#blsu

Hello! The year is coming to an end, and as I tend to do at times like this, I find myself looking back on what this year was for me.

It's no secret that this has been one of the worst years for the comic in a long time, and it's not something I'm particularly proud of. It's also no secret that the comic slowing to a crawl is something that has been weighing on me greatly. It's something I feel a lot of regret and guilt over, and though I've said it many times this year, I still think it's important to say again. I'm very sorry that I've been unable to keep up with my comic. 

Next month the comic will be reaching its thirteenth anniversary. It's been a long road, and the comic's state through the years has directly reflected my own. When the comic is doing well, I am doing well. When it's not, I am not. I feel this is reflected in both the speed of updates and the quality of the art. 

This story is something I've put my heart into, and I want nothing more than to see it through. So, needless to say, the poor output of the comic this year has been a direct result of my own struggles. It's been a very hard year for me, a year I've struggled to stay afloat, and a year I've tried to find myself and who I want to be. 

I apologize if this comes off as too dramatic, but I can't help but think about these sort of things at times like this. Thirteen years... that's such a long time. I think I just hope to be understood. No one is more disappointed about the current state of the comic than me.

That said, I don't mean for this to be a sad post. On the contrary, I want it to be an uplifting one. 2023 was a year of struggles for me. A year of soul searching. A year of trying to find meaning. The answer I found was this. I love my comic. I love what I do. I love the people who enjoy my work. I love to share my work with you all, and I don't want to stop. 2023 was a year of struggles, so I'm going to make 2024 a year I can thrive again.

That's what I hope the takeaway of this post will be. I have been unwell, but I'm still determined to keep going. And I'm going to be trying harder than ever to find myself again this upcoming year. 

That said, I know that's easier said than done. I don't expect the comic to catch up to speed again overnight. But I'm ready to take those steps. Starting tomorrow, public updates will be resuming. Updates will continue to come first on my Patreon. My goal is to finish at least one page a week. Over time I hope to make that number even bigger. I hope to ease my way into more frequent updates again. These are goals, not promises, but ones I'm going to be trying as hard as I can to meet. 

You know what's been really hard? This scene we're on right now is a scene I've been looking forward to since the comic began. We're on the cusp of some big character moments, and it's driving me wild that we've been so close yet so far for so long. I'm excited about what's about to happen, and I truly hope you enjoy what's to come. 

Earlier this year I mentioned wanting to change the story medium at some point. This is something I still intend to do, but it won't be happening in the near future. At the very least I plan to finish chapter 6 as it is. Honestly, I really want chapter 7 to continue the comic format as well. Whether or not chapter 7 will be a comic however, I do intend to switch formats once the lycan arc is over. I truly believe this will be a good thing, and it will make finishing the story a lot more realistic. I'm excited for it when it comes, but I don't anticipate it coming just yet.

Also, I spoke before about issues with the hosting for my comic's website. This is something I've been working on behind the scenes, and I have good news in that regard! This issue has been resolved. Thanks to the help of a very kind friend, my website has new hosting and can continue running for the foreseeable future. I'm very relieved and very grateful that things turned out this way. That's one less thing to weigh down my mind.