In the last post I wrote about projects in progress. This time I want to tease a bit more, with cover/sleeve artwork for two which are either partly there, or near completion.

Attention @TMM43. ^_-

NB: The artwork for Re:Reveris' vocal version is a prototype of the Project Chaplaincy title screen; I'd been doing many title screen prototypes over the years. I thought I'd use it, just as a throwback to the place in which I stayed during my time at university, the people whom I knew there who have since been scattered due to their life's calling.

So what am I working on, given that I concluded a massive project just a few days back? (By the way, this particular link leads to Mio/Homura's music video, which I also mentioned in my FP'ed previous post because it's awesome. YOU SHOULD GO SEE IT.)

Well, these:

• In the immediate future, I'm scoring two animations by @Wondermeow. I was ill for a short while but now, I seem to have recovered, so I might as well start on them now.

• A collaboration with @TMM43, which will take its time -- and it is a remake + vocal version of something I've already submitted to NG

• A collaboration with @ProudAardvark, and this will be something new. I'll be providing vocals to his music.

• The joy from Mio/Homura's music video prompted a few friends of mine to collaborate with me on Akiko Shikata-like stuff, but methinks it'll take a life of its own rather than be inspired by anyone. Most of the collaborators on this project are not from Newgrounds -- they are from a band called harmonicblend. @Phyrnna is in on the project too, and we're all keeping our eyes peeled as to how this'll go.

• Starting next month, the musicians will begin work on the Audio Portal 15th Anniversary Audio Drama, so I'll be handling what projects take the least time / have the highest priority, and then take my time with the rest.

• I still haven't forgotten that I need to do O City That Was Not.

In other news, Seán and I have been discussing what our next big project should be. I'm not going to give away any pointers as to what it might be, but I assure you, it's gonna be as awesome as Mio/Homura is.

After about four hours upload time and an entire night and morning of processing, I am proud and happy to present to all of you the music video for Mio/Homura EXTEND ver.!

I had alluded to it in previous posts, even sharing a few shots from the recording day back on 20 July, but I never would have dreamt, back when I composed the original in 2012, that it would look this good, and be an immense source of joy and positivity to all involved. What started off as a love-it-or-hate-it song from the Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch became... well, basically, this.

Big up to Seán and my friends at Soundskills / The Alison Project for helping me make this come to fruition. We made a great team! And a special big up to Seán for getting me to remake this song in the first place. Were it not for you, this probably may not have seen the light of day. Thank you. I love you.

With that, I'm also taking the opportunity to announce that troisnyx.co.uk is LIVE AT LAST!

I had finished the redesign of this website some time back, even going to Soundskills to watercolour some site assets (yes, a good portion of the images you see there are my own watercolours, but not all of them are). However, the home page was going to feature the Mio/Homura music video, and without it, the website could not go live. I'd sent the odd sneak peek to one or two friends, but that was about it. Anyway, it's back up. Happy browsing!

If you're here and hearing Mio/Homura for the first time, then follow the journey:

• Original Mio/Homura
• Current Mio/Homura
• Post NGADM 2012 post where I had to grovel and beg for something that wasn't my fault
• All the emotions I suffered prior to the release of Mio/Homura EXTEND ver.
• Mio/Homura EXTEND ver. Release
• Area Scouting
• Makeup Test
• Anticipatory week
• Photos from the filming day
• Post-filming thoughts

It's no secret that I actually struggle between 'useless' and 'abusive' reviews, especially on those copyrighted tracks that get uploaded for Geometry Dash.

I'd better be more careful next time.

Seeing as the video version of Mio/Homura is not yet finished and there's still a video I alluded to on Twitter some time back, I thought I'd upload it onto my own channel, and here it is!

This is me at Soundskills for July's open mic. I discovered this video on the desktop of one of the Soundskills computers, asked permission from the person who runs it -- Chris Davis -- as he's the person who also recorded this video, asked if I could upload it, and he said yes. So here it is. ^_^ And for those of you who were wondering whether that was me in previous songs... yes, that is me. I have a relatively vibrato-less voice. Some might even consider it "flat;" I'm aware of that. It cites me as Annette, but not as Troisnyx just yet. Hm...

Bear in mind that while I was classically trained on piano, I now have no regular access to one. So I basically had one or two days' worth of practice, and very little preparation or warning as to what I was going to play. This was also the first time I performed Street Lights, a song of mine which I'm aiming to finish sequencing, but still haven't. Well, you've heard it here first; I finally have a new lyrical song. (New-ish.)

When I finally release Street Lights, whenever that'll be, I'll post more about the details behind that song and how it came to be. For now, I hope you all enjoy the video!

In other news, a lot seems to have been taken out of me musically and I find myself in a position where, yet again, I have to keep piercing through the wall of lack of inspiration / lack of motivation before being able to do anything at this point. So, that's where I am. I'm struggling quite badly.

Subscriptions: @RealFaction @Akuaitance @EDM364 @Mich @Kelpalots @etherealwinds @sorohanro

(Please let me know if you'd like your name added to or removed from the list. Added the extra names because I thought it'd be a bit meep. ^_^)

Done for a friend who is leaving for Oxford U to join their chaplaincy team. It was really hard taking photos of it, and I just couldn't wait to share it with the lot of you. Naturally, it's a comedic parody, and Seán (@IrishChieftain) wrote most of the dialogue to this; I only changed one frame or two.

Farewell, my friend. I'm gonna miss you.

First of all, I finally released my earliest Soundskills recording, of a song that I wrote that dates back to 2007. It's called Somewhere Out There. Those of you who have seen my open mic videos may have come across this song before.

I sang, played keyboard and drums for this recording, and it was in October or November of 2015 that it was started. So basically, I waited a year and three quarters to release this, in part due to not being able to cite my friends' roles properly. I had one friend do bass guitar, another do lead and rhythm guitar, and another do mixing. Incidentally, it was the first proper recording of me on drums, and at the time, I wasn't really confident. See, I barely managed to keep time; I feel the groove was simple, perhaps even simplistic.

Now that I have a kit and am able to practise on a regular basis, it helps build my confidence a bit. I feel vulnerable playing drums; this is something I mention over and over again. The friend who did the mixing on Somewhere Out There is also my drum tutor at this point, so it's opening up to me things I never would have thought of doing as far as percussion goes.

My body needs time to get used to long practice and playing sessions. I often feel tired. It'll be worth it in the end; I knew that I was always meant to gravitate to drums and percussion but now, this seems to have been validated at last. The rhythm tends to be my prayer, and my means of expressing myself. I don't really know how else to express it, and I know I want to say a lot more. It is something sacred to me, and something worth sharing with everyone I meet...

One day I'll put up a new recording. I'm not sure when, or in what context it'll be. But when that day comes, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

For the last ten years, it's been me putting in the graft and not getting much out of it. I was determined never to draw again, and @Sabtastic approached me and spoke with me. She, too, had felt what I'd felt of being completely let down by people and events.

I'm going to do what she's done; no contests. I will admit that not drawing has helped me to concentrate more on the music, but every so often, the Sharpies beckon to me. If I put up anything from here on out -- and that's a big IF -- it's only for me. I have been learning fast for someone who started out here on NG as not knowing proportions, depth, and most art theory apart from colour theory, and I intend for that to continue, if at a reduced pace right about now due to the intensifying music work.

As someone who had suffered quite badly as a result of my parents picking apart and tearing up my music, and mocking my art (both on a frequent basis), I don't often know the best way of working through and around the pain. But I don't want my art, or my music for that matter, to get the usual art college snobbery shown at it. I'm not that kind of person.

Any recognition from here on out is going to be classed as a bonus to work that I feel compelled to do. Work that may not bring reward, but cannot be stopped due to the pull it has on me from time to time. The act of sharing anything with others is bound to bring pain, as it has with my childhood and adolescence, but I cannot create art for the sake of myself alone. It is work that may not bring reward, but I feel ought to be shared anyway.

----

Tagging for attention: @RealFaction @EDM364 @Akuaitance @MchectorII @SnowTeddy @Kajenx @The-Great-One @SSJ3-Goku4567 @becausemetoo

It's not the only instrument that I managed to snag this week, but this one has been a long time coming. I finally have my own drum kit. Minus positioning and readjusting things so that they're comfortable for me to reach, here it is. The good ol' Pearl Forum.

It feels so surreal. I want to burst out in thanks to the people who made it possible, but another feeling also seizes me.

Twenty years ago -- when I was merely six years old -- I remember the first instances of me playing by ear. It wasn't on the piano, despite me being trained in it first. It was on the drum. I didn't have a kit; I didn't even have a proper drum for that matter. It was a toy drum. It sounded quite deep for what it was, and I remember just copying what I'd heard and transferring it onto that drum. I picked up that instrument, not because it was cool, or because I wanted to look awesome doing it. I picked it up because I loved its sound, its tremors and aftershocks. I would beat the drum over and over again to hear its voice, then the silence, then its voice again.

I feel a bit misty-eyed. It's so surreal. This thing has been a long time coming. I'll be setting it up in a practice area of sorts -- I believe Seán has found one for me and my friends -- and now, I don't have to beg for practice time or even just a bit of a play. I don't have to be at the mercy of people who were so protective of their equipment that they wouldn't let a struggling drummer play. It's finally here.

Tagging for interest: @EDM364 @Akuaitance @Mich @RealFaction.

The video for Mio/Homura EXTEND is being edited as we speak, and a rough cut should be ready this coming week. However, the actual video would not be finished for two or three weeks. So in the interim, I thought I'd share some thoughts on the entire process, how it's been and how it got so suddenly transformed.

Related posts:

• Original Mio/Homura
• Current Mio/Homura
• Post NGADM 2012 post where I had to grovel and beg for an experimentation which wasn't my fault
• All the emotions I suffered prior to the new release of Mio/Homura EXTEND
• Mio/Homura EXTEND Release
• Area Scouting
• Makeup Test
• Anticipatory week
• The photos from the recording of the footage of Mio/Homura

Since its release, I had the crazy idea of turning Mio/Homura EXTEND into a music video and shared it with the people of Soundskills, the people now behind said video. ^_^ I don't know why. Maybe it was a means for me to test out my aesthetic. Maybe it was time I engaged in a bigger video than just a studio one. Whatever the motivation for it was, it turned the huge negativity on Newgrounds about this piece... on its head.

If I mentioned Mio/Homura a year ago, I'd have mentioned it in hushed whispers and tears, or angry screams and tears, due to what people had done to me as a result of that piece.

Now, I think of Mio/Homura now as something very positive, a great act of bringing to birth. It is no longer my Achilles' heel. It is no longer a failure, but one of my greatest achievements yet. There, I see my aesthetic, I see my true self. I hear my true self. The entire act of recording on Thursday, I offered it up as a prayer.

When we went to the woods off Fernyhalgh to record the video on Thursday the 20th, I was not afraid of the creatures, including the bugs. I was not afraid of the nettles, I was not afraid of the soggy ground. I was one with all of it. There were Seán, myself and five friends from Soundskills, and together we formed a team of seven. I was among those people who loved me. I was with Seán, the man whom I truly love, whom I want to give my entire life to.

I did feel particularly vulnerable beating the drum and dancing on camera. These are things I truly yearn to do, but because of my passion for drums and dancing, I feel vulnerable doing it in front of others. Anyone passionate about any particular thing is bound to feel vulnerable when filmed or ogled by several pairs of eyes. But, we have to start somewhere. That vulnerability will likely decrease, but it's always going to be there. It has to be there, if I am to be well-grounded and humble in what I do. It's sobering, thinking about it.

Prep for Mio/Homura made me and my friends more willing to undertake things that we'd never done before. I mentioned the vulnerability playing and dancing on camera, especially since it was my first time doing so on a major video, but for others, there were many firsts as well. Seán made his first flower crown, and it actually turned out beautifully. Another friend of mine did facial makeup for the first time, and another had his first go at petal confetti -- the "money shot" of Mio/Homura according to the crew. And I enjoyed it too!

We spent some four hours or so recording, time which went swiftly by because we were having fun.

As a side note, I actually approached the unnamed judge who unleashed fury onto me five years ago -- I didn't expect to run into them -- and gave them the new Mio/Homura. They were touched by the harmonies, the emotions of the piece. I'd reconciled with them, and they with me!

This is the work I want to do with my music. The work of good. The work of immense positivity -- encouragement, uplifiting, reconcilliation, joy, love, daring to believe, daring to think upon heavenly things. The process behind Mio/Homura EXTEND, especially after its release, has been all of these things. I am truly touched by it all. Long may it continue, and may it spread far and wide.

Now, updates:

I have released a cinematic medieval-inspired piece, the second in the Dark Adventures series. This one is called Dragonslayer, and has been featured in the second Dark Adventures episode -- who would have thought there'd have been a second one?

I'm aware that the animation is rather rough-looking but I remember that the first Dark Adventures actually got Daily 2nd Place, a rather staggeringly good milestone for what it was. It looks almost like a moving sketch on parchment. Well, a rather rough one, but still. ^_^ So yeah, give the film a look-see, give the music a look-see, and lemme know what you think!

Calling to attention @EDM364 @Mich @RealFaction @Asandir @Akuaitance to start.

If you'd like your name put into this list to notify you of the next post, or if you'd like your name removed from the list, please let me know.