This morning I woke up with a shiny new badge: Police Lieutenant. (I'm a tiny bit disappointed though, I thought Police Captain came after Police Sergeant so I thought I was almost done being a cop, but no. I'm stuck being a cop for a while.)

I also recently hit level 20! It's kinda cool, only a couple thousand people have done it before me, and there aren't many things I can say only a couple thousand people beat me to. I'm also working with a meaningful amount of vote power now, which is neat.

A big part of the reason I've grown my level and rank so much this year is A Couple of Crickets. If you don't know, @ACoupleOfCrickets is a podcast here on NG (and all major streaming platforms), about NG, for NG. I co-host it with @littlbox . It's a great way to keep up with the goings-on of Newgrounds, between site news, hidden gems on the portal, and artist interviews. The Crickets account is only 2 followers away from 100, so it would be real cool of ya to digitally stroll over there and click "Follow".

On the note of followers, I'm not too far from 200 myself! It's not a lot, but it's meaningful to me. Thanks to everyone over the years who decided I made something worth following. Especially a huge thanks to Tom, who followed me earlier this year after discovering A Couple Of Crickets, and who has been a big supporter of the podcast, which means the world to us.

Speaking of years, I've always felt like a newbie to this site, but I'm beginning to realize that, although I haven't been here nearly as long as the greats, I've been using NG for about 8 years now. I couldn't be happier to see the site continuing to grow. Newgrounds is by far the best place on the web, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.

In other news, I recently downloaded Krita and have been trying to get into digital art. I still have a ton to learn and work on, but it has been really fun so far, and I appreciate everyone who has given me help and support through that, especially @TheDyingSun who inspired me to get Krita in the first place, and who has been giving me helpful tips along the way.

I think that's all, mostly just wanted to not-so-humbly brag about my rank and level, even if it isn't particularly exceptional.

Stay classy, NG.

Edit/Update: I also just got my stuff for participating in the Wick Editor Game Jam a few months back! Got a nice t-shirt, a bunch of stickers, and a lovely handwritten note from @luxapodular and @zrispo , to whom I'd like to apologize for getting a little salty there near the end of the jam. I was frustrated more with my own inability to make a functioning game than I was with anything else, and I definitely should have been more willing to take that blame. In any case, I very much appreciate the shirt and stickers, and the note says "We hope to see you during the next one!" to which I say, you certainly will. Cheers :)