Burst Reach #35

I forgot to write anything in March. Sorry y’all.

Let’s get the big stuff out of the way: I’m at pretty much two months without a new day job since leaving the call center I spent nearly a year at. I’m hoping for something to pan out this week, but there’s not telling whether it will or not. I had a lot of success at ETSU-Con a couple weeks back, I’ve done some commissions, the money I’ve been making has almost been enough to cover my bills, but that’s definitely not enough.

So, here’s a quick reminder: if you like what I do and want to show some support, you can throw a few bucks my way via Ko-Fi. You can subscribe to my Patreon for just a dollar a month or more and see my art regularly before anyone else does (including my Godzilla portraits and new Asada & Mischa strips!), along with process stuff and frequent rambling. I’ve quietly reopened my Etsy shop too. And of course you can also commission me yourself! Here are a couple recent ones:

You could also, if you’re local, come buy things from me in person at one of these upcoming events:

Alright, now that I’m done with that…what else have I been doing with my time? Well, apart from watching everything around us burn down…I’m REALLY glad I got out of that call center job doing customer service for a brokerage firm, especially after the market tanked HARD last week. And I’m sure things will keep getting worse.

(full disclosure: it was at this point I realized I needed to get up and walk away from the computer so I went and cleaned our bathrooms)

Anyways: Aside from prepping for ETSU-Con and for these upcoming events, most of my time has been spent with video games, particularly the Armored Core series. Fires of Rubicon was my favorite game of 2023 and it lives in my head rent free, so I’ve wound up buying six(!) other games in the series this year. I so badly want to write in-depth about these games; I had Master of Arena as a kid and just replayed and beat it for the first time last month now that it’s on PS5. I also played and beat the original, along with Hidetaka Miyazaki’s directorial debuts Armored Core 4 and For Answer. I’m currently playing AC3. I have ACV, but haven’t played it yet outside of the tutorial stage when I tested it, and I know how to get its expansion Verdict Day for a reasonable price. I’m hoping to come across a copy of AC2 in order to have at least one title from every “generation,” without resorting to buying online and hoping I don’t get a super scratched disc in the mail. Oh, and I’m also playing Daemon X Machina on the Switch, which came out after Armored Core seemed dead and gone, has the same producer, mechanical designers, and probably other former From Software developers who worked on it. A sequel was announced for the Switch 2, and it looks to be steering away from actual mechs and aiming for more of a power suit vibe, and I think that’s a good idea since Fires of Rubicon has brought Armored Core back from the dead. I’ve also bought and built two different model kits, and I like them more than Gundams.

…I have other mech games to play too: the Zone of the Enders HD collection, Virtual On 2: Oratorio Tangram, and Front Mission 4…which I may not touch because my attempt at playing through Final Fantasy Tactics made me realize maybe strategy RPGs aren’t for me…

Oh, and Ashley got really into Stardew Valley, and a few weeks after watching her play, I got sucked in too. It’s a problem.

Anyways. My Godzilla portrait project continues to go pretty smoothly. I took a couple weeks off from working on them but I’m getting back into the groove. Here’s my favorite recent one, based on the 1985 Dr Pepper commercials:

And just for y’all, here’s the one I’m posting this Friday, also from 1985:

Playing in different styles and trying new things is what really drives this portrait project, and I haven’t gotten bored with it yet! Also, here’s a recent online figure drawing pose I’ll be sharing in a couple of days on social media:

(again, all of these have been shared on Patreon pretty much as soon as they were finished, so to stay ahead of the curve, consider subscribing!)

More new work for the upcoming events will be happening, so stay tuned.

Finally: I’m turning 37 this month, on the 29th to be precise, so…that’s something? I dunno. No real time to think about that, hopefully I’ll have found a new job by then and hopefully it’ll be a good time. For now though, I have more drawing to do.

I leave you with this self portrait I threw together last week for Trans Day of Visibility. Take care.