I have been fired from my job (The job was providing regular status updates. I underperformed.)

I'm not great at keeping the development updates going because often, I have nothing to fucking talk about. This isn't any different, but I kinda have to at least keep everyone in the know that I'm not dead or the game isn't being neglected. It's fine. Tranquillo.

I'm still pretty tired with working but it's not getting any slower. In fact, I think it's sped up just a little in the last month as I've regained a little work ethic by restructuring my approach to work. I found myself able to do a little more work than I had been at the same effort level which served as a little motivational pick-me-up. I'm writing right now, and it's not easy due to the nature of what I'm writing, but this challenging segment I've been writing all month is almost over. Annoyingly, despite my output improving, the last two days haven't been good, but I never wrote nothing. I don't really think that was a motivation/work ethic issue more than it was a challenge issue. Sometimes you just have to spend a lot of time just figuring out which direction a conversation will go.

Anyway, the script is approaching episode 1 levels of length, but what I'm interested in seeing is how this slight motivational bump will affect rendering. Once I'm done writing this chapter, which should hopefully be this week, we'll find out just that. Interestingly, this chapter takes place entirely in one room, which makes it seem like it'd be something easy to render. And it's at this point, I realize what I've been writing is vague as fuck so it's time to course correct.

I'm almost done writing a chapter which I will go on to render. There are two chapters after this one. However, the previous chapters provided a mix of heavy writing, rendering, and animating challenges. Regardless of my own slowness, they were going to take a while just because of those challenges. I can't really be clearer about what those challenges specifically were due to spoiler reasons, but the gist is that I'm at the end of the hard stuff. The next two chapters are in the back-to-normal range. Combine this with the aforementioned improvement to my workflow, the current chapter's renders being localized to one room... things might be looking up.

I'm still apprehensive about any kind of crunching due to the damage it did to my brain for episodes 1 and 2 part 1, but it can be very tempting. A single crunch day could be interesting, but I have no idea if I can bring myself to do it. Conversely, I find myself sometimes thinking I owe you guys some development speed every now and then. I could absolutely render this chapter in under a week if I crunched on it, but sometimes reality can have a different plan. I might crunch on day 1 and be burnt out on day 2. I will keep you guys posted and need to up my contact with you all. So I'll do a paid-supporter devlog sometime during the rendering process, and a public one once it's done. That should hopefully serve as a sanity check between us as I often work quietly.

No numbers or predictions, I just can't do that on a macro scale, I tried to before and learned that I always overestimate my performance, and more conservative estimates just sound bad. But again, don't worry about development, the game is always being made. As for development pace, I still urge you to humanize me a little if you aren't already. This is 100% a solo project as of right now. I get tired, passion can fluctuate, and I'm not in a comfortable position so performance anxiety can paradoxically slow my work.

For anyone sick of the palace overstaying its welcome in the last update, you're not alone as I finally wrap up the fallout of the whole thing. I'm definitely taking this plot point seriously considering how episode 2 ended. Finally, for the last 2 chapters we can see the fallout of the fallout, the transition away from the drama to... more drama? Uh-oh, you mean the plot can't just return to dates and shitposts? Uh, well, it kinda can, but I gotta fit the story in there somehow; this update should hopefully indicate that there's an actual fucking plotline emerging. Still, I much prefer stringing you guys along and having most developments simply raise more questions than answers, and any answers will also raise more questions. This update will definitely leave you with more questions.

Damn, I actually hyped myself up a little writing that. All of my passion comes flooding back when it comes to thinking about where my story is going, all of the actually cool shit you haven't seen that I've had planned for years. Ah, well, if only I got paid for coming up with cool shit instead of actually producing it. Beggars, choosers, 'n' shit.

Sorry for going dark again, it's not intentional, it just happens when absolutely nothing interesting happens for me to talk about and I forget my obligation to remind you guys that Realm Invader and/or I aren't on some kind of eulogy somewhere.

Silly me, what a lazy, unprofessional little goober I am.

Love you guys. ([~~especially the paying patrons, you're the guys I really love, not those stinky free followers. Some guy who smelled like piss and tuna I encountered on the street told me he works for SubscribeStar, and that anything you put between parentheses, square brackets, and two tildes won't be seen by free followers. Those lame-ass free guys can't even see this. Just wanted to let you know I hate them with all of my heart and that you're my real heroes.~~])

• Gary