General Update - Nov. 2021 (Patreon)

I know it's been pretty quiet in here over the course of October, so here's a general update on everything going on and where I'm at with things. There's kind of a lot bouncing around my head, so bear with me.

Over October, I did daily monster girl sketches (which I still need to compile on here for you lot) and the new chapter of Lonely Hooves finally got some momentum going. These are both good things, but it rather did dip into my energy and sense of pacing for everything else to try and crank out a drawing every day, so I've been considering my goals going forward and what projects I want to actively manage and move forward on. To that end, I also need to acknowledge what needs to be done first.

Commission Status and Information

I have several standing commissions that need to be finished. A couple of these are just from last month's Kitty Arcade not going well (and my approach to that will be getting touched on later in the post) but a couple have been standing for months and I need to get them off my plate before I can refocus on my other efforts. To that end, I ask for patience regarding the rest of this list, as these do need to come first.

On a related note, if you have standing sketch commissions from the old sketch tier still, please organize how you would like to use them with me before the end of the year. If arrangements are not made, the slots will expire. I do have options for how to settle these, but leaving a bunch of sketch slots banked for a couple years now is not doing me any favors. Consider this me putting my foot down for my own good, as is the following shift in approach:

Kitty Arcade commission forms must be submitted before the day of the stream! I need some idea going in about how much work I need to get long and how long I'll be at it, and I need right of refusal to keep things in check and keep my workload under control. Having a backlog when we need money because of bills or rent hitting simply creates new problems and stress that I do not need. Further, while the form is a sort of customer pitch, I still need time to iron out details and handle invoicing that is better spent off-stream instead of making an audience wait on me. The presentation of KA needs some work anyway, and likely most of the sales pitch stuff is going to be taken out of the banner rotation in the future to reflect this change.

With that out of the way, we can get to the fun stuff.

Ongoing Priority Projects

Hare Moon is overdue for an update, though as stated clearing out the commission backlog is my present priority. My hopes have always been to get at least a page out per month, but ideally I could double that output without feeling like I'm digging myself into a deeper hole to do so. This project seems to have the broadest appeal in terms of bringing in backers, and consequently plays a potentially pretty big role in my ultimate desire to never have to risk being in this backlog pit ever again, so I would very much like to get back to it. Also, hurr hurr giant bunbun fuck da pohn-neeee.

Also involving ponies, Lonely Hooves remains priority uno and isn't going anywhere. Though it does not technically fall under the umbrella of what this Patreon supports, I know it's why a lot of folks support me to begin with, and it is also the project with the most meaning and motivation behind it beyond "I'm gonna give you people ALL the boners."  It is still primarily aiming to come out more or less weekly (though this week we've hit a speed bump in the form of running out of written pages - my bad - and me seizing that lapse in release timing to look into getting 3D models for certain set dressing we'll be seeing a lot rendered and imported into Clip Studio, which has certainly worked out a non-zero amount, delightfully.)

Arcade Asks should be coming out at minimum alongside the Kitty Arcade streams, though I admit I've been struggling with this. I don't really have an excuse for this one, sorry. I've got one written and another more or less planned, though these really live or die by the backer questions I receive, so if you're not on the Discord and want to throw something at one of the present cast, feel free to toss 'em into the comments of one of the strip posts as they come along.

For the backers on here, crankin' out a sketch now and then seems pretty fun too and is something I've always meant to do more often, though I don't have an ideal "schedule" in mind for that one. Y'all like the last one? I'll do more of those. I can manage one of them here and there even with the comm catch-up going on.

Finally, Backer Streams aren't going anywhere, though they remain teetering on an edge of sorts where we're always about one more KTC member away from me having to reevaluate what exactly we do in there lest things become unfair to someone. We'll see how long that lasts, I guess.

Idle Projects

Orphan Wood is not forgotten but has been somewhat in limbo while I deal with all this other junk. It's very low-priority, which makes it pretty hard to make any real headway on, but I'm also encountering some unforeseen obstacles both in-engine and around that engine itself (Game Maker is pivoting to a subscription model, which does not thrill me as someone who kind of just pokes projects with a stick every now and then).  I've also been dabbling with a platformer engine off and on in hopes of doing something KA-themed in the vein of "what if Mega Man was also Sonic the Hedgehog??" but I'm not really ready to say that project has a specific direction or vision at this time.

Witches' Thralls has continued to slowly evolve in my mind. I am increasingly convinced that the original three-chapter "pilot" arc, while concise and definitely appealing to a certain audience, would not really be reflective of what I actually want that world and story to be, and so would most likely just attract a crowd that wouldn't like the long-term execution while deterring the crowd that would. I've had several ideas on what direction I could pivot towards since, but not really the time to dwell on most of them. Encyclopedia Karna also struggles to move forward as a result, and have for now taken a back seat to Hare Moon, which knows exactly what it is and even has a plan for how I'd move forward with it in the future. Exciting?

In Conclusion...

I think that was everything?? If I'm forgetting something, let me know.

My ultimate challenge really is and always has been maintaining focus and not letting my whims control me. I need to find a better balance between consistently putting out my serial work and venting off steam with weird nonsense and one-offs, but until I manage that I think I'll lean towards putting more of those things on here first and roll them out elsewhere when I damn well please (which, historically, will be months down the line when someone asks about it and I go "oh shit, right").

The present goal is, to restate, cleaning out my backlog so I can stop stressing about it all the damn time.  Following that, I would really like to have a semi-consistent output of:

• Lonely Hooves weekly
• Hare Moon bi-weekly
• KASK at least monthly with the scheduled streams

My hope is that by the start of this coming year I'll be through my present hurdles and find a rhythm that'll let me know how actually functional that ambition actually is. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but for now that layout is effectively my goal.

I have no intention to change the stream schedule or theming at this time, pending KA surviving the policy change. We'll see. I might put out a poll or two in the future inquiring how backers feel about me publicly streaming work that will then be locked behind the paywall on here, though nobody's seemed to upset when I do it so far and I find that when I'm struggling streaming can (though not always, frustratingly) help me regain some level of focus.

TL;DR there's a lot on my plate right now, I'm working out how I intend to juggle it all, please mind the Kitty Arcade policy change up there as I do not intend to show any mercy on this one, for my own sake.

Thank you for your ongoing support of this flailing and gurgling Eldritch creature.

- Z

PS. I've had several people message me apologizing for having to cancel pledges for financial reasons lately. There is no shame in this! Life is hard, I understand. Though support is always appreciated, it is never mandatory! Take care of yourselves first! 👍