that's definitely thaddeus, at this point. i think he was my first design ever for cyan's setting (spaceshit), though he's certainly changed quite a bit from the original drawing... spaceshit was originally going to have a completely different protagonist, be more human-centric, and have significantly less personal stakes. it was also going to be a webcomic. i'm really glad i didn't go through with that original version--it needed wayyyy more time in the oven!

thaddeus' core personality, meanwhile, actually has changed very little. he was always a stoic, intimidating space pirate captain... though i did end up making his "ruthless badass" demeanor something he intentionally cultivates. he was quite a bit more straightforward and two-dimensional, originally. as an aside, he was pretty difficult to figure out how to draw consistently for cyan--as someone who loves drawing extreme, exaggerated expressions, it's always quite a challenge for me to handle more restrained characters. but the contrast is sexy, isn't it!?!?!??! it's worth it for that alone...

spaceshit is still kind of my "baby," though, to this day. on top of being old enough to have quite a bit of worldbuilding, it has a lot of personal significance for me. it started out as an AU setting for a roleplay between me and an ex's dnd characters. both of those characters have been scrubbed from the setting since, and there was a long period of time where i thought i could never bring myself to touch it again. but... i redesigned dmitri on a whim in late 2020, and everything kind of fell into place soon afterwards. it felt like a miracle.

... this answer is pretty long and ramble-y already, so i'll try to keep this short--but my process for making comics was, historically, incredibly hard on me, both mentally and physically. i would feel extreme euphoria while working on them, prioritizing their completion over my own health, and intense irritability and burnout for a long time afterwards. i had a destructive relationship with my art that i'm still trying to mend.

i want to have fun making art again, but not at the expense of my life. for this reason, my next project is going to take a very, very long time to finish. it's been ~2 years and i'm still drafting--not only is it an ambitious project in an unfamiliar medium, but it's just genuinely very difficult for me to write for.

i'll have more to show someday... but i have all the time in the world. maybe finally being able to say that, and mean it, counts for something after all.