For The Future - New Year 2026

I suppose the best place to start would be a simple apology for not posting on this site as much as I would've liked over the course of this year. For as much as I love writing, I've been swallowed up by my Vtubing activities and my day-job (eugh), so what little time I could dedicate to writing, I wanted to use for my fiction work. As a result, We haven't had a proper Redleaf Branch essay in near six months. That said, as far as the future of this site goes...well, I haven't given it much thought. It's not going away, that's for certain, but with everything else I have planned over the course of next year, I can't say anything definitive.

But I'm getting ahead of myself; I'd like to take a moment to write about the turning-over of the years. 2025 was a challenge for more than one reason, but I believe I have become stronger for it, and intend to attack 2026 with the strength I have gained over the course of this year.

Starting From Scratch

In January of 2025, I started a new job. For privacy reasons, I won't go into details about the job itself, but it is far less lucrative than my previous job, despite being a lot closer in location. After three years and just as many bosses at my previous job, a new GM generated serious upheaval in terms of scheduling, which greatly affected my ability to stream (especially my beloved Mythos Monday series). I needed a change, so I dropped the job. What I did not do was put my all into content creation like I promised myself I would. I tried, but not hard enough, and ended up taking a desperate overnight position that only worsened my streaming schedule for months.

Some of you may recall that, for a time, Coffee with Connla streams were the only ones that occurred. This is because, due to the physical nature of the job combined with the nocturnal hours, I could barely manage anything more than working and sleeping. After moving to the dayshift, my schedule became more flexible, resulting in the more regular, yet still slightly inconsistent, week-by-week scheduling system I have now. I like the schedule we have now, though it makes planning collaborations difficult because I sometimes won't have a schedule for any given week until Saturday of the week before. For 2026, I'll be seeking a more lucrative position with a more consistent schedule in order to accommodate my creative passions.

Fallen Star

I hate talking about this almost as much as I hate not talking about it. It's none of my business, but I would be a liar to say it didn't affect me. The only reason I was able to hide the pain I was feeling was because I was still working the night shift at the time. I remember seeing the notification preview from Nanoless that said "Terminating my work with..." and I idly wondered who it might be. Only a few minutes went by before my curiosity got the better of me, and my whole world fell apart in stark silence. I was in the middle of my shift, and I had to somehow hold it together while my guiding star fell from the sky before my eyes.

Anyone who has known me as Connla for any amount of time knows that Sinder is my greatest inspiration and motivation for becoming a Vtuber. I've been watching Vtubers since 2020; I found Nyanners by name recognition from a video my best friend (currently going by Dylan Ceruleani online) sent me of her reading the Bloodborne wiki. Through Nyanners, I found Ironmouse, Project Melody, and Silvervale. I took a liking to Silvervale and started watching her more regularly, especially when she collaborated with Layna Lazar, who I then started tuning in to the most.

One day in 2023, I found a VOD of Layna collaborating with this Vtuber called Sinder. Soon after that, I popped into her stream for the first time. I clicked the live notification and tuned in right as she was getting started. From her starting screen, she started playing Shepherd of Fire by Avenged Sevenfold, a song I hadn't heard from a band I liked. She lip-synced the song, showing off her model toggles and lighting effects in Vtube Studio. When the song ended, I typed in the chat something to the effect of, "I'm new here, but you've just sold me on everything." Sinder saw my message and jokingly replied, "Can I sell you on a plushie?" That very plushie sits on my shelf as I write this.

By the end of 2023, I had started my own Vtubing journey with free and self-made assets I cobbled together with my limited skillset. I had tried content creation in the past, first as a let's player on YouTube, then as a faceless streamer on Twitch. For ten years, I found no success. I learned a lot from the Vtubers I watched: from Nyanners I learned that you can become a Vtuber no matter what you did before; from Layna I learned that you could do more than just play video games. From Sinder, I learned that I can do it too. Not because she told me that I could, but because she made me feel that way about myself.

The claims made about Sinder from who I believed were her closest friends shattered my heart. For weeks, I struggled trying to process what happened, working through it in my mind over and over and over again, trying to understand her from what limited information I was given. After some time, I realized that I wasn't making decisions based on what I believed, only on what other people were telling me I should believe. The moment I realized that, I knew my choice was made. I let my heart be my guiding key, and I chose not to sacrifice years of joy for one misstep, something that even had a significant level of plausible deniability.

Eternal Fire

Over the coming months, as I moved from the night shift to the day shift, the Pyro Pup community sublimated into a beacon of faith. I watched, too embarrassed by my doubts to engage in conversation for a long while. I saw several Pyro Pups turn their backs on Sinder, just as I watched the people she called her friends do. Seeing the cold shoulders of others contrasting with the warm campfire the Pups were stoking compelled me to make a stand. I've been a Pyro Pup for longer than a lot of the ones I was seeing in the Discord server. Many of the names I had grown to know as pillars of the community left with little or no ceremony. Despite what the majority of mouths were shouting, something about it felt wrong.

Rather than taking the offensive, I decided I would try to create something as a gift for Sinder, a showcase of our faith. Sinder's 3rd Debut Anniversary Kudoboard was probably the first major community project since Sinder's hiatus. It was a humble project, and it hit a few speedbumps before final delivery, but when I finally sent the link off to her email, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I never expected a response, that was never the point. Just being able to rally the Pups around something positive during a time when everything felt so dark gave me confidence in my ability to foster community. I hope to use that same energy to help my Leaflets--yes, even you reading this now--by creating a space to foster creativity and positivity.

Over the course of the next few months, many more Pyro Pups would create gifts for Sinder despite her absence and silence. Perhaps it's egotistical to think so, but I hope I had a small hand in inspiring them to go above and beyond in the ways that they have and continue to.

Silver Linings

In addition to all the hell that happened early this year, my mother was diagnosed with diabetes. She had been struggling to fight off being pre-diabetic since she first had me and my brothers, and despite all her hard work and victories with her personal fitness and health, it still caught up with her. I'm proud to say that she has a strong family she can lean on, but I wanted to do more for her.

This November, I ran the Redleaf Runners campaign on Tiltify for the benefit of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation in honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month and Mama Redleaf herself. Thanks to you Leaflets, we raised $200 in donations, which is something to be proud of for my first campaign, especially considering the short notice with which I decided to start this project (and nearly every project I do, come to think of it...)

Two of my brothers (who go by Cookis and Galahad in online circles), after months of hunting and failure, were finally able to buy a house closer to their jobs and comfortable enough for the two of them to live independently. They've been living there just over a week at the time of writing, and I'll be spending New Year's Eve with them there, celebrating their new beginning along with the rest of the world's.

My youngest brother (used to go by OtterFodder, but doesn't spend much time online these days) has had massive success in his job despite the mental toll it took on him. He quit his job, despite the money he was making, and was forced to move back home. He has since founded his own LLC and finds continued success in his field, his greater freedom allowing him to maintain a healthier work-life balance, even if he is a bit of a workaholic.

Despite my own aforementioned setbacks, I was able to push out one Build Your Oshi video this year, as well as finish a second run (scripting in the works, video down the road). In this month alone, I released my first ever cover song as well as my very first merch drop.

Much of this year felt dark and stagnant, but that doesn't mean that's all it was. Even in the deepest darkness, there's a light that never goes out. That's something I was told a long time ago, but something I only learned now that I've experienced it firsthand. I'm stronger now for having been through that darkness, and even though I'll always carry a part of it with me, I can burn bright with my own firelight.

In 2026, I will do my best to give love freely, say things I've been too shy to in the past, and speak my mind in order to be my authentic self.

Forward into Firelight

Enough of the past. 2025 was a year of learning--the hard way. I learned a lot about other people, but more importantly, I learned a lot about who I really am and what I'm capable of. 2026 will be the year I show that to you. I have highlighted a few overarching themes I'd like to maintain across the new year, but I do have some specific goals I'd like to achieve as well. Perhaps I'll append that list to this essay once I've made it into a more formalized list.

To you, Leaflet, I hope that this year has been kind enough to you, and in case it hasn't, that you have found enough light to stave off the darkness. I want to do my part to be that light for those who need it, to be a warm fire for those lost in the cold. I want to use these words, these stories, these games, these characters, to the benefit of those closest to me. I want to remind those closest to me that they are important, to be unafraid of showing them that like I have been in the past.

I think it's okay to want things like that. Sincerely, Your Kingslayer

Connla Redleaf