February 2025 News: The Reality of the Situation

Howdy and hello, friends!

I don’t know about you, but for me, the last month and a half have felt both endless and instantaneous. January felt like it would never end, and now, suddenly, we’re halfway through February. Time is strange and mysterious.

My main creative focus for 2025 since releasing The Devil That Knows You Chapter 2 has been gamedev, a word that my web browser insists is a typo but is in fact a real thing. I had a breakthrough while working on a little widget; I learned that Unity saves its Saved Variables to the Windows registry, which is not something I want to do for the use cases I was using it for, so I had to spend a few days trying to figure out a solution that isn’t inherently busted. I feel like that’s what a lot of the coding side of gamedev is for me at the moment: Find out something I assumed was easy is actually a using an atrocious workaround, and figure out the actual right way to do it.

Bigger picture gamedev-wise, I’ve been having some revelations about planning out the game and recognizing that I’m not quite as far along as I thought I was, which is somewhat disappointing, but also relieving. My projects for the rest of February on that front are learning a new tool I’ve downloaded and writing out a gameplay document so I have something to reference instead of vague ideas. After that I should be ready to jump back properly into development. Hooray!

The Devil That Knows You Chapter 3’s writing is still underway. If we can be perfectly honest with each other (and I certainly hope we can be), the response to Chapter 2 has been disheartening. According to my Site Stats, its page has 18 views as of this writing, and none of those 18 views have led to a PayPal or ko-fi donation, the only way I’ll make money off of my labor making the comic. I wish I didn’t have to think about making art in those terms, but if I want to keep the dream alive of being an artist full-time (which, spoiler alert, I do), I have to at least consider the financial reality of the situation, and the financial situation is a big ol’ thumbs-down emoji at the moment for webcomics in general. I had hoped that releasing the comic as a cohesive unit would lead to better success, but so far, TDTKY‘s success has been roughly the same as DWATC or The Guildmistress‘s, which is to say “effectively none in financial terms.”

I know the economy is dire for just about everyone who’s not actively working to dismantle the U.S. government these days, but unless you’re in the top 1% of comic artists, you’re probably not earning a living wage from your art, and if you’re not in the top 1% of that top 1%, you’re just barely keeping your head above water. It’s really, really bad for comic artists, y’all. I think it’s usually bad for comic artists, but a vicious combination of the rise of generative “artificial intelligence” and the consolidation of media under the big studios has made it hard for anything to break through and capture people’s attention. The struggle, as famously advertised, is real.

Similar story with The Hartvane Chronicles Book II. I don’t think I’ve sold a copy of Book I since 2023, and it’s been hard for me to get excited about diving back into that world (pun fully intended) while dreading another tepid response.

I know that there are people out there making things and having people read/watch/play them and having those things spread to other people, but having that happen to me feels so distant right now. The hard work of being known on the internet feels like it’s harder than it’s ever been, and I was never any good at it to begin with. I wish it wasn’t a prerequisite to reaching more than 18 people, but maybe it is.

Which leaves me with the choice: Do I work hard at being better at marketing myself? Or do I make peace with being an artist who will likely never reach beyond my very, very close friends with my art?

It’s a question I’m wrestling with. And one I have wrestled and will wrestle with. I think I’ve written a version of the back half of this post a dozen times, and I’ll probably write it another dozen times.

Thanks to those of y’all who have been and will be with me on this ride for them. You’re appreciated more than words can say.

<3,
Josh

Onward to 2025

Hello, friends! Long time no write. I’ll try and do better about that.

In a way that is surely unique to me, 2024 was a weird year for me. I had planned to get three major projects done: A novel, The Hartvane Chronicles Book II; A New Comic (which turns out to be The Devil That Knows You); and progress on Star-Crossed Mercenaries, the game I’m making. If I had to give myself a letter grade for these projects, I’d give an F, B+, and C+, respectively. Let me explain why!

The Hartvane Chronicles Book II is essentially no further along now than it was this time last year. Part of that is getting stuck on plot points that I still haven’t figured out how to line up, and part of that is just not working on it (which is the best way to get those plot points unstuck). I did the least writing this past year compared with the past… decade, I think? I’ve been more focused on other things, and honestly, the… limited response to Book I certainly hasn’t lit a fire under me to write the second one. I still want to write it, mind you, and fully intend to, but it’s harder to generate the enthusiasm when I’m the only one working on doing so.

The Devil That Knows You was originally supposed to release on a twelve-pages-every-three-months schedule, but after getting the first twelve out the door, I realized just how big of an ask that is for a single person to do. I’ve finished the next fourteen pages, and once I have the cover and other non-story pages done, that will be available on the internet! Probably late January/early February, I’ll have a specific release date soon. I’m very happy with the 26 pages I’ve made so far, and I’m looking forward to sharing the rest of the story once I have them drawn up to share with y’all!

Star-Crossed Mercenaries is still in pre-pre-development as I work on its prototype game to work out whether the mechanics I want to put into the game will work or not. The technical side is going very well, all things considered, but there are some gameplay elements where I still need to figure out how I want to treat them, and that’s holding up development a bit. The prototype will be my main priority once I get the current batch of The Devil That Knows You pages out the door, so hopefully I’ll have exciting news in the coming months!

I’ve also started two projects over on my Twitch channel! The Backlog Busters Brigade is (almost) every Tuesday evening, and it’s a chance to play those games that I still haven’t finished with my pals. It’s a fun time! The second project is Final Fantasy d12, where I play through the first twelve mainline Final Fantasy games (except 11 is X-2 because XI wouldn’t work for the format) and switch between them after every battle I can. It’s very silly and I’m currently making a program that will make it easier for me to keep track of where I’m at in the games. That’s also been on a bit of a hiatus, but it should be coming back in the next few weeks!

If you’re a careful reader, you might notice that a lot of things have been on the back burner. There are two big reasons for that: Burnout and getting a day job! I rolled into 2024 with a plan, and when it went off the rails around March, it got me into a bit of a funk. I was still working on things, but with much less enthusiasm. Then Patreon decided to do its silly nonsense for the year, which was finally enough to push me off their platform, and it turn was enough to convince me to start the job hunt in earnest. I’m not going to say where I’m employed, and I certainly know better than to besmirch my employer on the internet, but I will say that if I could make a living wage making things for y’all instead of working for somebody else, that would be an easy decision for me. (After I gave my employer appropriate notice, of course.) I have longer thoughts about the problem we’re running into with the pay gap between tiers of creative people and the issues that arise from that, but those thoughts aren’t firmly set yet, and I’d certainly like to at least take a stab at a solution, which I haven’t formulated yet, so I’ll leave it at that little hint for now.

I think that’s it for now? I’ll try to be better about posting here more often! If you’d like to support me financially and are able to do so, the best places for that are PayPal and Ko-fi. If you’d like to support me in an even more meaningful way, please, please, please recommend the things I make that you like to your friends. I’m hoping that 2025 is the year I figure out the whole “Market What I Make to People” thing, but while I’m trying, any help you can give to invite people in is greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Internet Pals! See y’all ’round the web.

Love,
Josh

Some Brief Thoughts About the Pervasive Presence of Generated Content

WordPress wants me to use their AI tools. When I add an image, it asks if I want to upload one, use one from my library, or generate one. This made me wonder, why would you add an AI-generated image to your post?

What could be gained from an AI-generated image in this post that’s tangibly different from me writing “think about or look up a picture of (insert whatever my AI prompt would be here)” instead? I think the answer is that we’ve come to expect a certain amount of filler from our internet browsing, and when it’s not there, it feels wrong.

Maybe that’s what we need, though. An embrace of minimalism, or at least a friendly handshake with it. Maybe Twitter was better when it was 140 characters or fewer. Limits can be helpful, not just for fostering creativity in how to communicate despite them, but for allowing more room for more voices.

There are many good reasons to dislike AI. I concur with many of them, but I am not here to preach about them today. I will, however, say that an internet that is less crowded with generative content is an internet I prefer, and the only choice I can take to make it so is the same only choice most of us can make: to not use it myself. An internet that makes it easier for me to see the work that other humans have spent time making for me to enjoy is an internet I will gladly fight for, and forsaking generative content to make it so is an easy sacrifice to make for me. The rest of the internet may not be so easily convinced, but it has to start somewhere.

A Farewell to Patreon, and On to New Beginnings

Earlier this month, I disabled my Patreon account after seven years as a creator on the site and switch over to Ko-fi. Their recent decision to force all creators to switch what they were doing regarding payment timing because of Apple’s policies was the final straw for me, and it’s honestly a decision that was overdue. While I am deeply grateful to everyone who supported me, Patreon is not a place I ever felt valued by the powers that be.

Not that this is a new or unique phenomenon, mind you! I don’t think that Meta or Twitter or Tumblr or Twitch or any of the other places I’ve tried to set up shop have been particularly writer-slash-comic-creator-slash-gamedev-slash-streamer-friendly. The difference between those sites and Patreon, however, is that Patreon had better community features to make them a better fit for smaller-audience’d creators, and has been actively stripping them out recently to make themselves more appealing to bigger-audience’d creators. That, combined with my diminishing support there, prompted me to seek out greener pastures.

It is not a given that any artist will be able to support themselves with their art, and I consider myself fortunate to receive any kind of payment for my work. With that said, my original vocation of choice (teaching collegiate math) has all but closed its doors to me, and I do need to eat food to keep living, so I’m going to allow myself to be somewhat more gimmicky and annoying in an attempt to get more eyes on my work and bring in more revenue while still making everything as free as it can be for everyone. I often tell myself the excuse that I’m not very good at marketing myself, but honestly, that’s just a bad combination of pride preventing myself from doing anything that might make myself foolish and anxiety preventing me from doing anything that might annoy people. I’m gonna be foolish! I’m gonna be annoying! And I’m gonna make some damn good art while I’m doing it!

So we start with this. You can support me over at Ko-fi, basically the same way you could at Patreon! It also allows for one-time tips as well as commissions. Any of the above are treasured and appreciated!

I’m working on fun and exciting ways to get your attention without wasting your time, and I hope to have more details soon. For now, if you have a friend who might be interested in some of my 500+ pages of comics, why not point ’em in the direction of your favorite? I’d appreciate it bunches. 💚

That’s all for now! Hopefully you’ll be hearing from me more often on here now that my Patreon’s shuttered. See you around, friend!

An Annual Check-In

Hello, friends!

Wow, 2023 sure has been, and will continue to be, a year! And 2024 will, most likely, also be a year! Here’s what I’ve done, and what I’ll be doing in the future!

The Past

The Guildmistress: End of an Era

After six years of weekly comics, The Guildmistress wrapped up in May! I’m immensely proud of it, and I learned a lot while making it. Do I wish more people had read it while it was active, and will read it in the future? Yes, absolutely! Do I know how to solve that problem? No, I do not! My attempts at improving my reach have been so unsuccessful over the years that I’ve largely accepted that I’ve carved out my little niche of weirdos, and I’m only going to add to that collection slowly, very slowly. That makes making money off of the art-making difficult, but I don’t know any other way, so I’m going to keep at it!

The Hartvane Chronicles Book I: The Outcast and the Chosen One

My second novel, and my first good novel! (Souls Incorporated is fine and it’s still very dear to my heart, but it also has a lot of flaws that I’ve learned from, hopefully.) Hartvane is such a wonderful world, and I love to write in it. From those kind souls who have read it and told me nice things about it, I understand that they enjoy it, also, which gives me motivation to work on Book II! (Also, Book I is available for 20% off this week on itch.io for its birthday, which is also my birthday!)

There was also a companion comic for The Hartvane Chronicles that I was posting on Twitter back when it was Twitter and I was still on Twitter, but I kinda lost steam when a) it didn’t seem to be driving in sales and b) I realized the little story I was telling didn’t have enough juice to keep it interesting for me to draw. That happens! No matter how well you plan out a story, sometimes you can get to it and go, “Oh, this wasn’t actually anything.” Nobody ever asked for the next page, so I’m okay with it staying unfinished and focusing on other things!

The Present

Twitch Streams

I’m still streaming on Twitch! Almost every week! Like I’ve been doing for over a year now!

There was a period where I was making a real effort to make Twitch at least a part-time-job-level gig, but while Twitch streams are significantly easier than the other projects I’m mentioning here, they’re emotionally draining, and I was burning myself out with so many streams. Now I’m doing about three streams a week, and that seems to be a good rhythm for me. Is my current repertoire of Tim Schafer adventure games and PS1/PS2-era Final Fantasy games gonna be everyone’s cup of tea? No! Do I care? …I mean, it’d be a lie to say a blanket “No,” but I’ve tried chasing the crowd and gotten nowhere with it, so I’m just gonna do my own thing and be happier with myself!

It’s hard for me to get people hyped for a chill stream (that occasionally gets a bit more intense when the chocobos refuse to show up), but that’s exactly what I’m building, and if that doesn’t draw in the clicks, then so be it! I’ll keep doing my thing anyway.

Patron-Picked Art

On the first day of every month (schedule permitting), I post a piece of art based on my Patreon Pals’ suggestions/poll choices! This most recent one was Sailor Awoo, which is “What if Sailor Moon was a werewolf?” It’s a question that we all have asked or should have asked, and I’m happy to have answered it.

The Patron-Picked Art has kept my skills sharp post-Guildmistress, and given me room to explore a lot of fun topics I wouldn’t have considered otherwise. If you want to suggest something, then a) support me on Patreon, and b) leave me a comment when I ask for prompt ideas! (Just voting in the poll is also good, but I would love to draw a bona fide request for someone. The dream…)

The Future

The Hartvane Chronicles Book II: Title Pending

I still have a lot of work to do here. I got about… 20% of the way into a first draft before I bailed on it, and that was about four months ago now. I have some big ideas of what’s going to happen in Book II, but making all of those pieces fit into place is tricky! I’m hoping to have Book II out in Spring of 2025, but there are some substantial error bars on that estimate. Stay tuned for more details!

Star-Crossed Mercenaries

SCM is a Lite RPG/visual novel video game set in the 24th century, focused on a wannabe pilot thrown into the middle of alien diplomacy, interplanetary conflict, and corporate subterfuge. What will Mavery decide is right or wrong when an entire galaxy of choices is before her? And, perhaps more importantly, is her new captain… y’know… interested interested in her, or…?

Star-Crossed Mercenaries still has a metric butt-ton of work left to go (still in pre-production), but I would love to have it done in the 2026-27 timeframe. Fingers crossed!

I’m also working on a prototype/proof-of-concept game that will use a lot of the same mechanics. That’ll be done sooner (which makes intuitive sense), but is probably too full of inside references for anyone but its pixel-precise audience to enjoy it. …Which means it’s probably gonna be a breakout hit, now that I’ve said that.

The Devil You Know (title pending)

When a dungeon crawl breaks bad and a novice cleric is forced to make an impossible call on behalf of their paladin escort, all sorts of shenanigans ensue. In this upcoming comic, new companions create hellish complications, but maybe a little bit of complication is exactly what’s needed!

The Devil You Know (or whatever it’s gonna be called) will come out in issues of reasonable length (15-40 pages? Still figuring that part out), and I hope to have the first one done and posted on the internet in June 2024!

Wrap-Up

Wow, that’s a lot of stuff! And the Twitch streams and Patron-Picked Art, too? You might be asking, “How can I help?” Well, I’m glad you (might have) asked!

-Share my stuff on the internet! Do you have a friend who likes gay mermaid pirate stories? Tell them about The Hartvane Chronicles! Does your co-worker keep saying that nobody’s streaming the exact combination of Tim Schafer games and the PS1/PS2-era Final Fantasy games these days? Point them to my Twitch stream! Does your uncle’s mechanic’s niece’s choreographer like webcomics? Show them The Guildmistress and Don’t Worry About Their Classes! These are all good ideas that anyone can execute, definitely. There is no doubt in my mind that these are all equally universal

–Join my Discord server! It’s a very chill place, and it’s the best place to hear about the latest news from me. You’ll also get to see some Jake pictures in there, and if you don’t want to see the world’s cutest cat, then I don’t think there’s anything I can give you that would grab your interest

–Catch my Twitch streams! Follow me! Chat in the chat! Subscribe, if your funds allow! Don’t worry about it, if they don’t! Even if you don’t have a particular interest in the game, I’m always happy to have someone to chat with in the stream

–Support me on Patreon! Money is helpful for securing goods and services, plus it’s a nice boost to know that someone believes in me enough that they want to show that with their wallet. (Like with Twitch, I recognize that this isn’t financially viable for everyone! But it’s greatly appreciated if it is)

There are probably other things, but those are the things that come to mind right now!

Hopefully I’ll have some more news to share soon. Until then, see you around the internet!