First of all, Happy New Year to you! 2022 was a really great year for me, aside from some depressing bumps in the road... I think I pretty much doubled the number of fans, followers, patrons from 2021. No, I'm still not as popular as some other great devs out there. But I'll keep at it because I just love doing this. And hopefully it will continue to grow.

Some of you know of my affinity for animals. At the start of 2022, I had 6 dogs. Today, I have 4. I lost 2 of my babies. One was 16 years old and just couldn't go any more. I took his loss pretty hard. I don't mean to bring up something so depressing this New Year's Day. But I think it is important to remember your losses at the start of a new year and be thankful for what you've gained. Also, things like this are the reason that development time can sometimes run longer than we would like. So, keep your fingers crossed that we can all navigate 2023 with few losses, and many wonderful gains. I count each and every one of you as part of my gains, so thank you!

Serenity C2: Ep.2 reception: Well, after a long development time for episode 2 of Serenity Chapter 2, it should have been longer. I know that. That 4 months was where I experienced most of my losses last year. Most of my setbacks. Still, no one seemed to complain about it (surprisingly!) and I did receive some nice feedback. There are a few grammar and spelling issues I need to address and will do during episode 3 development. A few mentioned that they hope we still get to see Camilla. Don't worry, we will!

Last Human Ep. 2: Now my focus is 100% on getting this next episode out for Last Human. I want to have it out by the end of February. Plus, I am trying to make it a longer read than episode 1. That one had 1079 images, 9 animation videos, and 21 song tracks with 2775 lines of code. For episode 2, I'm shooting for around 1500 images, plus a number of animation videos. I do have a couple of new scenes I need to build, but I'm confident I can get them done. I did already start coding over the last week of 2022, so I've given myself a nice head start. So, I'm already 30% into the writing/coding process. 

What to expect: The next few episodes will focus on an LI. Episode 2 will focus on Alexis of course, since she was the first that Mike met. So, we'll have whatever mission/adventure the crew are dealing with, plus more attention on one girl each episode. The idea here is to get to know our girls. Do we sleep with them yet? Not necessarily. But lewd things will happen. We won't rush into full on sex before we get to know these Nekos. Next, I want to talk about the Pantherians' culture of claiming a pet. Some may find it confusing; it really isn't.

So, when Pantherians claim a pet, multiple females can claim one male. In our case, 5 females claimed Mike. Once the claim has been approved by the Queen and her council, the courting/mating ritual begins. This process can take as long or as short a time as the female feels. It is up to the male to start the ritual with a kiss. He must initiate the first kiss. And that kiss must happen in the order that each girl claimed him - in our case, they're in this order: Alexis, Natalie, Dezzy, Kalina, and Alaina. Once all of the girls have been kissed, the sex part of the ritual can happen in any order, based on how long it takes the female to initiate it. As an example, (and a bit of a spoiler): Mike will kiss Alexis in episode 2. After that kiss, she can initiate sex with Mike anytime she feels ready. If Mike kisses Natalie next (before sex with Lexi), Natalie could choose to initiate sex immediately. Only the initial kiss that begins the ritual must be done in order.

Realism and science: Now I want to talk about something that came up in the Last Human F95 post that rather pissed me off. Someone brought up that the rocket at the beginning of episode 1 was actually a Russian rocket and went on to say the launch and next few scenes were basically unrealistic. Let's clear the air here on something before it gets out of hand. I am not a scientist. I am not Gene Roddenberry. I am not trying to make every single detail of every single image absolutely and perfectly realistic. It simply is not possible with the graphics engine and resources I have. And I don't have months of research time. It's a visual novel, not the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And I am one guy. I couldn't possibly hand create every piece or item for a scene. Updates would take a year if I did all that. So yes, we keep things simple, but as realistic looking as possible given the current scene and subject matter. Yep, the rocket was basically modelled after a Russian N1 rocket. But I liked the way it looked compared to what I had to choose from. My point is this: I illustrate the story as best I can with what I have and try to make the images as beautiful as I can. If you want perfect realism, look elsewhere. :)

Okay, I think this is long enough lol. Let's try to make this a great year for Last Human and Serenity. Spread the word! If you're just joining us here, stick around! Meanwhile, I need to get off this computer as the wife is yelling from the kitchen to come help cook our New Year's dinner and get ready to receive a few family members today. Wherever you are in the world, however you celebrate New Year's Day, I hope it is the best!

I love you all, ...Fire