Patch 23.7.2014

Previous: Patch 3.6.2014

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WRITING

The more I write this arc the more it occurs to me that this arc is just wildly out there compared to the other two. In reality it's because I had a lot of brainwaves after finishing arc 2 that resulted in the writing style taking a drastic swing, but there's about a dozen ways to justify it. The predominant one is that this is the first arc in which Zephyr and Whimsy are together for most of it, so the former is less dry, less reserved, more laid back--the way you behave around friends/family vs. around a stranger.

The second biggest reason is that, if there was ever a spot to really open the world up, this one is it. Equestria is left behind in favor of...well, everything else. So I get to bring in cultures that differ based on the physical absence of the Princesses, the increased absence or presence of species that could prey on ponies, old traditions, so on and so forth. One of the tricky things is weaving in our mythology with theirs; I can't exactly run around not using puns for names of lands and so on, but at the same time it's canonically established that there are some parallels (some named) between our Earth and theirs. Photo Finish has a decidedly German accent, "French" is mentioned by name, as is Saddle Arabia, etc.

There's also something else I realized some time ago. I have several things already in place that enable a certain...tribute to a game I love. I just mentioned cultures; immortals that persist from era to era (Tia/Luna) will be called different things by different generations and different cultures, so it's reasonable to assume they went by the names of their Greek/Roman/etc. counterparts (Tia as Apollo, Helios, luna as Diana, Selene, Artemis, etc.). Naturally there's cultures outside of Greek/Roman with their own lunar/solar mythology, but...well. If you know me, you can probably figure out where I'm going with all this.

(Hurr durr, I'm so clever.)

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ART

So mental blocks and whatnot have intervened once again, and while I'm still working on all of that, I'm sorry to say I can't open commissions in good faith just yet. I don't have an ETA for when, but I feel confident the structure I mentioned in the last patch will remain the same. It just makes sense.

Part of what makes this difficult is that I'm terrible at relaxing and taking things easy. I take everything seriously. When it comes to art, this is not exactly the best of things. Being relaxed and not overfocused is incredibly useful when it comes to drawing (or any art, really). The essence of art is the soul, and to channel the soul you can't be uptight or stiff. It just has to flow, and...I'm bad at that.

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PERSONAL

So we're all settled in. I'm still frustrated as I haven't been drawing regularly as I really need to be, but I'm thinking at this point it might just be burnout. Yeah, I know, ironic that a guy who designed a character named Burnout doesn't respect it--but I'm starting to wonder if it' s just me trying to force it too hard, for too long.

What I think I need is a mental vacation. A chunk of time that I don't spend drawing, wherein--most importantly--I don't feel bad about not drawing. Ideally I wouldn't think about drawing, either, but that's not as important. One other thing is expectations; ironically I think I draw better when I'm not thinking about it beforehand. I don't know. It's tough.

In unrelated news, I'm on the fence about being reclusive. There's no arguing that I am nor that I want to be (I do), but the cost is becoming a little too clear. Not having someone I'm comfortable venting to (or taking venting from) is having noticeable effects on my mood. On bad days I sit around playing video games or sleeping, feeling guilty the whole time and not eating enough (which just makes it worse). I'm starting to wonder if keeping a journal or diary of some sort might help; just putting things into words does, frequently, but I only just thought of something.

I've kinda been wanting to run a Tumblr for a while, but I've tried a couple times before and neither time has worked out, partly due to lack of interest, mostly due to lack of dedication. I can solve the latter problem by featuring my OCs and the BWSD MLP-verse; I'm heavily personally invested in those and to no one's surprise I quite like teasing people with them. The main issue with that is that, well, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of interest, but at this point I'm not too fond of doing one for any canon pony.

So while there's all sorts of things that need to be considered before I can really do a BWSD Tumblr--when and how are these questions being asked, how can I create any kind of story arc without major spoilers--one thing I'm sure I want to do is take questions directed at literally any named character in the BWSD-verse (including dragons, gryphons, zebras--but wait, there's more!). If this sounds like something you'd be interested in reading (or if you have questions), please drop a comment. I'm seriously willing to commit to this, but only if there's enough interest.