23rd Aug 2020, 7:10 PM
Brief Hiatus
So, everything's fine, MDA isn't in any danger of ending or anything like that, but shit happens and boy howdy does it
The short version: Eh, maybe another month or two at the longest and I'll be back to updating as normal hopefully, in the mean time I am working on a game
The long, sloppy version: I think a lot of you could probably tell I have anxiety in real life just from reading how I write about anxiety, lmao. Cool things about anxiety include the fact that it doesn't always have a particular cause, and that can it remove your ability to do things that aren't in any way involved with said anxiety. My living / financial / social / everything meatspace situation is a big honking mess right now, and I'm still trying to navigate the world of prescribed medication in a small town with bad doctors. My brain is not in a good writing place. Trying to escape myself to get in the head of fictional characters is not happening, at present.
And this has happened before! Frequently, I might add. I'm too frazzled to find escapism in the imagination, and instead only find it by zoning out entirely (and getting sucked into numbers and minutia). My dad almost died in late 2018 due to a head injury; I was writing Blood is Mine at the time--it went on hiatus, and I made a game called Labyrneath. I went on another hiatus stressing about not much in particular (my general situation wasn't great then, either, tbf) and made a Labryneath II. Point is, I think this is just my natural brain cycle, ebbing and flowing like the tides. I'm in a pretty fucked up place mentally right now, but I'm also working on another game. Give it some time, the gears tend to switch back pretty quickly
(Have you ever seen Iron Man 3? I relate it to Iron Man 3, like how trauma pushes Tony to just pump out one suit after another and they're not even necessarily good, he just feels like has to work on SOMETHING so he works on something simple and repetitive because he can't think clearly enough to do anything else. I am Iron Man 3-ing right now)
What can you do in the mean time?
1.) Read the story that came before MDA if you haven't already, Blood is Mine
2.) Play Labyrneath? Warning, it has big anime boobies in it for marketing reasons (I'm not proud, but it is what it is)
3.) Sign up for my Patreon, and get rad previews of shit when I have shit to preview
4.) I actually have some gameplay for my current depression game ready to mess with (some folks on the discord have already got to goof around with a super early build of it) but Gamejolt, where I'm hosting it, has been doing maintenance for like two days straight. I will very soon have playable demo action of browser game for you to enjoy, it's gonna be a Mario fangame for complicated personal and professional reasons that would take an entire separate blogpost to go into but it's gon be good
I'll probably move the game previews to patreon exclusive once I'm done desperately digging for as much feedback on gamefeel as humanly possible
edit: oh and 5.) we have a very active discord that is not a cult but if you already own a robe that would be very convenient
edit (10/12/20): oh yeah baby it's genetic brain problems we are having difficulty medicating properlly and also my graphics card is going out, it's gonna be a little longer. Check out http://arenaarcadia.com if you like writing and new weird forum projects
The short version: Eh, maybe another month or two at the longest and I'll be back to updating as normal hopefully, in the mean time I am working on a game
The long, sloppy version: I think a lot of you could probably tell I have anxiety in real life just from reading how I write about anxiety, lmao. Cool things about anxiety include the fact that it doesn't always have a particular cause, and that can it remove your ability to do things that aren't in any way involved with said anxiety. My living / financial / social / everything meatspace situation is a big honking mess right now, and I'm still trying to navigate the world of prescribed medication in a small town with bad doctors. My brain is not in a good writing place. Trying to escape myself to get in the head of fictional characters is not happening, at present.
And this has happened before! Frequently, I might add. I'm too frazzled to find escapism in the imagination, and instead only find it by zoning out entirely (and getting sucked into numbers and minutia). My dad almost died in late 2018 due to a head injury; I was writing Blood is Mine at the time--it went on hiatus, and I made a game called Labyrneath. I went on another hiatus stressing about not much in particular (my general situation wasn't great then, either, tbf) and made a Labryneath II. Point is, I think this is just my natural brain cycle, ebbing and flowing like the tides. I'm in a pretty fucked up place mentally right now, but I'm also working on another game. Give it some time, the gears tend to switch back pretty quickly
(Have you ever seen Iron Man 3? I relate it to Iron Man 3, like how trauma pushes Tony to just pump out one suit after another and they're not even necessarily good, he just feels like has to work on SOMETHING so he works on something simple and repetitive because he can't think clearly enough to do anything else. I am Iron Man 3-ing right now)
What can you do in the mean time?
1.) Read the story that came before MDA if you haven't already, Blood is Mine
2.) Play Labyrneath? Warning, it has big anime boobies in it for marketing reasons (I'm not proud, but it is what it is)
3.) Sign up for my Patreon, and get rad previews of shit when I have shit to preview
4.) I actually have some gameplay for my current depression game ready to mess with (some folks on the discord have already got to goof around with a super early build of it) but Gamejolt, where I'm hosting it, has been doing maintenance for like two days straight. I will very soon have playable demo action of browser game for you to enjoy, it's gonna be a Mario fangame for complicated personal and professional reasons that would take an entire separate blogpost to go into but it's gon be good
I'll probably move the game previews to patreon exclusive once I'm done desperately digging for as much feedback on gamefeel as humanly possible
edit: oh and 5.) we have a very active discord that is not a cult but if you already own a robe that would be very convenient
edit (10/12/20): oh yeah baby it's genetic brain problems we are having difficulty medicating properlly and also my graphics card is going out, it's gonna be a little longer. Check out http://arenaarcadia.com if you like writing and new weird forum projects
Rate this comic:
average rating: 4.33
(Minor - it's been bugging me, anyone mind reminding me of the name of the third comic (not BiM or MDA, the one with the cowgirls and such)?)
Also, good luck with the game Morg!
also check out arenaarcadia.com
Though I know how much it sucks to have a genetic illness.
I got psoriasis and it constantly trying to consume my face. Doc says it may grow through joints, ugh...
I hope you'll be able to hold your shit together and wish you good luck!