Hey everyone

I know I’ve been pretty MIA these past two months, and I wanted to be honest about that. I’ve realized I really need to just stop giving myself posting timelines on this blog—it just stresses me out and makes me feel worse when I don’t hit them. If I’m being real, I’m not great at doing regular updates anyway. The parts of this IF process I enjoy the most are writing and interacting with you guys by answering asks… and since the blog hasn’t really gotten asks since September, I kind of lost motivation and drifted instead of forcing posts that didn’t feel natural.

On top of that, I’m dealing with some major health issues and have an upcoming surgery, so I’m going to be going on hiatus for a bit. That said, I am still planning to release the character portraits later this month—those are still happening.

During this hiatus, I’m going to fully focus on finishing the demo. I won’t be updating the blog again until that’s done, because I want to put my limited energy where it matters most and not burn myself out trying to juggle everything at once.

I’m sorry to do this now of all times but I think it’s been a long time coming and with recent news of Technoblade passing I think it’s become even clearer for me. My heart is with his loved ones.

For the foreseeable future I will not continue writing on this blog. I enjoyed all the wonderful support I received for my writing and believe me when I say I’ll never forget this community. But, I’m entering college, I’ve got jobs and friend and family to think of and over the last few months I have lost my interest in the DSMP as a whole.

I will leave all my work up for y’all, I want to continue to brighten your days and make you smile just as I’ve always tried to. Maybe one day I’ll come back to writing, but for now I think it’s best we part ways.

Thank you to all of you, I mean it.

Love,

Hey everyone,

First off, I owe you all a major apology for disappearing for an entire year. I’m honestly heartbroken that I missed the blog’s first anniversary—and that my last post before vanishing was me promising to “post more.” (Oh, the irony 😭)

Turns out finals were the least of my problems. Life decided that the minute I started seriously working on my passion project, it would throw every possible obstacle my way—financially, academically, mentally, and family-wise. Basically, my life turned into a bit of a mess, and this project had to take a backseat.

But the blog isn’t dead, I swear! I’m back, I’m in a much better headspace, and (big news) I’ve stepped away from university for now due to burnout. The silver lining? I finally have time to dedicate myself fully to Hiraeth. I might not know where the rest of my life is heading at the moment, but one thing I do know, I’m going to finish this project, no matter how hard life gets.

During my break, I did make some progress! I’ve been learning Twine and playing around with ChoiceScript (like a few of you suggested 👀). ChoiceScript is definitely easier to use, but giving up 75% of royalties to CoG makes me hesitant, even if it’s the industry standard and comes with great exposure. Hiraeth is such a personal project that the idea of someone else profiting from it just doesn’t sit right. For now, I’m writing in both formats (because apparently, I love to make things complicated), but Twine is winning thanks to the freedom and customization it allows.

Art updates!

Last time I posted, you all saw the early sketch of Nicco and I’m thrilled to say I’ve now seen WIPs for all the characters. Nico’s even gotten a major glow-up. The portraits should be ready January next year!

I can’t decide if I should post the sketches as teasers over a few days or wait to reveal all the finished portraits alongside the official bios. What do you guys think? Would you rather get sneak peeks or a big reveal day?

Finally, thank you so much to everyone who stuck around during my sudden hiatus. I was genuinely shocked that I hadn’t lost a single follower—and even more shocked to see new people joining this little community while I was gone. You’re all incredible, and I seriously couldn’t do this without your support (or the IF community as a whole).

Here’s to new beginnings and updates, finished art, and finally getting that demo out into the world. 🧡

Sorry for the radio silence these past few weeks—midterms have been kicking my ass, but I’m finally crawling out of the academic abyss. I should be back to regularly answering asks and posting lore sneak peeks soon!

On a more exciting note, I’ve been working with an artist friend to get some official character portraits done! They just sent me some sneak peek sketches of Nicco, and I need you all to hype them up. This is their first time working on character portraits for an interactive fiction, but they’ve been a huge supporter of this project from the start. They’re also shifting their focus to more art content, so if you want to see more of their work (and encourage them to keep blessing us with amazing art), go follow them!

Find them at @Mwahve on Instagram & TikTok and @Mwahv3 on Tumblr!

As for the demo, my goal is to have something ready by the end of spring break, but I’m not making any promises because learning Twine is still an uphill battle (send help).