FNAF:SOP - Polaroid

For those of you who've followed the fancomic, don't get too excited: I've just been watching playthroughs of "Security Breach" since it dropped and was inspired to draw something with these guys since it's been an eternity.  I wanted to try drawing them as I probably would had I started SOP now as opposed to seven years ago, adjusting the style.  

Working on art for PGL might've been my first step as an illustrator, but working on SOP was probably where I really began with comics.  And, wow, it's been a long way since then!  Can't help cringing when I look back at my own work, but this comic does hold a special place in my heart for it being a fun way to spend the evenings back in high school and where I started pursuing illustration more seriously. 

I know a lot of you really liked this as well; maybe it was even the comic you began following me for. To my surprise, as old as the artwork is, I still get comments to this day from people finding and clicking through it for the first time.  I'm really grateful to everyone who gave it the attention and love it received from all the way back when it began to today. 

For those of you wondering what happened to this, while I never officially cancelled it, the two years it's been since I posted the last page has probably been more than enough of a sign that it's as good as dead. Not to say I haven't returned to old stories after huge hiatuses, but as much as I hate leaving things unfinished, even I have to admit that getting back on this is far from easy.  There's multiple reasons why it went into limbo and why I struggle getting back on it, even though things I had planned for it still stay fresh in my mind. 

One of the main issues back then to now is simply time; not just from moving on to college and now trying to work professionally in freelance, but also just how much time it takes to produce each page.  My art may have improved over the years, but I'm admittedly slower too.  In the hours it took to make this simple piece here, I would've had one or two pages done of the comic back then. Finding ways to best prioritize those hours across multiple projects can be a tough balancing act, and since the work is free, I also need to consider the costs to my own health and happiness while working on these as well.

Another thing was just how much had changed within the FNAF franchise itself, which was always important for me to keep in mind for the comic since I usually try to follow canon as much as possible with my fanworks.  I started the comic around when then the 2nd game dropped: In no way could I have guessed we'd get the ton of games and books that are out for it now, some with conflicting canon and others with additions to the world that feel so out-there that it's hard to know where and how they fit into things overall.  We've got entirely new things to the franchise like Gumdrop Angel and Fazgoo, as well as a list of casualties so long now that I can barely remember the name of one of the original five missing children from the original game.  I've always told readers that I wouldn't be able to follow any one set of theories due to ongoing/open-ended arcs and the inclusion of fcs/ocs.  Now, it's even harder to decide what adjustments would need to be made to SOP than it was when just the 3rd and 4th games released, and even if I decided on a set of new plot-points that I was satisfied with, I know not everyone will be.   

I hate quitting stories, so I don't want to say I'm done with SOP even after everything.  I just don't see how to carry it fully forward.  Maybe someday I'll have my ducks in a row enough to figure out what to do with it, or maybe I'll someday bring my own characters from SOP onto another project entirely.  For the time being though, it's probably going to stay sitting as it is. 

Again, a big thank you to everyone who's kept an eye on it for all these years.  Thank you for your patience with the story and for checking out my other work as well while this has been on the backburner.  Hopefully I can draw something at least FNAF related in the near future: I'd like to try my hand at drawing animatronics again when I can find the time for it.