Pokemon: Rising Shadows is going to be canceled.


OKAY. I'M KIDDING. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME.

That was a horrible joke, I know. I'm sorry. Especially considering two of my favorite Pokemon comics out there got canceled this week (I'm sure many/most of my readers know what I'm talking about.) I was sad to hear the news of the cancellations, but I do understand the authors and their reasons. The comics will be missed. </3 After reading through the sad news, I figured it was about time I do a proper PRS status update instead of the DA ramble I posted (Which was 50% advertising on my favorite comic ever anyway)- so here we are.

Pokemon: Rising Shadows is an old project. Really old. Few people remember the original incarnation of the story... and that's probably a really good thing. As I've mentioned a few times, PRS started as a written story. A very poorly written story with lots of characters and a whole lot of nonsense. Bad nonsense. I later stopped writing it and forgot about it for a long while.

It wasn't until I began to binge on great comics that I considered starting it over. So yes, those two comics that were canceled- you can thank them for giving me the motivation and inspiration to reboot PRS as a comic. It's not something I think a lot about- but reading those older comics really did have a huge impact on my life. They were the first comics I'd ever read. STLE, Beta, SoL, etc. Most of the ones I started with have long died- and with STLE and Beta ending, the last of my first Pokemon comics have come to an end.

I would never try to convince the authors to resume if their hearts weren't in it, though. Comics are an incredibly time consuming project to work on. I'm just glad they existed when they did, because I wouldn't be here doing this today. So for those who read those other comics- go say thank you to those authors for all the time they put into making those great stories, even if they remain incomplete. They were likely inspirations for many others.

Having said that, I stopped and pondered the future of PRS a bit today. Well, not just today- for the last week or so. I love PRS, it may not be great- not even in it's current iteration, but it's a part of me. It's been with me for 8 years now. And like some of the comics that encouraged me to bring PRS into comic form, it's going to be long. It's a massive project that will likely take years for me to finish.

Is it daunting? Yes. I imagine any author with big story plans feels daunted at the idea of bringing their ideas to life on their own. I stopped and asked myself 'Is it worth continuing PRS to the end? Do I want to be doing this for the next five or more years?'. I mean, yes, I've had fun working on it, but when do I move on to other things? It's no secret that PRS interferes with my plans to work on other projects that I want to work on.

I thought carefully on those questions for a while and came to a conclusion. It is.

In the years I've worked on PRS, I've met wonderful people. We met because of PRS- because they came by and commented on the pages and somehow we started talking regularly about non-PRS stuff. The people are what makes this fun for me. I love seeing each week's comments and everyone has always been so great and understanding about delays, breaks, and other nonsense.

You all know this last semester I had to take a break from comics and art in general. I found myself in a rather dark place for most of that break and I think part of it was me cutting myself off from most people and social activities both online and off. Pushing away those that I considered friends only worsened things- and PRS has always been one of the main social things I did; reading the comments, responding to them, teasing everyone with cliffhangers... I realized that PRS in the past has been a source of positive energy for me, even if I do get worn out from working on it from time to time.

Of course, I could always work on my other stories- and I've no intent on scrapping those. I love my original stories and would kill to have the time to work on them, but I wouldn't kill PRS for them. They will have their time to shine, maybe not now- and maybe not for a while, but because of my work on PRS, when I do get to dedicate more time to those, I'll be ready.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you. Thank you to all you old comic authors who first introduced me to webcomics way back when. Thank you for the stories you spent ages on, even if they will never be complete. Thank you to you wonderful readers for all your encouragement, patience, and support. Thank you to the friends I've made because of PRS for putting up with my insanity. And thank you to PRS for bringing me to such wonderful people and teaching me how to sorta art.

While I cannot say for certain what the future holds for PRS, know this:

I have no intentions on ending Pokemon: Rising Shadows before the story is over. It may take me years to get to the end, but I certainly want to get there. This has been a wonderful journey- even if it does wear me out. I may take hiatuses and updates may be sporadic at times, but I won't give up on it. I want to see this through to the very last page.