it's my job to tell this story rather than just... telling it because I want to. So, I think going forward, I'm gonna try to have more fun with the comics and Ish in general. For you all, that's probably gonna look like more sketches and doodles getting posted and maybe even just sharing small comics based off ideas that pop into my brain or from roleplays that happened in my server. Little things to help me regain the enjoyment I had with these comics and world.

Deltarune: Fool's Fate

I think that's all I've got to say on the Undertale based comics, so how about now we move onto something Deltarune related? As I was doing DJSSuC3, I introduced an idea called Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Aka, Chicago and Co's adventures through the Dark Worlds after Kris denied their destiny. So far, this has just been little doodles, character designs, and a roleplay I've been doing in my discord server. I've been having quite a bit of fun with that RP, we're nearly to the end of what would be the first "chapter" and have been fighting Dorothy, the secret boss of the Attic Dark World and who some of y'all might recall I made a real life doll of when my old computer finally kicked the bucket earlier this month. (I've still yet to make her dress or crown) I think roleplays have always been the thing I find the most enjoyable when it comes to character exploration as, I don't have to spend forever drawing comics and I get to sorta live through the characters. It's something I've been doing for characters from even before I was in this fandom. With the Fool's Fate roleplay too, I've also got to come up with elements that could feasibly be in an actual video game without, you know, actually coding a video game.

I don't know where Fool's Fate will go from here, while it'd be cool to have it be an actual fangame, I don't have that sort of skill. Nor the budget to pay a team. (My team for the comics is really just a bunch of friends I convinced to help me out for free.) Even with a sprite comic, it'd be too much. So, for now, it'll likely just remain a concept and roleplay. But, who knows. Maybe someday I could make it into something. I mean, after watching this year's Underevent I wanted to.

Other stuff

With all the UTDR stuff out of the way, what about some of my other stuff? (Because, surprise, Undertale and Deltarune aren't the ONLY things I do. Just the things I hyperfixate on the most.) Well, I've got my Fakemon region, Azmayca, POW-R, Dragon Riders, and Kinder Eyes which I started last summer. I don't really have any plans for them, asides from bugging people for ideas and doodling whenever I'm in the mood. However I think starting this year, I'm gonna try to post more of the doodles I make. Either ones in my sketchbook since DJSS gave me the confidence to post sketchy silly little doodles like that, or sketch doodles I draw digitally as warm ups. Though who knows. Maybe a hyperfixation swing some time during the summer will cause me to actually try to do something crazy like outline the whole Azmayca region and hypothetical game. Hopefully not something like that though. Making the evolutions of my redesigns of the starters might be nice.

Commissions

Another thing I'd like to finally do next year is update my commissions sheet. It's something I've had in the work for a while now, and was working on along side launching the comic updates. But, like the comics, school and work got in the way so... I sorta forgot about it. Regardless! I'm gonna try to post my updated sheet some time within the next few months, it's mostly just been havin to draw or find recent examples of my work. Hopefully then I'll actually get some more commissions because, um *looks at the whooping $3.94 in my checking account* I could really use the extra money. I might work during the summers and get grade payments from my dad but, that stuff is to pay my tuition and some of my lunches during the semester, and even with lunches, 500 dollars is spread thin through 17, 16 ish weeks. That's like, only $30 a week, which is maybe enough to cover buying lunch at the campus food court like, once or twice from the food court. Maybe three times if I'm lucky and conservative with my spending. Not to mention that $300 of that went to my new laptop, and even if I should be getting $300 from a paycheck I was never paid back when I worked at Arby's 3 summers ago, I still haven't gotten that gift card in the mail so... Yeah. If I was living on my own, I'd be screwed. Which is why commissions and Patreon are like, my only source of income during the school year. (I still need to look into getting an on campus job for this upcoming semester but that's its own whole big can of worms.)

Patreon

Speaking of Patreon, that's another goal I want to set. Actually posting to it again. I had a burst early last year were I was regularly posting to Patreon with early access chapters of The Puppet and the Real Boy (before I retconned that with Fool's Fate) and thanks to my only Patreon ever @kierangecko, I managed to make around $50 bucks which ended up being used to help get blanks for some of my Christmas gifts for people (thank you Gecko. I know I did stop posting after like, May, but that money really came in handy.) So for this next year, I'm gonna try to post to that again. Be it WIPs of the comic, scripts, little doodles I don't post on Tumblr or whatever, I want to make Patreon another source of income. Which involves posting to it at least monthly. And even if I don't, then you guys won't have to worry about anything since I've got it set to not charge for months I don't post anything.

Resolution Review

So, to review some of my... I guess you could call them resolutions, though I'd rather think of them as goals I don't absolutely have to hold myself too but would just like to accomplish, I'd like to...

Have more fun when with AtDFF and AYC through drawing and posting more loose, silly comics and doodles

Try figuring out a posting and work schedule for AtDFF and AYC by then end of January

Hopefully get a back log of updates for both comics ready to release by summer

Start on and release Undertale-ish: The Comic sometime this year

Keep doing Drawing Junior Secret Squad until Chapter 3 until Chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune hopefully come out sometime this year.

Possibly design hypothetical secret boss predictions for Chapters 4 and 5 of Deltarune before the next chapters come out.

Keep working on, designing characters for, and coming up with Dark Worlds for Deltarune: Fool's Fate. Perhaps even drawing some tarot cards with the chapter bosses.

Post more about my other projects, even if they're only sketchbook drawings or warm up doodles.

Update my commissions page and hopefully take more commissions to earn some extra money/save up for college or to move out.

Post regularly to my Patreon, also to earn some extra money.

Generally have a better year than 2023 and to find more enjoyment in my art and projects.

Closing

Ho boy! That was... A lot! This has turned out to be one very long post. Hehe. Well, should be over now that I've said all I need too. Also, if I haven't said it already, I'd like to thank all of you for supporting me and my art. Be it my comics, DJSSuC3, my other projects, or anything I've posted this year. It means a lot to me that people even like what I draw and you all mean the world to me. With all of that out of the way, thank you Creative Creators and I hope you have a Happy New Year.

[twig-tea]

9 People You'd Like To Know More

Tagged by @waitmyturtles & @thewayofsubtext TY friends!

Last song:

Currently watching: I....don't judge me ok:

Be Mine Superstar [I've been quiet on this because I'm really disliking it; I do think this role suits Ja and First is doing a good job too. But everyone in this show is just so manipulative and the fan-to-lover premise really bothers me]

Be My Favorite [everyone knows how obsessed on this one I am lol]

Dinosaur Love [I am watching this one like a car crash]

Hidden Agenda [cute! Not sure what it's trying to say yet, but the cuteness and open communication and chemistry is carrying me through]

Jun and Jun [I was really hoping for a mutual pining story but todays' ep says I might be wrong; sus of the second lead and now there's a third?! Not sure about this one either tbh]

Laws of Attraction [my favourite viewing experience right now. Every moment is a delight!]

Low Frequency [pretty but pacing, editing, and camerawork is stilted and slow, and the writing isn't great]

Minato's Laundromat S2 [here for plots in which the characters work out how to be in relationship! That said it is starting to drag a bit for me now]

Show Me Love [GL, rerun; very low drama plot, cute fluff]

Stay By My Side [this one was slow to start (you could skip ep 1 and 2 and miss nothing) but is a delight;. Prayer circle for honesty this week]

Stay Still [pretty but a bit convoluted. Wrote a post to help anyone trying to start this series. For my happy-ending-only buds, this one has ambiguous/sad ending flags all over it so approach with caution]

Wedding Plan the Series [....it's fine. I can't really get past the premise of extended and unnecessary secret lol but I do appreciate that Nuea was thirsty from jump]

About to start:

My Personal Weatherman

Love Class s2

Only Friends

Marry My Dead Body [film]

Stay With Me [If the rumours are true and it is not censored bromance but an acknowledged relationship, I will binge it--but holding out for actual confirmation]

Just finished:

Sing My Crush / Follow the Wind [this was like a hug in series form]

Tokyo in April Is .../ Shigatsu no Tokyo wa [so good, still thinking about it]

Oh, Mando! [rewatched; messy but enjoyable]

Baggage Claimed [lesbian miniseries; messy lol]

TXT at Lollapalooza concert [I don't self-identify as a kpop person but I do occasionally get up at 4am for kpop concerts? I contain multitudes]

Heartstopper [cute; like the source material, it feels extremely earnest sometimes in an endearing way and sometimes in an off-putting way. I would like it more if this show/comic let these characters make more mistakes, but it's filling a niche]

I also have a backlog of FMVs I'm slowly whittling away at...there's too much media in the world friends!

Currently reading: Tumblr and AO3, who has time for anything else? Just finished "Long Distance" by thingswithwings [Good Omens], and about to catch up on updating the collection of Be My Favorite meta before ep12 drops.

Current obsession: Please see aforementioned Be My Favorite meta, it's been very fun but at this point I need the episode to drop so I can have my brain back please!

Gonna be lazy and tag the same folks again as in the last tag game, as always no pressure! @incandescentflower @ellaspore @marbles290 @tinycowboybro @benkaaoi @williamrikers @formayhem @sorry-bonebag @manogirl

[thefearandnow]

Audio Drama Sunday: 11/29/22

So its been almost a full month since I stopped checking Twitter and one of the things that I always loved reading on a Sunday was all the lovely Audio Drama Sunday threads where I discovered a ton of amazing fiction podcasts. Inspired by those and my goal to write more on tumblr I thought it'd be fun to put together my first Audio Drama Sunday post and try to make it a semi-regular thing. Mostly to just get my thoughts down and get through my listening backlog but also for podcast recommendations!

Quiet Part Loud

I posted about this a couple weeks ago (I'm including the past two weeks in this post) but Quiet Part Loud is high on my list for favorite podcasts of the year. The Monkeypaw created, Mac Rogers written, Jordan Peele executive produced Gimlet show really delivered on the hype and I'm excited that there's possibly going to be a season 2. Though the premise sounds very similar to like a Limetown/Black Tapes sort of podcaster/investigator type of thing going on, the way it's written actually reminded me more of last year's comedy series Dark Air starring Raine Wilson (though of course this one is squarely horror, also very Burned Photo in terms of plot). They do an excellent job conceptually and aesthetically grappling with audio as a vehicle for social terror across history and mediums, which is the type of shit I live for! I thought the story was really well paced, the second half of the series had some incredible stand out episodes and the last two episodes were very satisfying. I think this show has a ton of re-listen value and I'm excited to see what happens in the next season. The only bad part of this podcast is that it's a Spotify exclusive so not as many people can listen and I'm not really sure it's worth a subscription if you don't already have it. But if you already have Spotify and love horror I can't recommend enough!

The Goblet Wire

The Goblet Wire is probably one of the more unique podcasts I've listened to: a surreal horror scripted role-playing collection of bite sized portraits (it'd be a stretch to call some of them stories). Very similar to John Darnielle's Wolf in White Van. And last week I finally listened to the last two episodes, which I thought really helped give the whole first batch of episodes a true sense of a series arc. Which I don't think it necessarily needed, but it felt like the end of a season y'know? I love the writing, the simplicity of the format but complexity of the imagery. It's such an open ended concept and I'm looking forward to hearing what the next set of writers do in the next batch of episodes. On top of the show itself being fun to listen to it's just like an incredible thing to exist as a platform for indie fiction podcast creators to collaborate on and make crazy shit. I've got a ton of other podcasts to check out from the plugs at the end of each episode and it just feels so like underground comics community vibe.

We're Alive: Descendants

We're Alive was the first audio drama I ever listened to but I dropped off somewhere in the middle. I tried to get back into with with Gold Rush but felt too lost from the original story line and felt intimidated by going all the way back. But when I saw that they were doing this most recent Descendants season I decided to give it another shot and... it's sorta like my guilty pleasure listening. Like it's nostalgic mainly. It's like their Hunger Games moment which I'm into but for the most part everything that I'm excited about so far during the season gets watered down in clunky dialogue or slow moving plot points. And overall the episodes end up being too long and kinda boring. This last week I listened to Episode 7 (parts 1 and 2 which is a whole other thing) and I can't tell if it all went over my head because of a ton of lore and character work I missed but I definitely felt confused. I'm still gonna keep listening cause at this point I'm invested in figuring out how it all goes down from a story perspective and it feels like this next episode will finally connect the two concurrent story lines. I'm curious to see if longtime fans have enjoyed this season; I've found it an easier entry point than Gold Rush and I like hearing about the regional evolution of the infected, I'm definitely enjoying it even if it's a bit slow.

Welcome to Night Vale

Seems a bit basic to be adding WTNV here but I have been inspired recently to go back to some select episodes, all of them recommendations from this post. And yeah: Night Vale is still such a classic with hilarious writing, fun concepts and undeniably influential style. So far I've only listened to a few early episodes (The Glow Cloud episode is 100% gold) that I was already familiar with and it's been really interesting to listen back to them after listening to Start With This for the past few months. I have a completely different appreciation for what they were doing with this show as it was coming out, like when I was heavy into Night Vale I think I took it for granted that this show existed and was perfectly weird and couldn't really wrap my head around the talent and thought that went into making it so special. I'm really enjoying my trip down memory lane but I'm also really excited to hear some new ones y'all recommended so I'll probably be carving out some space for future posts about my wtnv backlog.

Honorable Mention:

This isn't audio drama but I do want to note that the "Qatar's World Cup" episode of Throughline was really a great listen and worth the hour or so for anyone who's even vaguely following the World Cup or if you saw that John Oliver video. Throughline is one of my fave non-fiction podcasts and episodes like this one feel especially valuable in terms of their research and production.

[hard--mode]

How do you find the time and energy to get the comics done? Do you power through in one long sitting or do you do it bit by bit? I'm trying to develop an Undertale comic but its completely hypothetical atm.

lmao at the fact that I haven’t been able to get anything done for this in probably a year or more now

I can’t say much for time and energy since I started this back when all I did every moment of my life was draw and lately I just barely keep up with work so I can hardly think of attempting to do stuff like this. Finding a good work/life balance and healthy sources of motivation is a personal journey that requires trial and error.

As for what advice I can give...

For me to start a comic, I usually have a direction I want to go with it first. Like I literally don’t commit to making something as big as a comic unless I have some inkling of how it will end, because I don’t wanna do it forever. The result is that I usually have enough ideas to make a script with before I get started, so step one is to make a script or at minimum a rough outline that I’ll finish as necessary

after that, I start by doing chapters as super rough little thumbnail sketches where I lay out the panels and draw stick figure poses. I do these whole chapters at a time. I think I did like the first 3 chapters of this at once in this manner. But it’s quick work if you know what you want to do already.

then things tend to slow down, because the process of making real sketches at full size takes a lot more time, and then even more so again to line and color everything. Unless I’m really on a roll, this part I mostly do tiny bit by tiny bit, because lineart or colors can get tedious sometimes, especially the more pages there are to put out. And making comics isn’t my job (doing other art is my job) so I try very hard to not overexert myself lest I hurt myself in some way, because getting burnt out or injured is the best way to kill any ability you had to make the comic in the first place!

If you’re concerned about being able to post something on a regular basis, I recommend making a bunch of pages for backlog so you’ll be working on things much later in the story by the time the first pages post, so when inevitably you fall behind schedule, you’ve still got some space. It’s also very common for people to have long posting breaks between chapters to recoup the buffer

hope that helps! :3

[fridge-reviews]

Mini Games 5

The criteria for this is very simple, all of these games can be completed in three hours or under (without using exploits etc). The reason for this? Well I find that sometimes, often in fact, that people just don't have time to play a longer game. So I thought I'd show some of the shorter ones some love!

GNOG

Developer: KO_OP Publisher: Doublefine Productions Rrp: £7.19 (Steam) £7.99 (Epic) £8.08 (Humblebundle) Released: 17th July 2018

Puzzle games have always been something I've enjoyed, I just find it relaxing to sit down and try and work my way through a problem that has no consequences if I get it wrong. This game very much embraces that idea.

You work your way through several monster faces, clicking, twisting and pulling on whatever reacts until you discover what the actual puzzle is and how to solve it. Typically this doesn't take too long, for me it was typically about twenty minutes for each face. Its a very colourful and whimsical game with some great uplifting music that you get as a reward for completing a puzzle.

I do have one issue with it which is its clear to me that this game was designed with VR in mind and that being able to use a mouse was something added on later. This is evident from the way that the game reacts to mouse movement, for example turning a dial feels very imprecise because of a lack of feedback.

-----------

A Short Hike

Developer: Adamgryu Publisher: Adamgryu Rrp: £5.79 (Gog.com, Steam and Epic) Released: 30th July 2019

This game is perhaps one of the most relaxed games I've played in a long time. You have one sole goal, to get to the top of a mountain. You'll need to do a few quests first before you can do it but once you've got those covered the whole things takes about twenty minutes? Maybe a little less. The thing is there are plenty of other things you can do on the way that will net you some rewards. Like playing the hit new game beachstickball, or running in a race.

I really enjoyed my time with this game, something nice and relaxed with no loss condition whatsoever. I will admit that I changed the graphics settings to one that was not recommended because the default style was incredibly pixilated and I much prefer the polygonal look.

-----------

Framed Collection

Developer: Loveshack Enterainment Publisher: Fellow Traveller Rrp: £7.19 (Steam) £7.20 (Humblebundle) Released: 17th May 2018

The Framed Collection is the reason I check through my discovery queue on steam regularly. You never know what interesting game will pop up. In the case of this one it was the visuals that convinced me to get it, I've always had an attraction to the comic book art style (which is part of the reason I own a comic book store) and this game makes great use not only of the style but of the convention of the comic book 'frame'.

In this game you manipulate the comic book frames on screen in order to get your character through a series of challenges successfully. Sometimes this is as simple as rearranging them into a order so that your character isn't caught by the police and in others it can mean reorientating them so that the character takes different path entirely. There are even a few that involve you having to time when to swap frames out and reuse them.

This title is definitely worth looking into although I will admit it does seem a bit pricey given the length. That being said it seems to appear on sale pretty often.

-----------

Elegy for a Dead World

Developer: Dejobaan Games LLC, Popcannbal Publisher: Dejobaan Games Rrp: £10.99 (Steam) Released: 10th December 2014

This game is... well its a writing prompt game. I'm not sure how else to put it really, you get to wander the landscape of a world and depending on what kind of person you are document it, or write it a eulogy or even just write prose. It's such an interesting idea, and what makes it even more interesting is that what you write is shared with the world. It gets added to a archive of stories and creations, you can see how other people viewed what you witnessed and had a totally different perspective.

Another thing that makes this quite laudable is the fact that it has an... educational mode, of sorts. When you enter a world you get to pick whether you want a writing prompt, to fill in a blank, have a totally blank canvas to work with or do the grammar mode where you practise your grammar. I admit it I'm impressed on multiple levels. By the creativity of the team who made the game with their beautiful backgrounds and with what the community itself has created.

-----------

Pinstripe

Developer: Atmos Games Publisher: Armor Games Studios Rrp: £10.99 (Steam) £12.22 (Humblebundle) Released: 25 April 2017

I bought this game with the intention of giving it go after seeing Jim Sterling highlight it... that was two years ago, which should give anyone reading this just how long a backlog I have. However I have to say it was well worth the wait as I enjoyed my time with it immensely, enough to go back and run through the New Game plus mode.

The game put me in mind of old school Tim Burton films (specifically Beetlejuice) because even though it has a wonderfully whimsical and somewhat childlike aesthetic there is a dark undertone for those that care to scratch beyond the surface.

As puzzle platformers go this one is very good, the controls feel good and the puzzles aren't overly complex, though if you have trouble or just really want to get on with the story the developers have put a walkthrough on their website.

[theangrypokemaniac]

Random Irritations

The People's Republic of Galar

Red bus? Racists.

Crude cultural appropriation starts as it means to go on with infamous cliché.

As if you get red buses in market towns. I mean, I ask yer.

Never seen a single-decker red bus in me life.

Never seen a single red bus in me life, except for when I visited That London.

Never again, my friends. Never again.

Not only no bloody door, bloody door hole's on wrong bloody side.

Yer gotta take yer life in yer hands and stand in the middle of the road to board a bloody bus these days.

First the Harrying of the North, now this.

Have they not suffered enough?

Yes fellas, it is He: the Son of God.

Pokémon S.S. is so terrible even these writers won't touch it, and that takes some doing.

Unsurprising however, given Galar glorifies Leon, a mauve-mulleted Eighties throwback chav in white tights under Daz-fresh boxers.

There is a green hill far away

Without a city wall,

Where Our Dear Lord was crucified

He died to save us all!

The Saviour's shower cap stadium resembles an inverted lampshade from a Victorian whore's bedroom.

Or I'm looking up a jellyfish minge.

This anatomical monstrosity is home to the World Coronation Series, an event open to all, not that Gen. Ten and Eleven have much representation.

Ah yes, that never-before- mentioned-and-yet-so-very- famous competition, suddenly the be-all and end-all of everyone's lives, so desperate are they to grasp a fleeting battle with Saint Leon, A.K.A. The Mauve Golden One.

Nay, to bask in His shadow shall suffice! Such a towering titan of epic manliness He be!

As a Communist territory, Galar is a shithole with a severe backlog of nuclear waste.

Barrel upon barrel of radioactive gunge piled up in the earth, until the very ground was as thin and brittle as a Jacob's Cream Cracker.

All it takes is Bellsprout's leaf slicing through the tarmac, and BAM!, there's hell to pay.

Jumbo Chu!

In true comic style, one sniff of luminous asbestos turns normal Pokémon into hideous, super-powered mutants.

Pah. Giovanni was pulling this stunt twenty years ago at Pokémon Land. Yer never saw him make a big deal about it.

Such fragile terrain means every building site, archeological dig or graveyard is a bloody death trap.

Dare so much as disturb the soil and wildlife freaks start kicking over skyscrapers like Godzilla storming Tokyo.

And that ain't very festive when you're trying to bury Nana.

Here's a magical land where trains:

A. Arrive.

B. Arrive on time.

C. Are clean.

D. Are spacious.

E. Provide silver-service dining.

F. Are well within the budget of a pair of kids.

G. Don't have pissed passengers slumped in the corner.

Oh now we're in the realms of fantasy.

Given the lack of custom and rural destination, this must be prior to Doctor Beeching's infamous cull of services.

The villain!

Lads, count yer blessings to be spared the soul-depleting trauma of the filthy Underground.

With them backpacks and demented eyes, folk'd mistake yer for suicide bombers.

And they'd be right, 'cause this cartoon's trying to top itself.

I think it's more than leaves on the line this week, Maureen.

Like many fat 'uns, Snorlax neglected his personal hygiene, and washed himself with a rag on a stick.

Sure enough, add a little bit of toxic seepage and the entire Mushroom Kingdom sprouted from his belly button.

Let that be a lesson to you.

Unable to fit in his specially-adapted bungalow, even with windows removed, Jumbo Lax laid his corpulence on the railway to end it all.

Goodnight Vienna!

Cursing his fate, eyes glimmering with Satan's flames, Jumbo Lax vowed to take us all with him, for if he can't eat his entire body weight in Ginsters and not suffer the consequences, then no one can.

Can't so much as commute to work without being murdered in a trainwreck thanks to bloody subterranean leakage.

And they said fracking was safe.

Soft Southern Sissies wrote Pokémon, proven by their terror of what lurks beyond the cosy metropolitan bubble.

I didn't half panic when the boys headed off to the Wild Area:

Not Moss Side? That's the last we'll see of them!

Nah, turned out to be just some fields.

...

The word you're looking for there is 'countryside'.

I remember when this show was all about lighting fires in the woods and sleeping under the stars.

Now anything green is held at arm's length, for fear it might be catching, with it all neatly contained in one fenced-off sector of the Soviet map.

Say goodbye to foraging, drinking from rivers, week-long hikes and anything resembling hardship.

Our designated heroes are a couple of bed-wetting Townies treating nature like a rancid turd poked with a stick.

If either of these invertebrate milksops ever encountered a speck of dirt they'd run home screaming.

And every kid's like No-Go: a zombified slave to his smart phone life support, rolling into a fœtal position after losing the internet for ten minutes.

It ain't meant to be a bloody documentary!

Look at the screen, not the view. That's you all over.

It ain't Pokémon no more. You can forget that nonsense right now.

It's different.

It's fresh.

There's gonna be some changes.

It shall be renamed Pokémon Journeys.

This is the beginning.

This is the future.

This is the true way, my children.

Well until Gen. Nine comes along anyway, at which point it'll never have happened.

But until that dark day, this is the correct incarnation.

It must be christened anew, set apart from the past.

Hence Pokémon Journeys.

As opposed to all those journeys Ash used to have, walking everywhere, camping, the nomad's existence.

Certainly not. Nature is so ewwwww these days.

You don't understand. It's deep.

This is 'journey' in a reality T.V sense. You know, spiritual, oooh so spiritual.

Well it certainly isn't literal.

Ash wakes up on his orthopædic mattress, puts in his teeth, takes public transport, and is always back before ten to eight to get curtains drawn.

No way is he missing his slippers and mug of cocoa, because he lives life on the edge.

...

Should've called it Pokémon Pensioner Day Trips.

[bioelectrogenisis-blog]

The Near-ish Future in the Post December Tumblr, and where to go for Art.

This topic title is a bit misleading to some, and I sincerely apologize for any confusion thusly. The main reason for me dropping a text post like this on the first place is as follows:

I have not too long ago just finished reviewing the guidelines brought upon the site only months after its implication, and have seen the aftermath. I've not however seen any posts likes this looking too into this subject matter, so to my knowledge I will be the first, (Correct me if I am mistaken.)

Firstly, I wanted to go over the guidelines in two particular areas, regarding automatic registration and posts.

Most of the guidelines I agree with whole heartedly, no question. They offer opportunities for a safer environment for Art and other fun posts; I bare in mind no care for the removal of pornographic content and tumblers, I actually feel safe opening the app in public without hiding in my hoodie. What I do mind is their guidelines on automated posts.

It states in the Tumblr guidelines "Do register accounts or post content automatically, systematically, or programmatically." No other sentance beyond that one sentance on the subject.

I read through this carefully four seperate times, and came to two possibly ways to achive the result of 'automatic' posts; in order of logic from least to most:

1. As a script writtee and programmer, you set up a Jacascript style code into Python and program that to scan your account for any combination of Hml Text. Then it randomly generates Jpg Files that follow the permutations of existing Hml or with the use of the English language and its various symbols and numbers to make brand new content. It must then recognize symbols in the file to appropriate accurate (to a degree) tags in correspondence, and then without question post that bew photo on the sight to create a new post. Rinse and repeat at least once a day and you have yourself an automatic account posting everyday. I could not account for multiple registrations, but I may say that could be another separate program to assist the first in doing this process for multitasking purposes. I may have used improper terminology on this, but hopefully it seems clear on the of set.

2. Say in my situation I want to make this particular account a main stay for my posting library- along with Twitter and Instagram especially- and make nee art once a day for that. Or more logically stock pile art in grinding art sessions for daily posts until a second session comes my way for more art int he future, with bigger projects and commissions coming in anytime. I run the schedule consistently and have my self sort of the same thing, but in a different format and context.

The point is where is the line between automatic posts and scheduled planned out art posts? This is more of a problem for myself because I know I have been labeled dormant, and plan on leaving that soon. And I want to personally make big decisions moving forward with art as a main career, along with my bigger goal of making comics for fun and net gain. If I post pages at a time a day as updates, along with commissions and backlogged art a day, and other possible reblogs, making it more than once a day, is that considered to Tumblr "Automatic?"

To you and I knowing the foreknowledge, absolutely not; but to supervisors of the sight, it seems sketchy to try on my end. They have cracks in the system that still allow some nsfw art to leak through regardless, such as one which occasionally has newd women in compromising poses, with no clear intention behind it other than "We got boobs and butts" and no bio to boast of educational purposes to mask its intentions, again if any at all.

I'm posting this to ask any one following, if you're not one of the billions of porn bots following me, and as a true human being not trying to scam me of my money, to read through this for yourself or share to any others and comment the answer my question:

Should I post my career choice to Tumblr?

I offer commissions to anyone willing, though it may be free for the first few months or even year until i have a proper sight working for PayPal or which ever I so choose.

Thusly you would need proper examples of what my art is before I follow through with this plan. And as such, I will soon post a select few of my Instagram photos along side original art for this account, and some (not all) of my best works of the recent years to give you ideas of what you're asking for.

I thank you for baring through my horrendously verbose post on the matter. I get quite paranoid at many things, and fight my inner "I cant English" to present a better side of me that frankly, I prefer over saying everytime I am still new to English as a second language. (Though by this point I have also graduated two honors English courses in high school as well as write stories for my in progress comic.)

Thank you to you select few homosapiens still around to see this. To 2019 and what it may bring. And here is what I bring to you as a reward: Exhibit #1:

[wildwood-reader]

Reading Update #6

November 6, 2022

Recently Finished

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Edition: Paperback

Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Final Thoughts: After my disappointing ebook reads (see DNF section), I really needed something to cheer me up, something I know is good, and since it was Halloween that day, I figured it's a great time to re-read Pumpkinheads. This story is so cute and beautifully illustrated, and I love the little plot twist in the end, it always takes my forgetful brain by wonderful surprise. Highly, highly recommend it. 💖

FANFICTION

Like a Cat in the Dark by ReyloRobyn2011

Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Kudos: ✅️

Final Thoughts: This was a short fic for Reyloween. The first half was cute, I enjoyed that; the smut was only okay but didn't dampen my overall enjoyment too much. Fun, quick read.

Currently Reading

BOOKS

Magic of Thieves by C. Greenwood

Edition: ebook

Progress: 30%

Current Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thoughts: The writing is pretty good and I feel very invested in the main character and her journey so far, growing up in this group of bandits. Recently, there was a little bit that made me cringe slightly, but I hope that won't get worse as the main character gets older. Please be good. 🥲

FANFICTION

Pain is only a Pulse by ReyloRobyn2011

Fandom: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Progress: Chapter 4/?

Up-to-date? Yes

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: This is another (still ongoing) fic for Reyloween and it's really fun so far, I'm having a good time. I love the use of different forms of story-telling in this such as text chains and Instagram comment threads, it makes the story very vibrant. 👌🏻 I'm looking forward to the next update, especially thanks to that plot twist at the end of chapter 4. 👀

Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It by Silvestris

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 48/48/?

Up-to-date? Yes

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Ooh, there was so much good stuff in the new chapter, I had such a great time. 😋

Fall of the Crimson Flower by AkatsukiShin (in artistic collaboration with brilcrist)

Fandom: Word of Honor

Progress: Chapter 2.5/7/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 5.5

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Jeeeeeeeeeen!!!!! 🥲 Continue reading ffs or you have to push this to your backlog, c'mon girl, get your life together, this is embarrassing! 🙈🙈🙈

That's all for finished and current reads. 👻 DNFs and my backlog are under the cut.

DNF'd¹

BOOKS

Marked by Kim Richardson

Edition: ebook

Stopped reading at: 44%

DNF'd because: Like I said last week, technically the writing was somewhat okay but BOY, did the copy editor sleep while they were editing this book? Did the author even have a copy editor, or do any copy edits themself? I found myself silently correcting things in my head so damn often. At the beginning, it was only mildly irritating but the more I read, the more frustrating it got. Not long after posting last week's reading update, I also found myself suddenly very disinterested in continuing it. Like, I could already tell that even if I did finish it, I would not read any of its sequels, so really, what would be the point? 😮‍💨 so, my DNF cycle continues².

¹ Currently, I'm going through my ebook library, which is full of books I've owned for 7+ years and never read, trying to see just how many of them I'm even still interested in, since my reading tastes have changed a bit since I got them. My process for this is reading the first chapter (or trying to at least) and then seeing how much it intrigues me. If it does, I'll continue it and (try to) finish it, if it doesn't it gets DNF'd.

² But really, I'm glad to finally go through all of these books; at least once I've given them a shot and found they don't hold my interest anymore I don't have to feel guilty anymore for them being unread.

BACKLOG³

BOOKS

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Edition: Paperback

Progress: Page 102/341

Current Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thoughts: This is a buddy read with my bestie, and right now it just doesn't fit the autumn vibe. We'll probably pick it back up some time after Halloween.

FANFICTION

Red Azalea by CeNedraRiva

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 112/135/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 23

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: The stars are still not aligned for me to continue it just yet, but I'm really excited for everything that's coming. 👻

Setting Fire To Our Insides by StarsAlignNomore

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 14/22/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 8

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Y'know what, I think I will be ready to continue it soon; it fits my vibe hunger just enough, so we'll see. 😋

Impossible Life (Series) by Comfect

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Part 1/3

Finished Reading? No

Parts Behind: 2

Kudos: Part 1 ✅️

Thoughts: Not sure yet when I'll continue this, but I'm looking forward to Part 2.

³Backlog refers to books and fic that I've started reading but have since put on hold due to various reasons

[bob-artist]

Hey Bob, I hope your doing ok! I was thinking before (and I don't wanna come off as rude or try to stick my nose in your financial business) what if you brought back the tracking ads? Would that help at all? I'm definitely more concerned about your health and that should come first, but I remember what you said about patrons this month so I was just wondering. (If I'm overstepping my boundaries in anyway u don't have to answer) FEEL BETTER!!

I wasn’t going to answer publicly, but I think I probably should.

Thanks for the message, and don’t worry, you’re not coming off as rude.  Losing the ad money sucks, but it isn’t enough to make or break the comic.  It’s just another financial blow like the many others I’ve been dealt this year.  At least now, unlike before, I can somewhat afford to lose it.

I was unhappy with the ads for awhile.  I don’t trust or approve of the way tech companies handle people’s personal data, so I don’t want to perpetuate something I don’t believe in.  When I first started using Google ads in 2011, it didn’t seem like as big a deal as it has over the past year or two.  But things are different now.  Like, I’ve still seen Cambridge-Analytica-style fake news ads sneak in by being mis-categorized, and I don’t want any part of that. 

The ad situation doesn’t have anything to do with the hiatus.  Part of my need to step back is just my own health.  As of now, and thanks to lots of effort and maintenance, I’ve gone the longest I’ve ever gone since I was 14 without a major chronic health episode - 4 years for something that’s usually at least annual.  But I’ve also felt like I've been hanging by a thread for almost all of the past year.  Minor setbacks are getting increasingly difficult to endure.  Every day is just a struggle to keep things up and running, and to make sure I’m only failing at one or two things a day instead of failing at every single thing (which is what happens during a full-blown episode).  Right now, I need to fail at the comic for a while so I can keep the rest of my life running.

My health issues are the reason I have to be self-employed, and the flexibility of self-employment is the reason I’ve been able to hold off an episode for 4 years.  I’m hoping my readers and patrons will give me the flexibility that my former day job didn’t, but if my readers would rather move onto other things, I can accept that and move onto other things too.  I’ll still be posting creative content to Patreon in the meantime (like I said, I’m trying to only fail at one or two things), but it just won’t necessarily be DOTU stuff.

But there are also some long-term issues with the comic itself that won’t be fixed by a hiatus or by better health.  I’ll put the rest of this under a cut, but you don’t really need to read it.  It’s pretty long.

I’ve been looking at the overall health - and long-term health - of the comic, including stuff like reader and patron retention and engagement since switching to 2 and 3 pages per month.  These things were great at 5 pages per month, but my finances and health weren’t great because I was working literally nonstop at less than minimum wage.  Now that I'm making a better page rate and have more room for good freelance, my finances are better, but growth of the comic is worse.  (I knew this would happen, which is why I always push so hard to get back to faster updates.)

When I get into a scene that no one cares about, it means I have to work for months before I can get back out of that scene, and it’s a motivation killer because I feel like there’s no purpose behind the hours of work I’m pouring in when I can be doing equally unimportant corporate freelance for 5x the pay.  And that also means there’s months-long stretches where readers aren’t excited enough about the comic to want to share it, which also affects growth.  It feels like we’ve been in this state of disinterest ever since the start of chapter 4, which was nearly a year ago.

Pacing is one of the most important things about webcomics.  Without it, it’s impossible to gain momentum.  But I don’t have a working spouse or a lucrative low-effort day job, and I live in an area with one of the highest costs of living in the US, plus I have chronic health stuff.  There are people out there who can live on what I’m currently making on Patreon, but not here in Cook County, and not with my situation.  So there’s a limit to how much comic work I can do.

It feels horrible to know that I’m being given more than the vast majority of self-published non-porn webcomickers on Patreon, and *still* having trouble continuing.  But I can only do what I can afford to do, and if that isn’t enough to maintain the health of the comic, then I need to keep doing my corporate freelance while I think of other alternatives.  Here are some of the things I’m considering:

-Making the comic patrons-only until I have enough of a backlog to post 6 months or 1 year of weekly (or 5x monthly) public pages. (This would mean a public hiatus of like 9 months or more.)

-Working on other projects that provide cross-promotional opportunities, or that, if successful enough, I would do instead of DOTU. (for example, doing more traditionally published novels or a more marketable comic.)  I don’t want to quit DOTU, but if the excitement and buzz around it is gone, then I need to consider other options.

-Putting less effort into DOTU pages so I can finish them faster. (the problem is I’d have to put in a *lot* less effort to make a real difference, and at that point I’d probably be unhappy enough with my work to not want to show it to anyone.)

-Changing DOTU to an illustrated prose format so I’m able to get through the story faster. (This will make a lot of readers drop out, but it’s something I’d consider before ditching the comic entirely)

-Hoping I feel better after the hiatus, and then just continuing as usual until my next existential crisis :/

As with last October, I’m making more from DOTU than I can afford to abruptly lose, so I’ll probably choose the last option for now and make my long-term plans in the background based on how it goes after I start posting again.