What’s Up?
We’ve done it, everyone! After what’s been a real rollercoaster of a year, we made it to the end of 2023! This edition of the Chio Chronicles is going to be a big wrap up of everything we’ve done this year, so if you’re just joining us, or if you’ve been here all along, we can all look back on 2023 together!
The Big 2023 Roundup
In the beginning of this year, I started working on some video projects as a way to keep making stuff and being active as a creator online (so people wouldn’t forget I existed, I hoped…) and one of my early experiments was a video essay on joint hypermobility, one of the major health issues I’ve been dealing with over this year. I made it both as an explainer and a kind of journal piece about what I’ve gone through.
Throughout the year, I’ve worked on a few simple animations, in hopes of one day maybe being able to do some for Follower. The one pictured above is called Snack the Mouse, although I’ve done a couple of others based on Follower, as well as some kind of autobio animatic-style pieces. TikTok has been a real help in getting some of my art out there, especially in this way! But most of these are on my Youtube channel, too!
My ability to draw has been hit or miss this year thanks to untreated chronic pain, but I’ve found that I can (usually) at least write when I can’t physically draw, so one of the ways I’ve been trying to do that is create some useful resources for other artists and comic-makers. The first big one of these posts I did was a run down of some of my favorite books for comic artists!
Sort of spontaneously, I decided to attempt Nanowrimo this year, and actually managed to complete the requisite 50,000 words! I posted early drafts week by week in November for Chio Club members. Although I made the minimum amount of words to “win,” I still haven’t finished the story itself, so I’ll be working on this on and off into 2024.
My novel is tentatively called “Cat Person,” and it’s a take on zombie horror. Right now I’m working on finding the holes in the first 50k words, and then once I’m sure that’s all in order, the ending should click together nicely. If you’re interested in seeing what I put together in November, join the Chio Club at $5+!
One of the ways I’ve been coping with the frustration of my health and dealing with the health care system as a whole this year is making some simple sketchy comics about how I feel about things. Some are more positive than others, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
You can view my comics as I make them at Radiochio.com under the “healthposting” tag.
I’ve also been doing a series of off-the-cuff blog entries about my experiences on Tumblr, also under the healthposting tag (so it’s easy for people to either view or block them, because I know this stuff is not everyone’s cup of tea) and it’s been nice to kind of have a small group of folks with similar conditions where we can all nod at each other like, “yep, that’s how it goes.” You can check out my blog posts there under the healthposting tag!
One of the most life-changing things that happened this year (and there were a lot of those, it’s been a year) was losing our cat Milo in October. He was more a part of our creative process and daily life than we ever realized. In all the writing I’ve done this year, one of the things I’m proudest of is the little eulogy I wrote for him. He was my best little buddy and work supervisor and I’ll miss him forever. It meant a lot to be able to write about him and share my strange, wonderful little cat with the world.
Overall, 2023 was a difficult year, and in some ways we barely made it through. But your support as readers has meant the world to me and made some of the really rough stuff feel worth it, so thank you for being here and continuing to be interested in the stuff Delade and I make!
The Latest Posts from Radiochio.com…
- COMIC: a shell of a human being (bug bits)
Bug Bits is (was?) a small series of autobiographical strips I made over the years. They were originally posted on Tapas and Webtoon before I took them down with the intention of doing…something…with them, which I clearly never did. Anyway, now seems as good a time as any to revive Bug Bits. Here is a… Read more: COMIC: a shell of a human being (bug bits) - In the Wilderness
Hi friends, long time no post? Sort of? I’m here to resolve this posting drought by….posting about not posting. Hmm. As you might have already read if you’re up to date with the goings-on on Follower, or via the Chio Club, I’m going through some kind of burnout and need to take a bit of… Read more: In the Wilderness - Turkey-Type Sale
It’s a Turkey-Type Sale! If you’re in America, it’s that one week of the year again. *eyeroll* So I suppose I gotta do one of these. Anyway, all my comics, wallpapers, sketchbooks, and brushes are 50% off on itch.io. Everything in my Teepublic shop is on sale, too! That includes shirts, stickers, mugs, hoodies, and… Read more: Turkey-Type Sale - Abandoning the bird
This is just a tiny update to say that I’m leaving Twitter for good. There are a lot of reasons why, but I think it’s finally time. I’ve long since arrived at the point where it’s more effort for me to make a post than what I get in return, where on sites like Bluesky… Read more: Abandoning the bird - Chio Club: Follower 8.23 inks & schedule notes
Hey folks! There’s a Chio Club update with a preview of the next page and some information about the upcoming schedule for the comic. $1+ members can take a peek right now!
What’s New?
2023 has been a real rollercoaster of a year for us, between my personal health diagnoses, losing our cat, and struggling in general to stay afloat in a never-ending tide of…life… But somehow we did it, and still managed to make some stuff despite it all.
Shop Sales!
A lot of our merch is on sale through December 9! If you’ve wanted to grab something like a t-shirt or mug, this is the ideal time to do it! Digital products are on sale, too!
What’s Next?
Coming up in 2024: hopefully some forward progress on Follower. I’ve been having to actively fight with my providers to get any kind of pain relief, but I may be able to take some measures into my own hands by pursuing a medical marijuana diagnosis. Unfortunately, due to the unusual state of legality with this, my health insurance does not cover it in any way, so I’m on my own. I’m working on getting together the money to get through a certification appointment and actually be able to acquire some medical-grade product, but it’s a process. Still: this is some of the most hope I’ve felt in months, because there’s an actual chance for pain relief here. Chronic pain is like being in an unbearably loud room that you can’t leave, every moment of your life, and this is the opportunity to turn the volume down just a little bit, so I’m going to fight to make it happen.
If you are interested in contributing to help me pay for healthcare that my insurance won’t (but please take care of yourself first, of course), I am not currently doing a gofundme because I don’t have solid numbers for a lot of things, but I am running sales on digital comics through Ko-Fi (with the code BLACKFRIDAY) and Itchio, so you’ll at least get something cool for helping me out.
Pursuing this treatment has very good odds of putting me back in a position to draw on a regular basis, so, fingers crossed, everybody.
Community News
One of the new parts of the new Follower website I’m working on and considering opening to readers is the option to help transcribe pages for vision-impaired readers. For now, I’ve been doing the transcriptions myself, but there are hundreds of pages to go. I might open this up to the community as a volunteer project. If you’re at all interested in this sort of thing, please drop in on the Discord chat and let me know!
If there is community interest, I will open up a private channel just for transcribers, and probably create a special role for it.
Thanks For Reading!
Thank you for reading this month’s news, and thanks for sticking with us through this wild year. I have hope that next year will be better, because you’ve got to hope for something. Here’s to more new stuff from us in 2024! May your new year be filled with good luck, delight, and excellent snacks. I hope ours is, too. ❤️
