They just hit you hard before you even know where they came from. Eventually you'll have a vague idea what direction or place they might have come from, but you wouldn't know why. Sometimes they've already struck somebody else and you're left wondering how you ended up walking down the same road as that person without ever crossing paths with them.

This weird phenomenon happened to me a bunch of times in the past. And it has happened again with Erebus. I had stories planned ready to be drawn once I had enough motivation to continue it. Then I decided to watch a bunch of movies on a whim. I watched Alien and its prequels. Its story is similar to what I planned for my own story. I did not realize it at first but once I did, I was amazed. Obviously it's not exactly identical, but the main story is similar. The only difference it that I could probably never achieve something as great and impactful. I have never watched these movies before but its influence is definitely present in a many things that I liked. And it's even made way before I was born. I researched about it and was amazed again at how much it was inspired by other works of art as well.

So I return to Erebus, my own story. I know that it's not exactly original at all but from what I have observed at everything that I talked about earlier, it just goes on a circle. Many ideas have been explored before and after Alien was released. They don't necessarily change the entirety of storytelling, they just spin the wheel to a different direction. And that's what I'll do with Erebus. Maybe I'll get bored with it and fail. Maybe I'll finally succeed. But there's one thing I want to believe: There are infinite invisible trucks out there, and each of them can go in any direction. Doesn't matter where, they all go somewhere. These may not be one thing afterall :/

I'm only 3 fans away from 333 fans. It's crazy. I have been trying out other stuff but I will get to posting drawings as soon as I can. I just re-read a comic I made a year ago and I think it would be fun to publish it here. It's around 60 pages but I cut some corners to make it shorter out of impatience so it will be much longer when posted here. Or shorter, I don't know.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who followed me.

(A sketch of my supposed entry in The Summertime in Wintertime Collab which I didn't get to finish because I have no motivation) (Even though it won't appear in the collab anymore, I'll still finish it this month, I hope)

• Started college again. Hope I don't fail this time...
• Barely drew anything
• Continued studying game design
• Binged all of Kung Fu Panda movies, enjoyed all of them.

I wasn't motivated enough to draw anything this month. Maybe because school is bothering me. Maybe because I hit an art block. Maybe both, I don't know. This month feels sad. Everyday felt the same and it was over before I knew it. The only good thing that happened was me getting inspiration from Kung Fu Panda. Maybe I will make fan art of the characters...

Will the next month be better?

I'm trapped in my imagination yet again. I wonder how I was able to produce a lot of art last month...

Maybe I'm still recharging my battery after those art. I hope I get to draw again soon.

• I published the 1st Chapter of Erebus. (9 more to go!)
• Made a short comic titled "Okay".
• Looked for comic feedback.
• Drew lots of Wanzu art, and received lots of amazing fan art.
• Joined NG Office Depths Collab.
• Discovered lots of cool pixel artists.
• Participated in Pixel Day.
• Made lots of pixel art.
• Started the Anastasia Project (Drew 76 Characters, 1013 to go!).
• Started re-learning how to make games.
• Failed the first term of college.

Overall, this month was okay... None of my individual works got frontpaged so it means that I can still make better artworks.

Anyway, hope this month is better :D

This month, I've paused the development of the comics that I'm working on to look for feedback and also think of what I really want to do for the years to come. Like....

• A combat-focused solo TTRPG system based on my Character Design/Comic Project (Anastasia Project)
• A text based/2D fighting game based the mechanics of the TTRPG

I'm planning on putting them here on Newgrounds. I know I can put games in here, though I'm not really sure how I'd post the TTRPG...

And while I have set some goals related to comics and illustration this year, I think these other goals would help me prevent creative blocks. I'm not really going to focus on them too much since my main goal is still to make drawings.

Anyway, I also want to make some kind of journal about the development of the TTRPG but I don't really know where to post it here. Maybe I'll just make a private one.

Joined a collab, it's fun. Discovered lots of awesome artists.

On the other hand, a bit sad that my other submission for Pixel Day didn't get featured, put a lot of effort into it. At least I had fun creating it and other people still found it to be good so my efforts aren't really wasted. Oh well, maybe next year.

Overall, Pixel Day 2024 was fun. Seen lots of cool pixel art and discovered lots of artists to get inspiration from.

Anastasia Project - Anastasians

The Anastasians are the daughters of Anastasia. They are the angels, devils, and fairies.

Angels - they are more inclined to develop their abstract abilities faster than the other two species.

Devils - they are more adept at mastering their apex form compared to the angels and fairies.

Fairies - they already have one form achieved at birth, however they cannot progress their other transformation until they master their first form.

All Anastasians have these powers:

Revival - they can always revive themselves when they die. Even if they are erased from existence.

Logic - they can bend reality to their will, forcing it to follow their own chains of reasoning.

Forms - they have various bodies that do many things.

In the life cycle of an Anastasian, it is possible to experience these phenomena:

Incarnation - when an Anastasian is born, she can be an incarnation of an Anastasian with a unique soul.

Reincarnation - an incarnated Anastasian can reincarnate to a new body once she achieves her absolute form and severe her connection from her incarnation, resulting in her soul becoming unique.

Transformations - they can change their appearance to acquire new abilities. Such transformations are classified into three categories:

Apocryphal - their base form which has half of the powers of their other two transformations. Though half as effective as the other forms, it is the most versatile form of the three.

Apex - a beast-like transformation. This form ignores logic. However, it is hard to control and can drive the user crazy.

Apotheosis - an abstract transformation. This form's logic is absolute. However, it is hard to achieve.

Once an Anastasian masters her two transformations, her Apocryphal form will change and become stronger as her two transformations finally merge into one; resulting in her Absolute form.

The soul

The soul of an Anastasian can be classified into three categories:

Nexus - a unique soul that is neither an incarnation or a reincarnation. Anyone who possesses this type of soul is weak from birth. 

Incarnated - a soul that is a replica of a unique soul with no memories of their previous life. Those who has this type of soul are born as strong as their soul-mother. These souls are connected to each other in many ways.

Reincarnated - those who possess this this soul is an exact copy of their previous self, unlike incarnations.

Around mid-2021, after getting frustrated with failing to even start a comic one after another, an idea popped up in my head. It's about a magical gunslinging cowboy devil girl riding dinosaurs in space.

Ever since then I have tweaked and experimented with how I wanted to tell this story. I've hit multiple problems of course, I've even gave it up at one point. But I really like the idea. So I kept going. I made a lot of drawings, plotted a bunch of disconnected and even contradicting storylines. A bunch of them made it in here. I was satisfied for a time. But a 2-part first chapter with barely any story is not what I wanted to make. I want something more, and so I got frustrated again. Made a new comic, this time I actually found a way to make comics in a way that I enjoy. Maybe I just cast off my pride and stopped trying to make the perfect piece of literature. But I was satisfied. For a time. Again.

I just can't let go of what I was developing for nearly 3 years. I have created lots of characters with unique stories. That's when I had an epiphany. I just want to draw characters. Telling stories was never the first thing that comes in my mind while thinking about comics. Maybe that's a bad way of thinking, but that realization is what made me want to start a "new" project: the Anastasia Project - where I just make character designs, put them in a grid, and tell a short story about it. It's going to take a while and I don't even know if I will be able to finish the goals that I've set myself up for this year because of it, but whatever. I just want to be happy. I know might stumble upon problems, but I want to be better this time and make it work.

Don't know if this news post is even coherent, but I want to put this here as a reminder of a new beginning.

I'll probably make an art thread about it, but I just don't know how to organize it yet :/

Main Goals:

Publish 10 Chapters of Erebus

Make a themed Wanzu art every month

Optional Goals:

Get Frontpaged

Reach 333 Fans

Do a themed "Drawing every day for 1 month"

Publish Anastasia chapters

Publish different one-shots

Most Important Goal: Be (mostly) happy and have fun living.

Note: Make an update post at the end of the year.