Hi everyone,
This isn't a new chapter update or preview for Project Home Bound. No this is perhaps a much needed update to explain what the heck is going on with this, why Home Bound is being held up (and in turn is holding other things up like the Don series). I'd like to take a minute today, given that today is TECHNICALLY (due to timezones) the day that PS Home went offline- take that minute and explain what's up.
So I won't go over what is already established but for the last few years since Mugen 'fell apart' (for me at least) I have been trying to create some form of the 3rd wave to continue the story. Since arguably... 2019 or 2020, somewhere in there, never anything full blooded. And during that time I dabbled with just writing the story as, well, a story & continuing it as I would Ravenlight or another project.
But for a long time there I had other things going on- be it trying to move and bunk up with friends, trying to get Ravenlight going, working on my own mental health. Basically the sequel to Mugen (and 3rd line to Home) was always on the back burner until about 2023 when I finally got through a lot of stuff. And while working on Ravenlight, gathering resources and a team and finances, I had still kept the project in somewhat of a limbo state until the latter half of the year.
I've been working on Project Home Bound for a long time- planning it, morphing it, figuring out what should come next. And yet for the last few months while trying to pull the current vision together, that vision has constantly been threatened. As you know, PHB was supposed to be a community written series to continue the legacy. Something an audience could join and follow as we post/write/update in the official server.
We keep our legacy going, and share our 'culture'. However- that's been a problem since November/December or so. Our team has dwindled/fallen apart. Much like with the trailer thing where I had plans for voice acting and animations and all of that, it has been a major uphill battle. We've lost support, we've lost team members. And tbh right now there are only 2-3 of us still working on this, with me being the main driving force writing-wise.32Please respect copyright.PENANAc3EXLzJsQY
No one from Home or Mugen remains atm- which is something I've been trying to solve for the last couple months. Activity/interest has been low. Things really came to a head in February when we lost all but the 2-3 members mentioned on the team, and crunch time came following the trailers being released- trying to figure out membership, trying to keep on pace for that March release.32Please respect copyright.PENANA88mMSlOupY
OBVIOUSLY that March release didn't happen, this being April now. And really these last few weeks have been so stressful for the project.
To break it down, we've considered calling it quits. I've been so desperately wanting to start the next leg of the story, to continue these plots and characters I've had for over a decade, and lately- writing such alone, I've debated breaking off & shutting down the project, instead opting to continue writing this as its own series much as Ravenlight is. A solo project, with my input being the only thing, abandoning the community aspect.
It has been beyond difficult to maintain the drive and desire to keep the project going myself facing such issues- but one person on the team aside from me has been insisting on keeping this project afloat. Though in all honesty, just the one voice hasn't been enough in the last few weeks. I've asked for advice from people familiar with the project or past projects, people on my current art team- and that hasn't guided me successfully one way or another.
So where do things stand?
Well, that is hard to say tbh. It would be so awesome to generate this community series, to keep it going, to build something up around it. Multiple writers, multiple plots, maybe multiple stories happening at once- just like in the old days. However it's problematic when there's only myself writing and sometimes one other, not to throw shade or anything as they even agree with this sentiment.
It's been hurtful. And of course this is an issue for me because, again, over a decade of development on the lore and for some of these characters. I don't want that to go to waste, and I don't want to wait on it any longer if I don't have to (reminder- I left Mugen in 2017-2018). I want to create again, and with Ravenlight nearing its own launch this April/May (hopefully), there's just no way to justify holding off anymore imo.32Please respect copyright.PENANAbGv4KQJWzk
So where do things go from here?32Please respect copyright.PENANAtiyJea9AVS
Honestly, I don't know. Right now we're riding the line. Either we keep riding as a 1.5-2 person team and hope to expand in the future, HOPE that it grows and becomes worth "something"... or, we call it quits on this concept and I just write my lore & characters solo. And it sucks because this concept would be amazing to pull off, akin to continuing some form of Home and Mugen (mostly Home). The other person wants this to work but they understand our limitations atm.32Please respect copyright.PENANAw717x5PFA3
We need to figure out the issue with our number of writers for one, and we can't bring "just anyone" aboard for this. And in turn, we need to figure out our direction.32Please respect copyright.PENANAxMwDMFAAnH
That's really all there is to say about it. The delays are because we're in a struggle right now with our numbers and in figuring out what to do. If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment them below this article (or if you don't have a Penana account, which you should totally get, reply to whatever post on the socials where you see the link to this article).32Please respect copyright.PENANA7Gi1IAbdiW
I will continue to provide updates, likely on Blue Sky and Twitter, as we sort through this more. If you're at all curious as to the server and want to join, you can ask for the link I guess. We are writing in there but it is a bit awkward given the circumstances.32Please respect copyright.PENANAoAehYOnaI7
I may post more previews in the future, depending on what we figure out.32Please respect copyright.PENANA3TtF37x6KO
Well, that's all I have for now, and thank you for reading. Your support is appreciated~32Please respect copyright.PENANAefnwFP473Q