First off, for everyone not already in the loop: What's up with The Video Update?

A bit of a spiritual recentering: What are my goals as an artist?

And what's to come for Goodbye to Halos and beyond: The big 2022 projects post!

Places to keep in touch:

My Twitter, where you can always feel my heartbeat in the form of bad jokes and doodles.

My Patreon, which I'm striving to keep the most up-to-date on project info.

I'll meet you here again next year!!

Transcript:

This all got a bit heady and morose, huh? Well, I've been steeping in these feelings for a long time.

I think I've found the answer. But to explain it, I'll need to write this story.

Before we get there, though, there's still The Video Update!! I'm hard at work, so I didn't have time to draw filler today. Instead, here is a GIF of short clips.

Love ya!!! XOXO

Transcript:

The work that you love the most cannot help but become a rejection of yourself. When you take the time to tell a story, you may like to believe that that time passes only for you; that the world within the art is in stasis, waiting for your next word. But the art is in and of you, and static you are not.

For some people, there's no crueler tragedy than a story left unfinished. Battles left unfought, happiness left unfound... isn't it boring? But in this world, tragedy is what you do by default. Time passes, and you leave yourself unfinished.

Transcript:

When I drew "Confession," I wrote it with an optimistic ending. But at the time, I didn't actually know what new shape "Goodbye to Halos" would end up taking. Lately, I've been beset by ideas for how to take this exhausted work and fill it with life.

It may no longer be possible for "Goodbye to Halos" to be complete in the sense that I originally envisioned. But I wonder... is that the only option?

"Metempsychosis" refers to the transmigration of souls.

Transcript:

METEMPSYCHOSIS is progressing very well. Like any project you expect to take one month, this one will take at least two. So at least once a week from here until it's finished, I'll post little bits of art that may or may not have anything to do with anything.

Huh? Oh, yeah. "METEMPSYCHOSIS" is the title for the video update. I don't want to overhype it. It'll be about three and a half minutes, with music. Animation is a totally new skill for me, so I'm flying by the seat of my skirt with this one!

when you're in trouble, and the hero is unconscious, and the other hero is trying to assert territorial dominance over a catboy for some reason, who can you count on? it's BB!! don't count on them too much though. it's -- they don't deal well with pressure. count on them a little bit.

The next update is most likely going to be the too-long-rumored Video Update. I'm hoping that I can get it finished in about a month. Post-Confession, the plan for the update has shifted a little bit alongside my changing artistic goals -- for the better (and certainly for the easier). This is still something I really want to do, and I'm extremely excited about what I have so far.

If the process drags on for too long, I'll post tidbits of art up here on the site intermittently along with progress info, rather than going dark. And for my blessedly patient Patrons, I'll be documenting the development process over on Patreon.

See you soon!!

it's a been a confusing day for everyone down on the surface.

a little late!!! but for the first time in like three years, being late had nothing to do with burnout. it's the completely mundane sort of lateness where i merely lost track of time!!! and if you think about it, that's what I call a W!!!!

the gang's all here...!

here's goodbye to halos. there'll be another one next friday!!

Hey!! What's this comic? What's the deal? What does this mean for Goodbye to Halos? Please read on and see!

First, the obvious question: Where have I been? Actually, I spent the lion's share of this year working on something other than Goodbye to Halos. It was a coloring project for money that was meant to take about a month, but ended up taking closer to four, due primarily to nitpicky perfectionism on my part.

Without going into specifics, I found myself working for 8+ hours a day without breaks do to meet this entirely self-imposed standard of quality -- little tiny details and tweaks that absolutely no would ever notice or care about. But I did!!

I burnt out so hard I was basically useless for an entire month, and what I realized as I crawled out of that pile of ash was: What I had just done was a fast-motion version of what I'm doing with Goodbye to Halos.

I drew and posted "Confession," the comic you see above, over the course of a few weeks on Twitter. I could have just written a text post, but there was just no version of a blog-style update that could have conveyed my troubled feelings.

"Confession" is thus two things at once:

First, a raw representation of my emotions as I come to terms with my broken relationship to art, and Goodbye to Halos in particular.

Second, a challenge to myself -- to find a sustainable model for how to go forward. A comic with "just the bits that matter."

Confession is messy, fast, and in many places the art is unbearably sloppy for me to look at. I drew each of these pages in one go, in about an hour each, mostly without penciling or thumbnailing of any kind -- just straight to inks. It's a far cry from some of the meticulously rendered Halos pages I've posted most recently, and even from the simpler inked pages from last year.

But, I posted 32 pages in about two weeks.

I had a complete thought, told a complete story, and as far as I can tell based on initial responses, I think the emotions i was trying to convey came through. That's all incredibly big for me.

It's left a little ambiguous in Confession, but it's worth saying unambiguously: Goodbye to Halos is not over. In fact, I'm more excited now than I've ever been about it.

I'm going to tell the rest of this story, and I'm going to do it fast, messy, and from the heart.

Thank you so much to the readers who I know have continued to refresh this page through over half a year of unintentional hiatus. I'm so sorry for not posting more direct status updates here on the site -- a complex mix of shame and grandiose overconfidence made any update I *could* post feel premature, like if I just held out a bit longer I would surely get everything together and have a proper comic for you to read.

What does Goodbye to Halos look like going forward? Is the Video Update still coming? I'm not completely sure yet! I have to see what shape things take. I've rearranged the chapter slightly to fit in a small scene before the one that would be the Video Update, so the next update you see will be more of a traditional comic page.

I hope this change doesn't have you feeling nervous. It's not about quantity over quality: it's about doing the thing versus not doing it. And i want to do it. I have to, right?

The alternative is just so boring!!!

Wahhh!! Sorry for the delay -- I had some health stuff to take care of, plus it became holidays when I wasn't looking. Allow me to slip this very special update into your stocking!

The next update is going to be Goodbye to Halos' very first video update. I'm not sure how long it will take to finish, but I'm aiming to have it out in January, and not after January. I am already putting my heart and soul into it, so please wait warmly until it is ready.

big sis is talkin' like she has a plan...!

One more comic update next Friday! Then... the video update.

HEYA hi long time no see!!! SORRY for the hiatus!! I've explained in bits and pieces here and there some of what went on to cause such a long pause, but if you're just catching up, for now I'll just leave it at "financial difficulties."

There'll be at least one more multi-page update coming next Friday. The update after that will be... Goodbye to Halos' first-ever video update. Look forward to it!!

By the way, if you don't already, follow me on Twitter to stay more up to date with where my projects are at.

(Yes, I know the comic's back in full color: I did mention I'd be returning to it for important scenes...!)

Some news (16th Nov): I'm now financially in the clear, thanks entirely to folks purchasing the Goodbye to Halos PDF. Thank you so much!!!!

Also, over half of the sales income was in the form of tip revenue. That's wild!! I know a lot of people were buying the volume specifically to support me financially, but even then, I'm blown away by the generosity. And to everyone who wrote to express their enjoyment of the comic, it means more than you can know.

I'm still wrapping up a few loose ends, but Goodbye to Halos will be back on Wednesday, December 2nd. See ya then!!

HEY FOLKS!! Sorry for the lack of updates since September. A lot of stuff has happened, so I'll try to fill you in real quick:

- The entire state of Oregon was on fire.

- The air itself burned to breathe.

- My ability to get work done was Somewhat Diminished.

- For a variety of reasons including but not limited to the above, I'm in choppy waters financially.

- So... it's come to this, has it...

You've been bugging me for years to do it, so here it is: Goodbye to Halos in (digital) book form! At 200+ pages, Volume 1 collects every comic from the very beginning up to the end of Chapter 1 in high resolution and uncompressed detail for just $5.

You can buy it here!

You can just own the comic permanently! You can gift a copy to a friend! You can just use it as a tip jar! The possibilities are nonzero!! Whatever you do with it, the purchase will help me climb out of my money hole, and the sooner I'm able to do that, the sooner I can resume regular updates. I literally want nothing more in life than to be able to update my webcomic normally again. I'm a gal of simple pleasures!!!

Whether you buy a copy or not, I do want to thank everyone for reading and supporting the comic for so long. It's everything to me!! Thanks and see ya!!

who knows you better than your own sister

a girl's gotta get her beauty sleep!!

thanks for the patience and sorry I'm late!! i've been dealing with some stuff (who amongst us is not on this earth at this time); i would like to talk about it once I get it under control, but for now, expect a slightly more on time update next week!

well, that's what they call irony!

next update: tuesday! (i'm hard at work finishing up a side project at the moment -- sorry to dip back into one a week updates so soon after reconfiguring my art! but there's good things ahead, i think... it's all according to plan.)

sound off in the comments if YOU think leo is cool!!!

next update: tuesday!

the hand on louis's shoulder is load-bearing

well, they say a cat always lands on his feet...