Congratulations, we've made it! This year has been different for everyone: some have made great progress, some have reached their highest achievements so far, and some have simply survived. As usual for me, I'm somewhere in the middle of all these.

Out of curiosity, I have gathered some of my (DespairDog's) 2024 statistics. The most important ones were:
I have created 11 finished arts, out of which 9 were of acceptable quality.
They have been viewed a total of 1067 times on FA, and have been quite positively received on e621: 768 upvotes (green arrows) and 1088 favorites in total.
The best art was without a doubt "Vappy": the cookie version has reached 173 upvotes and 263 favorites on e6.
As DespairDog, I have given 7 gift arts to 7 different furry friends!

All of these except the last one are so low - I expected more. In fact, it's 2025, but my best art is still from 2023 - that's my only art from 2023, and it was my FIRST art in the 18+ category. Despair... not just my stage name.

Why was I so ineffective in 2024? I have a good excuse explanation: certain positive real world circumstances have changed my life for the better, but it has been taking a lot of my time. In 2025, I expect that I will have more time for productive hobbies. Hopefully this isn't one of those "We make plans, God laughs at them" kind of predictions.

In 2024 there was also an issue with how much time I have spent doing nothing, taking breaks, and otherwise not being productive. I don't really regret it - I had a very difficult life leading up to this - but it's time to get back on track: if I don't make the world better, the world will never get better.
I have three major open-ended goals for 2025, and learning and practicing art is one of these three. In 2024 I wasn't serious with any of them, leading to only minimal progress. We all get exactly what we have deserve! For 2025 I have set up a more strict plan so that I can maintain discipline. It will not only help me focus, but also give me an visualized (literally) progress track to look back on. The path is incredibly long, but only through walking it do we arrive to the destination.

I set two measurable goals for myself in 2025. They are realistic:
- Double my yearly e621 upvote count: I must reach 1536 in total.
- Create a single artwork (at least one) that will exceed 194 upvotes and 318 favorites.

Нехай на моєму шляху не буде перешкод. See you again (and again and again and again) in 2025!