Hiatus – June Update

I seem to fair better at every-other-month updates instead of monthly.

And hey, look at that, a whole page of sketches. I took out the middle panel because it could be spoilerific, but the other ones should be safe enough.

I still struggle with inking and I haven't even touched coloring, but at least the sketching has become easier.

48 Comments

Thank you for posting!
Hope you’re doing better!
Still here. 🙂

You exist 😀 ^_^ Thank you for the update!

I wish I could upvote this comment.

Great to see an update again, and bi-monthly is a good start 🙂
and I’m happy that the sketching part has become easier,
with time, I imagine the rest will follow.

???

I’m glad you’re getting back into it, and glad you’re taking your time for your own sake.

Good to see you are trying. Thanks for the update!

Thank you for continuing! That is great!

A baby skip instead of a baby step! *applauding*

Hope your healing continues!

Love light and positive/healing energy to you dear heart. Take your time and Heal at your pace. Know that we are here for you and love you as best we can.

Glad you’re doing better, even if only a tiny bit.

Glad I decided to check the comic today.

Bandit looks upset at Danni. Considering their recent interactions, I can’t imagine why she looks so ashamed.

I might be reading things entirely wrong though.

Looks good

Awesome 🙂 At your own pace, its all good.

Improvement is improvement regardless of the amount. Best Wishes

We’re still here.

Thank you for the new post! I hope things have improved for you and continue to do so.
Don’t push yourself to ink or color, I’m thrilled just to have an update.

Yay! Be well.

You know, whatever works for you. <3

Don’t think about the pain of recent events, think about the joys that preceded it. That’s literally how I overcame the trauma of getting hit on my bicycle. And I’m nothing special, really, I’m just some schlub that got hit and broke some bones then got put back together and went about his business.

You getting better is more important than monthly updates. We appreciate the updates, but if you need to update less so that you can do better, then that will be fine.

Thanks for the update! Recovery is often little steps, sometimes so small you don’t feel like you’re going anywhere, but then you look back a year or two later and see how much ground you’ve covered.
This has always been one of the things I’ve liked about post-appocolyotic stories like NAV is the inherent hopefulness and optimism in the genre – the worst has happened, the world has ended (for varying values of ended) and yet…life carries on. People live and laugh and love in the post-appocolypse. The build new things and/or repair the old.
Personal tragedies are our own personal apocalypse. Our world has ended, in its own way. But post-apoc reminds us that the end is just a new beginning.
Anyways, thank you for the comic. Whenever you’re drawn to return to it, I’ll be here to read it.

Well said. The world (our personal world) will never be the same. Adapting to loss will happen as long as that’s what we’re yearning or learning or asking for. But it often happens in steps so small we can’t see them until years later (darn it!). The bigger the loss, the smaller those steps seem. Just keep breathing, cry some, rage some, walk some, break some pencils, throw a tablet. A heart that can break big is a heart who can write big, who can relate with people who suffer deeply but have no words.

Aneeka, know that you’ve got your own personal cheering section. We’re stickin’ with ya!

Well said. The world as we knew it has ended. Recovery does not get you back to where you were before, you just learn to live with the post-apocalypse challenges.

And @Astonishing Coward, you make two very good points;

1. The bigger the loss the smaller the steps of recovery, the greater the feeling of not getting anywhere at all. Fits well with the apocalypse metaphor too, a greater degree of world-ending makes rebuilding seem more of a never-ending task. But this is only in part because the task is greater, it is also in part because there is a larger difference pre- and post-apocalypse. This makes it harder to recognize how far we’ve come since the apocalypse, as more of what we’ve built is new and unfamiliar.

2. A heart that can break big is a heart who can write big. Or create in other ways than writing, art that can be related to and can help others to feel and to learn – especially learning to recognize feelings, to make sense of feelings, and to communicate feelings. This is, as I see it, the greatest purpose of art and why such things as fictional stories are essential to humanity. Some heartbreak is small and those of us who face that may be helped by stories of small heartbreak. Some heartbreak is big, those of us who face that may feel that stories of small heartbreak taught us nothing that is applicable. Stories of big heartbreak are important.

Thank you @Ray, thank you @Astonishing Coward, and especially thank you Aneeka! All of you have helped me today.

Good to see you

Your progress is exciting! But mostly I’m just happy to hear from you. Thank you for the update and taking the time to let us know how you’re doing. <3

No worries, you’re good. You can do it! I believe in you!

I’ve been so bad at checking in that I now had two updates to read! Well, good to see some sketches, and especially good to see that one of the fluffy stories has a chance at getting to see the light of day. If you happen to want some help playing around with the AI art stuff I should be able to provide that, I haven’t tried it myself yet but I have some expertise in the general vicinity of that and I love to play. Send me an email if you’re interested, I check the one I use for these comments about monthly 🙂

I am so happy to see another post, I am glad things are becoming easier

I’m so glad to just hear from you, any kind of post is great, and sketches even! please keep taking all the time you need, whatever speed or lack thereof. if sketches are all you can do then sketch as much as you like, or as little, just keep hanging in there, take care of you <3

Still here, still pulling for you, still believing in you. 🙂

Thanks for this update.

Hang in there. Glad to see the sketching is coming back!

Hang in there! We’ll still be here when you return! Much love!

Take your time, come back when you’re ready. I for one will be waiting.
Discovered NAV back when you were working on book 1, never wrote before, and I lost your story for awhile (had no reliable net access), but I love this comic and seriously want to see more! That said, I do NOT want you burning out like so many other writers/artists I’ve followed, take care of yourself first, everything else will come in time.

I really appreciate your willingness to post little things like this. It really shows that you care about your readers, even though things are hard. I know it’s not a small thing to put this out here. I’ll be here whenever you do get more comics ready to post, and until then, I’m grateful that you’re communicating, even a little.

So glad you’re back!

Good for you. take your time, even if coloring and stuff gets to wait for another generation i figure it’ll be worth the wait. I’d much rather see you feel better than have more comics. I support you in this. love light and positive energy

Progress is progress, Aneeka. That you have healed enough to resume the story, even with sketches, is remarkable. But even so, as much as I (as well as others), want to see you continue NAV, what matters most is that you continue to heal, and you continue to look after yourself.

Glad to see you well again, and may you continue to improve in life.

Great to hear from you! Hang in there. We’re all rooting for you. <3

Thank you for continuing to post mini updates and sketches. Makes me happy that you’re drawing again 😀

I just want to say that whenever you’re ready to start updating again, I’ll still be here to read. I can’t speak for others, but I can say I’m at least one fan patient enough to wait for you to recover.

It’s honestly good just knowing that you’re getting better, even a little bit over time, healing is the most important thing. ??

🙂
Great to hear from you! Thank you and hang in there.

*leaves a couple hugs*

Hey Aneeka! This is Daniel, hubby of Reigheena / Andy.

Just wanted you to know the random-but-hopefully fun factoid that among the 15 or so special mugs that we own, the 3 color-changing ones are the most precious (hot chocolate even in the summer in AZ I guess?!?). And among the 3 color-changing ones, clear consensus in the family and especially from Joseph our middle child (the connoisseur of all things mug-related?) we have determined the Nav one is the best: Awesomest design even when cooled off, the dragon element, and the color scheme.

So mad props for all of that and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Aneeka, as I know you read all these comments, I figured this was the easiest way to send some possitive energy your way 🙂
we’re all here for you, whenever you feel ready 🙂
Hugs from Spain 🙂

Not A Villain Webcomic

Webcomic of a semi- reformed hacker trying to redeem herself in a post- apocalyptic world she may have created.

Hiatus – June Update