FA+
Shop
April 2025 Check-in
6 months ago
~Milachu's Journal~ Heya there~
Just wanna do another lil check-in. More updates on:
- the state of my projects & what I plan to work on
- what I’m thinking of working on
- any other updates
- and let any of you all ask open-ended questions you’d like me to answer.
— Projects & Plans —
Down in the Dungeon is still on hold for now while I work on some private sketch commissions for supporters. Once I finish these sketch comms, I’ll hop right back on the comic!
I finished a big animation that I plan to release to all my supporters, and then I’ll post a promo for it. Shortly after that, I’m gonna put up a poll for what my next animation should be. I have some really good ideas in mind for some Milachu libre stuff. :3c
While I haven’t been doing the anatomy practices I mentioned in the last journal, something I have been doing lately is writing a TON! And what I’ve been writing has been the story for Pushing My Buttons! I spent every day this past week (Monday through Friday) writing for 2-3 hours each day. I finally have some clarity on what the main plot of the story is, so a bunch of scenes and character motivations are just falling into place. I’ve also been cutting out or shortening a lot of scenes that don’t serve the main plot of the story I’m trying to tell, which makes the whole project feel more and more doable.
And if anyone was wondering, the comic is going to be fully SFW. I’m doing my best to focus on telling a story without relying on NSFW elements, which is something I haven’t done since my Milachu to the Rescue comic.
I’ve also been working on SFW art projects and videos, as some of you might have seen on youtube. I’m experimenting to see if I can catch fire making stuff like that as well. I really enjoyed making the most recently Elden Ring concept art, and I’d like to make more!
— Ideas —
Working on PMB so much lately has inspired me to think about how I would write my other story: Light. Light was the first story I ever wrote (since I was 12), and it involves my little gray furry character Xara. That story is the reason I learned how to draw, so that I could make it into a comic someday. So it’s a huge deal to me that I actually make that comic. I got sidetracked for years on other things, like learning how to draw in order to make the comic. And then that transitioned into doing Milachu, because it was a niche genre of art I enjoyed drawing. I think once I finish making PMB, I want to finally create a comic for Light, and bring things back full-circle.
— General Updates —
I’m sorry that I haven’t been replying to people as often lately. There are month-old comments I still haven’t responded to, but I will! Things have been hectic for me lately. I’m juggling a lot of projects, like doing commissions to bring in extra money, and experimenting with a new youtube channel.
Also, my car has been giving me issues, so I’m working on that daily now; it has a rough idle and rough acceleration. I’ve already tried replacing the IAC valve, cleaning the intake manifold, and within the last few days I cleaned the MAF sensor and put in Seafoam to help clean the fuel injectors. My engine air filter is old but it doesn’t look super dirty. The air intake hose wasn’t tightened correctly, so there was unfiltered air getting in through little openings at the lip. I just fixed that issue today, so I’m hoping to see if that resolves the problem. Just gonna wait a while for the ECM to readjust fuel/air levels. Cleaning the MAF seemed to fix the randomness of the rough idle, now it’s idling rough *consistently*, lol!
I plan to do a bit of traveling in a week for personal reasons. Preparing for the trip has taken up a fair bit of my time and mental energy as well.
I can handle all of this stuff, but barely. I was managing fine until my car started demanding my attention, so until I leave for my trip, that’s taking priority over things like the sketch comms.
— Feedback —
If you have any feedback you’d like to give or questions you’d like answered, feel free to ask. Suggestions, technical stuff, how I do certain things, if I’m okay with something, anything.
Just wanna do another lil check-in. More updates on:
- the state of my projects & what I plan to work on
- what I’m thinking of working on
- any other updates
- and let any of you all ask open-ended questions you’d like me to answer.
— Projects & Plans —
Down in the Dungeon is still on hold for now while I work on some private sketch commissions for supporters. Once I finish these sketch comms, I’ll hop right back on the comic!
I finished a big animation that I plan to release to all my supporters, and then I’ll post a promo for it. Shortly after that, I’m gonna put up a poll for what my next animation should be. I have some really good ideas in mind for some Milachu libre stuff. :3c
While I haven’t been doing the anatomy practices I mentioned in the last journal, something I have been doing lately is writing a TON! And what I’ve been writing has been the story for Pushing My Buttons! I spent every day this past week (Monday through Friday) writing for 2-3 hours each day. I finally have some clarity on what the main plot of the story is, so a bunch of scenes and character motivations are just falling into place. I’ve also been cutting out or shortening a lot of scenes that don’t serve the main plot of the story I’m trying to tell, which makes the whole project feel more and more doable.
And if anyone was wondering, the comic is going to be fully SFW. I’m doing my best to focus on telling a story without relying on NSFW elements, which is something I haven’t done since my Milachu to the Rescue comic.
I’ve also been working on SFW art projects and videos, as some of you might have seen on youtube. I’m experimenting to see if I can catch fire making stuff like that as well. I really enjoyed making the most recently Elden Ring concept art, and I’d like to make more!
— Ideas —
Working on PMB so much lately has inspired me to think about how I would write my other story: Light. Light was the first story I ever wrote (since I was 12), and it involves my little gray furry character Xara. That story is the reason I learned how to draw, so that I could make it into a comic someday. So it’s a huge deal to me that I actually make that comic. I got sidetracked for years on other things, like learning how to draw in order to make the comic. And then that transitioned into doing Milachu, because it was a niche genre of art I enjoyed drawing. I think once I finish making PMB, I want to finally create a comic for Light, and bring things back full-circle.
— General Updates —
I’m sorry that I haven’t been replying to people as often lately. There are month-old comments I still haven’t responded to, but I will! Things have been hectic for me lately. I’m juggling a lot of projects, like doing commissions to bring in extra money, and experimenting with a new youtube channel.
Also, my car has been giving me issues, so I’m working on that daily now; it has a rough idle and rough acceleration. I’ve already tried replacing the IAC valve, cleaning the intake manifold, and within the last few days I cleaned the MAF sensor and put in Seafoam to help clean the fuel injectors. My engine air filter is old but it doesn’t look super dirty. The air intake hose wasn’t tightened correctly, so there was unfiltered air getting in through little openings at the lip. I just fixed that issue today, so I’m hoping to see if that resolves the problem. Just gonna wait a while for the ECM to readjust fuel/air levels. Cleaning the MAF seemed to fix the randomness of the rough idle, now it’s idling rough *consistently*, lol!
I plan to do a bit of traveling in a week for personal reasons. Preparing for the trip has taken up a fair bit of my time and mental energy as well.
I can handle all of this stuff, but barely. I was managing fine until my car started demanding my attention, so until I leave for my trip, that’s taking priority over things like the sketch comms.
— Feedback —
If you have any feedback you’d like to give or questions you’d like answered, feel free to ask. Suggestions, technical stuff, how I do certain things, if I’m okay with something, anything.
I don't have any questions for you at the moment but I just wanna say I have loved your content and have watched you (mostly in e621) for a few years! ^_^
Keep doing what you do, I definitely wanna commission you in the future when I'm good and ready.
Your own things irl take first priority though and that's no doubt! :D
I try my best to keep my art on e6 updated often! I also appreciate it when others post my stuff there for me because I don’t have the time or energy.
Sure, if I ever open for comms again, you’re welcome to submit an idea! :3
Awesome, I look forward to that day. ;D
I’d rather live in a place where I don’t need one because I can just walk or take a cab or metro.
On the flip side, I’ve gotten very good at learning how cars work just to maintain my own.
And it's cheaper to upkeep rail infrastructure than highways. No one questions the massive hole in our budgets from the constant construction and resurfacing those undergo, but railroads "are loud".
2. Do you feel like you are "set" in your life? Like reading all these journels and reading the success' you have, it makes me smile that anyone can manage and be in a comforable/manageable state. I still am not there, not by a long shot lol
3. About your writing, how do you balance.. well everything? Like plot, development, story because I am trying to get get back into writing myself, but I am constantly overthinking everything and most important to me is story flow since the stories I did write in the past didn't flow well and I ended up abandoning them. Now I am so worried that what I write, I will overthink and then I will not like it. I am also stuck in this endless editing phase and less time actually writing outt of fear that it won't turn out good or how I want it
2. I feel very set, yes~ I used to feel stationary, inert, and unmoving. I was fine with that, because my day job provided enough for me, but I only got personal projects done slowly or never at all. I didn’t feel accomplished. But now I do get things done! I feel like an engine that has to be constantly running. I hated that at first. I always felt like I needed to slow down because it was too much to handle, or I do too much and burn out. But I’ve reached a happy medium now. I know my limits, and I know when too much relaxing is too much. It’s a balancing act I maintain. It’s hard, but it’s doable. I have enough personal projects AND external paid projects on my plate that I’m feeling fulfilled while also making enough to survive.
3. I’ve gone through a bunch of different writing methods. What sparked my recent writing obsession was realizing what I wanted the main conflict of my story to be about, and then focusing everything on that. And by conflict, I mean [Character wants X, but Y is stopping them from (getting) X]. Here’s a short story for you: Mila is feeling super frisky, but for some reason on this day, things keep stopping her or getting in the way. The first guy she asks doesn’t pick up her hint, maybe another guy is gay and not interested, Lantha gets in the way, Buttons is too busy at work, Milo’s nowhere to be seen, the club isn’t open today, she DYING to find a guy and she’s desperate. Sometimes I try adding extra stuff to my story, but it’s unrelated to the focus, and it makes me like the story less. Like, if I added in a bit to that story where I show off how expansive Mila’s toy collection is, that’s kinda related to the nsfw theme, but it has nothing to do with her problem. So I cut out stuff like that. And sometimes, there’s A LOT to be cut out. Sometimes I change major characters of the story entirely - and I have! But if I can keep the focus on the conflict and theme I want to focus on, all the better. And by “theme”, I mean is it a story about heartbreak, finding your purpose, overcoming fear, and so on. How is your character broken / what is their problem, and how will their journey look because of that?