Who is it?/Animator update

What do you think? Who is Ren talking to here? (Spoiler: It’s not Clara.)

Now, onto the topic you're probably more interested in:
Chapter 11 progress and the animation situation.

First, the good news—Chapter 11 is coming along nicely. I'm hesitant to give a firm release date, but the first half of next month is looking likely—maybe even sooner (quite possible, honestly). That said, I don’t want to get your hopes up too much, especially since the animation side of things is still unresolved.

About the Animators

I've brought on two animators for Chapter 11.

1. DirtyDarkkling is back—the same guy who did the Cia/Amy scene in Chapter 10. (By the way, I've seen a few people crediting that scene to Gary—that’s incorrect. Gary handled the MC x Clara scene in Chapter 10 and the first animated scene in Chapter 11. Not sure why this keeps getting mixed up—did I say it wrong once, or is someone out there just confidently spreading misinformation?)
Anyway, DirtyDarkkling sent me a recent progress update with some half-finished animations, and they’re already looking great—no surprise there. He’s still dealing with personal stuff though, so I can’t give any kind of timeline. Could be done in 5 days, could be 5 months. I respect the hell out of him for sticking with it even when his mind’s elsewhere. What a madlad.

2. The second animator is someone I hired about a week ago. I haven’t worked with him before and don’t really know how reliable he is. He came recommended—though to be fair, the person who recommended him just liked his animation work and doesn’t actually know him personally either.

When I reached out, he asked for 35% of the payment up front. That’s... probably fine? I hope so, at least. But now he’s been unresponsive for about a week, and yeah, I’m starting to get a little worried. It’s possible he’s just the kind of person who prefers to work quietly and show things when they’re ready—but if not, well... I’ll have to chalk it up as Lehrgeld (German for “tuition money”—basically, paying to learn a tough lesson). That would suck, but it is what it is.

Of course, if I am just being overly cautious and he does deliver the animations after all, then the release date might move up a bit. Fingers crossed.

In Case of Delays...

If we reach the point where everything else in Chapter 11 is done and the only thing missing is the animation—and there’s nothing left for me to work on—I’ll bite the bullet and do the animations myself. I’d really prefer not to, because animation isn’t my strong suit and the quality would definitely take a hit, but I won’t let the chapter sit in limbo.