#yearly recap 2022

[disneyprincemuke]

vettel reincarnate * fem!driver

after retiring from formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season, f1 legend sebastian vettel realised a while after the announcement that he would miss the paddock way too much. instead of taking back his announcement, he pairs up with an up-and-coming driver and gets her a seat in a race car in formula 1.

this is SOOO heavily inspired by @sebscore and also @thepersonnamedsam (i was doing some research how to start and came across theirs too) and i'm lOVING IT!!

i wanted there to be a twist that didn't make it seem like it's an outright copy, so there it is! do feel free to send in requests here or questions!!

if there are too many similarities and/or copies, do drop me a message to let me know so i can address them </3

do take note that these are written in no particular order, just based on requests and scenarios sent in or that i come up with!

about fem!driver

get to know her -> a short summary on fem!driver

meet the yln's -> meet femdriver and her siblings

pre-formula 1

2023: the rookie season

2024: the sophomore year

2025: fall from grace

2026:

2027: championship contender

2028: the time is now

a day in the life

radio

smau specials

the yearly recaps: special dts editions

misc

the schumacher problem

extras

asks

in another life | fem!driver au x logan sargeant

the vault

[rivalsforlife]

pardon me if you’re tired of discussing this but. we know aa7 is on capcom’s radar on some level. and now they’ve rereleased every game right?? they’ve finally run out of backlog material after almost yearly releases since 2019…. Not to put the clown wig and nose back on too early but do you think we’ll actually get news about, or get to see, aa7 next year?

Never tired of discussing this!! This is right around the time of year where I'd be preparing to make my yearly AA7 Speculation Post anyway so this is great timing. (TGS, my enemy, is approaching.)

So just to make sure everyone's on the same page, here's a quick recap of where we're currently at:

In November 2020 we got internal Capcom leaks which included a calendar from 2019 with the roadmap for the AA series the next couple of years. This included:

DGS1&2 collection, which I did not think was going to happen ever, releasing April-June 2021

AA7, releasing around October-December 2021, right around the 20th anniversary.

Through late 2019-mid 2022, reconsider porting 456

We got DGS1&2 (a bit later than in the plan, but by like a month), we got the 456 ports, we got bonus AAI ports, we have nothing for AA7 nearly three years after it was supposed to come out. The pandemic is an obvious feature that could contribute to its delay, but at this point with 456 ports out I think we can safely say that this was not the only cause.

Some other things that may or may not be contributing to AA7's delay include:

Yamazaki, the previous main writer for 5&6 and the AAIs, left Capcom in 2020. If he was involved in AA7 at all, that could throw a wrench into things, but I recall hearing he intended AA6 to be his last AA game (I AM STRUGGLING TO FIND THE SOURCE THOUGH SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME), so I don't think this contributed very much. It does, however, mean that we're unsure about who the next main writer is - depending on what Takumi's up to or if they had to bring someone new on, there could be complications related to that.

I think TGAA did way better than anyone expected, which I covered in this post. It's possible that this could have shifted Capcom's priorities to porting more old games / porting to all modern consoles. It may have made people at Capcom think "damn everyone loves Takumi" so they tried to lure him back to AA7, and I have no idea how well that would have gone or if Takumi is even interested in continuing mainline AA right now. (I do think this at least contributed to the Ghost Trick ports.)

In my first ever AA7 speculation post I talked about how the ending of AA6 kind of wrote them into a corner re: how to continue with the series and which protagonist to use. I still stand by that argument even if a lot of that post aged badly.

Console ports! Previously new AA games were for whichever Nintendo handheld is out now (GBA, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS). But now that the series is doing really well on all consoles, they may have decided to try to make their next mainline entry on all consoles, which would take more development time. Adding to this is that the Switch is near the end of its lifecycle with the Switch 2 (or whatever the successor will be) being announced soon - meaning that, if AA7 is coming out soon, Capcom is in the position of "do we try to squeeze this into the end of the Switch's lifecycle" (which, I'll need to find sources for this, is speculated to be some of the reasons behind why AAI2 and DGS2 sold badly when they were first released, and they can't make the same mistake thrice... right...?) or "do we try to time it with the release of the Switch 2"?

Also, a lot of this depends on how far AA7 was into development whenever it was derailed. If it was derailed from the pandemic, then according to the calendar, it would likely have still been in the prototype stage. It may be early enough that they would have had to start from scratch whenever they picked it up again. I don't work in the gaming industry so I have no idea how long it takes them to make a game or how easy it would be from what stage they're in.

One thing we can compare to is some of the comments about the recent AAI ports: in this interview, Shunsuke Nishida, the producer of the AAI collection, says that development on the collection began in 2022. He also mentions that this began once development on 456 was concluded. This leads me to believe that (contrary to my previous assumptions) 456 and AAIC were not developed concurrently (or if so, had very minimal overlap), and that the process of upscaling graphics, porting, and localization took them... about a year, maybe? So that takes time, even without taking into consideration how long it would take to come up with a new idea + write the script + the bulk of the programming that would have to be done that isn't considered with porting + probably way more than I can think of because again I do not work in the gaming industry.

There's also the question of why 456 and AAIC weren't developed concurrently. The calendar from 2020 shows that TGAA and AA7 were meant to be developed at least somewhat concurrently, and the staff from TGAA would eventually merge into working on AA7. Once again, we don't know what happened to the staff that were supposed to be working on AA7. It's possible pandemic complications meant they got shuffled onto other projects. It's possible the AA-related team is smaller now than it was in 2020, so they only have enough people to work on one project at a time. It's also possible that there's a team that was working on ports, and a team that was working on a new game, and now the "port team" is freed up to work on the "new game team".

Either way though, pretty much every interview with the staff for the 456 or AAI ports are all saying "look forward to the future of the series", which is definitely Corporate Speak, but unless they're bringing the ports of the Layton crossover (fingers crossed) that can only mean one thing. (AAI anime?) Plus, like I've discussed in this post, AA is having fantastic sales in general. They've seemingly either hired a new social media manager or changed the strategy so there is much more engagement on twitter. And AA is getting on bigger and bigger announcements - though AA trilogy ports were announced at TGS (at an AA-specific panel), TGAA duology ports were announced unceremoniously on twitter. Afterwards, 456 ports got announced at the Capcom Showcase during Summer Game Fest. And now AAI collection got announced at a Nintendo Direct, which I imagine is even more expensive, so the series must be going in a good direction for them to think that's worth it!

That's a lot of rambling for me to say I definitely think it's coming.

When are we going to see it though!!

Coming up in September is my eternal enemy Tokyo Game Show. Since AAI collection is being released at the beginning of September... it might be a bit too soon to announce a new game, but who knows. They might think it's profitable to ride the hype they're building now for AAI collection to announce a new game. Or they might let it sit for a while.

With AAIC getting announced at a Direct, I'm thinking they'll want to make AA7's announcement a) big and b) global. AA6 was announced in Famitsu, but the problem with that is that it's a mostly Japanese audience, and some interviews have been talking about how AA's global audience is particularly contributing to how big it is right now. So I'm expecting AA's next announcement to be at something major and something that will get attention from overseas audiences.

If they have been working on AA7 concurrently -- and honestly I do think there has at least been some progress on it since 2019 -- we could definitely see an announcement within the next year. I was also saying this in 2020, though, so don't take my word for it. There's been two year gaps between ports up until the AAI collection, and they seemed pretty proud about releasing 456 and AAI in the same year, so... maybe they'll want to keep it going and announce AA7 within the next year, especially if they'll have a longer announcement -> release period than they normally would for ports.

Potential candidates include:

Tokyo Game Show: As previously stated, it's very close to the AAIC release, so I don't think it's the best timing for it. I would not want my favorite AA game overshadowed by whatever the hell they're going to do with AA7. Likelihood: depends on how fast they want to follow up on the hype.

The Game Awards: is the next major gaming event, but that's already massive in terms of the type of games that get announced there, and it's expensive! Nintendo Direct is one thing since AA has always been a Nintendo-first series, but I don't think it's big enough to justify putting in a Game Awards ad. and I already have my clown wig on for persona 6 there. Likelihood: pretty low tbh

Next Year's Summer Game Fest-related Shows: I think this is the most likely, considering both the 456 collection and the AAI collection were announced around this time. For AA7 I'd say a Nintendo Direct to get lots of eyes on it, especially if AAIC sales pay off. Likelihood: pretty high!

Which leads me into my wildcard answer:

Switch 2 Announcement Stream: If Capcom decides to go in and make AA7 one of the first games for whatever the switch successor would be, it could be announced here. I regret to admit that I am a very bad gamer and only like two things, and therefore have not ever been present for one of these things to know how many games get announced as launch games for a new console, but, like, it's possible.

In the above scenario, I'm not necessarily saying that AA7 would be a Switch 2 exclusive - because I think that would be stupid after so much of the support they've gotten from the ports has been from playstation and steam - but I am definitely the kind of person who would buy a console for one video game. Shoutout to me buying a switch in part anticipating that aa7 would come out on it and that is not looking likely

Anyways, that's my speculation!! Reminder that this is mostly uninformed and that I have no knowledge of anything related to sales or marketing or video game development, and as a result of that, I have been wrong (aside from the one time I accurately predicted AAI ports as a joke) for four consecutive years.

[ex0rin]

End Of Year 2024!

the yearly tradition: (2022) (2023)

Fandom: The Walking Dead (January - August) Fic Count: 20 (+1 art) Word Count: 72, 235

Fandom: TFATWS/ What If…? (September - October) Fic Count: 5 (+1 art) Word Count: 13, 993

Fandom: TWD/ Dead City (November - December) Fic Count: 2 Word Count: 3, 720

Total Word Count: 91,448*

find me on AO3 here

Top Three (kudos) 1. Known better (M) (TWD, carl/ negan) 2. Anything you say (E) (TWD, carl/ negan) 3. Spread them wings (E) (TWD, carl/ negan)

Top Three (personal) & thoughts!! (under the cut)

It can be me (E) (TWD, carl/negan) *rape, non-con/ underage

Beside him, from the corner of his eye he can see the way Negan points down to the space between them, “Right here,” the other man orders and Rick’s full attention snaps up to Carl - his kid shuffles up to his feet silently, all of that intense focus on Negan and nothing else. Rick would give anything for Carl to glance down to him as he crosses the space.

OR: 07x01 but somehow darker.

Collision (E) (TWD, negan/ maggie)

Negan is still looking at her, eyes dark and mouth pressed into a firm line - she hates him with every fibre of her being. "Maggie," he says, softer now, like a question she would rather die than answer - the heat of his thigh carefully starts slipping away from between her legs and she bites back the frustrating sound that’s building up at the back of her throat, her thighs clench to keep him there, her body hums for touch – It's been so long since she’s allowed someone to touch her.

OR: Maggie finally lets it happen with Negan. Regrets it immediately. Spirals a little.

Fifty-fifty (M) (TWD, carl/ negan)

“Kid, it’s real cute that you think you get a for real choice here,” Negan says, voice low and brushing right up against Carl’s ear, “you’re gonna shoot two of ‘em, got it? You’re gonna pick two and,” Negan pauses again, bent behind him so that his chin is resting on Carl’s shoulder and Carl’s stomach does that flip again, his knees wobbling in that weird way, “and then boom.”

OR: Negan brings Carl out to a field to flirt with him to make him play a killing game.

*i was really really REALLY hoping that i'd pump out 10k over the last week of the holidays, but alas, that did not happen so this is the first of the years since i started doing this recap that i'm under 100k 😭 (i did add the fic word count that i'm currently working on just to bump it into the 90k zone for this post though, AO3 numbers below are still correct)

STILL! i completed @febuwhump 2024 again this year and that challenge really keeps me going (huge HUGE shout-out to the mod over there, @tempestaurora, who does so much and is so chill about voter fraud and just letting folks do whatev) (you can and SHOULD buy stickers)

all the love in the world to my old and new pocket-friends who kept me sane this year (via chats or stardew or sprinting or smut) 😘

@sparklingbinjuice @ladyshallots @duchessonfire @jdeanmorgan @5ummit @crushcandles @the-ravening @unlikelymilliner and everyone else too ❤️

as always, here's to more words (and more smut) in 2025!

also, because i was tagged by a bunch of folks:

[chachavroomvroom]

Meme/thoughts/recaps masterlist

Looking for quality shitposting? Here’s three years of locally-sourced tomfoolery, classified by GP.

Mostly this is for my own archiving purposes!

Austin ‘22 🇺🇸:

Race recap

Interlagos ‘22 🇧🇷:

Max did not let Checo through

Race recap

…

Winter break ‘22-‘23

Another Lewis selfie hits the tl

Ferrari meme starter pack

Ferrari meme booster pack

DTS insanity

Charles’ questionable fashion choices

Alfa Romeo is Ferrari light

…

Saudi Arabia ‘23 🇸🇦:

Fernando’s p3 journey

Lestappen midfield date

Australia ‘23 🇦🇺:

Quali slay

Goddamn it

Race recap

Azerbaijan ‘23 🇦🇿:

Meme recap

Spain ‘23 🇪🇸:

Triple header from hell is over

Canadian ‘23 🇨🇦:

Live slug reaction

Lance points

Albon and his DRS train

Race recap

Austria ‘23 🇦🇹:

State of the Austrian GP

Charles winked at Max

Tifosi experience live

Monaco ‘23 🇲🇨 :

Charles releasing MON23

Dutch ‘23 🇳🇱:

Hopium

Singapore ‘23 🇸🇬:

George reporting for the slay duty

Japanese ‘23 🇯🇵:

Yearning for Seb hours

Qatar ‘23 🇶🇦:

George at the scene of the crime

Slayful chal post

No clear angle of charles congratulating max

Austin ‘23 🇺🇸:

Austin/Pain

Rip 1644

Mexico ‘23 🇲🇽:

Charles rawdogging the race

Brazil ‘23 🇧🇷 :

Penalties for everyone

Charles’ steering is gone

AAAAAAAAA

Vegas ‘23 🇺🇸:

Minor slay for the horse team

Free practice will not resume

Abu Dhabi ‘23 🇦🇪:

Quali demon Charles

…

Winter break ‘23-‘24

Overtake of the year win

Girlies of f1twt are fighting

Farewell Guenther

Farewell Guenther 2.0

Charles sledding adventures

Fred Vasseur devious moves (that day Lewis moved to Ferrari

Rookie nando strikes back

Charles’ gift of prophecy

DTS darth chal

Car launch

Slayful fireproofs

…

Australia ‘24 🇦🇺:

Nobody’s happy

Lecfosi/piastrination in the trenches

Charles so-so quali and bad luck

Japanese ‘24 🇯🇵:

Chacha’s fever dream

Yuki’s points

Charles’ raggedy mediums

China ‘24 🇨🇳:

We finally have the Chinese GP back

DRS train!

Lap 17 sprint

Miami ‘24 🇺🇸:

Max saw his life flashing

Lando drowning on the podium

Rest in pieces nowins

Monaco ‘24 🇲🇨:

Race recap

Canadian ‘24 🇨🇦:

Montreal’s fugly AI trophies

Copium

Spain ‘24 🇪🇸:

Charles demon hours

Hungarian ‘24 🇭🇺:

Race week post that triple header

Scenes at the Hungarian gp

Ferrari for once not in the drama

Spa ‘24 🇧🇪:

Charles steel chair pole

Azerbaijan ‘24 🇦🇿:

Baku pole

Singapore ‘24 🇸🇬:

Bye bye Lando’s grand chelem

Austin ‘24 🇺🇸:

Charles’ turn one triple overtake

Mexico ‘24 🇲🇽 :

Lift and coast hell

Brazil ‘24 🇧🇷 :

War flashbacks from interlagos

…

Yearly heritage moments recaps:

2022 [X]

2023 [X]

2024 [tbc]

Random 🎲:

Lecfosi club meeting [X],

Charles blue suit slay [X],

Lance Stroll lululemon olympics [X],

Ugly HP livery [X],

Cage fight in wind tunnel [X],

Charlos live slug reaction [X],

Charles cursed fade haircut [X],

State of the Scuderia ‘23 [X],

Explaining intra-team gossip [X],

Charles Leclerc F1 holiday palette [X],

Not a thought in drivers’ heads [X],

Old Charles to Aston/to Red Bull rumours [X],

Charles is a strange man [X],

Red Bull Charles [X],

Evil Max Verstappen [X],

[kazooku]

Ignore how it's not Christmas anymore and almost New Year's Eve. I got busy lol. Wrote most of this post early oops 💀

Merry Chu-mas to everyone who celebrates!!

If you ignore 2022 this has basically been a yearly redraw since 2021!! I originally wanted to get this done for November 1st but I wasn't liking the sketches and events mentioned in last post that didn't happen lol. Glad I took my time with this instead of rushing!!

The present was honestly a pain in the ass at first. I did not look up how to draw a cube nor did I know how to I just sketched with the intent of fixing later than struggled when later came lol!!

I still really like the version from last year. I can see areas I improved with this one, colors are a big thing, but I think last year I did better with posing. But oh well lol you win some you lose some. I still really like how this turned out and I'm glad I didn't rush to get it done on time.

I still have another drawing that I need to post before 2025 sooo something to look forward to. I also need to put together my art recap which is uhhh a little empty in some months because of senior year stress and busyness and start of college stress and busyness. Next drawing was actually finished before this I just wanted to post this first lol.

[echovale052]

Happy holidays to those who celebrate here’s the yearly recap!

Flashback to the first time I posted one of these back in 2022 under the cut

Feel free to check out every piece individually in the ‘echovale voicemail’ tag

[kosmicdream]

2024 Yearly Recap

I used to tally up the numbers of pages i’d complete in a year, but at some point I ended up stopping for a long while (im not even sure why) and only began again in early 2022. Here’s the numbers for the past few years..

2022 - 681 pgs (april to dec only, so this number is a little inaccurate as I was drawing jan-march, i just dunno the numbers) 2023 - 703 pgs 2024 - 760..? (year not over yet, but that’s the current number) 

This year is definitely a lot more than 2023, but I also wasn't working for the first couple months LOL so that's largely why I got so ahead. Still, being able to pull in around 700 pages a year even with a day job is nice!!! Of course, I always wish it were more but I'm still pretty satisfied with the output. The hardest part is still trying to figure out how to balance so both NRD/FFAK get a decent amount of updates and progress in the stories. Eventually, I hope when NRD finishes I can focus mostly on FFAK again and give it the bulk of the yearly updates, which would push things along a lot faster.. But we’re still going to be a couple years away from that, at least. 

For 2025 I expect NRD ch8 to finish up pretty early in the year and then the majority of the year will be for FFAK 17. However, it would be nice to finish that in 2025 too so I can start NRD 9. But that’s probably all I’ll be able to do. Not sure yet. FFAK 17 is actually already around 1/3 done which is nice but I expect the rest to go slower. Lots of challenging scenes (drawing wise) that i expect to give me trouble. For 2026, I am vaguely planning to marathon the rest of the comic and just put FFAK on a hiatus in order to do so. That would be pretty cool, although I am not married to that plan or anything.. 

Anyway, this year still has felt pretty productive. I actually have gotten more motivated and happy with NRD than all the years working on it before, which is exciting!! While I’ve always cared deeply about the project, it has felt like a huge emotional challenge and progress felt slow, and as the years went on it felt like I didn’t really know where I wanted to go with it 100%. So, hitting that break thru with it was tremendous and unexpected. I still expect to run into road blocks with it the closer it gets to the end, as I’ve never finished a large project like this before.. But we’ll get there!! Once again thanks for reading and supporting my work. 

-Kosmic

[notquitejiraiya]

8 YEARS

Last year, I wrote my first yearly recap after having been inspired by a tradition set by the wonderful @unioncolours each year. That recap contained an array of fics and thoughts and inspirations after the insane year for me that was 2022. It was a huge year for me in terms of many things. Shortly after my last recap, I got a master’s degree and officially became an engineer, something that honestly spurred on my creative drive. While studying for that degree, I had my coolest year of writing in a while: as you know from the last recap, if you read it, I wrote 9/10, Love Means Nothing (which, yes, will be finished in time, don’t worry), and most importantly, I wrote Strangers.

Most importantly, I say, because the entirety of 2023 would ultimately hinge upon what Strangers began. But that is something we’ll come to in time.

Be warned, this will be long, but if you'd like to read about my last year, please do keep reading below :)

Before we begin with the majority of this essay, I wanna give a shoutout to the lost soul of the year that is Traditions. It wasn’t long and it wasn’t hugely exciting, but it kickstarted this year in terms of fic posting, even if only on Tumblr, and it was a cute one. I always love a little challenge like those from a gift exchange, and it’s always nice to give a gift. I hope it was nice to read, too!

But, starting on the meaty stuff, I think it’s important that I address the two constants throughout the history of this blog. The first, which comes as no surprise to any, is ShikaTema: the most important ship to ever exist, to me, and the heart of some of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had throughout my fandom life. The second constant is a topic explored in a lot of Shikamaru-based content across the fandom and one that I will never tire of.

That second constant is chess.

The game of chess is something very special to me. The first day I met my partner, we played chess against one another for hours (and I lost - the only time he’s beaten me, actually). My best friend, who introduced us that day, gave me a rook keyring that I have kept on my house keys ever since, whether I’ve lived in my home town, another city, or now even in another country entirely. My favourite musical - one of the things I connect to my father best with - centres around chess, its politics, and its capacity for obsession. And probably the most important fic on this blog to date obviously takes its name from the game.

I have no doubt that most people who follow me, especially those of you here on Tumblr, discovered my writing as a result of Chess, either by reading it or maybe through the incredible art which that fic was lucky enough to receive. It was so special and personal to me to write, and while it’s certainly no longer my best work as an author, I’m still immensely proud and pleased with how it resonated with people. I think, so far, it is the most beloved thing I’ve written, at least to others.

But something that always bothered me about Chess was how little chess there actually was in it. Sure, there were a couple of scenes where chess was played, but there was more flower arranging and fish and chips than there was time sitting across a chessboard. It felt almost like a wasted opportunity to write about Shikamaru being a chess whizz and doing next to nothing with the skill. I couldn’t let the idea die. In many of my older stories — Tumblr-only stories — Shikamaru plays chess (or shogi) or inspires Shikadai or Temari to do the same. But nowadays, it feels like it has all been leading up to right now and to the monster that 2023 has birthed.

When I came to write Strangers in 2022, an idea came to me as just a little easter egg. That idea was that, in the Strangers universe, Temari’s husband would be a world-class chess player, and she, too, would have an equally worldwide job. It sort of naturally followed that Temari, too, could be a chess player; what she might lack in terms of natural strategic prowess, she more than makes up for in drive and ruthlessness, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about chess players in my life, it’s that they hate to lose. Temari 101, methinks. As I made my way through writing Strangers, that fact nipped at my brain tirelessly until, before I knew it, I had a 30k outline and, by association, a goal for what 2023 would be for me as a writer.

2023 would be the year of Grandmaster.

I’ve always been more of a character writer than a plot writer. I think perhaps that’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to writing AUs over canon works; to me, while writing, it’s more interesting to explore how an existing character would behave in a totally alien environment to their canon one, and Grandmaster is this year’s attempt at that.

I mention this because, while I call Grandmaster (GM) a ShikaTema fic, it is, first and foremost, a fic about Temari. Shikamaru is there — of course, he is — and he plays a crucial role in so many of the elements of her life within the story. But the story is unequivocally hers. We see what Temari sees, focus on what Temari focuses on, suffer through Temari’s delusions of her own self-importance, and feel the weight of the expectations put upon her. It’s an exploration of the weight of ambition that’s not necessarily your own, and it has gutted me to write more than Chess ever did.

I don’t have enough delusion of my own self-importance to yet write and publish an essay on this story, why I’ve written it, and how it feels to write it, but there are a few points that I have to voice in this yearly reflection because they’re so crucial to my last year as a writer and online.

You will hear me sing the praises of my friend Bex to the ends of the Earth. While we share a name, we have very different approaches to writing, and we often tell quite different stories, but she is truly responsible for inspiring me to write Temari-centric stories. 100%. If you are reading this and somehow haven't read what I truly consider to be the greatest ShikaTema fic of all time (no one cries for unknown soldiers), follow that link, read it right now, and then come back a changed individual. And you will be changed, I promise, because it changed me on an almost chemical level with its power. Everything you write, Bex, has that power, and it is extraordinary and frankly terrifying in the most incredible way.

I had already started GM by the time you began releasing When I am Gorgeous, but holy fuck, if that didn’t spur me on. The character growth and arcs in those stories are something to behold and something I strive for. With that in mind, the first point of this writing reflection is a thank you to Bex specifically, without whom I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun writing as I’ve had this last year, and I wouldn’t be sitting where I’m sitting as I write this. So thank you - a hundred times over and more. I am honoured to share a corner of the internet (and a name) with you, my ‘rival’. Thank you.

The second point is another thank you. This time to @clumsydragon28, who is again a dear friend and without whom GM wouldn’t be what it is. From support in DMs to insane and phenomenal essay-like analysis in comment sections, you are outrageously inspiring to em and others and there aren’t words for my gratitude for that. But, as you already know, there are elements of GM and what is to come after GM that exist only because of you and your own beautiful writing and stories. I will refrain from spoiling the joys of the latter chapters of Plié — another absolute must-read where the love and joy of an art form ooze from every word and captivate you with their wholesomeness and beauty — but it helped me find the missing piece at the end of GM that lets me tie it up with a bow, and ultimately set into motion the fic that will follow. I can’t thank you enough, truly, but thank you. 

Having thanked those who frankly made it happen, I’ll get on with the writing-specific stuff. No spoilers, but it will be a little self-indulgent so bear with me.

I’ll start with something kind of trivial. GM is my first real time writing OCs in a fanfic as more than a passing reference. It doesn’t have many because I like to bring in canon characters where applicable. But sometimes that’s not viable, and I’m not about to force some character into a hole they don’t fit into because I hate when other people do that, so Danya and Mischa kind of had to happen. And I’ve had a really fun time writing them. It’s not uploaded yet, but there’s a chapter coming soon that’s quite focused around Mischa, and I think it’s some of my best writing in the whole story, and so GM has kind of gotten me over my fear of OCs. Nobody’s complained about their existence, and they’ve made the story more complete. A lesson learned, for sure.

Secondly, it’s no secret that I really like Rasa. Do I think he’s a wanker? Yes. Do I think hating him for what happened canonically is valid? Also, yes. Do I think that there’s nuance to his character that is often disregarded or forgotten? Absolutely. And, as a result of that, do I think he’s criminally underutilised in fics? Fuck yeah, I do.

So GM has a lot of Rasa. More than I initially intended when I began writing it, actually. He’s there pretty much all the time — if he’s not in the scene, he’s probably influencing what’s going on in it either directly or via years of impressionable behaviours. And it’s been really interesting to write that. Challenging, for sure, because I have to keep in line with all the relationships set out in Strangers and realistically make them come to a head where they do. And challenging in the sense that it doesn’t feel good to write some of the things that Rasa has to say in this story.

There have been a few times in my 8 years as a fanfic author where I’ve written something and actually felt violently emotional after having done so, but GM has given me a fair few of those moments, specifically as a result of Rasa. I won’t say which moments they are, partly because the expectation of how one is ‘supposed’ to feel consuming anything takes away the authenticity, I feel, but I wonder if when people read his dialogue in certain chapters — some already up, and some soon to come — they will feel the same as I did writing them. It’s an interesting thought I’ve never had the opportunity or time to really consider until GM, and one I am sure I will consider more going forward.

Speaking of Rasa and the link in relationships, I don’t know if I’ve even officially said in this recap that GM is the prequel to Strangers. I’ve never written a prequel before, but it’s a unique experience. It’s like working from the end to the beginning; it feels wrong and yet makes perfect sense. Keeping the sibling relationships in line with Strangers is really fun, honestly. Writing that fic, I had little opportunity to just write the three of them having fun or being loving in traditional ways, and I had zero opportunity to utilise Yashamaru.

Writing this fic, Yashamaru has been everywhere, and he has become one of my most beloved characters.

I have nothing else to say on that, I just wanted to give it it’s own line. He’s played a big part of warming my hear this year, and I love him.

Finally, I feel like this fic has really brought out the introspective beast within me. Introspection has always been my forte, but it’s really taken the reins this time. In some ways, I’m quite annoyed with myself for it and for being word and long-winded. I’ve always had the biggest respect for those who can say what they want to say concisely, and I have never been one of those people.

That’s the goal for the 9th year of notquitejiraiya, for sure, and I plan to do so with a fic in the same universe as has captivated me these last 2 years, this time with the focus on Shikadai. Shikadai will be a new challenge for me, too, especially a grown up Shikadai, and I'm excited to try and tell his story, concisely and without even half the discontentment present in both GM and Strangers lol. We deserve some cheerfulness and range here at NQJ Ltd.

But at the same time, I’m proud of the way I write and the way I express myself and the characters within my story. I think I’m quite good at following a train of thought in a realistic way — not quite to the level of my idol, Mr Alex Garland, but I’ve time to learn — and by being Temari-centric, GM has let me into Temari’s head and let me run havoc her thoughts. I’ve received multiple comments on GM about how it’s somewhat frustrating not to have Shikamaru’s point of view, and while I get why: no thanks.

This is Temari’s story. There will be some moments we see through other’s eyes, certainly, but I’m of the opinion that if we saw both sides of GM, it would be far more frustrating. This story will span ten years and for me, it’s an exercise in writing someone piecing together parts of their life during that time into something worth living and figuring things out as they go. In life, while you might get to hear what the people around you think from what they say and how they act, you don’t get the privilege of seeing inside their heads. Neither does Temari, and by association, neither do you. I hope it pays off in the end; I’ll be proud regardless.

But enough about Becks the writer. Something pretty insane happened for Becks the human being last month, something that she’s not completely over. I live in Finland now. I’m learning Finnish, and I’m on Master’s degree number 2 (yes, I am addicted to learning, do not judge me). I have, frankly, no time to write, but am I going to do it anyway? Of course I am. I can’t stop myself, even if I tried. Not to mention, the pressure of my first MSc gave me Strangers, and I’m not going to resist if the 2nd brings on something equally fun.

Another constant this year for Becks the human, that I am certain my friends must be sick and tired of, is The Brothers Karamazov. I bought myself that book as a treat for finishing my exams in 2022 and have been slowly chugging through it for the last year. I’m sure it comes as no surprise with my wordy introspective tendencies that I love a classic, and I think it’s quite fun that I’ve somewhat accidentally aligned reading this particular classic alongside falling into the Bungo Stray Dogs fandom and, even more fun, aligned with writing GM. Two wildly different stories of trios of Russian siblings. These trios – they follow me around, I swear! But jokes aside, I have only 98 pages left of this almost 1000 page beast, and it feels like the end of an era. Never in my life have I seen characters as humans more effectively, and never have I felt more inspired to make sure the characters that I write appear human, too.

But like I say, being wordy is my weakness. The evidence is in this almost 3k ramble alone. There are so many more things I could say, and maybe once I’ve finished GM and it’s all published and tied up with a bow, I might share those thoughts, too.

But for now, I must say thank you to the 8th notquitejiraiya year for being so memorable, despite my blog and my ao3 page having ‘little’ to show for it by way of variety. The 9th year will be a good one, I’m sure, and I enter it with incredible friends — authors and otherwise — and the will (of fire) to improve.

And become more concise. That’s job no1.

Thank you all for playing a part in the last 8 years, whether we’re close or we’ve never spoken. Your time means the world, and I hope you have an incredible day / night / life.

Becks x

[wynnn]

Yearly recap time :D

Ahhh 2023. Big life changes, struggles in between, and a fresh sense of clarity. I did not manage to post as regularly as I would like to, but I loved all of the works I posted this year. Titian was challenging; so challenging that I did not manage to finish even a chapter this year omg haha! (no worries chapter 3 will be out next year)

Still, glad to have art as an outlet.

Have a look at my 2020, 2021 and 2022 art summaries too!

xoxo

[turoce]

i have this tradition on twitter that i would make a yearly art recap thread, where i would express my feelings on my favorite art pieces, month by month...

now that Twitter is fucking itself up, i oughta repost every thread i made here, from 2019 to 2022...

this is, soo not gonna be fun.

[loveoaths]

writing log: 2021 + 2022

a recent conversation with a good friend made me realize: holy shit, i struggle to acknowledge my accomplishments, especially the creative ones. so i decided to start doing a yearly writing recap to log what work i've done, contextualize the environment i did that work in, and take a moment to just sit back and appreciate how i spent my year. this is the first time i'm doing this, so i'll be combining 2021 and 2022.

in 2021, i...

...got headfucked by illness, but kept writing.

this is not one of those "inspirational disability" things. long covid is the worst thing that's ever happened to me, physically and mentally, and that's saying something. i spent a solid two months not being able to walk, let alone think, and it took three more months for me to be able to read for longer than a few minutes at a time. at one point, my sixty-something year old mother had to hold me up so i could walk a lap around the block that i had been running months prior, and it was a super dark time. i am proud of myself for fighting for my health, advocating for humane treatment, and re-learning how to find solace and comfort and reprieve in reading and writing. i was recuperating in bed most of 2021 (when i wasn't struggling to keep my job lol) so i had a lot of time to come up with project ideas but zero stamina to finish them. i'm still not recovered, and have new chronic illnesses out the wazoo now, but i'm in a much better place these days.

...worked on 21 scripts.

includes new and old projects. my brain was scattered, but i tried.

...developed 12 new project premises.

some are good, others are dogshit. but who cares!

...finished 5 scripts.

three half-hour scripts, and two elevens. combined, that's almost two episodes of prestige television. i'm coming for your ass, tony gilroy!!!

...read 25 books.

comic books, ya novels, non-fiction, autobiographies, picture books; you name it, i read it. most of what i read went in one ear and out the other because of the covid brain damage, but i remember how soothing the act of reading a book while curled up with hot tea under a warm blanket was to my aching brain and body, and i'm glad i tried my best to read even if i knew i could barely understand. a third of this list is picture books and/or middle grade books and graphic novels because that's all i could handle at the beginning of the year. and you know what i found? a lot of those kids books are great, and heart-warming, and delightfully more nuanced than i had ever dreamed. the kids are gonna be alright.

...took 6 writing classes.

i'm glad i did this, but looking back on it this was kind of stupid. my brain was burdened by illness and my response was to... burden it more? for fun??? insane behavior. i highly recommend every course i took (chris amick's pilot development, multiple classes at writing pad, rad sechrist's project tv writing class, patricia villanuvella's 11-minute episode format class, and more) but i do not recommend taking them while your head is fucked. if anyone is interested in learning more about these courses, let me know!

...took on my first pitch project.

i was hired to help write and pitch a kids show, and learned a lot about the pitching process. mostly i learned that an upbeat attitude and a corny joke or two will go a long way. also, that the tv industry is an ouroboric cesspool constantly feeding on its own shit, but i digress.

...developed my first original show pitch.

it's uglier than sin but i love it. developing the pitch actually made me realize the concept is better as a novel series than a show, but i appreciate how much that process taught me about exploring format, structure, and the art of pitching.

...landed my first staff writing gig.

this was my proudest moment. in between numerous ER visits, doctor's appointments, health scares, housing issues, and more, i broke into the industry i love.

in 2022, i...

...was still pretty fucking sick, but doing better.

title says it all. despite losing my emotional support animal to leukemia, i hung in there. feels good.

...took on three writing mentees.

this is still the most shocking thing i did last year. i became a mentor to three fellow brown folks and i love them all dearly. i don't know if i'm a stellar mentor or anything, but i would do just about anything to help them reach their writing goals. i always thought i hated teaching, but it turns out i really enjoy working one-on-one with people as a guide rather than an instructor. my goal is to help all of my mentees break into their respective industries in the next two years.

...took three writing classes.

at this point i'm mostly taking these to meet people and learn new tips and tricks, but i still found them highly rewarding. plus, i realized i work best when i know someone expects to read what i've written the following week. nothing makes you keep a writing deadline like the pain of disappointing a peer! :D

...wrote 63,207 words for work.

i worked two staff writer gigs and seven freelance or contract gigs, and wrote more in a year than i ever have, ever. i know this number isn't high to prose writers, but a 25 page script is around 4,800 to 5,000 words. that's a lot of pages.

in total, i wrote around 22 scripts for work last year.

...wrote 50,018 words for original projects.

i only finished three scripts, and most definitely did not hit my goal of finishing my feature script, but i still finished. all three projects were complex, adult-oriented, and of personal significance to me, and it felt really good to finally finish them. i don't love all of them, honestly, but one of them got me my current manager and generated some buzz around my name that kept me employed, so i'm incredibly appreciative of the work i put into them, and the work they've given me in return.

...read 50 books.

this is my crowning achievement of 2022! i used to be an avid reader and then stopped out of nowhere for several years, but last year i fell back in love with reading, big time. i am proud to say that after a year of re-cultivating my reading comprehension and attention span, i can once again knock out a 300 page book in a day (with some assistance from my good ol' friend, hyperfixation). coaxing myself to just read five pages a day really helped me with some of the executive function issues of not wanting to pick up a book. if you're struggling with reading habits, i really recommend lowering your bar to entry. read for a minute, or read one page, or even just one paragraph. eventually the habit will reform and you'll be back to reading longer.

...wrote 51 loglines.

i struggled to come up with new, creative ideas in 2021, so this jump from 12 to 51 was startling, but highly satisfying. once i stopped worrying about whether the ideas were good, i was able to do more with the freeness that comes with happily being shit at something. and you know what? once i got the shit ideas out, i found a couple of really good ones at the bottom of the barrel.

...had a pretty alright year.

shit still went sideways, i was overworked and exhausted, and my personal life imploded, but looking back on it, i had a lot to be grateful for, and a lot of love and support in my corner, and i'm going to try to be mindful and thankful for the aforementioned as i push myself a teensy bit further in 2023.

...have a few goals for 2023.

they are:

work less, read more

write more indulgent stuff (gay porn, fic, all the nasty dark shit i like)

eat more veggies

do some fucking wrist exercises and get a desk pedaler because holy shit my joints are aging like MILK

thanks for reading.

[meetthehills]

2022 Recap - My Favorite Home Projects

2022 Recap - My Favorite Home Projects - https://www.craftez.co.uk/2024/05/29/2022-recap-my-favorite-home-projects/ - Advertisement And just like that, the year is coming to a close and it’s time for my 2022 recap. Sometimes I look at the year from afar and think, “Hmmm, what even happened over the past 12 months?!” I like my yearly recap blog post because it forces me to - https://www.craftez.co.uk/2024/05/29/2022-recap-my-favorite-home-projects/

[martintmedina]

2023 A Year in Review

Another year come and gone and this one was one for the books! Amazing year and it delivered in all areas. I stepped it up in all areas of my life and really leveled up across the board.

Of course I couldn’t have done this all myself so I gotta give a major THANK YOU! Thank you to all the wonderful people in my life, my family, my colleagues, my friends, and everybody who supports from around the world. I’ve felt so much love this year and so much support which means the world to me especially because the love is genuine.

To really summarize this year I have to say this was the most successful year yet. I’m really proud of all the work that I put in personally and professionally and I’m very grateful and blessed. I’m hoping to carry this momentum into 2024. I leveled up in my career and I've really been enjoying streaming lately and hope to keep pushing that more into the future with martystream.com going strong. Always finding new ways to improve and new areas to expand my abilities.

I was planning on traveling a lot this year because I worked straight through 2022 in Miami. I followed through with that plan and this year I did a lot of traveling even hitting three major trips for work with the first one being to the Super Bowl. That Super Bowl trip was a whole adventure especially coming after another trip going snowboarding in Steamboat Springs, and it was my first time in Arizona. In Arizona I explored a bit and got to know to know the city a bit thanks to the homie Andrew for showing me around and the hospitality while I was in town. The party we worked for the Super Bowl was also off the chain such a sick party was super lit and went super smooth. I’m already really hyped for next year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas and hopefully a great opportunity for work presents itself there.

Another new place I explored this year was Texas where I went to Dallas for the opening of the new Komodo. Great weekend with the team all around there, openings are always exciting and this year we had 3 amazing ones just with the Groot team in Dallas for Komodo, Miami for Casadonna, and Vegas for FBLV. Trying to stay consistent with my work wherever I am and in whatever situation presents itself I realized is what keeps me working hard and consistently booked. Like I said in another yearly recap, nobody can do what I do how I do. I’m keeping that attitude and working to be the best me that I can be instead of trying to compete I focus on working to be the best I can be.

An unexpected trip was going out to Italy which was a great adventure. It honestly was pretty unexpected but the opportunity to move to Italy arose and I was absolutely so blessed to be able to explore Italy with the family and reconnect to our roots. There’s so much more of Italy that I still have yet to discover but will be exploring it more soon. Next summer I hope to do a lot more traveling in Europe as well, and hopefully manifest some new work opportunities out there for the summer.

After getting back it was straight back to work with the Casadonna opening and Halloween right after before jumping straight into the busy season for work. Once I was back from Europe work picked up quick and it was time to grind. Particularly these last couple of weeks of the year have been a blur with work going nonstop. Art Basel, Vegas, and the holidays are a wild roller coaster to end the year on. The work out here really is nonstop, but this year I’ve really made it a priority to find time to reset and properly recover when I’m pushing myself extra hard. Especially with my first time in Las Vegas after Basel these last couple weeks were also an incredible adventure. Truly these last couple weeks of the year have been kind of crazy. As I get older, I need to stay wiser plan ahead, be careful, have fun, but most importantly, just enjoy the moment. I’m always trying to stay focused and maintain discipline.

I’ve also managed to stay consistent with my fitness program and diet, shoutout to Derek once again we been at it going hard. I’ve been playing soccer with the boys too which is great, really missed playing and we used to have to run some great games in Brickell rooftop during the Round Two days in 2019. I also ripped some golf and hit a great round to wrap up the year the other day. I also dialed in my food intake a little more, in cleaning up my diet to stay more focused on my goals I tried out prepping my meals and in the process discovered some great recipes, some bomb restaurants, and took my smoothie and sprout game to the next level. Still got a ways to go but we’re clearing the road and revving up the engines.

I’m so grateful and blessed for everybody in my life, all the wonderful opportunities, and all the incredible memories. I’m constantly learning and exploring and my hunger and work ethic are only growing by the day. I’ve made time to read more, learn some new languages and I hope to keep pursing that well into the future.

I’m really excited for next year. I’m setting my goals high and hoping to crush them. I’m so blessed I get to live life on my own terms with no worries. I tell my friends all the time that I do what I want to do everyday and it couldn’t be more true, I wake up and spend my time how I want. I’m going to keep doing that and answering to myself because that freedom coupled with focus is an unstoppable combination.

-martín

check out the other editions of my yearly recap:

https://martintmedina.com/yearinreview

[minitwin]

Yearly Drama Recap 2023

Count for this year:

Cdrama: 13 Jdrama: 13 Kdrama: 5 Short dramas/movies: japanese: 5 chinese: 2 korean: 1

Currently watching/waiting for sub:

K-drama: 2 J-drama: 2

Meet Yourself and When I Fly Towards you are probably the Chinese drama standouts that will stay with me for a long time. Even their OSTs were my 1st and 3rd most listened to songs this year according to youtube music 😅 but it's a bit sad because they're not really dramas that I can convince my friends to watch and talk about so I ended up just crying by myself.

I don't know if I consider Animals a "healing" drama but I felt so touched by the first episode I remember calling my sister crying my eyes out. The playful chemistry and care that everyone in the show had for each other really got me and I hope this drama gets a ton of love now that it's on Netflix (in asia only so far). Thinking about it more, I think this drama really got the couple dynamic right compared to similar dramas and they were so sweet and comfy.

My Second Aoharu falls into that "younger successful guy + woman in a rough spot" bucket too but I think rather than the romance what it did right was the feeling of living with your friends and classmates that you really only experience in college. I still don't understand why there are so few college dramas out there (maybe because the experience is less universal?) but every single one that I've found holds such a special place in my heart. Please drama gods give me more college dramas :pray: :pray: I'm tired of getting my fix from crappy youtube dramas.

I think Love Me Love My Voice is, like many have said, barely a drama but it was so peaceful and relaxing. I love the cast's chemistry and it was so nice to wake up in the morning and have something to look forward to. It brought me a lot of joy in December. :)

I went back and read my post from last year where I said that "maybe Silent would save 2022 jdramas for me" and I think I liked it but I watched it right after I watched Animals which I think was a hurdle impossible to pass.

I didn't finish a single "full length" Korean drama this year which I think is understandable given the trends from the past couple years. Why does every romantic story need cheating or murder? Where are my actual romcoms? Didn't Netflix see how well Business Proposal did?? We'll see if My Demon pushes through but I don't have high hopes for finishing "A Good Day to be a Dog". The closest one to full length that I finished was Perfect Marriage Revenge which was a fun 12 episode ride. I think if it went any longer I might have given up so I'm very thankful to the team who decided to keep it at 12 episodes.

[creakclat]

Best Books for CLAT Exam

Let us get commenced with some right information for CLAT candidates. NLU or National Law Universities Consortium has scheduled the CLAT examination for 2022 on the nineteenth of June. That approach you still have a enough range of days handy to prepare for CLAT and make use of the time for some valuable ultimate-minute revision.

One of the principal questions which have been requested by way of college students appearing for the CLAT exam is: Which are the nice books for CLAT exam? To be honest, there is no appropriate solution to this query. One can't designate one single book to be the first-class one for the CLAT examination. However, there are sure books which are generally cited whilst preparing for CLAT. These books hail from trusted publications, and college students have been the use of those books for decades with precise critiques.  For Full CLAT exam Preparation Join Top CLAT Coaching in Patna.

CLAT Preparation Books – Features

It is important to take into account that CLAT is a aggressive exam that requires logical thinking and aptitude. Thus, the books selected need to satisfy the needs of the exam as a consequence. The following are the top five matters to keep in mind whilst shopping for any e-book for your CLAT practise:

The ebook should include best the cutting-edge records

It should be informative and lucid

The records provided must be organized and understandable 

Always purchase books from repeat courses (simplest the modern-day editions)

Make sure that the book comes with masses of exercise questions

Before we dive into the listing of pleasant books for CLAT 2022, let us have a quick recap of the exam sections in the CLAT examination. For the CLAT exam 2022, you need to accumulate the books for the following sections: 

English Language

General Knowledge

Current Affairs

Quantitative Techniques

Logical Reasoning

Legal Reasoning

Best CLAT English Book

To strive the English Section Questions in CLAT, applicants need to have a consolidated idea of English grammar and a sturdy English vocabulary. The CLAT quality books for English practise are:

Objective General English – SP Bakshi

Word Power Made Easy – Norman Lewis

The Pearson Guide to the CLAT – Pearson’s

Objective General English 2022 – RS Aggarwal

Best CLAT General Knowledge and Current Affairs Book

For this segment, you want to stay updated as plenty as you may. Awareness about the whole lot taking place in the global situation is an critical manner to crack this phase. The maximum famous CLAT  books that will let you stay updated with the modern affairs are: 

General Knowledge 2020 and 2021 – Arihant Publications

Manorama Year Book – Manorama Publications

General Knowledge 2021 – Lucent’s 

Current Affairs Yearly – Arihant Publications

Do no longer neglect to undergo the day by day newspaper to score better marks on this segment. 

Best CLAT Quantitative Techniques Books

To ace this section, you need CLAT new sample books. These books have valuable tricks and hacks on how to handle statistics, numbers, and snap shots like charts. Some of them are: 

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations – Pearson’s

Quantitative Aptitude – RS Aggarwal

30 Days Wonder for Maths – S Chand

Fast Track Objective Arithmetic – Arihant Publications 

Best CLAT Logical Reasoning Books

This segment incorporates questions on topics like analogy, styles, syllogism, blood relationships, and so on. Clear standards and rigorous exercise will divulge the candidates to the numerous query sorts and assist them carry out higher. Some of the high-quality law front exam books for this phase are: 

Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning – RS Aggrawal

Analytical Reasoning – MK Pandey

A New Approach to Verbal and Analytical Reasoning through Arihant Publications

Best CLAT Legal Reasoning Books

Legal Reasoning is one of the maximum critical domain names of the CLAT examination. To carry out better on this phase, the candidate should be thorough with the basics of the Indian Judiciary and develop a justified and transparent legal method. These are the best books for Legal Aptitude: 

Legal Awareness and Legal Reasoning – Pearson

Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning – AP Bharadwaj

Objective Legal Aptitude – RS Aggarwal

Why Do You Need CLAT Coaching?

Aspirants recall CLAT as one of the most hard front examinations held in India. To serve the Indian Judiciary, you need to have felony flair, dedication, and wit. A smart examine strategy will assist you crack the CLAT exam on the first strive. A well-reputed education magnificence may be your manual in this situation. Enroll yourselves today in Coaching For CLAT in Patna and apprehend concepts higher. Attempt mock checks, and practice the preceding year’s question paper to assess your education degree and face actual-time examination simulation. They may also help pick out the first-class books for CLAT training 2022.

[iamthekaijuking]

Art vs Artist 2022 and Yearly Recap

It’s been awhile since I’ve done an art v artist, and even longer since I’ve done a year recap.

2022 was a strange year, and as a 21 year old I’m in a very strange stage of life. So much of my future is uncertain, and a lot happened just this year. I’ve got smarter, I’ve made new friends, got traumatized, and learned that I might even have ptsd (unrelated to the trauma thing). It feels weird that it’s almost over.

Twitter turned to shit, and the tumblr kept getting better.

So many of my loved ones are getting older, and I’m contemplating mortality more than I’d like as a result.

One of my snakes burnt himself on a malfunctioning heat lamp and has a blister, and my family is treating him (so far he’s okay and he should be fine).

I can drink alcohol now, but the only ones I like are basically sodas that barely have alcohol in them.

I got my first jobs this year and also graduated as a certified electrician. My first job was working in an assembly line for Honda, and oh my god those were the most miserable 100 days of my life (and because it was a temp service I wasn’t getting paid fully or getting insurance benefits in a VERY unsafe work environment). That shit traumatized me (THIS is the trauma thing, not the ptsd thing) and now I’m very picky with jobs. I then got a job I actually did like, but after a month got fired because my boss constantly forgot to re-order stock and so we were unable to complete orders and people were withdrawing theirs and we were running out of stuff to do, so my boss was losing money and decided to just fire the newest hire to save money. But he didn’t have the balls to tell me the actual reason or do it directly, so one of the accountants had to basically pull me aside and say my boss was firing me “because I didn’t look happy”. That same weekend he took 2 employees out of state to do everything for him at a convention for 12 hours for 2 days; they each got paid 200 dollars, he made 60,000. Let me tell you, having to put on your resume that you only worked at your last job for a month makes it basically impossible to get hired.

This was also the first year I actually took commissions, so I guess I’m *technically* a professional artist? I also made a patreon, but it’s been up for like half a year and I still don’t have subscribers.

This year I also made some major leaps in my artistic skills (and in biological knowledge) and I’d consider myself a good artist. I have a very good understanding of anatomy and proportions now and can draw some special effects. But it also doesn’t feel enough at times and I secretly can get a little green eyed when I see other artists or creature designers (or professional biologists).

I didn’t get as much work done with personal projects as I’d have liked, executive dysfunction does that to a man, but I did get major stuff done. I even wrote an overview for my first book in my GUARDIANverse IP! I’m also getting better at not getting sidetracked and am slowly chipping away at my extensive to do list of smaller not as important projects. The god children gverse thing will be moved to next year. I even illustrated and finalized what I hope to one day turn into a vtuber model (the flesh god).

I’m still pretty far from my pipe dream of making money on the side as an author, having a Bogleech type website, and streamer, but I’ve made progress. I make skulls and charts for the Unnatural History Channel, I’ve been his top moderator, and generally help out sometimes, so my stuff is being exposed to a larger audience.

I also hand picked the chillest people out of the UHC server and made my own server, and finally after 2 years of not having a friend group, I finally have one. And I’m actually entirely comfortable around them! Which is big deal for me because after one too many bad personal experiences I have a hard time trusting people and am constantly analyzing them for red flags, but with the UHC crew (aka the “Poopenshitters” yes that’s the name of our friend group) I feel 100% safe (also I’m the ring leader which is cool). Pathetic? Yes. But is it a huge step for me? YES ABSOLUTELY.

And of course my friendship with dappercritter grows stronger each year.

2022 was also a great year for Kaiju content, especially in games. Also weirdly enough 2022 was the year of gigan, but that’s not unwelcome.

Sunbreak also came out, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it.

Well, 2022 is coming to a close. It was a weird year, but I’m growing, and hopefully the world is too.