COVID-19 Update and Life Stuff

Hey friends~

Been a bit since a post like this but a lot has been happening (and is going to happen, still) so I figured I should update y'all a bit.

the 'rona

We'll get the elephant in the room and just address COVID-19 stuff and I'm ok! I work from home and isolate myself anyway so this is business as usual. Unfortunately, it's been stressful just from a... logistics side. The timing is very bad. This is actually my last couple of weeks here in Japan as I move on to new adventures, and this coinciding with the worst pandemic of our modern history is not great! It's also tax season and let me tell you, having to pay taxes in two countries? Also not great! Canada (my home country, for those who don't know) has also enacted very, very strict rules about who can enter the country now which is going to make it very hard for my fiancee and I to attend my sister's wedding, which is killing me. 

Dealing with getting rid of my stuff, moving back across an ocean, trying to figure out freelance taxes in two completely different governments, and just... the mental weight of this whole pandemic, especially as it leans against my American fiancee and friends, is a lot. So I've been pretty slow on art this month as I deal with all of that. I still have a few things to send and I'll keep that up as best I can but I'll likely be a bit tight on what I can/can't do until like... mid-May when I'm a bit more settled.

I'm holding in there, and I hope y'all are too. I know from talking to a bunch of you that some of you can't work from home or are forced to commute into unsafe spaces. I hope things flatten out soon for all of us, but especially y'all. ;-;

streamin

i've started streaming a bit more regularly on twitch again, over at twitch.tv/aurahack_ (i'm working on getting my actual username back @_@) only this time... there's a twist!

I'm a Vtuber now! I built a Streamsona that is not unlike Live2D and have been streaming games here and there, like Doom Eternal, SSX 3, and other things. I usually stream in the morning EDT/PDT since that lines up with nighttime here. If you'd like to watch something while you eat breakfast, give me a follow on Twitch and you'll get ping'd when I go live!

I'm actually really happy about this because I love streaming but the truth is that I'm really, very not confident in myself and that pretty aggressively shot my ability to like... stream myself. Embodying a character is fun but it also lets me really be myself in a way I was super hesitant to be before and I'm excited to keep doing it and explore new territory. I hope you'll join me along for it!

spretty much it

So that's where I'm at right now. Expect your art .zip at the end of the month as usual and hopefully it's not aggressively light, but I won't be able to help that for a few weeks if it is. I really hope things ease out a bit that let me sink into art as an escape instead of being so stressed I just... can't think. 

I know things are tough for everyone so reminder that if you're reading this, you have access to the Discord where you can pop in and chat with me and a bunch of other friendly regulars. If you don't have a place right now to vent or just need someone to talk to, I hope the server can be that, even in a little way. :>

Thanks for reading~

💖