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Steam's 2025 Visual Novel Fest is abysmal.

for the past few years, perhaps as a way to appease the thousands of visual novel developers for the poor search abilities on Steam or perhaps to get more money from the thousands of porn games on the platform, Valve has hosted an annual Visual Novel Fest, a week-long event "promoting" visual novels on Steam. this event has always been questionably helpful to developers, but this year I believe takes the cake.

context: I'm a visual novel developer. I also help other VN studios with steam stuff. so I interface with steam's backend and these sorts of things.

first off, the requirements. if we go to their publicly available steamworks documentation, we can see the eligibility requirements here:

basically:

Reading is the primary gameplay

The player cannot walk around, and can typically only look around from a static position

There is no combat - if there is fighting, the gameplay loop is a small portion of the game. Multiple outcomes leading to different plot events is allowed.

makes sense, right? except some fantastic visual novels like of the Devil, Date Time, and others were rejected from the festival.

okay, so maybe they're being incredibly strict with their definition of a visual novel—

as usual from previous years, some games that are wildly not visual novels are included in the festival. well, there's probably a thousand or so games in the festival, so some will always slip through the cracks, but at least the rest of the festival is alright, right?

the main tabs for the festival up top are:

Featured

Browse Games

Browse Adult Only Games

Free to Play

Free Demos

Upcoming

every tab except for Free to Play and Upcoming only feature games that are for sale AND discounted. if your game is released and in the festival but not discounted, it is shown nowhere unless a steam user scrolls through the giant wall of "All" games (which is mostly filtered by popularity).

Free Demos? no, that only shows discounted games as well. (a lot of the games in this fest are daz 3d "visual novels")

well, at least there's an "Upcoming" tab to share visual novels that haven't been released, right? no. that big, main tab only has 1 widget - Popular Upcoming. for some reason, they didn't populate the tab with any other widgets like the others, which have sections for Horror, Otome, LGBT+, etc.

this also means that only 22 unreleased games are actually getting space in the entire festival.

now, there is one exception to this - if users scroll all the way down on any of the tabs, there's a "Browse Games" widget that lets them filter and see every game in the festival. but this is just the Steam search section, nothing groundbreaking.

but it does allows users to see all of the visual novels in the festival and not just the featured few - mine can only be seen if you do some filtering in this search section.

so this VN Fest has become nothing more than a VN Sale - I don't know why they don't just call it that. nowhere in the documentation did it say you have to discount games in order to be actually featured in it, and as usual indie devs are given the shortest end of the stick from Valve.

...all of this is to say....

go play visual novels on itchio

35k+ visual novels on itchio!! can you imagine playing even half that many? and so many of them are free and made lovingly by sickos. go find some wonderfully weird or creatively romantic visual novels to play today.

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(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To see the rest of the free, accompanying art dump, click here.)

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Yes, this is technically my second End of Year Review post, as my first was back in 2022! If my posting records have anything to show for it, it's clear that in 2023 I ended up engulfed in research and pushing for yet a few more collaborative projects until daylight hours grew shorter. At that point, mustering the energy for EOYR2023 was not in the cards for me, but there is nothing stopping me from returning to that time and speaking on last year as well.

This post aims to summarize both 2023 & 2024 in review, where I again address my progress in various aspects of both project development and personal development.

Massive dump incoming:

Project Summary

Art 2023

The focus was art concepts and game assets for a handful of collaborative visual novel projects, but not nearly as many as the year prior. Just as in 2022, I did not feel the desire to draw for myself when compared to the sense of obligation I had to deliver in other projects... until the middle of the year, when it returned! Arguably! But it seems the desire did not convert into much action until the year after.

In 2023, I made...

Dynamic character sprites and reference sheets for Hello, Counsel by Miseri

Promotional art and logo designs for The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows demo by PumpkinSpike and Akua Kourain

Cover art for The Plaza: A Horror Anthology by Allie Vera

A few commissions for private clients

Fan sketches of Dr. Serizawa from Godzilla, tee hee

Art 2024

Reinvigorated and renewed in the new year, I was running out the gate with new style studies to challenge me. I had set a goal to draw one full-color illustrated piece a month, with a bingo card of personal art trials by my side. Alas, by late April, I had been hired to a new project as a writer. The time-consuming role had my art challenge fall by the wayside. A few art commissions sprinkled in here and there, but ultimately, 2024 was top-heavy art-wise.

In 2024, I made...

A style study illustration of my and Elm's character Bellarmino from our WIP project Primrose Path

A commission of a genderbent MC from Love and Deepspace for a private client

Character pose sketches for a private client

Fan art of Seamus and Hugo from Of Sense and Soul by Forsythia Productions

A Hamtaro OC fan art "attack" on Artfight

Secret Ending CGs for Wake Up Magical Girl! by Miseri

Facial character concepts for Drop Dead Daters

Some experimental, traditional pieces at my library's monthly art night

Writing 2023

Mostly preproduction material for personal visual novels. Most impactful were my notes for The Corpse Lieutenant, spending months looking into—frankly—emotionally exhausting topics in order to better contextualize the thinking behind my main character, and shared some of those insights here on Patreon. Much of the reading pulled from real historical events during World War II. After these notes though, it did take some time for me to reengage with the project. I likely did not realize how the intensity of the content would impact me until much later.

My 2022 concern that I had no drive to produce more short, personal works, and that hopefully it would turn around in 2023 did not materialize. But far more importantly, this year, I did not feel so pressed about such output. It is what it is!

In 2023, I wrote...

More plot outlining for my unnamed sprite and spider adventure visual novel

Notes on war crimes, related criminal testimony, and psychology research for The Corpse Lieutenant

Writing 2024

The overwhelming majority of 2024 was dedicated to a dating sim visual novel project for which I was hired. I ended up being offered a promotion to a greater and additionally more managerial role among the freelance writing department. I found the shared creativity of the freelancers very uplifting and inspiring. Equally, production had proven challenging for many reasons.

Because I had to prioritize this large commercial project, I had not made much time to return to my own visual novel, The Corpse Lieutenant. That said, I did plot out and bullet story beats for considerable changes to the script that I believe are for the better. I also ended up creating a separate guilty pleasure, just-for-fun fiction project with my best friend in order to break up the writing monotony, as well as the beginnings of a different project with a different friend's studio.

In 2024, I wrote...

Expanded scenes and narrative changes for the second draft of The Corpse Lieutenant

A narrative design document, writing style guide, event script template, demo outline draft, interview transcripts, and character route outlines with other co-writers as a lead freelance writer for a studio client

Some story concepts for an upcoming project with Studio Ephua

Edits for a friend's WIP novel

Several chapters of a gay supernatural sports story under an alias with my best friend that you will have to find yourself if you're curious lol

Audio 2023

Compared to 2022, I really slowed down on voice acting and audio engineering. Much of that work came from volunteering on game jams. But after the fun work of lending my voice to a poison-dealing romance during one such jam, that was really it for the year.

A project or two afterwards where I was brought on for my voice work did not materialize. That may have influenced my setting it aside into the next year, as I've written before that I don't have the time and energy as an independent, non-union, and agentless talent to really hustle for roles in a paid capacity. At least, not when I put more weight into art and writing at the moment.

In 2023, I have...

Voiced Marie Chaligault in the Belladonna's Flight demo by Night Asobu

Audio 2024

I did not do any voice acting or audio engineering this year. I did not plan for any, I did not seek it out, nor was I approached for any.

That said, I had been invited to a couple of just-for-fun gaming and anime commentary streams with anime enthusiast, anime journalist, and content creator Wolfborg, so huge shoutout to him for knowing I'd bring the funk! Probably. I mean I brought something, lol.

In 2024, I have...

A few goofball special guest appearances on anime review & co-op gaming streams by Wolfborg

Business 2023

My primary focus was streamlining some processes for requests of my services, drafting up new and comprehensive ToS and forms for my commission and consultation services, and detailing processes of how I usually go through an accepted request or session for new client transparency.

In 2023, I have...

Set up my art commissions page and request form

Set up my narrative consultation page, request form, and booking site

Updated my art and writing portfolios and resumes

Killed my Twitter/X and moved to Bluesky

Joined some online art commission request communities

Business 2024

I did not do much this year in the way of business preparation, organization, or expansion. Much of my time was taken up by the actual work I was performing. I don't foresee doing much business building in 2025 either, probably just maintaining the websites and resources I do have, but once I get the ball rolling on certain projects, I will want to more aggressively market my services online to my target audience of independent creative clients.

Personal Review

Career 2023

The year before, I mentioned wanting to move into an associate or assistant producer, product management, project management, or art director role for a "steady day job". This year, I made strides towards applications for at least 2D character artist roles at AA studios, and learning specifically about project management in independent study so that I could be ready when it came time to purchase an exam to pass for certification.

Unfortunately, I've not been picked up for any such positions yet. Regarding character artist roles, 2D appears to be a shrinking demand. 3D is the vogue, as is working knowledge of 3D game engines like Unreal. Tragically, I do not have any 3D skills or knowledge, though I want to at least pursue 3D sculpting once I can afford a better workstation.

As for PM certification, I want to hold off until I can really spare the cost for an exam.

I want to continue my efforts into 2024, but there is a small part of me that wonders if I would fare better in a completely unrelated day job with much lower barriers of entry, just so I don't end up burning out on my passions. Because at the end of the day, affording to do my projects is not just a money issue. It is also a time and energy balance as well.

Career 2024

Looking back in 2023, the classic artist's plight of the suitable "day job" did force me to pivot in my plans, as I did not find much immediate success in applying for my ideal roles in a difficult industry. I decided to compromise for now and take on a smaller "stepping stone" role, just so steadier income could come in that I could reinvest into my tools, services, and projects. But the biggest thing was that balance of time and energy as well. I began to focus on finding flexible, local jobs to keep my chin above water, with a growing emphasis on arts-adjacent or community-related roles.

Two big things happened this year: I applied for and was awarded a $2.5k independent artists grant from my state arts council, and I got a much more flexible day job. The grant was validation that the work I do online is worthy of monetary support in the eyes of my state, and opened up a new way of support for me and my art. And the new day job—where under the county government, I work to keep school children safe—has opened my eyes up to roles that specifically give back to my town, as I do want my day job to be uplifting and enriching for those around me. But perhaps best of all, these two things give me time and money for my personal projects, and to hone new art and business skills.

Moving into 2025, I think at the end of the day, I will be more focused on being self-made, and making career moves that allow me to be so, rather than the prestige I seem to attach to more traditional industry employment.

Hobbies 2023

My concern in 2022 was that I would continue having a dearth in desire to do creative personal work for study or fun. I mentioned that I'd like to try something unrelated to the writing and drawing that I do for work, introducing a new passion into my life. I even thought about whittling, or learning bass guitar.

Sadly, I did not pick up either of these things. I do still want to try whittling though, lol, but I think in 2023, I just didn't set time aside. The good thing though is that my concern became acceptance: sometimes, as I do art and writing for work, I may not want to do more in my spare time beyond engaging friends and consuming media. And that's more than acceptable.

Hobbies 2024

I allowed myself to explore a different part of my creativity that wasn't as reliant on personal, laborious output: I joined a choir. Before the beginning of the year, it had been a decade since I sang in a choir. I've had at least decade of formal training as a youth, and even ten years later, I auditioned and was accepted into a chorus focused on bringing together queer members of the community, from high schoolers to senior citizens. Though I was only with them for a semester (their practice location was unfortunately very far out), the feeling of singing in beautiful harmony a set of songs that touch the soul is something I've deeply missed and truly cherished. And the challenge of learning those complex pieces with the help of others was, in the end, so rewarding!

I also joined a book club! I was reading various literature with friends as a way to get back into reading for fun and inspiration, and engaging in analytical conversation with others. I don't get enough of that anymore as I'm not into fandom these days, so this was a cool and insightful way to go about it. I think I'll even continue with book clubs into 2025, branching out into more casual reads like comics and manga.

Health 2023

I had a difficult start to my 2023, with a fatigue from winter that hung over me even into spring—an unusual length of time from recent memory. And underneath that fatigue was a general anxiety from 2022 due to the public response to the resurgent pandemic. But, with time, exposure, preparation, and medication, I was able to overcome the anxiety and better cope with fatigue, returning to being out and about in public safely.

For the first few months, I had put a challenge on myself to visit one new event in person, and I was able to keep it up. I also took time to take walks with friends and loved ones, and visit my family more outside of holidays and birthdays. And though I wasn't able to do all of these things on a strict schedule throughout the year, it was enough to bring me back to a point mentally and socially before the pandemic hit. I'm glad I took the strides I did to come out of a shell I had unwittingly and only recently formed.

Health 2024

I was on a roll until mid autumn, where I was again hit with SAD. Or so I thought. In trying to get ahead of it, I ordered my usual prescription. But I had noticed that the antidepressant was not working effectively at all this time, regardless of dose, and symptoms of fatigue, resistance, and forgetfulness still persisted. In confiding in friends, family, and my care team, I was able to put some pieces together and went for a certain psychiatric test.

Well, at 29 years old, I received an ADHD diagnosis. It honestly rocked my world. But I'm glad I got it, as it explains the persistence of some of the symptoms I was experiencing when my seasonal depression was, well, out of season. And, it's a treatable condition. I was able to try ADHD medication for the first time in December, and while I'm still looking for the right type, the intended positive effect on me was immediate. I'm looking forward to seeing how my health improves in 2025 with this brand new information.

Final Words

A lot can happen in two years' time, as you can see. If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I'm so grateful for those of you who support me, who encourage me, who understand me, and who keep me company. I give what I get, and the arts is how I do.

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hey dev is this blog active? i checked twitter and it's been deleted oh well i will just leave this here if you ever see it

i just read TLEM and wow wow wow

the art? the art!!! THE ART !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *punch a wall and kick in a door*

wish the vn was longer so i can say you didn't just tease with a taste before snatching the plate away

augh should i write an essay or just gush out???

the character design, the movements, Gad's eye being so bright in the dark, the fact that Gad looks menacing to the haunted corpse, the fact that his lover doesn't remember him yet try to offer consolation, like the beloved is literally comforting a stranger I'm fucking nauseous AND IMAGIN ASKING FOR COMFORT FROM THE DEAD AND THEY GIVE IT

" i loved you....once..."

by the way i had TLEM in my "play when the time is right" and i never read synopsis i just go in blind, and i always always thought Gad was a butch old warrior lady so i just yelled "it's a maaan???????!!!!" lmaoooooooooo

👋🏾 Hello! YES, this blog is alive! Or rather, I'm here, lol. I've traded out the imploding Twitter/X for a Bluesky account, if you have one and are interested in following! Though just like how I used Twitter, you'll get more of my personal thoughts and tomfoolery alongside my art and general dev updates. Just a heads up if you consider that noise; my Tumblr posts and reblogging are more strict to visual novel development and dev peers in the VN space, respectively.

Auuuuuuugh, I'm so glad that the tiny project my team and I put together GRIPPED YOU! Aaaaah! It means the world to us to hear how! 🥹 I've been working on a prequel to TLEM for some time now in between other collabs and gigs, and I hope to return to going full steam ahead on its development in the next month or two. The prequel will be a much longer, more involved work, so if you like following monthly progress reports, stay tuned for new devlogs about "The Corpse Lieutenant" on any of my social accounts.

😂 Ok, you're not the first person to think Gad was a rugged grandma, if you can believe it. It's a rare thought (as far as I know)! But I'm not even mad, like what a straight up dope thing to think he was, lol

Thank you so much for reaching out! Enthusiastic messages like yours really motivate us small creators to continue sharing our voice! 🙏🏾

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TOMORROW

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"The Beauty which only Beast knows" Demo released and we can finally show off this promo art and logo made by @coda-blue!

If you like Chinese Fantasy-inspired settings and a retelling of a classic Fairy Tale, do try the demo and leave your thoughts! Due time constraints couldn't post as much as planned, but more news will come this January! Super pecial thanks to my team and my co-lead @pumpkin-spike18!

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I was a judge with fellow dev Arimia on the DevTalk 5th Annual Spooktober Visual Novel Jam. And I also played 100 games in under a month. 🥴 And some of my advice is quoted in this article!

Read it for dev advice and some choice examples from this year's competition, and then go play your heart out with over 200 exciting (and mostly free) entries on Itch! 😈✌🏾

I played over 100 visual novels in October and here's my advice to devs (NOT CLICKBAIT) [REAL]

yeah so I read a shitton of visual novels this month for our annual Halloween game jam and I compiled a bunch of advice from pitfalls I saw over and over again. enjoy!

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I revamped my writing samples doc! You wouldn't know it because it's not posted anywhere unless you utter the magic words "paid writing role", whereupon it manifests in your inbox.

So I'm gonna post it. In like. An About page on this blog. Once I figure out how to make and structure a decent About page. I spent all this time digging through the Inspect panel like a Level 2 Hacker to customize my blog's CSS from scratch, so it better apply to a second page.

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Update: Collab VNs

(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To explore more, click here.)

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Belladonna's Flight — A demo is RELEASED! Belladonna��s Flight by Night Asobu is a poison-dealing fantasy romance, inspired by the historic case of an uncovered poisoner network in 17th century Paris, France. Made for both the Otome Jam and newly-formed sister jam, Josei Jam, Belladonna's Flight takes place in the fictional French city of Solroy, where you follow Catherine Auclair, a witch who makes her living selling lethal wares under the table. But once word lets out that the law is coming to execute every last one of her criminal ilk, Catherine has to call upon untrustworthy business rivals to try and work out a safe escape. Will her wit and wiles help her succeed, or will she get what's coming to her in a fateful betrayal?

I voice Marie Chaligault, a sharp-tongued fortune teller and potential love interest who keeps in the good graces of her noblesse clientele. I had a blast during the live sessions in bickering and boasting as Marie with my fellow voice talent, so I hope you enjoy it too! And hey: no matter who your favorite character is, Belladonna's Flight is continuing development! So be sure to keep up with Night Asobu, as you'll hear more from us moving forward! Until then, please play, rate, and share the demo!

Hello Counsel — Version 1 is RELEASED! Created by miseri accordion for Otome/Josei Jam, Hello Counsel is a short romcom visual novel that follows criminal sensation, Poise, who just got arrested! She's not talking to the cops unless her lawyer (and boyfriend) Salem is present, but when he swings by, can she keep herself from flirting too much and distracting him from giving good counsel?

I was the Character Artist for this visual novel! I was in love with the premise and the character refs presented in miseri's recruitment document, and I also I hadn't drawn character sprites for a published game in a good while. This ended up being a great opportunity for me to flex my ol' drawing muscles, in a more expressive and cartoonish style than my darker personal projects allow. I love the outrageous world and petty banter of this story, so this was honestly a breath of fresh air for me, style-wise. Please go play, rate, and share the game!

My Reflections

I push myself in my roles if it means in the end, I produce something that I am proud of. But as I don't constantly produce a specific style of product, I tend to overestimate how much work I can get done in, say, an hour. It's interesting to me because these are specialty skills that have taken years for me to train and cultivate, so what I personally can get done in an hour has all that history behind it, compared to someone else who may be much earlier in their own journey. Yet still I feel... slow. But I'm not sure if I'm "slow" so much as I'm underestimating my average output for a work I deliberately intend to look, read, or sound a certain level of polished. At the end of the day, I need to have more realistic—or perhaps, forgiving—expectations for myself. I also need to permit myself to be able to make certain executive decisions in the creative process that speed up the process because of my years of experience already informing my judgements. I trust myself to find that balance, and this latest jam experience has been a great help in reminding me of my strengths and points of which I ought to improve.

That's a Wrap

Thank you for reading! If you dig my stuff and where I'm headed, don't be afraid to show your support by sharing this post, interacting, or sending a tip my way.

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I'm holding a short, anonymous survey for visual novel developers to see what social media sites they're currently using and how Twitter changes have affected them.

the results will be compiled onto my blog as well as another post here.

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Less than 24 hours left on the Kickstarter and it has us feeling something... 💦😱

There's still time for us to make it to 100%, and we'd love to see you amongst our backers 💖

Back the Of Sense and Soul campaign here!

Of Sense and Soul: A Queer Victorian Romance Game Play the Demo Update | Get our newsletter | Send us an ask 💌

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✨ pink Angel ✨

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I ever show you these chibis I drew of @forsythiaproductions's Hugo Brooks & Seamus Charkham?

These precious boys are my godchildren, and they love each other. Queerly.

Reader, if you're in the mood for a gentle queer Victorian romance, go play the ✨actually phenomenal✨ Of Sense and Soul visual novel demo: https://forsythiaproductions.itch.io/of-sense-and-soul

And should you love it (you will), help make the rest of the game a reality by pledging to or sharing their Kickstarter: http://ofsenseandsoul.com/ks

50% funded. 7 days left. God, you don't understand, I just want great indie stories to live. I want this gay love to thrive in every good soul's heart. It's actually maddening. 🥹

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I appear in the corner of your eye.

Don't talk. Just listen.

Since Twitter is in the shitter now, officially, as declared by me, here's a tiny lil update post stating that I'm gonna be posting all my dev, art, and mindless junk here starting August. Since I can only really handle one social media platform at a time, truthfully, I'm leaving the budding X while my knees still bend.

So hey, if you followed me or found me here, get ready for... me!!!

I hope you like! But it's ok if you don't. Just get off my page then.

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I MEAN-??? Vesper is so fine fr, why no route😭 Here's idea tho: secret joke (hahaha jkjk.... unless????) ending with breaking the fourth wall and romancing our beautiful MC as an Observer aka Voice In Their Head💅

Some day I am going to print all these comments out for the team and tell them we need to make a Vesper romance DLC and they will agree with me.

Truly the ultimate capture target of Obscura.

Romancing the MC as a voice in their head sounds like either a fun, bizzarro dating sim or a very good romance horror, and Night Asobu already has the horror version covered! (Heads up for body horror, it's a spooky one!)

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In 1875 London, an editorialist and a gentleman have an unusual first meeting… 👓💌🎩

The Extended Demo for Of Sense and Soul, a Queer Victorian Romance Visual Novel is now available!

Download it at ofsenseandsoul.com/demo

For more Of Sense and Soul, check out the following... Patreon | Itch.io | Steam | Discord | Newsletter | Linktr.ee

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Update: Collab VNs

(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To explore more, click here.)

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Maledictorian [v1 prototype] — I've finally completed writing the bonus chapter! It earnestly took a good while as I ended up writing about 15,000 words for that chapter alone in order to account for branching amongst the three different love interests' routes. But this urban fantasy romance by Wisteria Realms now has both the three-chapter plot-focused demo and this character-building bonus chapter complete! Special thanks to our line editor, Allie Vera, for being a massive help. This story is for a younger New Adult audience that I do not typically write for, so I'm glad we have Allie's sharp pair of eyes and proximity to younger readers to help me stay sounding hip! (I promise it's working, lol)

I'm taking a break now after that achievement, but when I return, my first order of business is to go through and annotate each chapter with asset direction.

Drop Dead Daters — As part of the Quiet Days studio with Elm, our paranormal-woman-in-a-monster-escort-institute visual novel is picking back up. We've settled on initial character designs for the remaining three characters—the main monster love interests and your humanoid professor—and now I will be handling finer concept details and final sprite art after we inventory the poses and expressions from the minor characters in our completed script!

My Reflections

In January I was quiet as I worked to wrap up a number of things while adjusting to new medication. Thinking back, at the end of the day, I realized just how important it is to let your teams know where your head is, to give yourself more time and space to work on a task, to actively offer more achievable solutions, and to just keep everyone updated on progress. If you're doing great work and you're trying your best within a reasonable production timeline, a good team will accommodate you. I'm glad I recognized early when I was getting symptoms so that I could reach out and get help as soon as possible, letting the right people know what that would mean for me and my contributions until treatment started. Now a story and colorful art has come out if it!

That's a Wrap

Thank you for reading! If you dig my stuff and where I'm headed, don't be afraid to show your support by sharing this post, interacting, or sending a tip my way.

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(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To see the rest of the free, accompanying art dump, click here.)

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I've decided to do my first ever summary of my entire year. Frankly, this has only been made possible because I've gotten into the good habit of sharing my weekly victories over in a separate dev server, so recalling won't be a stress-fest.

I'm going to address my progress in various aspects of project development and personal development. Here's my massive dump:

Project Summary

Art

I mostly made art concepts and game assets for several visual novel projects in varying stages of production. The styles between them all are intentionally different and makes for a good test of skill for me. Notably this year, I felt no strong desire to draw for myself. Actually, most attempts were met with a deep-seated repulsion of the idea in a way that is hard to describe, because rationally I obviously want to draw, but subconsciously there was this violent blockage. It may be some form of burnout that is either unaffected or overridden by my sense of obligation to collaborative projects, considering I am admittedly a workaholic. Hopefully I can overcome that in 2023, as there's things I'd like to do just for my own self-betterment.

In 2022, I made...

A character sprite and graphical user interface overhaul, and brand new game page assets for my published visual novel, This Life Escapes Me 

Incomplete character, storyboard concepts, and animation studies for my other personal visual novel, The Corpse Lieutenant

18 monster concepts of 6 side characters for Drop Dead Daters

Fae and human concepts for the cancelled MaFAEa by Katy133

Main character concepts and final render for Sails and Silk by Ryan Aldred

An entire point-and-click background, alternate interactable states, and prop and inventory assets for The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

A couple chibi character commissions for personal clients

A few pixel art doodles

A couple sketches

Writing

Almost all of my writing this year was produced for visual novel projects. And almost all of these works have some sort of fantasy element to them, but a few projects were developed for a younger or more general audience than the late 20s to early 30s target I usually write for (aka myself), so actively thinking of the language and voice to use for these different narrators and characters was fun. Unfortunately, the same issue of lacking a desire to create more short personal works shows up here as well, but maybe that may change in 2023.

In 2022, I wrote...

Line edits for Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

The short epilogue story for This Life Escapes Me 

Clarifying lore and research notes for The Corpse Lieutenant 

Several short stories (and designed their respective quote graphics) published on my Ko-fi account

A short smut fanfic that I will never link here, lol

Edits up to a third of the 90,000-word common route second draft for Primrose Path

My assigned route and script annotations for Drop Dead Daters

My chosen route "Explore" for Blanket Cat by Studio Ghost Legs

A writing style guide, character bios document, appendix, three full chapters, a bonus chapter, script annotations, and in-character product marketing quotes for Maledictorian by Wisteria Realms

Audio

I lent my voice acting and voice editing skills to a number of small projects this year. All of this was volunteer work. I truly do love voice acting, but unlike art and writing, I don't currently view it as a career path to actively pursue, as the online hustle culture and general "grindset" of it is intensely wearisome. Outside of my network, I only apply to what seems interesting and pays fairly, but within, I am usually approached by fellow game devs for game jam opportunities. And I love to contribute to those! So it's no surprise that this year, all of my voice acting was a direct result of game jams. As for voice editing, while I have the skills, this year I only ever did them when the team needed a helping hand.

In 2022, I have...

Voiced the goth lesbian Saoirse in How We Show Love by tofurocks

Voiced the unpredictable spy otherwise known as Boss in Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

Cleaned, edited, and mixed my fellow voice actors' lines in Teisatsu

Voiced the brain-eating amoeba-infected Marlowe in Parasite In Love by Night Asobu

Voiced the dimension-warping disgruntled employee otherwise known as The Game Master in The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

Business

I've shifted my business identity into the Coda Blue alias over the year. My social media presence expanded as well, though in the past month, it feels like it's also diminished. After a series of bad decisions from other corporate entities—the general NFT wave, Twitter's buyout and gutting, DeviantArt and ArtStation doubling down on siding with unethical AI generator art harvesting—I've made decisions that ultimately protect me of being subject to further platform failures and other people's valid yet wearisome doomscrolling. I am looking forward to creating an easier system for updates across platforms and potentially streamlining onboarding for certain client services.

In 2022, I have...

Made several moves to arrange my work and solidify my identity under my alias Coda Blue

Set up with various payment processors for better ease of client transactions and game sale payouts

Selectively offered story and project consultation services for narrative-focused game devs

Worked on my unpublished personal website

Created a Carrd to arrange my various site links

Created a Ko-fi for writing commissions and cross-posting devlogs, the latter of which I've just been too tired to do since the idea's inception

Created this Tumblr for cross-posting devlogs and promo, though it's quickly becoming my timeline replacement for Twitter 

Deactivated my DeviantArt account

Deleted my ArtStation account

Personal Review

Career

The biggest and best decision I made this year was deleting various unused or unhelpful job board and portfolio website accounts. I had such a fixed idea of what my success was "supposed" to look like—working as a 2D character artist in a local art studio—and relied on sites and services that did not accommodate my atypical work history (transitioning out of almost a decade of retail and customer service into freelance game development). I became embittered when I kept getting passed up, tying that to a view of my worth. It wasn't until I killed off everything and just focused on my own projects that I felt so much happier, naturally producing what I wanted to, and ended up freelancing in more enjoyable ways. It's possible that I keep working for myself in a self-employed capacity, but ideally, I would switch from specialized labor into an administrative and/or consulting role. It's less tiring and distressing when you feel exhausted from making calls all day versus the frustration of burnout when your livelihood relies on the physical output of drawing and typing.

In 2023, I will move into an associate or assistant position in the producer, product management, or project management role, or a full-on art director role for a steady day job. I just want the money to roll in so that I can invest it into what I actually have a strong interest in, which absolutely are these narrative-focused projects and the talented people working on them.

Hobbies

My biggest concern for me is figuring out why I had an entire year of doing barely any creative personal work for study or fun. I'm afraid it will extend into the new year, and with it, consequences that may creep into my collaborative output as well. While I'm not sure, I believe that if I do end up needing a break from art and writing, I think my collaborators will understand as I discuss with them expectations and next-steps in private. But my guess is that my dwindling desire to partake of my hobbies is that my hobbies have become work, so I need to engage in new, different, and exciting ones. I think doing so will rekindle my old flame by bringing in a new passion into my life.

In 2023, I will try a new hobby. I've been thinking about whittling or playing bass guitar as a start. I may try the former, as it is more accessible out of the two.

Health

I made massive strides towards my physical and mental health this year. I was finally able to identify with a proactive doctor an underlying health issue I've been having, and in going on a specialized treatment, so much was corrected in a matter of months. I had more energy, my general moodiness vanished, my appearance improved, and I returned to exercising (my usual de-stressor). I have a better understanding of my body and I can now make more informed and conscious decisions on my health. That said, towards the end of this year, I have started to become anxious and depressive with the change in seasons. I recognize this as seasonal affective disorder, so aside from getting back on proper medication for it, I realize that my current work environment is stifling.

In 2023, I will go back to exploring the public. I'm a people-person extrovert, so I get energized by socializing, even against depression's best efforts. The various, simultaneous public health failures have made me more anxious of being back outside, but I need to make a conscious effort to go out and be immersed in nature, in cultural enrichment, and just your usual recreational activities. I need the uplift for my sanity and creativity, and as long as I continue to stay masked and up to date on vaccinations, I should go back to the adventurousness I used to have a few years back. I'll start by choosing one new event to visit every month.

Final Words

I did plenty, and I'm proud of every single bit. I'm thankful for those who support me, who encourage me, and who keep me company. You help me be who I am today.