Tober on page 579
Hi guys. I haven't given up or died. Outside of a sudden accident or misadventure, I probably won't do either without saying something first. I didn't know the website was down; I'll try to monitor it more closely.
In lieu of new content, I'll tell you what's been going on.
I have a plan to get better, but not all of the steps are within my control, so there's a lot of waiting at the moment. I have to say you're all suffering the wait better than I am. Your messages and patience really do make me feel a lot better. If even one of you makes it to the next page, it's more than I deserve.
I can't draw yet, and I don't know when I will be able to.
But I have improved, and I've started working myself up to the task day by day. I've mostly been writing my next webcomic. Writing is easier than drawing. If BSS is science fiction, this one is fantasy. I think it'll be a good one, even if we're definitely all going to die of old age before I can finish it. Current estimates put the finished thing at about 3000 pages, and I already have the bones of a sequel. I gotta be honest, at this point I'm kind of betting on AI programs advancing enough that they can eventually help me draw/render it at a faster pace.
So this is my hard-learned lesson of the past few months: writing fantasy is a hydra. Every finished plot thread inspires at least two more. Any move towards completing it will only push that completion twice as far away. If you get too far in, only Athena can save you (or possibly an AI).
It's definitely taught me to be less critical of George R. R. Martin. It's a miracle there are any completed fantasy works at all.