Update On Stray Souls

I posted this on socials already but I'll copy it here in case you've missed it:

"I was planning on waiting until things were properly settled with the paperwork side of webtoon but it seems like they've started changing things in the series status already so I'll go ahead and clarify things a bit

As some of you may know, I haven't really been able to work on Stray Souls much recently. There's a number of reasons for that, and I can't point to a single thing to "blame": it wasn't webtoon's fault entirely, it's not because I like other works better, it's mostly that I got to a point where I couldn't write or draw myself out of the block. Stray Souls was my first long form comic project and there was a lot I should have done differently, and a lot I learned over these years that sorta made me outgrow it a little. This and other factors make it extremely hard to take the time to work on the last episodes I'd need to conclude it, which, despite not being many compared to the bulk of the series, are still 15-20 weeks of effort dedicated to something I don't know how to fix and wouldn't be happy with overall.

So yes, this means I've reached out to webtoon to mark the series as complete for now. Know that this isn't an easy decision and nobody loves this story and characters more than I do, but that's also why it doesn't feel right to give it an ending I'll regret. It also doesn't mean I'm neglecting how it might affect fans and people invested in the series - trust me, as someone reading webcomics since the early 2010s, I know too well what it's like to become invested in something that gets suspended like that.

With all this said, I don't want to fully give up on this story (and don't think I ever can). It might take me a while, as I focus on newer ones and other projects here and there, but I'm already building a little foundation to revisit it. I can't say it's 100% going to be the series you remember, and I can't say it'll be done or available anytime soon, but I'll get back to it one way or another. There's a lot in Stray Souls I won't be able to recreate in any other work and I'm not putting that to waste

As a final note, there are no words for how much I've appreciated my readers' support over the years and how important it's been for my growth as an artist. It's taken me this long to make this decision partly because I didn't want to let you down, and it sucks to know that I did. I'll be available on social media as always and on twitch streams to talk about this further if anyone wants to chat or has any question, always up to hearing you guys however I can

Thank you so much for everything"

So! Effectively putting a hold on this story. It's not the first or second time something like this happens around this IP but I think it's for the best, and am genuinely looking forward to whenever I get to revisit it proper.

For now, original comic-wise I'll mostly focus on The Under Garden - and speaking of, I've got the test print for the first volume coming soon (fingers crossed it doesn't look terrible). If that looks good, I'll finally set up that online store I've been talking about with some of my prints, shaky standees and the book :) I've been a bit slow on things for a bunch of real life reasons but it's all falling into place

Thank you as always for the support <3