On being laid off and making a comic

 Last week I was laid off from the job I wrote about back in January 2024 (Happy New Year). It was four of us, the PM bake crew, in a small meeting they called the day before. I had assumed it was just a check-in for some of us so I wasn't worried. In 2 minutes they gave us the schpeal and ended the call, effective immediately so I didn't have to go to work that day lol. I'm not all that sad or distressed, at the time I was more stunned than anything- I'm a terrific employee and I've worked very hard everywhere I've been. They stressed that our employment was a financial strain and they couldn't justify it. That feels a lot better than being fired for being a piss-poor worker. 

Whatever, you experience something new every day. I still have a paycheck left to come in early February for all the work I did beforehand. It'll also come cushioned with all of my leftover PTO time (of which I took none!) so I'm treating this chance very cinematically. I've been finishing up commissions left and right and I have several pages of my new comic drafted. I'm planning on putting them up next month on a site my friend is graciously helping me build. A Pokemon Sapphire Nuzlocke, Gympunk! 

I've been wanting to complete a nuzlocke comic for ages, Fiasco and Wabi Sabi helped me grow so much- and I hate seeing them left in the dust. This comic is also a love letter to everyone who grew up with Pokemon. The protagonist is a 30-year-old who finally gets to be a trainer and all the stuff that comes with that. It's been really fun to write and draw for! I'm working on art full time in my room now, I moved my big rig setup (a beaten-up PC and the best microphone I've ever owned) into my room and now I work 10:00-4:00 and then make dinner. It's been nice. Nicer than a job hunt at least. I'll do that later if nothing comes of Gympunk or my commissions (which will be opening again soon with any luck). My Patreon has been revamped and will be given monthly charge permissions sometime in early February. I had to contact an agent to get it changed. Apparently, it was going to change anyway sometime this year. All I do is draw, but maybe enough people will like that so I can pay my car insurance each month. Who knows. 

Here's some Gympunk stuff, so you know I'm not fibbing. I'm going for a real manga look with this comic. I'm not coloring everything again lol. I'll have a colorist this time, for the occasional spread. But I've been reading a lot of Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys specifically). You can probably tell. I'll try to keep using this blog, it's pretty fun. One more life setback and I'm this close to doing nothing but youtube.