Hi! It's me, Jasper. This isn't really an update or an announcement. It's more of (as the page title kind of implies) an explanation as to what's up with the comic.
If you know me personally, you might be aware that lately, my health hasn't been the best. I don't want to go into too much detail on this, but essentially I've been getting sick on a semi-regular basis- not seriously ill, but enough to make it difficult to work for periods of about a week at a time.
That, coupled with other personal issues and the general stress of schoolwork, means that the pace at which I'm able and willing to work on drawing pages for the comic has slowed down dramatically, and is the primary reason why updates for the comic have generally been taking so long- often with months between them.
So why am I saying all this?
Well, it's not to make excuses. Rather, it's to explain the root of the problem. See, historically I've had an issue with announcing and starting projects which I never follow through on, and while it's not a good habit, it's also not one I can honestly claim I don't have. However, I want to make it clear that that is not what's going on here.
These characters have existed for the better half of a decade, and their story in its current incarnation is something I've been developing for the better half of a year. It's not something I'm going to just throw away and forget about someday, and I apologize if the radio silence and excuses on my part have given anyone that impression. While I won't pretend executive dysfunction and art block haven't played a role, and while I won't pretend like it's often easier for me to work on entirely unrelated content instead of the pages I actually have to draw, I will never let those things stop me from working on something I'm this passionate about.
I'm not entirely sure what the next steps are going to be for the comic. I've been considering putting it on hiatus while I build up a large buffer of pages, in order to have something to put out if I'm unable to work for whatever reason. I've also considered changing the style of the comic to something easier to do quickly. Ultimately, I've decided neither is a course of action which I want to take, at least at the moment. The style of the comic is something I enjoy and am proud of, and ultimately I don't want to compromise the elements that bring me joy, just so I can put out pages faster; and while I still am considering putting the comic on hiatus, I'd like to at least get the next planned update out before then.
So, yeah. Not an excuse, just an explanation of where I've been and where I want to go. Thanks for your patience, and hopefully the ride I have planned out is worth it in the end- and I can put the next update out soon at least sometime this month. You're all awesome for sticking with me, and I can't thank you enough.