General Goals of 2025

In 2024, I made a post listing out a handful of goals I had for that year (here). By the end... I didn't meet most of them. I think the only ones I met were "Get better at IIDX & BMS", "launch support streams" and "Shorter 'comic' project". Although I haven't done much with my Kofi outside of list it as a tip jar, and the 'comic' ended up being a zine.

On the others, I ran into severe motivational issues that prevented me from finishing PC-mania & better establishing my OC worlds. The other non-art goals are still a work in progress. And on Blender, I just didn't feel like learning it that year. And given I have other self-study plans for 2025, I think I'll put a pin on it for later.

In 2025 I want to focus on more general goals vs mostly art-related ones. I settled on having them be about continuing things I started last year, as I feel maintaining the steam for them is more important for me.

Build a foundation for moving out

This one's the big one... I mentioned it in my 2024 art summary post. I'm well aware this one's going to be extremely difficult given insane rent prices and the amount of things I need to get together beforehand. That's why I set the goal to be a foundation, and have 2026 be the year to leave the nest.

I'll keep the details vague for now as a lot of it is IRL-related & subject to change depending on how this year pans out for me. I know it'll take a ton of work, and there's a ton of risk in making this jump. But I think in the long run moving will help a lot with getting out of this slump I've been in post-college.

Continue playing IIDX & BMS

Last year I was pretty consistent all things considered in terms of playing both. As of making this post, I'm starting to assist-clear more 7's in BMS (or 7's according to the table I'm using) & have been able to consistently practice now that I have a proper controller. I think if I keep up at the pace I'm at, I might be able to reach SP Shodan on IIDX at some point this year. Though I think I need way more practice before trying.

This one isn't just about gameplay, but also somewhat of a mental-health goal? I imagine some people might've laughed at that one, but hear me out. My mental health hasn't been the greatest this decade, and I think some parts of the arcade hobby play into keeping up healthier habits. Notably the fact I have to leave the house to play IIDX, I have friends within the community I want to stay in contact with, and I have to take care of myself to some extent if I want to play (maybe it's TMI to share, but staying clean & eating a full meal beforehand helps me play better). So in a way, it's both a for-fun hobby and an excuse to keep up self-care.

Continue Learning Japanese

I've mentioned this several times on my "Now" page, but I decided to pick up learning Japanese again around the end of last year. Originally I was going to wait until 2025 to start, but I wanted to act on the burst of motivation I got to get the ball rolling vs push it back to an arbitrary start date. I'm about two months in, and I think I've made more progress than when I first attempted to learn in highschool. Though I'm still figuring out what's the best option for self-study, especially given I haven't done much of it in years (given I was still in school until 2023).

I have a longer-write up in the works on my progress so-far & why I wanted to pick up the language in the first place. As of right now, I'm not planning on outputting until much later on (I'm taking the advice of doing a 'silent period', where I work on building comprehension before writing or speaking).

Do more personal art?

I've found I had more fun with self-indulgent artworks last year than I did with more 'portfolio-ready' stuff (I think there was a few points last year where I didn't feel motivated to draw anything but ROOTS 26 fanart... heheh...) I've also come to the conclusion that right now, trying to push for art as a career while the state of the wider art world is extremely unstable might be damaging my relationship to illustration.

So I art-wise, I want to pivot towards personal works for the time being. Not sure what right now, maybe more LPS customs, a zine, or working on that one private fanfiction AU I got obsessed with last year. I think it'd be fun to play around with this goal.

Blog more, in general.

Maybe it's because I finally made this blog easier to update, but I want to do more longform posts. I think it's a good way for me to meditate on some thoughts I want to share with the world in a way scattered tweets can't do. I'm getting more comfortable writing longer works w/o getting stuck overthinking it, so expect to see more around this corner of my site.