goodbye 2024

· 6-minute read

i have survived another year, somehow. honestly was a bit dicey at times, but i'm still here.

my two guinea pigs hanging out under the kotatsu)

work stuff

for work, i've been busy with both my own games & translation stuff. i feel very lucky to still be doing this as my 'full-time' job as such, & i hope i can keep going. i'm not sure if anybody has ever compiled stats about how many full-time indies have to quit within x amount of time (like that oft-quoted statistic stating that restaurants are most likely to close within their first year) but i'm hoping that being more than halfway through my second year now is a good sign.

i probably pushed myself a bit too much this year (i feel like i say this every year) but i really need to slow down in the future or it will not be good for me. the hand pain that stopped me from working earlier this year hasn't healed fully (& at this point i'm not sure if it will) & i know the constant typing isn't helping!

i'm glad i've finally released Marron's Day though after working on it for what feels like so long! being able to make the physical package was really exciting too - i am just so happy with how everything came together. i don't think i'll do it again because it was much more work than i thought it would be, but i don't regret doing it at all.

i think it'll be smaller games from me again for a while though!

just to list things up...

i've also had a chance to do some other work for people which has been fun too but also not announceable at this time...!

all in all, it has been a pretty busy year for me work-wise. busy is generally a good thing when it means i'm doing stuff that will make me money that i need to continue to exist, but i think i've been pushing the limits too much so i hope i will be less busy next year.

personal stuff

on the personal side, i've gained a renewed appreciation for online friends who've stuck with me through tough times! i had a health scare earlier this year which reminded me i really had to take care of myself better - both physically & mentally. it was a good shock that has pushed me to become more selective with who i interact with online for my own mental health, because, paraphrasing a friend: why should you care so much about people who don't bother to do the same for you?

on that note, in the past i felt weirdly bad about unfollowing people if we were mutuals because i felt like i 'owed' them something, but i've been more proactive lately about unfollowing people who e.g., share stuff from people who've harassed me, because if i don't take care of my mental health, who will?

generally i also mute/unfollow anybody who quote dunks / spreads rumours / promotes outrage on social media, regardless of whether i agree with the actual post - i just don't want to my timeline full of people who engage in that kind of behaviour. doing this has made my timeline much better & if i hear about discourse it's usually offhand from other people offline, like:

kc have you heard about [online discourse nobody needs to know about]?

no & please don't tell me

i still try to give people the benefit of the doubt though, because i don't want to let past bad experiences forever colour my future ones. i'm just trying to surround myself more with people who spend more time creating & less time debating, as such.

all of that is online stuff though - offline, this year was quite wonderful. i met up with many dear friends & family that i hadn't in a while, & i also met a bunch of friends that i'd never met before offline!

i had the chance to go to austria & india too which was lovely. they were both very different from places i'd been before & i hope i continue to have the chance to visit new places for fresh perspectives.

i've been doing a lot of reading too because e-readers are great & make reading so convenient! i started reading fanfic on my e-reader this year & let me tell you this is a life-changer. for some reason ao3 really kills the battery on my e-reader though... 😅

also the health scare i had was a good thing overall because it's got me on medicine to keep me safe as well as taught me about my own physical limits. it's also what pushed me to get an e-bike & it's really changed my life! i used to feel like i had to vomit after pushing myself up slopes (thought i was just out of shape - turns out my heart is just genetically bad 😆) but now with the power of technology i can just breeze up! it feels like the world's opened up for me because i can just bike so much farther. i've been to a lot of little shops & cafes that i'd been curious about but never went to just because they weren't easily accessible for me before... but now they are! so hopefully i can continue this trend into the new year.

as for my resolutions for next year...

anyway, this year has had its ups & downs but they all led me here & i'm grateful for it. thank you to everyone who's supported me this year & i hope 2025 is better for all of us.

#journal #games #personal


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