Have PTSD so I fully understand depression, some days I don't get out of bed till late afternoon. All I can suggest is take meds Doc gives you, if they don't work ask for something different. Couple of new ones work with what you take to make it work more efficiently. Good luck, Deity Bless, and finish time to.heal.
i applaud you for taking the time for yourself that you need! don't worry about us, we'll be here when you return, no matter how long it takes. keep being amazing!
I know I was temp-banned for something earlier, so I'll just speak up and keep it to the point. I believe in honesty, and speaking without fear to others. I will not always agree with other people here (conservative, I believe my LGBT status was a choice). I will not always agree with you, in fact. My motto: be open, be honest, never apologize. But, you ask, does this mean it is wrong to apologize? No. If you are genuinely sorry, go ahead. The point here, is do not apologize... even for apologizing. Whatever you feel, is right, because you are responsible for it. I may not always agree, but honestly you can just say "whatever" even to your loyal fans.
When I was first coming out, I had horrible fears that nobody would like me, that I'd wind up bullied, poor, or in prostitution or something. I had spent a good 30 years in the closet. Then I moved to the city, and discovered that most people, far from accepting or rejecting, honestly didn't care.
Bottom line? If it makes you feel better, give us notices about your hiatus. Honestly, I'd like to see updates too, but (how can I put this in a way that won't accidentally won't stress you out worse) what matters is not what I think or feel. It's all you.
In terms of blockage, I've been an artist, a writer, a game programmer, and a tabletop rpg designer. I'm no musician, unless you count weird atonal/asynchronous music, but basically everything else follows a specific principle: rest, then redirect, then reflect. Alot of my creative friends seem to want to wait until the muse calls out to them. That's not really how it works (this is a recipe for one-hit wonder). If you feel fatigued, rest. But if you feel blocked, don't wait until you feel better, redirect. What do I mean by redirect? Those Rain Delay sketches are a good example. If nothing is coming, start writing random ideas until one clicks. This may in fact lead you to side-projects, or in the case of games, it usually leads to feature creep. If something is hard, basically work on side concepts (drawing new characters, drawing fan art, writing scripts for non-main characters) until you can manage to work on the main part. Later on, you'll have a ton of material, some which you'll need to scrap (I do not do this, so my concepts tend to be epic length). Work on stuff that makes you happy. Now, here's the important part. If redirecting never seems to lead back to the center, figure out why. Sometimes, you have lost the energy to look at these characters, sometimes the drama of the characters is too similar to your life, sometimes the plot is painful to write. Reflect on what is causing the block if no amount of side work gets you closer to completion.
And remember (a fourth R!) as sad as it is to see you struggling, it's not necessary to get depressed over that. The other stuff mebbe, but... Jim Butcher is still working on the latest Dresden Files, and I've yet to see the sequel to Garth Nix's Abhorsen. If bestseller types have this issue, everyone does. Focus on your personal life, then Rain will tend to ease itself out.
There's been TWO sequels to Abhorsen (well, three if you want to count that short story about Nicholas Sayre).
Just finished reading Clariel. I hope to read Goldenhand soon, as I have to purchase it first. It might be that Clariel and Goldenhand have not yet launched outside of Australia and I'm being an insensitive jerkface about reading and finishing Clariel
I was actually medically retired from the US Army for depression and anxiety and I've been out of the army for almost 2 years now. I'm just now starting to figure out how to pull my life back together. So I get it, sort of. The number one priority is to make sure you ground yourself, find your center, and make sure your mind and your emotions are ready to handle the workload.
This comic was something that helped me when my mind broke during my last deployment. It helped me to keep going when they put me on suicide watch and brought me home from said deployment. Therefore if you, the author of this comic, need some time off, you damn well deserve it. You need to take care of you, just like I did when I got sent home from that deployment.
Hey, why don't those of us who read and love this comment offer up some fan art or something to ask Jocelyn to post here and there during this hiatus? Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to participate because I can't draw to save my life, lol. I would have to do stick figures.
And Jocelyn? If you need even as much as 3 more months, then you take all the time you need. A surgeon can't perform surgery if his hands are too shaky to pick up the knife. You have all of our support and love. We're all by your side. We've got your six.
Please take care of you. We can all benefit a bit from learning that gratification delayed (particularly if the delay is of benefit to someone) is better than immediate gratification. Given our current political climate, I think that's a lesson that many would benefit from.
You're our storyteller. Take the time you need to craft the story to your standards.
I will keep posted!
Until then I want to thank you for the content you have produced over the years. I have started reading Rain off and on for the last year and it has helped me.
Because of your work Jocelyn it has inspired my to step up out of the closet and finally start my process of transition (excited for HRT at the end of the month here)
But Thank you and please take care of you!
I actually started reading "Rain" quite recently (binge-reading; lady, you tell one heck of a good story!), so I'm not impatient. But, here's the thing, it wouldn't matter if I was! You need to look after yourself, first and foremost, always. Please.
You know how you feel. You might know why, and you might not, but you know the feelings running through you.
You know when you feel bad.
You notice when resting helps. Or when anything else does.
At the end of the day, no one can tell you what you need better than you can tell yourself.
Do what you need to be okay. Story updates are nice and all, but I'd rather know you're taking care of yourself. You need to take care of yourself . . . you are loved and valued as yourself . . . in short, you are worth every single bit of care. Rest, or don't; think, or don't; rearrange things, or don't. Just make sure you never, ever feel guilty about taking the time you need, because . . . yeah, I'm not sure there are any more ways to say this. You are worth everything that helps. Never push yourself too hard. Never feel guilty over what you need. Never cut your rest short if you aren't ready. Simply rejuvenate. Do whatever you need to be okay.
As a fellow fan of stated series, as well as a fan of Black Lagoon, this is an underrated post. If I've survived through a multi-year hiatus, then you'll be fine.
Jocelyn: You just take care of yourself and draw whatever you want whenever you want. Thanks for the Patreon link. I'm happy to have the honor of being your 100th patron.
Although I love your comic, personal health always comes first and it's good that you have the option to cut something out for a while to keep your mental health in check. Depression's a bitch and so is anxiety, I would know, but you're strong. I hope things will settle down for you and be less stressful.
As someone who struggles with my own mental health issues, I think it's super important that you are feeling good before anything else. Take as much time as you need. Mental health is super important and I think that the truth in that is often ignored, especially by those who haven't had to deal with any mental health problems of their own. I'd say most (if not all) of your readers care about you and your well-being as well as the content you produce, so while Rain is wonderful, so are you and you deserve to feel wonderful. <3 Hope the break is helping out and you feel better soon. :)
I know I was temp-banned for something earlier, so I'll just speak up and keep it to the point. I believe in honesty, and speaking without fear to others. I will not always agree with other people here (conservative, I believe my LGBT status was a choice). I will not always agree with you, in fact. My motto: be open, be honest, never apologize. But, you ask, does this mean it is wrong to apologize? No. If you are genuinely sorry, go ahead. The point here, is do not apologize... even for apologizing. Whatever you feel, is right, because you are responsible for it. I may not always agree, but honestly you can just say "whatever" even to your loyal fans.
When I was first coming out, I had horrible fears that nobody would like me, that I'd wind up bullied, poor, or in prostitution or something. I had spent a good 30 years in the closet. Then I moved to the city, and discovered that most people, far from accepting or rejecting, honestly didn't care.
Bottom line? If it makes you feel better, give us notices about your hiatus. Honestly, I'd like to see updates too, but (how can I put this in a way that won't accidentally won't stress you out worse) what matters is not what I think or feel. It's all you.
In terms of blockage, I've been an artist, a writer, a game programmer, and a tabletop rpg designer. I'm no musician, unless you count weird atonal/asynchronous music, but basically everything else follows a specific principle: rest, then redirect, then reflect. Alot of my creative friends seem to want to wait until the muse calls out to them. That's not really how it works (this is a recipe for one-hit wonder). If you feel fatigued, rest. But if you feel blocked, don't wait until you feel better, redirect. What do I mean by redirect? Those Rain Delay sketches are a good example. If nothing is coming, start writing random ideas until one clicks. This may in fact lead you to side-projects, or in the case of games, it usually leads to feature creep. If something is hard, basically work on side concepts (drawing new characters, drawing fan art, writing scripts for non-main characters) until you can manage to work on the main part. Later on, you'll have a ton of material, some which you'll need to scrap (I do not do this, so my concepts tend to be epic length). Work on stuff that makes you happy. Now, here's the important part. If redirecting never seems to lead back to the center, figure out why. Sometimes, you have lost the energy to look at these characters, sometimes the drama of the characters is too similar to your life, sometimes the plot is painful to write. Reflect on what is causing the block if no amount of side work gets you closer to completion.
And remember (a fourth R!) as sad as it is to see you struggling, it's not necessary to get depressed over that. The other stuff mebbe, but... Jim Butcher is still working on the latest Dresden Files, and I've yet to see the sequel to Garth Nix's Abhorsen. If bestseller types have this issue, everyone does. Focus on your personal life, then Rain will tend to ease itself out.
Just finished reading Clariel. I hope to read Goldenhand soon, as I have to purchase it first. It might be that Clariel and Goldenhand have not yet launched outside of Australia and I'm being an insensitive jerkface about reading and finishing Clariel
This comic was something that helped me when my mind broke during my last deployment. It helped me to keep going when they put me on suicide watch and brought me home from said deployment. Therefore if you, the author of this comic, need some time off, you damn well deserve it. You need to take care of you, just like I did when I got sent home from that deployment.
Hey, why don't those of us who read and love this comment offer up some fan art or something to ask Jocelyn to post here and there during this hiatus? Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to participate because I can't draw to save my life, lol. I would have to do stick figures.
And Jocelyn? If you need even as much as 3 more months, then you take all the time you need. A surgeon can't perform surgery if his hands are too shaky to pick up the knife. You have all of our support and love. We're all by your side. We've got your six.
You're our storyteller. Take the time you need to craft the story to your standards.
Until then I want to thank you for the content you have produced over the years. I have started reading Rain off and on for the last year and it has helped me.
Because of your work Jocelyn it has inspired my to step up out of the closet and finally start my process of transition (excited for HRT at the end of the month here)
But Thank you and please take care of you!
Rachel P.
You know how you feel. You might know why, and you might not, but you know the feelings running through you.
You know when you feel bad.
You notice when resting helps. Or when anything else does.
At the end of the day, no one can tell you what you need better than you can tell yourself.
Do what you need to be okay. Story updates are nice and all, but I'd rather know you're taking care of yourself. You need to take care of yourself . . . you are loved and valued as yourself . . . in short, you are worth every single bit of care. Rest, or don't; think, or don't; rearrange things, or don't. Just make sure you never, ever feel guilty about taking the time you need, because . . . yeah, I'm not sure there are any more ways to say this. You are worth everything that helps. Never push yourself too hard. Never feel guilty over what you need. Never cut your rest short if you aren't ready. Simply rejuvenate. Do whatever you need to be okay.
Do you have a Patreon? I know as I was catching up there were gofundme pages, but the links seemed dead.
Thanks for reading! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. ^_^
I do have a Patreon as of fairly recently. You can find that here - https://www.patreon.com/RainComic
Good luck in finding your happiness.
welp, as long as you're ok, and intend to keep it up, that's cool. WE SUPPORT YOU!!!