Hey, ho! I hope the new year has been treating you well this far.

I honestly thought I’d never need to write another blog post update, given all that stuff was supposed to move over to a video format starting with the first episode of the Rykani Cast, but the virus replicating in my throat has had other ideas. Regardless, I don’t feel much like wasting your time, so let’s just get into it.

Life has been an absolute rollercoaster for me the last few weeks, and I bet you could tell just looking at my lack of output. No new comic pages, no new Rykani Cast episodes, and where the fuck is Ask a Ryka?! Well, let me tell you about my thrilling ride across life’s ups and downs:

Let’s start with the good news: Most of my Uni work for this final Bachelor’s semester of mine is done by this point. Yay! Right now, I’m ahead of all my remaining work for the first time in months, my Bachelor’s is also completed for the most part, and I’ve already been accepted to start my Master’s Degree next semester. All of those are great news, and I’m glad to have this half-year-long Odyssey finally over with.

However, that’s where the good news end, sadly, because all this success has been accompanied by a tragedy currently unfolding in my inner family circle. I won’t go into the details, and I hope you can understand my wish for privacy on this topic, but things aren’t looking good. I’m more than lucky to be alive, healthy and mentally well myself, but witnessing the final, painfully gradual decay of a loved one is something no one will escape from fully unscathed. No matter how strong you think yourself, a scenario like that is guaranteed to leave marks.

Because of these ongoings, I myself have been put through a sort of rough spell recently, too. Restless nights, a sudden return of some of my more introverted traits, as well as a seemingly endless streak of sicknesses have unsurprisingly left their mark on my motivation and work morale. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m going through another unpleasant respiratory disease that is now thwarting my plans for a return of the Rykani Cast and making work on the comic needlessly difficult.

Again, I’d like to stress that I’m currently doing fine by all relevant metrics, and that things have started improving already. By this point, I can clearly make out the bright light at the end of the tunnel, and I truly do believe that I can once again fully commit myself to this craft over the coming weeks. In that sense, I ask you to not spend any worry on me and my personal health.

To be clear: This update was neither meant as a tool to drag down your mood, nor as a desperate call for sympathy, but simply as a short way to catch you up on what’s been going on. I’ve learned my lesson now that leaving you guys out in the dark, as I’ve done on a few occasions last year, creates unnecessary speculation and concern, and it’s my opinion that everyone being on the same playing field forms the basis of any positive relationship. That’s the reason I felt this update was necessary, even if its contents don’t tell the most pleasant story.

Anyway, if you’ve made it to this point in the update, I’d like to thank you for giving me and my work the time of your day. Additionally, if you’ve been going through similar situations in your own life’s journey, I’d like to wish you all the strength necessary to endure. After all, in these tough times, to endure is our only option. No matter how dark the surrounding forest, no matter how tight the cave ahead, no matter how brutal the oppression from your own mind. Keep walking, and trust that the only way out lies forward. One way or another, this, too, will pass.

This is AP, signing out. Have a good one.