It's been 9 months since I've updated my side site. If you follow my main site, you'll know that I am back, but the details will go here.
My last blog was pretty depressing. In the middle of last year, I finally caved into myself and accepted that I am not an artist that creates from pain, and that I had loads I wasn't handling. This lead to poor choices and easily being preyed on. But now, I'm in a much, MUCH better place, and this blogpost will go over ''IRL'' goings on and the future of my work.
Forstly, I'm now a dog groomer! I love love love my job and I use it as a base for supporting my artsy endeavors. My salon team is super supportive and I adore them as people and groomers both. I feel fulfilled whem I go into work despite it being a coperate gig-now all that's left is to fix my relationship to art.
I actually fixed it at the beginning of the year, when I jumped into Leimomi & The Witch, an idea I've had for a while but didn't make because I was fixated on The Little Guild on The Hill. But I realized that TLGotH carries way too much responsibility and weight for worldbuilding concepts and as a work that introduces things that I as a creator likes to explore.
Obviously, for people who have followed my...work (more liek failures to launch but hey! We're fixing it!) it's obvious who the witch is. I want to make sure every character gets their time to shine before TLGotH so that it doesn't have so much on it's plate. Showing backstories, linking those backstories back to the main story, side characters that seem random but have reasons to be there, all of it will be split into other works. The goal is to make a bunch of prequel (though they will be advertised as their own thing, I'd hate to replicate KH's problems) comics that give a feel for the world and a feel for Tovera's own unique worldbuilding as well.
The ideal release date is this winter for LatW, but it might be more like late winter, Jan-Feb of 2026. I work slowly and I want it to be carefully crafted and representative my new era of creation! I want to try to go indie again despite my jadedness, but I'm also open to tradpub. I'm actually leaning more tradpub because of the context I'm creating in. That being said, I do want to set up a webcomic format as well so that people that aren't in GA (and wherever else I'm going...more on that next paragraph!) can enjoy it. Plus, I want everyone that's sat by me and enjoyed what little I have shared to be able to finally have something tangible to consume.
As for more ''IRL'' stuff...I'm looking at leaving the country. I've come to realize that in order to finally blossom, I need to really leave behind my family, who I love. They believe in me, but they can't see how their inability to get it together sabotages everyone with less resources. It was common for people twice my age to ask for money or even put bills in my name because they have debts and financial problems that should not be my responsibility while I'm literally a broke college student making $150 a week. Yeah. No one can survive and get a good GPA in that kind of environment.
Therefore, I decided to look at the places that call to me. Pretty much everywhere else has cheaper education, especially for the arts, so I'm looking at Ireland right now! Shocker, I know. But Ballyformot has a very affordable arts program, and if I stay for a while grooming dogs I can eventually qualify for the cheap, cheap tuition...I think. Immigration stuff is a headache, but I'm planning my immigration as I go anyway. Right now the goal is getting certified for grooming in Ireland with a student visa, saving up to cover rent for a bit, and finding ways to survive THEIR housing crisis as I groom and make Tovera stuff. It's a lot, but I'm not scared. The situation in the US has set me free-I've always wanted to live abroad and go back to school, and now that I have a skill I can abuse it and get outta here!
Adulthood awaits. I've finally stepped into it, and I couldn't be happier. And I hope that it reflects in my work from now on.
Back to my work...I have other stories planned. If you recall, TLGotH had a main character roster that was pretty big-the guild of Fairy Knoll. These characters have changed dramatically over the last year, and I've decided to make their backstories and how they met into their own stories as well. The aim is less than 10 volumes. LatW is my test run, and covers Luana's time being a familiar to a girl in a colonized country, Keona. And yes, Tovera is the cause. LatW covers some Celtic and Polynesian (Hawai'ian in specific) mythology, alongside my own little additions to both. The goal is a measly two volumes at 200 or less pages across both.
Lastly, the main site needs an overhaul since many things were rewritten and there's TONS of typos in the little zine I made about mages. It isn't too outdated, but it's an eyesore now. I hope to deliver more small goodies as I work on LatW, and I thank everyone for being cool and still interested even after I failed to deliver again and again.
This update was all over the place, but I'm so excited for what's next that I didn't know what to share first! Before this gets any longer, I'll end it here and say keep your eyes peeled, and thanks for everything. I love Neocities, and even if I go tradpub I'll never forget this place. Until next time!
4/6/25
