daystareld

Pokemon: The Origin of Species Ch. 141

Added 2025-06-06 00:09:25 +0000 UTC

Hey all, sorry for the delay. The last few months have been rough here and there, but this time I feel compelled to explain.

May was a difficult month for me. My dad's cancer came back, I lost an entire week (no work, no writing, little sleep) to an intense interpersonal issue that left me exhausted and heartsick after, and I went to LessOnline, which was incredibly fun but also much more taxing than I expected; a combination of massive back-to-back jetlag and various random complications means I've gotten about an average of five hours of sleep every night for the past week, and that's being optimistic. Also my bike got stolen, and my shoes. No, really. It's distracting, but honestly small potatoes compared to the stuff I mentioned before, which are weighing on me even still and making it hard to focus on anything for too long.

On top of all that, I struggled with this chapter a lot. I've mentioned a few places before that the pokemon battles are the hardest part of the story for me to continue to feel excited by; once in a while I still enjoy writing them, but overall they've become something of a slog. I hope that's not reflected too much in the reading experience; I work hard to think of new dynamics and polish each exchange until I still get some enjoyment out of the end result, and people do seem to still enjoy them.

But overall, now that I've missed my deadline by half a week rather than a day, it seems responsible to say that I can't be sure what will happen this month, or the coming ones. I still hope to get back on track, and I still plan to finish this story, come hell or high water. I appreciate your patience, either way, and particularly appreciate you patrons for sticking with me through all this.

Take care everyone, and hug your loved ones. Life can be hard sometimes, but there's still a lot to be grateful for, and I hope this story continues to be one of them for you.