2025: the year of setup

1/1/26

Words: 1,639

00: i was right

> when i say “this is my year” i dont expect it to be perfect. it’s probably gonna be pretty shit in all honesty. but this is my year to grow.

at the start of 2025 year, i said this was my year, and that you can’t skip the process, and this year sure was full of process. overall? pretty shit year if you look at the small picture, but i’ve never felt this set up to have an amazing year going into 2026.

01: recap

bugmush

on january 6th i joined bugmush, mainly to hang out with my friends but it also was going to help me with my sidquest to stop being scared of the DAW. while i didnt make nearly as much progress in this department, it helpedme feel out what i want to get out of music and what fulfillment i like to see from it. turns out? production isn’t really for me. but i loveee writing and vocals, and that is something i want to pursue further.

beyond that, this is where i met so many amazing friends this year, as well as a particularly special someone i’ll talk about more later

chicago

in february, i spontaneously flew over to chicago to spend two days with my then-girlfriend and my wife, along with a metamour. while it was a nice weekend, i do not recommend sleeping 4 people to a bed.

in march, i then went back, this time driving with my college friend kenji to see saoirse dream, fraxiom, and leastfavorite! perform live. while there i got to meet more of my friends i’d met in bugmush. it was the first show i’ve ever been to, and it was so incredible, and it made me want more. again an amazing day, but i also do not recommend daytripping a 6 hour drive each way on a school night.

iowa moment

i, along with some friends, went to protest a bill at the iowa capitol that threatened to remove gender identity as a protected group under the state civil rights code. there was so much turnout but unfortunately nothing could stop that hellish state’s legislation along side kim reynolds (fuck kim reynolds) from doing the evils that they were determined to do. i do not recommend losing your civil rights on a thursday afternoon— this accelerated my graduation plan greatly.

england (pt.1)

also in march, i flew out during my spring break to see my wife in england. this week was incredible— i fell in love with tesco mac & cheese and greggs sausage rolls. it was a hard week but was amazing. i do not recommend having 6 people staying in a 2 bed apartment even for just a week.

food house (pt.1)

in may i went to food house shows in minneapolis and milwaukee, and had a blast both times. i bought a cd at the first show and had them sign it, and then shocked them by showing up at the next show the next night. i don’t recommend physically exerting yourself to your limit two nights in a row, but sometimes the fun is worth it. live your happiest life.

graduation

i graduated. i don’t recommend spending hundreds of thousands on a piece of paper that may not help you in any way

stray kids

i went to a stray kids concert. i don’t recommend standing all day in the hot sun for a chance at good seats, but it’s worth it once right?

gdq

sgdq 2025… happened. im going to glaze over this for many reasons good and bad.

england (pt. 2)

in august, i booked a one way ticket to england with the intention of coming back Sometime. i had some plans but not a whole lot of them, i was just taking my time and living happiness. this would end up being a 3 month trip that would be so fun, so overwhelming, and would enlighten me to a lot of things that have made me feel much more prepared for the future.

i met a lot of wonderful people while i was there, some of the first being cinny’s parents. who. we are not entirely sure if they know she’s poly. but i did accidentally meow in front of them within 10 minutes of them being there. and they did think it was yoru (hana’s cat).

but, within the first week or so of me being there, the food house show we’d planned months prior happened. that night was amazing in a way i never could have predicted and that i could never forget. there, i met síoda irl for the first time. i had fully prepared myself to stand at the back of the show and enjoy the music like i usually did at shows like this, but she grabbed me by the hand and dragged me out into the crowd. singing and dancing with her that night was maybe the most ive ever let myself feel alive in a moment, and the rest of the weekend was more amazing than i ever could have planned for.

i’ve learned over the years that my personality disorder is to be taken seriously so i was soooo patient and normal . but i did have her back over a month later. for one of the first times ever i went on a real date, and after a whole evening of being too shy to ask her out, i finally did it. i could talk about her forever, so i won’t get going too far, but i love her and she has been so wonderful for me in a way that i couldn’t even begin to explain.

…then i had her over a third time when we went to the saoirse dream/canofbliss/russelbuck show with cinny and eden. oh my goodness that was wonderful, it is so fun to sing and dance with people you love.

i also got to see my best friend! two whole different times while i was there! that was so amazing and so cool and it was amazing and epic and its so cool.

i got to go see a bunch of oomfs while i was there…. too much to talk about here. but it was epic

incidentally at the same time some Events that are too much to talk about publicly led to me talking again with some friends that i hadn’t talked to in a while.

i got to reconnect with my wonderful friend tau, who i even got to go visit before i left the country. we hung out and started watching dragon ball and went to its fgc locals. my train back to sheffield got cancelled :D so i had to stay an extra night . oh noooo

but also i got to reconnect with nero, someone who i was very close to a couple years ago but were kept apart due to Reasons :tm:, and it was incredible to get to talk again under circumstances that we could actually be open and ourselves. i fell in love with them a second time, and a few days after getting home, at the start of december, we started dating.

the end of the year

just last night, i went up to the cities and spent new years with my lovely friend autumn and its local friends. i spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting on the year, which led me to this post.

02: now

right now, i feel like i’ve set myself up for the best position i’ve ever been in. i have three amazing partners who i love so dearly, an amazing support system of friends who have my back, i’m starting a part time job soon, and overall i’m looking forward to this year and the future as a whole in a way i never have before.

03: the new year

as we know, i hate resolutions. resolutions tend to be peoples’ shallow goals that they think they can just Do and keep with a bit of determination. this year i’m reprising everyone’s favorite: we got sidequests baybeeeeeeee

03a: love right

i have so much love in my life right now, and this year i want to love with my whole heart. no compromises, no fear, and no reservations. im going to see my partners this year and even when they’re far away im going to do everything i can to overcome my fears and love like i never have before.

03b: reclaim music

in the past couple years, because of some people who fundamentally shaped my music taste turning out to be quite terrible people, listening to music has become significantly harder and it has not had its same place in my day to day life that it used to. i want to reclaim this and start listening to music more, and i want to be able to love it like i used to.

03c: make more music

i’ve written and recorded on little practice beats friends have made, and i’ve made a MYOM song, and i want to do this more. i want to practice and get better and get to the point that maybe i can have more confidence in doing collaborations.

03d: finish dragon ball

admittedly, tau and i committed to watch all of dragon ball before we realized how big of a committment it was. irregardless we have committed, and i’ve downloaded the Seed of Might color corrections of the OG series and the db/dbz movies. we’re hoping to finish it this year, and it’s exciting.

conclusion

last year set me up real good to have the best year ever this year. im gonna make the most of it.