2025 in Re(ar)view

Heya there! Phew!

We’ve (virtually) made it to the end of 2025 together, haven’t we?

This year has been both exhilarating and exhausting. As I continued to contend with my health (including having a major surgery done in September), I had a few goals that I set for the year:

#1: Short Stories

I didn’t get to write any short stories this year. Okay, I lied a little—I did put together a quick test story for a practice visual novel I made called “Change of Plans.” But just like the plans, this goal kinda fell through. That’s because of #3.

#2: Hand-Made Goodies

I managed to make a couple of books and get back into book-binding before September. I even made a layered papercraft art for a friend!

I encountered a couple of issues, but they’re more learning curve-related. I gave both of these creations away, but I’m planning to make more things by hand and do one-of-a-kind sales over in the eshop. I do want to make more handmade gifts for friends and family though, as these were pretty fun! I even recorded a video of me painting a tiny sketchbook cover with paint markers and upcycling it, but the video has lighting issues. So I’m not sure if I’ll post it! 🙁

I wonder if it’s jarring seeing a digital artist cobble together stuff like this?

#3: Game Dev

I want to make a simple, fun game that’s free to play and publish it on itch.io. 

– Me, like an entire year ago

You know, I technically did do this…and then it also evolved into the want/need to expand on the idea and create a full-fledged VN… e_e

I challenged myself by working on projects that reached far beyond my area of expertise—namely, a linear visual novel (and even a game jam project). Learning Ren’Py was…tricky, to say the least. I’ve actually taken a pretty long break from working in it due to some stressors popping up, but I want to get back into the full swing of things this upcoming year. Needless to say, I’ve released both the demos on Itchio. Change of Plans can be played online, and TwistedFates: LUCAS Episode 1 can be downloaded! I’d love for you to play through either (or both) and let me know what you think!

#4: Voice-over Work

That’s right. Before 2025 is out, I want to land a character voice role. I want to see “CV: orribu” (or CV: Olive Day). OR just doing v/o for anything having to do with dinos and pals. Or Monster Hunter. Or even my own YT short or…something.

Olive, nooo

So unfortunately, this one fell through SUPER hard. Not only was I unable to juggle it with the many hours I put into researching and developing the TwistedFates visual novels, but I wound up having to get surgery to remove a HUGE growth that had taken over half my thyroid, near the organ that I needed to kinda…use. So, on top of having an admittedly bad recording setup, the stompiest neighbors that could stomp and drop things, and little experience, ‘twould seem that I wasn’t meant to land any voiceover roles. I did try auditioning for a couple of roles, though, and I gave it my all!

I also did a voice recording of the letter that I wrote to my creative self, though. So I mean…technically, I did manage to do some level of voiceover work! Just not any character voices or anything like that. I did research on how to clean up my audio, and I’d been sitting on some sound panels in my cart to improve my recording space. I still very much want to get into voice acting in the future.

#5: Music?!

Nothing here, but I did make a Bandcamp page…! <:D

Admittedly, I have a couple of demo tracks ready to go, but there’s a weird voice in the back of my head telling me that I need to make album art before I even think about sharing them. And then I’m sheepishly embarrassed about them.

Things I Didn’t Mention.

Streaming. Professional research and development. And of course…the health thing. During the later half of the year, I picked up streaming on Twitch as often as I could, averaging about a couple of times a week. They’re art streams, and honestly, I super missed doing them. Hopefully in the future I won’t get as sick as often so that I can do longer streams and more events, like OH! Webcomic Treats (thinking about renaming that to Oh! Comic Delights!) because those were fun to do as well and I love exploring and sharing cool stuff I find!

Looking Ahead

2026 is going to be BETTER. I know that with my many conditions and my limits, the most I can do is my best. I’m doing a lot of reflection, and while I don’t have a solid plan going into the next year, I do want to approach things differently than I am right now. I’ve got a lot of exciting changes in development that I’m excited to share with you, including a new newsletter that you can sign up for here! You’ll get posts from this blog delivered right to your inbox, be notified about my regular and special commission listings when they open, and even get first pick of eshop and one-of-a-kind sales when they drop in the eshop!

I can’t thank you enough for supporting me as you have, and I hope you’ll stick around this upcoming year as well. Much love to all of you!

Olive (orribu!)