Digital Purgatory

Maps… Maaaps… Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaps!

Alright, now that I got that out of my system, welcome to another weekly Sapphire Nexus update, sponsored by Maps. This has definitely been shaping up to be a bit of a quiet month here, and that’s certainly NOT due to a lack of activity. After all, I am now at the point where I’m getting chased by a sentient map in my nightmares… Nearly the entirety of this month for me has been dominated by this map project, and while I know I have been talking about it a LOT yesterday and it might have seemed like it was destined to go on forever, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. While it did not make it in time for this week, it is looking likely that it will be ready in time for next week, at long last! That means that very soon people will finally be able to see what Kryshendar, Sapphiria’s homeworld, actually looks like! It’s an exciting time for sure, but, as always, that isn’t all I have locked in the barrel, so let’s get into this weeks updates and moderately interesting side stories!

Maps? Maps?! Maaaaaaaaaaaps!

Who got the reference? What, no metal gear fans? Don’t worry, I haven’t played the series either. I’m just here for the memes.

With the map of Sapphiria’s homeworld nearly done, that does mean that we are nearing the point where another massive site overhaul is on its way, both due to this change and not due to this change. I’m not sure yet where it will live, potentially in the Sapphire Universe page or maybe a page of its own, but I am working on readying a page where users on the site will be able to interact with the map in some way, even if it is just getting descriptions off the page. It’s still a question of whether I can even do that with the tools available to me here, but I am certainly going to try my best! This update will obviously require me to modify the website, so I’m going to take the chance to change a few other things!

The landing page is going to be getting an update here soon. Part of this is making certain parts more readable, and other parts are about just making it look more appetizing. It was made when there weren’t many assets available to me, but now that I’ve created more art pieces, it’s time to actually put some of those to work! Additionally, I will be making a potential MAJOR update to the short stories page. I am fully aware that it is immensely difficult to read on certain monitors and devices, and I’ve been working to find a solution. I think I have finally found one by using google docs and an embed reader, so I’ll be giving that a shot over the weekend to see if that does in fact fix our little reader problem. Alongside those changes, there will be tweaks and fixes for several of the other pages, mostly in terms of monitor sizes. While I was very careful about making things work on the extremes, I’m finding a few specific cases in between, in really weird spots, that need to be changed, so hopefully the solution I find fixes that.

That’s it in terms of maps, so let’s move out of digital purgatory and talk about some other happenings!

Not Digital Purgatory

With the map steadily finding its place on the rearview mirror, other art projects are starting to move forward into my sights. I’m not sure what my priority will be in terms of these, but they will all be digital art focused. One of them would be the twitch asset I’ve been talking about for weeks now. I’m thinking a kinda grassy field with a burning sunset and some clouds in the sky, a generic scene that won’t care if it’s partially covered up by gameplay. Another piece I’m steadily moving in front of myself would be… Atom! That’s right, everyone’s favorite feathered friend is steadily finding his way onto my digital art space. While I’m still an amateur at best, I feel more confident post Vargoth to bring Atom to life, so I’m going to give him my best shot and see if we can give this bird a face! To that same point, I’m also looking at the Karasi piece that I did, because I don’t think I said anywhere that I was done with it… hint hint wink wink. That’s pretty much it for the art pieces, but, art does lead me to…

Twitch

Yep, we’re back to talking about this again. Just hear me out for like five seconds. So far, we’ve done a LOT of Link to the Past, and while it is fun, I want to branch out so I don’t get stuck streaming one thing my whole freakin life. What does that mean exactly? Exactly what it sounds like! I am planning to shift my streams around and begin including other content that I’m fond of such as WoW, art streams, maybe a few odd things here and there, other speedruns like Rayman or Donkey Kong, perhaps some hunting of shinies in pokemon, and… group content! I have managed to successfully hold myself hostage and have gotten my friends on board with my streaming, so that means more chaotic streams where it’s NOT just me monologuing. I’m not going to plug too hard here, but we are planning to stream Elden Ring tonight! I’m sure it won’t end in absolute chaos…

Yenza

“Excuse me! Mr. Fennec!”

“Why, yes, how can I help you?”

“What’s a Yenza?”

“Run away as fast as you can.”

What the hell is a Yenza exactly? That’s not a name on this website anywhere, except maybe in a blog post I mentioned a while back with no additional context provided. Well, I’ll tell you what a Yenza is! Yenza is the name of another character from my story, but a more minor character. She’s the captain of the Snapdragon, and regarded as one of the most brutal and legendary captains to ever exist. She’s extremely blunt, maybe a little bit rude, a closeted hopeless romantic, and one of the most stubborn shasheek to ever sail the seas. To say she’s a piece of work would be a real understatement, but… why am I talking about a random side character that sounds so unlikeable? Well, I’ll tell you why whether you want me to or not!

After some deliberation, I am determined now to move forward with the Yenza short story that delves into her history and where she came from, but I’m going to write it more like a true short story instead of the even shorter web series I had planned for her. This will, effectively, be like a normal sized novel, somewhere around 60000 words if I had to guess, and it will cover her youth, her determination to succeed her brother and father as sailors, and, ultimately, her rise as the dread captain. If I had to guess, provided I still have the right mojo, this will probably take me about two weeks to write, and will probably be a little longer because I’m going to want to edit it (Why the hell did that sound like a ‘if you give a mouse a cookie’ reference?). I’ll be starting it probably somewhere in August given my current pace with my editing on the Sapphire Verdict Pt 2, and I’m not sure when or where it’ll be available. We’ll just have to wait and see where this wind blows, but, I am putting it in official writing… Yenza is on her way! Batten down your hatches, barricade your doors, and then hide in your closet, because there’s no stopping this high-spirited ass kicking captain from going where she pleases.

Final Fennecky Thoughts

Yes, that is spelled wrong on purpose. Anywho, that’s really all I have for this week. There are a LOT of fun things in the pipeline, and I am spending dozens of hours to move them forward, so while it doesn’t seem like too much is appearing here, don’t worry! Neat things are on there way, and I hope to soon have a lot of neat stuff to show for all this crazy effort! For now, the stream will continue as schedule with potentially Sunday or Monday being added as another night (We’ll see how I feel) and I will continue to make attempts to think of witty things to slap on twitter. Next week, keep an eye out for my maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!

Cheers!

The Flying Fennec