So... that's it for May Wolf this year, huh? 

That was pretty fun! All things considered, I'm incredibly satisfied with what I managed to put out over the course of May - it's not perfect, of course, and I've found multiple things that I'd like to change over the course of this month, but I feel like I managed to convey the essence of Birch and Judah's story as intended in spite of it all, which is what I ultimately sought out to do.

Really, the creation of One Last Week was pretty damn chaotic - May was a pretty unstable month for me for a variety of different reasons which were entirely out of my control, so I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to finish the game in time! Every session where I sat down to work on it, I tried to get as much as possible done, not knowing if I'd finish the game with time to spare, or if I'd end up submitting a half-finished piece due to life getting in the way.

Maybe that comes through in the story to a certain extent - from the rollercoaster of emotions the characters go through, to the feeling of there never being enough time, to how the dread keeps them from properly enjoying their last moments - there's a lot of things covered, but ultimately I wanted One Last Week to be a story about waiting for things to get worse.

It's a bit simplistic, but whether it be climate change, the looming rise of fascism, or any other number of things that feel entirely out of our control, there's so much that makes the future seem terrible and hopeless. At the end of the day, the feeling of dread and hopelessness that comes along with that wait takes its toll, and it's easy to get so caught up in it that you don't even get to enjoy what you do have left. 

Of course, that's somewhat of an exaggeration - in the grand scheme of things, humans are a terribly resilient race. In one way or another, life goes on, even if it slowly turns for the worse. Even then, I'd like to think that that still doesn't mean that the worthwhile moments are going to disappear - for all the bad in the world, there's some good here and there, and I wanted to make a story about getting the motivation to go through that bad, in the hopes that the good will make it worth it. 

After all, finding each other has made living worthwhile for Birch and Judah in their final few weeks, in spite of them having given up beforehand - so who knows what's waiting for them in the future? 

Well, I don't know how much that came through, since the prospect of body horror plant zombies is pretty spooky and it's hard to see how there can be any "good" in that, but here's hoping it did.

With that said - obligatory soapbox time over! Time to talk about the readers instead!

Seeing the responses from everyone playing the game and reacting to it has been absolutely incredible. For as much as I enjoy creating stuff - I don't think any creation, whether a piece of art, a story, or a visual novel, will ever feel complete without having someone there to experience it - and any comment, review, or piece of feedback that I receive always feels like distinct proof that someone is there to read what I've made, which is something that I'm incredibly thankful for.

So, what's next for me?

Well, I've got a few changes I want to make to One Last Week to tighten up the story and hopefully make what I just rambled about a bit more evident - some background art changes, some fixing up dialogue to make it less repetitive and "tell-y" - all minor stuff, ultimately. 

That said, who knows if it'll happen - my current focus is on getting back to my main project, Solstice Eve - for as much as I enjoyed working on One Last Week and getting to do something a bit more experimental art-wise, it did take me a bit out of working on Solstice Eve, even if it was a nice break. I'm just now starting to get back into the groove of things for its third build, and I wouldn't want to break that streak. I'm passionate about seeing it through to its conclusion, but it's definitely going to take a long time - which is why I want to put in the work sooner rather than later.

To conclude, I'll reiterate what I said earlier - thank you very much to everyone who took the time out of the day to read One Last Week (and this rambly post), and I'm always glad to hear that it resonated with people! In addition, feel free to check out Solstice Eve to see what else I've been up to (old man yaoi, that's what I've been up to)!