It's finally out!

Thanks everyone for waiting. Life has been beating the shit out of both me and Gab but we finally got a break. I say that but right now I'm recovering from both Knotfest and a lumbar puncture so I'm in FUCKING agony so it's gonna be a quick one.

This chapter was one that I was simultaneously both looking forward to and dreading. I was joking with Gabbo that this would be the last chapter of BE. Partially because of our schedules getting in the way, partially because of the content itself. As I've referenced a few times in previous news posts, We Can't Lose Hope™ has been in vogue for a while and it's an attitude I don't share. It rings a little hollow (at least in my opinion). I had it in my head that as soon as we reached the part of the story structure where the true extent of Epper's flaw is revealed, a lot of people would reject the series outright, but it's a story I think will be worth telling so it's a risk I'm willing to take. Let's just say that spider farm isn't happening.

Misery's Sprout design was a real pain in the ass. I do like the spider-crab look I ultimately went for but man it's fucky. What if the Cloverfield monster had 7 more arms? Most sprouts have a kind of wet and squishy look to them whereas he for the most part looks hard and dry, at least to me.

I want to get to work on #8 as soon as I can. I know the way this one ended kinda left people hanging. Feels good to get to the climax of the arc though.

I don't have any results or MRI images to show unfortunately.

Very quick update to explain why #7 hasn't come out in full yet. The whole thing is 90% done, me and Gab are just busy. I have my health (and a meet up with mutuals at the end of February) to take care of and Gabbo hasn't been able to translate my pages due to moving, starting a new job and all the stress that comes with that. I'd rather release both language versions simultaneously so I'm delaying it for now. No concrete release date, only that it shouldn't be too long. Probably around the start of March. I might have some new MRI images too but no promises. We'll see.

Thanks for your patience! I know my inconsistent schedule is a pain in the ass.

Hello again. I'm 21 pages into chapter 7 of BE so next time I have a sudden burst of motivation it'll probably carry me through to the end. I'm expecting it to release in late February.

As I write this, I'm house-sitting for my grandparents. One of which watches this account (god help us). Apparently he checks my profile every week to see if I've posted anything new. I find this news both adorable and horrifying. I wonder what he thinks of my comic. He probably wouldn't like it. He only likes Shakespeare, Ireland and conspiracy theories about Shakespeare. He hates music from Halo 5 when it appears on his classical music stations (good).

My appointment on the 30th could've gone better. First thing my doctor asked when I came in was if I had my spinal tap or first infusion yet, which took me by surprise because I was never notified about any appointments. Either they didn't expect it to take this long for me to receive either, or there has been a serious breakdown in communication on their part. The silver-lining is I'm now on Melatonin (FINALLY). It used to really piss me begging strangers on the internet for tips on how to sleep properly and either getting things I've already spent years trying or "you should get on melatonin" because they don't know you need a prescription in Australia. It hasn't worked yet. It makes me sluggish and tired, yes, but I somehow still lay awake in bed for hours despite it all. Unfortunately my insomnia is specifically PTSD-induced according to my psychologist. Basically being kept awake by my immediate family's bullshit has done permanent damage to my circadian rhythm. I'm probably going to need to up my dosage to elephant tranquiliser levels.

My next appointment is on the 11th. I'll be having a full brain and spine scan so I might have some new images to show off in March. I bet I have some new brain lesions. I've had a lot of unexplained dizzy spells since mid-January.

I can't think of much else to add other than I want this year to be productive in case I am dying. I'm probably not but I might not get to the finish line with working legs. I hope I live long enough to spite certain people who heard about my condition and made it about themselves.

Hi fuckers. I'm very tired. It's not all bad, I've just been extremely busy with BE, commissions, editing gay furry porn comic dubs (yes), hitting the gym and advertising my shit during the breaks, I've had very little free time. since this year started. obviously this is all self inflicted but you know how it is. No real huge updates this time around.

Bury Everyone, as always is still being updated sporadically. I wasn't going to upload part 1 of chapter 7 when I did but figured there was no time like the present. Part 2 will be much longer but in total won't be as long as 6. It'll be more of a dialogue-heavy chapter. It feels good to have these two meet up again after so long. Here's a better panel of Misery's giant sprout form. I think he looks pretty rad.

I suppose the other major thing in my life would be my MS. After over a year since I lost vision in my left eye (it came back) I think the relapse has finally arrived. I haven't had any real medical emergencies yet, just a lot of brain fog and dizziness. It's a good thing I spend so much time sitting on my ass.

I think the search for stable employment is basically over at this point. I already lack experience and ended both of my last jobs on bad terms with my employers (my first job refused to provide proof of separation and my second was exploiting disability employment services for cheap labor) which isn't a good look when you're 25. Even if I somehow manage to interview well, there's going to be a point where I have to tell them I have an incurable neurological condition that could require me to take weeks or even months off work with no warning. At this point I think it's safe to say I'm unemployable. The good news is I have all the time in the world to do this. The bad news is I'll never truly be independent, which is all I've really wanted these last few years. It's not how I wanted things to end up but here we are.

One thing I've found really disappointing since the diagnosis is the reaction from my family. I won't be naming names (some of them have found this account) but a certain family member(s) has been treating me as more of an item than a human being and using me as leverage to dismiss and guilt others. "Oh you have X? At least you don't have MS." It makes my blood boil knowing I share genes with people so disgusting and self-centered, but I shouldn't be surprised.

My next appointment is on the 30th. I'm not sure what they'll be doing but it should be fun. Hopefully it goes well. I'm still doing tests at this point. I also want to start a second comic this year, I just need to find a way to make drawing pages in general less demanding. I'm aiming to get up to at least chapter 10 of BE before December. If all goes to plan that'll mean I'm roughly 15 - 20% of the way through BE's story (maybe).

Sorry if this post is a mess to read. My head is all over the place tonight.

You know it's good when Grumpy releases a chapter with no cover art (I think).

This was the longest chapter since the first at 39 pages. It was pretty painful in parts but I think it came out alright. I think posting it in parts hurt the flow a little bit but that's why the website exists. I'm very out of practice with fight scenes (clearly) but it was fun finally showing the true extent of Epper's abilities with her Sprout buddy. The last two have more just been "Epper shows up and the bad guy dies" but now we have "Epper shows up, does some bullshit, commits a war crime and follows it up with a victory dance" like a true hero!

...Wait.

I think the last few pages of Epper and Vivi on the ground are some of the best drawn of the series so far, especially in terms of colouring. The one above of Epper savouring her victory might be my favourite panel I've drawn, at least as of right now. Characters in BE aren't dead until they've been reduced to porridge (unless you're a purple clown and can't die unless Epper has been reduced to porridge) and I feel like this is some well-drawn porridge.

There was actually an early version of the chapter 6 script that didn't end with a flying Vivi telling Epper to have a fun trip down because I thought it would be "too awesome" this early in the series. I'm glad I went with it in the end because the alternative would've been boring. Just imagine the same sequence of events except the combatants never leave the canal and the last third is just Vivi trying to take Epper out by swooping. The lesson this chapter is to just draw whatever stupid bullshit comes to you (unless it's too stupid).

And now the bad news. Unfortunately Gabbo, who does the Spanish version, has lost his pc. Ironically dying after a lightning strike.

This isn't the first time this has happened and I'm willing to help him financially if he needs it but it's just a pain in the ass for him. At least our work is done for this chapter. It just sucks for him. Whether this will end up delaying #7 remains to be seen (I've barely started on it myself).

Thanks again for all your support on BE. Thanks to all you guys on Newgrounds, it's been a bigger success than I could've ever imagined. I seriously thought like 5 people would read it. Unfortunately it's the start of the new year which means I could start showing new MS symptoms at any moment so let's hope it's not something too debilitating.

See you in #7!

Hello worms.

Let's get the good news out of the way first. Chapter 6 is a few pages away from having a part 1 ready for NG. It's just been slow because of motivation and now commissions (grumpy needs money).

I also had my neurology appointment and learned a few things. It turns out during September there was a conference discussing the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. From my understanding it's yet to be published but what I had been dealing with was called Clinically Isolated Syndrome, which is basically a single episode caused by inflammation in the Central Nervous System, which for me presented itself as Optic Neuritis. The new findings found more than half of people with CIS go on to develop MS so from now on they're treating it as such (I think). Ask someone in the field if that made any sense but point is the diagnosis got bumped up from 90% to 100% official.

I also got my blood test results back. I'm mostly perfectly healthy apart from MS which is weird because I draw webcomics all day and only emerge from my room to eat a piece of lettuce between old bread because I'm the only person in this house that believes in expiration dates on food. The only thing that showed up out of the ordinary is I wasn't immunised for measles. I probably missed the booster in high school, so that's gonna delay things a bit. They're taking my spinal fluid and doing more MRIs hopefully before the end of the year, then I'll be beginning treatment, most likely Tysabri.

Which brings me to the bad news regarding BE. I'm very slow and inconsistent at releasing new chapters but I might be going on hiatus after the full version of chapter 6. since I'll be immunocompromised and it could get pretty fucking rough. I'll keep working on it but probably not at the pace I was before, at least until I can actually function normally again. I understand if anyone wants to adjust or end their patreon membership in light of this news.

Who knows? Maybe nothing will change or maybe I'll be so fucking miserable I blast it all out in a few weeks like the end of chapter 1 (don't get your hopes up).

Well, that's where I'm at right now. I also have man flu as I write this so I'm having a brilliant last few weeks, clearly. I miss the gym but I got to meet a mutual earlier in the week though, which was nice.

Prices are in Australian dollarydoos



Can't remember if I've ever done these on NG but it's worth a shot.

PM me if you want something!

4/4 SLOTS TAKEN

Obviously that's just a silly title to raise eyebrows but it'll make sense when I'm finished. There's no comic or life updates in this post (kinda) so skip it if you like, but I feel like I have to put it out there.

Over the last year of working on BE I've been dealing maybe the most traumatic experience in my 25 years on this planet. I've had several terrible parents and felt like I was gonna die more than once and way younger than anyone should have to, but I think this last one has changed me the most as a person. I went over it in this news post under the "Why so edgy?" portion so I won't repeat myself here.

TLDR: I was put in a situation where a stranger's life was in my hands and regular people on the street tried to stop me.

Ever since then I haven't been the same. The way I describe it is It's like I've seen something about the species that I wasn't supposed to and now I can never unsee it. I can't relate to or form meaningful relationships with people the way I used to before the incident. It's like where other people would see a "soul" (for lack of a better term), I see nothing. The easiest way I can explain it is like being a game developer. What other people might see as a deep character, to me is just lines of code and dialogue. It's very difficult to articulate.

I bring this up because it's not a popular worldview to have (big shock). It's not like I don't want to open myself up again. Believe me, I've tried. It's not me being edgy, it's a psychological block that probably won't go away without years of therapy (at least). It'll probably take something equally as Earth-shattering to undo it. I suppose it doesn't help that "the inherent good of all mankind uwu" is hip with the kids on twitter who pretend to have empathy. Maybe it's not a nice thing to say, but the way the "acceptance and empathy" crowd is so quick dismiss what is a very common response to trauma/moral injury makes it seem like they're hoping they'll just kill themselves for their sake. It doesn't take a professional to know pushing people like that away and making them feel more alienated only makes things worse (you fucking idiots).

I guess the point I'm trying to make is, I'm not ashamed.

I'm not going to blame myself anymore. I did as I was told with very little time to act and did what would've been the right thing. I'm not sure what made all those people turn on me and tune out the man outside dying, all I know is something is very wrong with those people and I'm not going to pretend there isn't because it's "cringe" or whatever.

At the end of the day, I saw some shit and it fucked me up. It would do the same to anyone. I don't know if I'll ever be the same again, but everything I felt was real. I don't believe in fake positivity. The best thing I can do for myself right now is to be honest about my feelings.

TLDR: Every single fake mental health professional on twitter can go and get fucked.

How's it goin' guys.

I'm still working on chapter 6 of Bury Everyone. It's been slower than I'd like for several reasons. I had to do more tests in October and as I write this I'm attempting to correct my sleep schedule which sometimes can take up to a week of failed all-nighters. No, Americans. You need a prescription to get melatonin in Australia. I've seriously tried everything I can think of. Going to bed earlier, breathing exercises, over the counter bullshit that was probably never going to work, best I can do is 3 hours. Unfortunately it's a PTSD thing so I probably won't sleep consistently ever unless I bite the bullet or become an alcoholic.

I should have a part 1 finished before the end of November. It's hard to believe I haven't drawn a proper fight scene since chapter 1.

As for the MS stuff. Still no updates. They said I'd get blood test results "in November" but I wasn't given a specific date. Still no new symptoms (thank god). My mum used to be a nurse and has been up my ass about this whole thing. Every time I see her she asks the same questions. The only thing that's changed is I'm on vitamin supplements. I've already had the talk with her that I'm being asked enough questions by doctors and can I PLEASE be left alone at home. She literally just said no. As fucked up as it sounds I think she gets some vicarious excitement from having a son with a potentially life changing condition.

As all this is happening, I'm celebrating over a year of unemployment, a fight that only gets harder the more acronyms I collect for the "do you have any medical conditions" bit of the recruitment process. With all of this in mind, I think I've earned a bit of a "WHY GOD??!!" but I'm not religious. Maybe things would've turned out better if I drew porn.

Hope you're looking forward to the part where the sad redhead fights that green bitch!

Haven't had a post-BE news post be titled "rant" in a while but here we are!

I think chapter 4 and 5 are twins in a way. Not only are they both the start of the arc and have a sad long haired doomer (like myself) but they're probably the most mentally taxing chapters I've released so far. 4 because of its content, 5 because of external factors that lead to it getting delayed so much. Sorry everyone for the wait. I promised it would be out in October and ended up releasing slightly before October so I've got that going for me I guess.

I think I like the current trend of chapters being around 30 pages. It just feels right somehow. It allows me to post big-ish parts on NG as previews and it pisses off Tom Fulp, a man who has done nothing but be silently supportive of my work and deserves better than this. Hopefully I can keep it up but also release them a little faster. Maybe when my fucked up head is able to be treated.

Vivi and Misery are my favourite new characters and I love them as I would my own children. I know a few years ago the dynamic of sad old man + difficult child was in vogue but in this case the child is pure evil and the sad old man is a little bitch. Maybe there's an alternate timeline where they go to Bunnings and get their cactus without issue. It's funny in my head at least.

But yeah, this is the chapter I've been waiting to write since Epper made this face in chapter 3:

I'm pretty exhausted after drawing all that so it might be another long-ish wait for chapter 6 but I've been wrong before, once again I am TERRIBLE with release dates.

As for my brain. Still no meaningful updates. I did go to the neurology department but all they really did was put some goo on my head and make me look at a screen. Next appointment is in October. That should be a fun one.