#braveskyesays

[braveskyered]

Progress Report for Part 20

Okay, so it looks like we're going to have a repeat of last time where I literally have to race the Outline Time Bomb again. Fun.

Being full time does not give me a lot of free time to do stuff.

Good news is, the text for Part 20 is almost done. I just need to write two more connecting scenes and finalizing the text for the end of it and we're good.

Bad new is, the illustrations are... tricky. I have at least five planned, but my intention is to get the two needed for the end of Part 20 completed and then post it as it is.

I can't say when exactly Part 20 will be out, but it definitely will be before May 30th.

Thanks for your understanding, and stay safe out there.

Okay, back to work now.

[braveskyered]

...Update

Hello, everyone. You're probably wondering why things have been pretty quiet.

Unfortunately, things have gotten really hectic since after the holidays. People are getting sick with COVID-19 left and right at work, and I've been working overtime every now and then to help maintain the schedule. Somehow, my family and I are fortunate enough to not get sick. If we did, we hadn't noticed.

Things are going to be even more quiet around here for a while, as a beloved family friend that I knew my whole life, a Vietnam War veteran that was like a grandfather to me, finally passed away last week after a month-long battle with COVID-19. Because the only local survivors of his family are his now widowed wife (and two sons currently quarantined in their own homes with their own families), my father and I have to help them with funeral arrangements.

Knights Part 20 is currently on the back burner for now. I intend to get it out before the end of May so the Outline Time Bomb won't go off, but we'll just have to see.

There will be a new Dames this coming weekend. I meant to finish it for Valentine's Day, but what I mentioned above happened. I'm sorry for these delays.

As always, I thank you for your understanding, and please stay safe.

[braveskyered]

Part 19 will be out November 30th.

The time bomb will not go off just yet.

[braveskyered]

Yay, I released Part 19 just before the outline time bomb went off. Whoo.

Did I mention I had to rewrite that monster like three times? That was difficult.

Part 20 is in the works, and since I'm past one of the hard parts, it shouldn't take me six months to work on it.

Not going to lie, but it is pretty difficult to have a life when you work on a second shift schedule while living with others that work first shift schedules.

Either way, I thank you for enjoying Knights, and I hope you stick around for the ride.

I look forward to writing the final obstacle. This is gonna be fun...

[braveskyered]

Progress Report

Hey, everyone.

Some bad news is that Part 19 will not be ready by August 31st like I hoped.

Ever since I started my full time job back in late June, almost all my free time has essentially vanished since it happened to start at the same time mandatory overtime did, which meant I had been working for six days a week instead of the usual five. As such, progress on Knights has slowed down to a crawl once I take care of the essentials in my life first.

I did receive a rather unsavory ask from an anon saying I should actually have more time to work since the pandemic started and people have started working remotely. Unfortunately, that's not the case for my job, which has me assembling and welding parts, which can't be done remotely. And even if I could start working remotely, it wouldn't have changed much because you can't exactly goof off on the clock, so to speak.

That being said, there is some good news.

Part 19 is still in the works. It's slow, and maybe not as smooth as I'd like since I'm trying to get it all together just right, but it's slowly getting there.

Also, the mandatory overtime will stop after this week, so starting in September I will he working five days a week again. This will give me some more free time to work on Knights.

I hope you all stay safe and alert, and not anxious.

And finally, here is a thumbnail sketch for a scrapped past illustration.

[braveskyered]

The Future

So now that The Future is out, what does this mean for Knights?

Fortunately, not much. I actually managed to get at least half of The Future's plot right when planning the outline for Knights, which is kinda hilarious in hindsight. The plot I have in mind for Knights will go on like I had written it.

That being said, seeing the video has made me a bit reluctant to use one obstacle in the plot. The final one, to be more specific.

I can't really talk about it, but in the end, I decided to just go with it. I'll continue to use the result of the obses-- Oops!

I better stop before I say too much.

[braveskyered]

Progress Report for Knights

Hey, everyone! It's been a while.

The good news is that Part 19 is progressing fairly smoothly.

The only bad news would be that I came up with a better draft to let the story flow more smoothly, so the text of Part 19 went from about 50% to all the way back to 20%. This may sound bad at first, but I feel that this will serve us better in the long run, mostly because by looking at the previous draft, one scene dragged on for way too long, and nobody wants that.

Even though I'm now working full-time from five to six days a week (mandatory overtime shenanigans), I will keep working on Knights whenever I can.

I don't have a specific period of time when Part 19 will be completed, but my goal is around the end of August so far at the rate I'm writing while working.

Despite all this, I feel that the longer wait will be worth it, so I thank you all for your understanding and patience.

After all...

We only just want to have fun.

[braveskyered]

@37054ljh

“We all have 10,000 bad drawings in us, the sooner we get them out the better.” – Walt Stanchfield

Ah, yes, self portraits with realism for art classes. Fun times!

I thank you for your kind words!

Sure, while I can draw better than some and there are numerous people out there that can draw much better than me, I personally don’t think of it as a competition. I just love it when people draw at all, because at the very least, they created something!

The biggest reason I make illustrations for Knights is because one, I often feel having a picture can help make a reader understand the story better; and two, I’m not that great at story-telling and use them as padding to break down the monotony.

I actually intend on releasing the thumbnails I did for ideas that didn’t quite make the cut once Knights is finished. And let me tell you, most of them are pretty bad. Regardless, I’m still proud of them because without those doodles, I wouldn’t have been able to find the proper ideas that did work in the final drawings.

All that being said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of your drawings, but I’m sure they look lovely! You did draw something, after all!

And now here’s my quote.

“Draw even if you suck!” - BraveSkye

[braveskyered]

Health Update

Recently, I discovered that I may or may not be developing symptoms akin to carpel tunnel syndrome, which is a welder's worst nightmare.

I plan on scheduling an appointment with a doctor or chiropractor to get my wrist looked at as soon as possible. If it is carpal tunnel, this will mean we can probably catch it early and treat it.

This also means, by extension, that I'll have to resort to using simple sketches as illustrations for Knights for the time being. I intend on finishing the the coloring for one illustration of Part 19, but that will probably be it until I'm sure my wrist is properly looked at.

I thank you all for your understanding, and please remember to stay safe and take care of yourselves.

[braveskyered]

Progress Report on Knights

Hey, everyone.

I know it's been almost three months since Knights was last updated, so please accept my apologies. Things have just been really crazy lately, especially during these uncertain times.

I do have some good news, though. If all goes well, Part 18 will be out by May 31st. Otherwise, it might be delayed until June 6th. I just have one more scene to write, and then I have to do my usual rounds of finishing my illustrations for it, and carefully reading it so there wouldn't be any continuity errors like there was last time. That was embarrassing.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I've managed to get a position at the aerospace company I was interning in last week, which is really exciting. I'm actually accomplishing my goal of finishing my two year program and getting a job in that field!

That being said, though, as I'm sure you can see, I don't have as much free time as I used to. Regardless, I intend to finish Knights and I will do my best to make your wait worth it.

Until then, please wait just a little while longer.

And when you least expect it...

[braveskyered]

The things I do to make Knights more... chilling.

So many drawings, so little time.

I hope you understand what you're getting yourself into...

[braveskyered]

Updated Part 9 so it would (finally) have the improved illustration and made a minor retcon of Arthur's background so it would make more sense in the long run.

[braveskyered]

Continuing from the previous ask...

Context

The long answer is under the cut, although there’s a possibility some of you won’t think of me the same way again after this. If so, sorry about that.

First, I myself had really bad depression starting around 2011 and had to get counseling. It’s nowhere as bad as it used to be ever since I took myself in a different direction back in late 2017 - early 2018. I changed career paths in school (and recently graduated!), cut myself off from some toxic people, met some new friends, took up riding bicycles as a new hobby to get out of the house more, got myself a new job, and things in life just became better for me in general. Sure, there are a few times here and there where I briefly lapse back into that depressive state, but I found that just talking about it loud, regardless if someone is there or not, can help sort it out. Give it a shot if you have that problem.

To cope with this depression back then, I kept writing an original work that essentially weaponizes mental health issues of sorts. It’s pretty messed up, so I won’t say much about that. Ever since I’ve recovered from most of my depression, I haven’t been around to bring ideas on what to do with it. Eh... maybe in the future.

Second, before I went into my current career, I was training to be a nurse. To even get into the program, you have to take many courses in not just anatomy and physiology, the science of the human body, but also in psychology, which is the science of the mind. It does talk about various mental health issues one could have, and the various behaviors such patients would have because of it. When doctors and nurses say they’ve seen it all, they’ve seen it all.

Third, because of the above in combination with my depression and the temptation to push up daisies, I eventually developed a liking for survival horror games, especially those that talk about mental health issues, and seeing how many ways you can get your character to meet their end. My personal favorites being The Evil Within, Silent Hill, Outlast, Dark Deception, and some others.

Fourth, even though I’ve left nursing, I’ve never fully let go of my habit of reading medical documents or my textbooks. I’ve never let go of my desire to learn random subjects that fascinate me, either. Everything you learn provides really good writing material, so use what you’ve learned and go from there.

Fifth, after I’ve managed to recover from my depression, I feel that I’ve gained a new outlook on life of sorts. Whenever I see someone younger than me that feels down, I try to be nothing but encouraging for them, I know which boundaries not to cross, but sometimes I have to put my foot down to make sure this person gets the push they need to take the initiative by themselves and get the help they need.

Finally, I’ve actually had the opportunity to talk with other people with their own mental health issues. I asked them questions about how they see, hear, and feel, and most of them have some very interesting answers.

Remember, to write a story, you write everything down, and then rearrange it to make it into a story.

[braveskyered]

Knights Part 18 will arrive May 30th.

This is to allow me to make sure there will not be any formatting problems like last time. I apologize for the three month wait, but I hope this will be worth it.

During these last few hours of waiting, I suggest you take a moment remember what you're getting yourself into.

And when you least expect it...

[braveskyered]

An Announcement...

Well, I didn't think it would come to this so soon, but life isn't easy.

Even though I'm still in school through online classes, I will be working up to 40 hours this week, so Knights Part 18 will most likely be delayed. I plan to finish it in mid May, but it might be even longer.

My family has not been infected by the virus yet, but we're all trying to be as careful as we can. Unfortunately, I'm not one of the employees that can work remotely, so chances are, I will probably be among the infected.

And... there's a chance I might not survive.

I left a backup plan in case this does happen. The outline of Knights will be revealed on October 13, 2020 if I do not live to update the story, but here's to hoping it doesn't come to that.

I wish for all of you to be safe, and stay alert, not anxious.

[braveskyered]

Soon, I will be streaming a Let’s Play of the freeware horror game Ib by kouri on Friday, February 7th at 8:00 pm in US Eastern time.

Let’s see how my first adventure in a haunted art gallery goes.

(Do note that the guest chat has been completely disabled in Picarto, so if you wish to participate, you will need to create an account.)