Someone had come forward speaking on something I now deeply regret, and I apologize. I was in a dark place, sorry to everyone affected by my actions

It’s true that I’m secretly @matthewlopz alt account, this whole time it was all just an elaborate prank. Sucks to suck DUMMIES, I’m not actually sorry!!! I’m pointing my finger at my screen rn laughing at everyone!!!

Also happy April fools

It's that time of year again!! And holy heck this year was pretty dang eventful

So let's get right into it!!

me n matt

mango: the dingus

The first half of the year was... not great. I mainly was just job hunting, I wasn't really a part of many events because of the stress. My heart goes out to anyone looking cause it is rough rn!!

Around this time, I started leaning more into traditional art and doing consistent almost daily drawings. Which I've kept up!! I fell a little behind because I had some projects + the holidays though

I have them all in this thread, which I also just realized I haven't updated it in a while lol oops

In April I was commissioned by @ZenonRetna! It happened at such a great time because by that point I was really running low on money and wasn't finding anything in my job search. I was incredibly grateful for it!!

BUT... my luck turned around in May because I finally finally got my first real software developer job!! The only downside though was that I wasn't really doing many projects during this time, I had a lot to learn and adjust to. Another thing I was SUPER fricken grateful for. I remember having nightmares each night about whether or not I'd find a job, the fear of running out of savings, and even just... not being able to pay rent. It was getting scary, I'm so glad to be out of that

I did also start baking this year!! So far, these were the best things I made:

I'm also making gingerbread cookies today so we'll see how those turn out lol

Overall though, not a lot of stuff happened though till fall hit. In November things picked back up again and I participated in the Kanto Pokemon Collab!

I started working on my game again, though that's on hold till the holidays are over. I made some concept art tho!! We will see how much I'll get done next year. That's my goal, is to make significant progress on my game, and to start doing more digital art doodles

And then the final project of the year, I participated in tankmus. I uploaded my drawing here if you haven't checked it out yet!!

This year was just me trying to improve in one way or another. Improve my programming/developer skills. Study more art fundamentals and get better at art. Learn game development so I can get these dang ideas and stories out of my head via a different medium. Learning how to improve myself as a person, get better at conflict management. Getting better at spanish

I feel like I've come a long ways since last year! 2024 was the stark opposite. That year I just felt... stagnant. I was doing the same thing over and over. I even had started going back to online tutoring just before I got my current job, which I guess was this year actually, but still. I think that was the lowest point for me, for multiple years I worked really hard to have a better life, to be able to save, and it felt like I was giving up

Things picked back up again luckily, but that was scary. And I feel like now I finally have the space to grow, now that my brainpower isn't taken up by stress

This got really personal lol, but it really was just an important part of this past year so I felt like I had to say something!!

Happy New Years newgrounds, to my friends, and to anyone cool I've met either in the past or even new people I met this year. I hope all of you have a wonderful new years, and that you have a better year next year! Whether 2025 was terrible, amazing, I hope that whatever the case, it's even better

Take care everyone!! I'm going to stop writing this before I tear up LMAO

What an eventful year!! Man, looking back a LOT happened (arguably TOO much in some ways lol), so let's hop to it

The year started out strong because me and @matthewlopz decided to move from a small city to a big TOWN (and not a city!!). Now, in colombia, since we're close to the equator, pretty much the temperature you feel is the temperature you'll get all year round. Our old place was perma 64 F/16 C ALL year round in the daytime. And rainy. And cold LOL, so we decided to move here partly because we wanted to move somewhere warmer! That stuff messed with my mental health to be honest LOL

And check it out!! It's SUPER pretty out here! The view is nuts!

I was still working at my online tutoring job but other than that, pretty smooth sailing I'd say! Though I definitely wanted a change job-wise haha

I also grew my hair out for funsies, tho it got annoying and chopped it off again. It was cool to have for a while tho!

Then in July, I unexpectedly got onboarded into a software engineering internship! Keep in mind, I hadn't gone to uni so I'm fully self taught, I genuinely did not think it'd be in the cards for me. It was a great time! It was definitely a lot of stuff to learn at once, but the challenge was welcomed and I think this was just the thing I needed at the time. By the end, I had also decided to quit my tutoring job since it made it hard to focus on the internship. And now I can create whole APIs in 2 seconds hehehe

I ALSO hosted my first mini-event, OCtober! I still have to get around to doing the big group art of all the active participants, I haven't forgotten about that B)

Skipping ahead to November, I thought my internship was going to get extended but they didn't want to sign another contract after the old one expired. I don't wanna say I was let go because the contract did naturally expire, but I'll be honest, it was a huge shock to the system. And yknow what? I'm just glad I HAVE this experience, because it was a great time! But now I was left without a job in the last quarter of the year, which needless to say has been a difficult lesson: nothing in life is guaranteed. I'm still waiting and getting by while I prepare for January to start applying once junior jobs are available again.

I also had experience with a close family member passing which... has ALSO been a rough lesson and I now see death differently. But these are all lessons we have to go through at some point, and I'm glad they happened while I'm young in my 20's when I can bounce back.

And for anyone else who's had a rough year, let's keep trekking on and trying our best to get by! Nothing stays this way forever: Life really is like a rollercoaster. Maybe a bunch of crappy things hit you all at once, but it'll always come back up again and things will be better again at some point. Maybe saying nothing in life is guaranteed is a little untrue, because both good AND bad times are an inevitability. You just have to wait out the bad times to get to the good.

So let's ride this year out and no matter how good or bad your year was, I hope 2025 ends up being a great year for everyone. Thank you for sticking around, and reading till the end!

Happy early New Years!!

(edit) The thread's now up and running!!!!!

Idk if anyone even remembers this, it was so long ago. Around 2018 I tried doing an inktober-esque thing in december focused on OCs, I couldn't find a single prompt that was focused on characters and that's all I wanted to draw! But I... didn't finish my OWN prompt LOL

So I waited till an october where I actually was consistently drawing to try again. And that took a REALLY long time! Because this year, I finally feel like I'm at the point where I'm drawing consistently enough to trust myself to follow through! And I want something to push me to draw a little bit more

So!

I decided to make another prompt list! And if anyone else just wants to draw their dang OCs, you're welcome to join in if you're still looking around for prompts. You're free to interpret the questions any way you want, and you don't have to pump out fully completed art pieces every day if you don't wanna. For an extra challenge, you can also choose to create an OC from scratch and develop it throughout the month!

I'll be making a thread on the art forums on day 1, so other people hopping in can share their art!

morning mango nation, as of today my commissions are open again! This time things are different though, and I have MORE options-- sprite/pixel art and animal art!

If you're curious, don't be a stranger and feel free to swing by to see what I've got 🤓

https://artistree.io/oddlem

(or alternatively, I don't mind you sending me a DM here on newgrounds!)

game on

im COOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi guys it's your boy here, markipluer, and I wanted to let you guys all know I'm not doing art anymore. or animation, or games. i decided I'm going to live my dream and become an accountant, and I'm going to leave new grounds forever so pursue my dream

this is very serious, this isn't a joke. please take this very seriously if I get any funny comments in the replies im gonna scream very loud in protest

Wow what an absolute year LOL

If anyone remembers, last year was extremely stressful. Luckily, this year was MUCH better, and I even made a lot of new friends!!

So let's begin, shall we?

When the year started, I still was doing pretty bad to be honest, the previous year bled into the next. I started doing tutoring online and I reaaallyyyy wasn't liking it, but didn't know where to go. I felt very STUCK career-wise, and it was killing my mental health.

So! I learnt about data analytics, and started doing an online course. But I still felt very very empty and yucky.

Throughout all of this, though, I rarely drew anything. My creative side dwindled, I felt more and more like a blob. Not a SAD blob, but a very drained blob. This kept going for months, so I don't really have anything to say for this time. It was all a blur LOL

After a while though, I found a light in the tunnel

This chicken. Also I went to a neuropsychologist, and I found out I have ASD and I don't even have ADHD. I was absolutely blindsided by the latter!! But slowly after getting this information, I processed everything, and things fell back into place. Balance was restored, I no longer feel like a blob for overexerting myself from stuff I didn't know about, I started occupational therapy. I feel like me again! Just me with new knowledge about myself

Around the same time this was happening, I started learning python because of data analytics and fell in love. I would've never imagined myself liking programming so much! I kept going and going, and made my first teeny project. A shitty quiz!! And kept going more and more

I also got dermatitis on my eyes, that sucked. I finally got steroid cream like 3 days ago, pretty epic

Anyway!!

After this period of immense growth, feeling like myself again, things naturally fell back into place and I started getting urges to draw again. More and more than the two previous years. I stopped using games so much to cope (tho I needed it!!)

But during this entire time, I made friends who helped me up when I really needed it. I don't think I would've gotten to this point of good mental health if I didn't

SO!!!

Thank you to ALL my friends, the ones who were there during my most difficult times. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you sososo much. For being there for me, for listening to me, for being the support I very desperately needed.

Thank you

And thank you ESPECIALLY to @matthewlopz for being there for me, being patient during my most difficult times, and being there for me these past 2 years.

(that isn't makeup my cheeks are red as shit rn and idk why, hi newgrounders!!!!!)

And that sums up my year!!

Here's to a new year, hopefully with new opportunities and a more stable future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's all bye

I completely forgot to do my annual recap oopsie uh oh, but holy crap what a challenging year. I successfully moved to colombia and was getting ready to start teaching online, then a school needed a native english teacher and thought I'd give it a go as an assistant teacher. They gave me 11 grades to teach, made me almost full time, and I had to somehow make lesson plans for each of them. I got so drained that I barely talked to anyone or drew at all.

Then I went back to the states for a week 1/2 and got Mango back, but because of Raptor's heart condition I couldn't take him on the plane. Then I found out they don't allow birds on the plane either so I had to break everyone apart.

I miss these lil dudes so much

On the creation side, I got to help @staggernight with some voice lines which is always a treat. I fricken love the energy of your stuff dude!!

I started a youtube channel about 2 years ago, and it kinda died just because of how crazy this year is. But I've got some big projects I'm starting up, so I'm gonna be creating more stuff soon!

Then we started the ben club. At first, it was just me n @skoops. Then a couple of other people joined in. Then @misterbright joined in, living up to his name and making a dead server alive again with his BRIGHT BEN LIGHTS!! These guys turned out to be such an amazing group, super fun n supportive people. I'd link more names but I'm not sureeee if they would be okay with that. But just know that all of you guys made my year so much better, and I'm so thankful you brought me out of my shell after such a turbulent point in my life.

*Also I'm pre-emptively gonna say this just in case, but I'm not gonna invite anyone who asks to join. We just periodically invite people who are either pee fans or sudheer babu fans

And last but not least, shoutout to the NGP for asking me to come on. The same goes for you dudes, things like that has helped me so much mentally, you have no idea. Even tho jack and chris are VERY smelly and don't like peeing, I'm super grateful for you fricks and bless you with MANY clogged toilets in this new year

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It was a sucky horrible year but also an amazing year at the same time. I had to leave some pets behind, but I also get to live with matt (@matthewlopz). I had a job of nightmares, but now I can look into buying a house in the future and not rent forever. So it's just been a lot of adjustments, and new experiences I needed to learn how to deal with. Hopefully next year is smooth sailing, onward to 2023!!!