Been a hot minute so I though ya'll were due an update. Plus I have actual things to update.

Health

Carpal Tunnel's been manageable. Not great but "manageable". It's to the point that I haven't had much trouble working;

even doing a bit of gaming on the side.

Highly recommend anyone dealing with it look up tendon glide exorcises. Helped a lot along with general flexing and

tensing any tingly spots.

Work

Like I said, going well. Been working fairly steadily the past few months, managed to finish all my old queue work, even

finishing some new pieces.

I'm currently working on a proper price-sheet(s) that I'll post once I've fully opened up commissions again. With the way

things are going, might be next month.

Posting

Planning on pacing out my posting a little bit. I've got a decent backlog of pieces going that I'll probably post over the

weekends.

Meanwhile I'll post WIPs of anything I'm currently working on during the week.

I like this. It means I should always have something to post and I'm not being antsy about when I should post them.

As always you can find those on my twitter.

Game Development

So my last update on this was over six months ago... which I spent most of not being able to work because of the Carpal

Tunnel. Yeah; definitely pushing that estimate back some.

Working on it again now that my hands are "better." Though work-work takes obvious precedent.

Merch?

In an attempt to create some passive income, I've thought about doing things like fanart stickers, prints, etc.

Where do ya'll get yours? Would you be down for some merch?

Shark Robot might be good (if there's enough interest to keep them up).

Redbubble might be more permanent, but they'd have to be on the tame side. Which I don't mind too much since I typically

prefer cheesecake-y pinups.

Shibe.ink is one I've seen a few artists I like using, though their website gives me no clear indication of how that process works or how to sign up. Still looking into it.

Celebratory well-wishes to everyone who follows me, supports my work and bothers to ever read my journal entries. Here's to hoping this year treats us all better than the previous 3 combined.

Plans/Hopes for this year

A return to form, for the most part. Focusing on things like commissions, occasional fanart, and hopefully merch.

The past couple years have basically been a lot of me running my hands through meat-grinders kind of work. Fun, but time consuming, high effort & low returns.

With one less thing on my plate (Read more about that HERE) I'll have more time for work, "less" hand trouble, and more work-adjacent/free time.

Fingers crossed.

After an internal discussion, it was agreed that a majority of the staff didn’t have the time to devote to the project, and so; Queens of our Hearts been dissolved. We already announced it on the Discord and the Patreon has been halted.

What’s next?

Currently, all the tiers on the Patron/Discord have been made public; which means you can now view all the production art in its full resolution. Including the sexy variants I made for the seasonal costumes! You’ll be able to access them over the next month or so before both are permanently shut down. No worries though, I’ll also be uploading/re-uploading them across my various accounts as well.

The FUTURE of the project?

One of the first things I brought up was how we should divide up the characters between us. It was agreed that I would make the most use of them, so the majority of the cast and material associated with them are now under my care. The two exceptions being Nia and Lily, whose creators have taken charge of them. Certainly sad to see them go, but hope they’re well taken care of.

With that, I’m happy to say that the project is not dead and I do intend to continue work on it. This might mean a little quiet on the subject as I re-write, re-code and re-shuffle things around a bit into something similar yet distinct. Most likely keeping the college setting, but changing some character bios/dynamics, adding some new ones, and fleshing out plot-lines. You can still certainly expect a sexy-fun adventure from me.

Can you code?

For anyone curious about my ability to handle this on my own I’ll say this; since Aster’s intro I’ve had a heavy hand in both coding and re-coding the game. In fact, the current builds as of Aster’s intro were largely re-coded (cleaned up/optimized) by me, or made from scratch in the case of Sunny. Additionally I’ve been experimenting with mini test-projects to expand my knowledge and implementation of the python coding system. It’s safe to say that, for the project at hand, I know what I’m doing.

What happens when/if it’s finished?

We’ll have to see, but I’m keen on putting it up on STEAM, or some other platform for sale; most likely with the intro as a free demo (maybe more). I have a list of the patrons and their emails, so if you supported the game I’ll try to get you a game-key for a free/discounted download. Not sure what the process is for that, but I’ll certainly try.

But, that’ll be a while.

How long should we wait?

As I said, I want some time to make changes/reformulate things before putting anything public out. I’d say give me a year before checking in or expecting to see something from me as far as updates. I’d like to get as much done as possible to make sure progress is consistent before putting anything out there. Once I think things are progressing steadily enough, I’ll take it from there.

Wish me luck.

The latest build of Queens of our Hearts just went public this week. Why not go check it out?

This latest update introduces Sunny Akers to the cast as well as a new side character.

Sunny also boasts an updated look and new in-game sprites!

Latest build: PATREON

Read more: About Queens of our Hearts.

The latest build of QooH is up and publicly available (FREE)! So go and check it out.

The Junior($10) lv poll to vote on who gets introduced next will be up all November, so if you like what you see so far, why not help support more of it?

Latest build: PATREON

Read more: About Queens of our Hearts.

The latest build for the visual novel I've been working on, Queens of our Hearts, is up and will be publicly available in about a week.

Our Sophomore($5) lv patrons however already have access to it and our complete library of exclusive artwork.

Latest build: PATREON

Read more: About Queens of our Hearts.

Back-end/coding

There was a lot that went into this latest build, including a lot of scripting overhauls that you probably won't notice.

That said, this new build does require a fresh start and definitely won't be compatible with any old-saves.

Visual tweaks

Things you WILL notice are much more dynamic sprite movements. Things like characters entering/leaving a scene, changing positions, etc.

This is a minor bit of polish, but we hope it makes replaying the intro a little less tedious.

New Content

As far as actual NEW content goes, Aster's introduction is a go! Her scene starts once the pc leaves their dorm-room and chooses to go to the Bookstore.

This scene adds several new characters, both major and minor; and gives you a better look at the sprite/pose variety we're going for.

Next update

The next update is currently up for vote as to who's introduction is next; Anana or Sunny.

If you like what we're doing so far, consider becoming a Junior($10) lv patron and participating in the vote.

Status Update

I’m fine! Everything’s Fine! Probably.

Started off the year sick… just like last year. So that was fun.

Doing better though! Took a week off, slept a lot, drank several bladders worth of water. Doing good-ish.

Commissions

I was hoping to take a short Hiatus from commissions; I’m almost through with my current queue and was hoping to spend more time on some other projects. Unfortunately with all the expenses and shortcomings of last year, I don’t see that happening.

Next openings are scheduled around June, assuming no delays or cancellations. Trying to give myself some breathing room.

QooH

For those of you who don’t know, I’m working on a game with some people. One of them sexy Visual Novellas. You can read more about it here, or help support it on Patreon here.

I’m still cranking out artwork updates when I can (just posted a few of the public works), but the more support we have as a whole, the more time I can put into character art, costumes, pinups and illustrations. Please consider helping support us with donations, or even word of mouth.

Fan Art Polls

On Hiatus until I can sit down and finish the ones I have. I’ve posted the sketches in the meantime, but I don’t want more of them piling up while I try and play catch-up.

New-Years Resolutions

No more Skyrim! At least not until I beet both Morrowind AND Oblivion (main quests)! But mainly this is to get me playing things other than "open world, do random stuff forever." Which I do love.

So, it’s been a fair bit since all hell broke loose. Last journal entry was… when things looked like they’d get back to normal soon. Probably a good time for a little catch-up.

Personal update.

Still fine. While things aren’t back to normal per say, things have settled a bit. I no longer have family hovering over my shoulder as much so I’m able to get some work done.

Work Update.

Those of you who follow me on twitter might know I recently had a bunch of computer troubles hit me all at once. First my OS decided my monitor wasn’t real, then my tablet finally gave out on me (RIP).

Fortunately, I was able to solve both these issues (after two weeks) and am back to work with some shiny new/used/refurbished appliances.

Commissions

With my tech issues solved, I’m back at it, but with the setback that’s been 2020, I could use some “quick cash”. To help I’ve opened up some service commissions. So, if you’d like something inked or flat-colored, the pricing sheets have been posted.

Queens of our Hearts

I’m still working with the folks at SecondCircleStudios on this visual novel and you can read more about it here. We’re still a small team so It’s slow going, but so long as there’s money in the Patreon we’ll all keep working. I’m currently working on our last character’s introductory design and if you’d like to see ALL the characters, even the ones that haven’t been introduced yet, donate to the Patreon and join the discord.

Fan-Art Polls

Callie Briggs is in the works, don’t worry. Working on some roughs “as we speak”.

However, I’m forgoing this month’s poll for a special poll next month. That’ll be October so it’ll be especially spooky themed as well.

Misc

I made a Nushara account. They invited me and it seems like a handy way for people to keep track throughout all my various accounts.

Update 01.05 - mini update regarding the state of the project as of Oct.2022. Small clarifications and expansions. This will be replaced with a fuller more project oriented summary once I'm confident in the project's progress.

What was it?

Queens of our Hearts was a visual novel project originally started by SecondCircleStudios; a game dev team I was formerly a part of that has since been dissolved

(Read more about that here).

The game covered the main character’s freshman year at a California Community College and the many romances they/you could pursue.

The main cast consisted of 12 women of varying ages, races and backgrounds; each of which would have their own story line to follow over the course of a year.

The vast majority of the game’s assets have been left in my hands to do with as I please and I would, in some capacity, like to continue working on it. I also have plenty of unused personal ideas and foot notes, so I'm hardly working from "scratch."

At the moment You can find all of the artwork for the project in my gallery, or by searching QooH.

What is it now?

Not too much has change from the original concept. At least not on the public end. Still a rundown Greendale-esque college (Santa Maria U) full of quirky characters and the like. Still romancing mostly the same cast of 12 women.

Some character's personalities/backgrounds might get updated. But that's mostly behind the curtain stuff. Somewhat necessary with the loss of two characters I saw as good connective tissue for the group. But, working on their replacements so stay tuned for a cast update. Also just a side effect if my desire for inter play and character dynamics.

Being in charge of ALL the characters now, I can play around with that more.

How's Progress?

Slow, but going. No longer getting paid, but I still love the work; so short but strong bursts of progress. More importantly no scheduled updates (at least for now) so I can pace myself without overexerting myself (got carpel tunnel last time.)

Actually had a decent rush of progress on some of Julia's scenes. Both early and late scenes of the cute and steamy variety. Reminds me I Just need to find the time to sit down.

Starting off the year on a decent note. Hands are in good shape, time management's getting better. Hopefully this year I'll make some good headway.

Trying out streaming again. Come check it out if you fancy.

https://picarto.tv/hpicaso