“Oh look, he’s back again.” You’re darn right I am. Anyway, real talk below, if you want to read that is.  Or you can just read the TLDR and skip to the announcements.

TLDR: Boo-hoo, me. Got better. 500 pages or bust. Now updating Friday to Sunday.

I didn’t show it back then, but I was miserable while working on the comic.

I was never really been confident in my art and writing. You guys see the end results, but behind the scenes, I make a lot of mistakes and have a lot of difficulty drawing some panels. On some days, my drawing skills just disappear, or at least be at a lower level than usual.

And somewhere along the way, the satisfaction after a job well done was gone. Obviously, none of these are good for anyone’s sanity. Those feelings of frustration and uselessness eventually builds up, leading to unannounced hiatuses until my confidence comes back (one of the biggest reasons anyway).

But whenever I come back after every hiatus, I’m always afraid (literally heart pumping faster afraid) at reading the comments and the chat. Afraid of you, the reader’s, disappointment, especially from long time fans.

So, miserable while working, and miserable when not working. Vicious cycle right there.

“Screw this, this is no way for a man to live” I said, so I decided to take a real break this time, and take it as long as I needed until I get over those feelings, AND rekindle my love for drawing again.

Just living life: sleeping and waking up on time, eating healthier, taking up weightlifting (best idea ever and I suggest everyone do it too, squatting around 185 lbs now), and taking a walk every day. I didn’t draw much during this time, but I watched and read a lot of cartoons, anime, and manga. I also reflected on what I was doing wrong and what I can do to improve.

Now I’m back, with a definite goal of “finishing” Cat Nine at 500 pages and an ultimatum: if I miss a whole week of updates again, then I’ll permanently stop Cat Nine. Mind you, I’ll only stop at 500 pages if I ran out of steam at that point, otherwise I’ll continue. Who knows, abandoning Cat Nine might be what I needed to do all this time, and I’ll probably just start a new series if I do stop.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, whew, that’s a load off my chest (is that the right expression?)! I’m not normally open about these things. Now then… it’s time to get back to work.

Now for some announcements:

• Halloween 2015 Wallpaper (Xenoblade x Undertale), and other free wallpapers can be downloaded here (Dropbox). Sorry I know it’s super late, and I’ll be skipping Halloween 2016. You guys better think of themes or characters for this year though!
• The website apparently went down since December 2016, which kinda sucks really since I didn’t touch anything. Didn’t even visit here during the break. It was caused by something something about Cloudflare and DNS. Fixed it during February 2016, and I won’t be using Cloudflare anymore. Might slow the site down a bit, but only just. Sorry about that folks!
• Livefyre Comments is gone forever (gee thanks Adobe) so replaced it with Disqus for now. Most of the comments have been exported, but any images or videos are probably lost. Too bad, I like Livefyre and I can’t control the Disqus’ appearance. Might change to SolidOpinion (the one I used for Magicat Girl), but only if the comments can export.
• On that note, Magicat Girl is cancelled, for now.
• Reaching 500 pages would take forever if I update once a week. So Cat Nine will update from Friday to Sunday from now on.
• I’ll only make bonus art/comics for Top Web Comics every first day of the month so I can focus on the main comic. I’ll still be making lots of bonus stuff though, but it will be for…
• Cat Nine’s Patreon page will be launching soon. Look forward to Rewards like:
  • Wallpapers (some of the new headers are Patron-exclusive wallpapers)
  • Exclusive art and comics for Patrons. Might post Magicat Girl here as a standard comic though, without reader input. Sorry about that!
  • Early access/Preview comics (up to 3 pages in advance)
  • Downloadable RARs of Episodes (includes bonus art and comics, and chat/comment doodles) in unoptimized Ultra HD (3840 x 1183). Normal comics optimized (lower quality) and in 1536 x 473, so that’s what, six times as large!
  • Add your name to the Patrons page. Pledging higher amounts will allow you to add a link to your website, and your name will be listed below the rant/news section on comics that you’ve supported.
  • And Goals. Like removing advertisements for everyone or heck, four comics a week. Plus if you were a Patron when a Goal is reached, you’ll be added to the Hall of Fame.