I know, this post is embarrassingly long overdue. I thought of this in February, but where did that time go?? Truly, time is an illusion. 2024 passed in the blink of an eye, and so did the first 3 months of 2025.

Why is This Post So Late?

Quoting what I said in 2020:

Honestly, I've never been a big fan of "New Year resolutions". As long as I remember, I've never actually made any and I've never taken it seriously. To put it simply, I don't want to put unnecessary burdens on myself for having ambitious, maybe even unrealistic wishes, and be ashamed of it when I fail to reach it. However, I naturally have a few things I want to do next year.

There's probably a better way to word it now. Such as, unexpected circumstances may change goals and plans. Of course, it's great to have something you want to do. Perhaps necessary, even. As I said, so do I! In my eyes, however, "New Year resolution" always seems to have some kind of gravitas, which I don't particularly like.

For the first post of the year, I want to write something with the appropriate amount of gravitas. I think the default topic is "reflecting on the previous year and listing New Year resolutions", as it comes naturally in the New Year. However, I don't have such resolutions, so I don't know exactly what to write.

Then, I saw Riel's blog post, "First Post of 2025", posted in February. It gave me the push to finally write a similar post, as late as it is. Better late than never! I also checked out other blog posts for ideas. But as I already said in the foreword, where did that time go?? How is it suddenly March already?!

32-bit Cafe has a New Year event, which I could've taken advantage of...if I knew about it. I only found out about it after it had ended, even though I joined the Discord server 5 months ago. Clearly, I didn't lurk and pay attention at all. 😂😭 (By the way, I know about 32-bit Cafe for much longer, but somehow only found the Discord server 5 months ago.)

While writing this, I belatedly remembered that I, in fact, had written a few New Year posts before, in FANBOX (yes, I used it as a blog before (laughs)) and Dreamwidth (though only 1). That fact somehow completely slipped my mind for so long. These posts had a certain format/structure, but I can't see it working for me anymore, at least for this post. And so I struggled more. But finally, here I am!

(Speaking of which, it's a bit funny to look back at these posts. But that's a topic for another day.)

Happenings in 2024

Honestly, my memory of 2024 is blurry already. The past 3 months of 2025 has plenty of life events as well. I really do have a bad memory (or more like, most of it is taken up by useless trivia) that I like to joke I have 500MB memory, and my friends would say I have even less. Thankfully, I keep a daily journal, though some entries are incomplete due to my laziness, and honestly, a part of me is too lazy to even check it for this. (Is this where monthly entries can come in handy...?) But I did!

I did not write my aspirations for 2024, so I can't say whether I accomplish them or not, if I have any. Okay, there's probably "graduate" somewhere there, but clearly, I failed.

Art

I thought my 2023's art summary is funny, but 2024 is even funnier: I only drew once! It was unplanned, too - it was drawn for Kishido Temma's birthday, but because I didn't plan for it, I only started to draw on the last minute, and so, I was a bit late for the occasion. So I didn't bother to make the art summary this time.

It's amazing how my art (illustration and fanfic - I haven't written a proper fanfic in years now) output dwindled over the years, but it no longer bothered me as much as it did before (as I actually had a self-imposed "at least 1 artwork per month"...so much for not wanting to put burden on myself (laughs)), since I pour my creativity into other projects too now. Mostly into my website.

Website

There are plenty of changes I made to my website, Miniature Garden, in 2024. You can check "Updates" page for its entirety. (Hmm, should I group them by year?) The most notable changes are, in no particular order:

• Edited "Faves" page by adding Swiper JS and details.
• Edited footer into an image.
• Added "Comics" section in "Gallery".
• Made "Guestbook" page, first using PHP Guestbook, then changed it Kalechips' code.
• Added "Meta" page. For "Meta/Annotations", I messed around with PHP so that I don't have to manually input the navigation each time. It might be a bit whack, but it worked, and that's all that matters! It's great!
• Enlarged the container of the website so that it looks a bit better in bigger screens/devices.
• Switched from using Nanogallery2 to Zubolog and Fuwaimg.
• Made "Listfauxgraphy" page. It seems silly and unnecessary, it's not convenient to write lists there, but I love it and use it a lot. It even proved its usefulness soon after I made it. I still clearly remember, I finished making and adding it to my website during Ramadan. The next day or so, I got dragged to dine out with my sister and her old friend. Her old friend played "Reverse: 1999" and so I did, so we exchanged player IDs. This is only possible because I put my ID on "Listfauxgraphy" page, as the game was on my tablet and I didn't bring it.
• Started a blog! First in WriteFreely, then moved to my own website using HTMLy!
• Started a microblog in my own website using Tegalog!
• Finally applied semantic HTML!! I still need to apply it to Kishido Temma fan site, though.

Notable Media

Only notable titles I remember are listed, some with commentary. You can take it as a recommendation list of sorts. I wish I can easily look back on my activities on AniList...I track some of them in my journal, but still, it's not complete.

(Side note: I found some interesting AniList Wrapped-like apps: AniWrapped, duo.moe, The Anime Den)

Legends: 🆕 Started in 2024 | ✅ Finished in 2024 | ✍️ Review planned | 💭 More comments may be posted later (hopefully)

Games

• 🆕 Pokemon Sleep - Played it for a bit before. Picked it up again, and I've been playing since then!
• 🆕 Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium & Infinity Nikki - The 2 games I waited for so long finally arrived, only mere days apart!
• 🆕 Reverse Collapse: Bakery Girl - After a long wait, it's finally released! However, I still haven't played it, even a year later...I'm sorry. I swear I'll play it after I'm free!!
• Reverse: 1999 - Dropped it after playing the game since it was released in 2023.
• 🆕 Noctilucent - I can't get into "NU: Carnival" because I don't like the art style, so I was excited to see another R-18 BL gacha game, now with an art style I absolutely adore. I played it for almost a month since its release. Unfortunately, I had to drop it because I can't keep up with too many gacha games.
• Spirit Hunter series (🆕✅ Death Mark II, 💭 Spirit Hunter: NG, 💭 Death Mark) - I didn't play it, but rather, I watched a playthrough. After reviewing "Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II", I actually rewatched the previous 2 games, but I never got to write a review. At this rate, I may need to rewatch it again if I want to write it (laughs).

Manga

• 🆕💭 I Got a New Skill Every Time I Was Exiled, and After 100 Different Worlds, I Was Unmatched - I know the title makes it sound like a power fantasy trash, but trust me, it's much better than that. I was also hesitant to read it because of that, but I ended up giving in after seeing it and how it's praised plenty of times. And I was blown away. All the praises weren't unfounded - it was indeed great. Peak, even. It's a melting pot of various genres and tropes (isekai, time travel/set right what once went wrong, kicked out of the hero's party, and power fantasy) that somehow mixed together, played with and subverted, to create a great story with well-written characters. The protagonist might be overpowered, but the other characters (the other members in the hero party) are no slouch, either.
  • I must mention my favorite character, the hero Alexis, a handsome man with a character that reminds me of Himmel from "Frieren", except he seems a bit more stoic at first, though still with a dash of high self-confidence.
• Isekai Shikkaku/No Longer Allowed in Another World - As if it can't get any better, it did!
• 🆕 The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom - It feels like "Mushoku Tensei" without the...things that turn some people off, with an extra dose of politics and war. A lot of it, in fact.
• 🆕 RTA Shousha wa Game Sekai Kara Kaerenai - A mostly comedy story about a speedrunner (called RTA in Japan) who got isekai'd to the game world, and of course, he speedran there and broke the game. It's funny and you can feel the mangaka's love for speedrun world, which they confirmed to be a fan of in the afterword.
• 🆕💭 After Giving Up on Improving Our Relationship and Distancing Myself, My Salty Fiancé Began to Pester Me - It might look generic at first, but it's actually great. It portrays the cycle of abuse very well, and it shows how multilayered the characters are, how their environment affect them (in their motivations and actions), and how some are capable of self-reflection and improvement.
• 🆕 A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even - How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires - Villainess meets revenge meets overpowered protagonist with a dose of military. I think it can get pretty brutal for the people she took revenge on, but that's what makes it interesting.
• 🆕 A Timid Lady was Turned into an Ugly Cat, but on the Verge of Fainting is Picked up by the Most Fearsome Military Duke - A short, sweet, and satisfying villainess story.
• 🆕 Proud to be the Villainess: I'm Doomed After Stealing my Half-Sister's Fiancé and Having Her Banished - Has an interesting twist to the usual formula with a beautiful artwork.
• 🆕 Tsumi to Batsu no Spica - From the same author as "A Suffocatingly Lonely Death" and "My Dearest Self With Malice Afterthought", comes an intriguing vigilante crime manga!
• ✍️💭✅ Lady Rose Wants to be a Commoner! - It's already one of my favorites, and now that the story had ended, it remains strong in my heart - maybe ranked higher, even, as it has a satisfying ending. It stays true to its title and has an intriguing plot and mystery, as insanely convoluted as it may be. I especially love its core theme of "breaking free from fate/changing fate" and "freedom".
• The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices - Continues to be a treat as the plot thickens.
• ✅ Harem Royale: When the Game Ends - Finally finished reading it after so many years. As someone who loves harems AND death games, this manga is a delight for me, a great mix of both worlds. Written by one of my favorite authors (Ryukishi07), no less!
• Reincarnation no Kaben - I've actually read it long ago, but paused it for some reason. I picked it up again, starting from the beginning because it's been a while, after the anime adaptation announcement. It's a great read, after all. It's not exactly "Fate" franchise, it has its own take on "reincarnation of historical people", with its own story to tell and unique characters in it. It may seem a bit edgy at first, courtesy of the protagonist, but it's actually a story with plenty of heart in it.
• 🆕 Mitsuba Monogatari - From the same author as "The Girl Who Ate a Death God" comes yet another story about a powerful girl thrown into the military and subsequently, a war. The titular Mitsuba, the protagonist, is the perfect blend of cute and creepy. The manga adaptation's art is superb, perfectly conveying her 2 sides and the dissonance.
• 🆕 Tsurenai Kanojo no Hitorijime - A josei work that has enough balance between cute, fluff, and sensual (it is borderline smut). The characters are mature enough to communicate, so it's not frustrating to read. The side couple is cute, too!
• Dark Gathering - My favorite horror manga continues to be a very enjoyable read. After a long setup, everything culminated into an epic boss battle. Also, even ghosts can have character development, too!
• ✅ Usotsuki Satsuki wa Shi ga Mieru - A mystery with a dash of supernatural (via the protagonist's power, though everything else is very scientific - you can even learn a thing or two from it!), blood, gore, and yuri subtext. I love it and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I can see myself revisiting this work from time to time.
• In/Spectre - I wrote a review.
• 💭 Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture

Manhwa

• ✍️💭 Heartbeat Conquest - The (reverse) harem story of my dreams. The female protagonist actively seeks for harem members, upfront about not being exclusive, wants genuine relationships, respects her partners' opinions, and it's an actual poly harem where she dates multiple characters. With a great artwork to boot! It's so good, I felt like I reached enlightenment...the God of Harem Genre has blessed me with this goldmine...it also has an intriguing underlying mystery.
• ✍️💭✅ Red Hot Revenge/To Have an Affair - It may seem like a pretty generic "revenge on the cheater" story at first, but it actually went beyond that. By the end, it's clear that the main themes of this manhwa are women empowerment and (perhaps somewhat overshadowed, but) breaking the cycle of revenge and violence. I came to love this manhwa for the sheer girls' power emanating off it, and it really doesn't disappoint on that front, even going beyond my expectations. The romance is quite underwhelming, but it became one of my favorites for everything else.
• 🆕💭 The Devil Raises a Lady - A regression revenge story with a beautiful art (feels like an older manga style with a touch of shoujo) and charming characters, with a dash of social commentary on patriarchy. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually love the protagonist with all 3 male leads (at least so far), each have their own charms and dynamics. There's even a sweet platonic female-male friendship!
• 🆕 Divorcing the Emperor - Tapas' weird title rename strikes again, it doesn't do this manhwa justice. I swear the story is much more unique than the title suggests. It mostly focuses on comedy with a fun and wild female lead. It's also genre-savvy about the Duke of the North trope that it even feels meta at times, though it isn't isekai.
• ✍️✅ Trophy Husband - A story centered around a nice role reversal between the female lead (a duke) and the male lead. The artwork reminds me of "Zettai Karen Children" and I love it.
• 🆕 Leave the Divorce to a Professional Lawyer - A very unique work unlike any other in otome isekai space so far. Ever get frustrated over how a couple doesn't get divorced? Then, this manhwa is for you It isn't obvious at first, but the usual otome isekai protagonists are actually the protagonist's (the lawyer's) clients, so this story is like a melting pot of various otome isekai tropes in the eyes of a normal person. It's a very refreshing take on the genre for sure. The protagonist, Natasha, is a strong-willed and fun character as well.
• 🆕 I Don't Want to Play Matchmaker! - One of my favorites. A mostly comedic and light-hearted work with charming characters and relationships that doesn't shy away from darker topics. It has a beautiful artwork to boot. It might not seem obvious, but so far - up to season 2, I think one of the core themes of the story is the relationship between parents and their children.
• 🆕✅ Until the Tragic Male Lead Walks Again - A mostly comedic work involving a strong, fun female lead and a gentle male lead, creating a nice role reversal dynamic. Unfortunately, the manhwa adaptation seems pretty rushed, especially the final arc, but at least it wrapped up the main plot pretty well.
• 🆕 Cat in the Chrysalis - A unique regression romance story with a heavy focus on mystery laced in conspiracies, with a healthy dose of pain. I need the manhwa licensed ASAP (the novel is already licensed). I can see it becoming one of my favorites.
• ✅ Helena: Master of the Guardian Stone - A regression revenge story with a well-written antagonist; she's so competent and ruthless that even regressing doesn't make things easier for the protagonist. Their mind games are pretty fun to watch, sometimes keeping me at the edge of my seat.
• 🆕 When the Third Wheel Strikes Back - Otome isekai with a male protagonist. It ticks off plenty of otome isekai tropes without overt romance. As the title suggested, the protagonist became the third wheel, but now, the prince (the main male lead) and female lead are fighting over him instead - not in a romantic way, but you can feel their close relationship.
• 💭✅ My Brothers, the Protagonists - An interesting take on some genres/tropes, shifting the focus from the supposed protagonists with special powers/circumstances to their sister instead, with dungeons and game-like system as the backdrop. It's mostly comedic, but it went to emotional places I didn't expect it'd go to. Unfortunately, it has a very abrupt ending, but I still enjoyed the journey. I especially love the focus on familial (siblings) relationship. My favorite brother is Haegi, I love his story so much.
• 🆕 The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - The plot is written entirely on its title, a regression power fantasy story. It's not exactly the kind of story I usuall read, but I got baited by some posts showing pictures of the 2 cute and handsome brothers, with the younger brother being much taller. They're the highlight for me; they care about each other a lot, and they're so cute. There's also the death game, I guess.
• 🆕 Ghost Story Club - A horror manhwa centered on urban legends coming true based on a horror web novel, which apparently (from what I've read) single-handedly revived the horror genre in Korea. It has a great balance between comedy and horror, with some time loop and game-like system sprinkled in. The urban legends lover in me is very happy to stumble upon this work.

Anime

The "I don't watch a lot of anime" trend continues.

• 💭✅ The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic - A very fun isekai work that subverts some tropes and especially expectations of healers with charming characters and relationships. Bonus points for the 3 isekai'd students to get along well together - that's usually a point of conflict, but here, their friendship is so sweet and cute.
  • I don't know what I expected exactly, but I sure didn't expect the great production quality. It made me teary to see one of my favorites got an anime adaptation that did it justice, especially an isekai title like this. The anime switched some things up, but I understand why, and I think it made for a great season 1. I can't wait for season 2!
• 💭 Isekai Shikkaku/No Longer Allowed in Another World - In which Osamu Dazai got isekai'd to a fantasy world. I said this somewhere else, but - it has an absurd premise, but that's what makes it fun. It plays with isekai tropes well and even twists them, while retaining a good balance between humor and seriousness. Beneath it all lies a genuine heartfelt messages coming from various characters' stories.
  • Another one of my favorites that got a good anime adaptation. One episode left because I don't want to part with it yet (laughs).
• ✅ Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss, but I'm Not the Demon Lord - A fun, mostly comedic villainess story. The production quality is not that great, especially toward the end, but I still enjoyed it. I especially love the ending sequence!
• Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Season 3 - It's so great to see the larger cast appear and interact again after so long. Also, let it be known that I am very sane about Reinhard/Subaru and Julius/Subaru.
• The Apothecary Diaries - I have no doubts it'd be great, and it indeed delivered. What more can I say?

Drama

I don't usually watch drama, but I watched some in 2024! Courtesy of Netflix bringing in some Asian dramas. Yes, I like crime-mystery stories, is it that obvious? (It is.)

(Disclaimer: These aren't actual yaoi titles, but there's subtext in my shipper eyes.)

• 💭 MIU 404 - Buddy cop yaoi with fun characters and a lot of social commentary. I binge-watch it, but I haven't finished the last episode yet because I don't want to part with these fun characters yet (laughs).
• 💭✅ Okura - Cold Case Investigation (2024) - Buddy cop old man yaoi feat police officers using illegal means to bring justice. Almost every episode ends in a cliffhanger that makes you scream. I wish it's much longer.
• 💭✅ AARO (2024) - It can get silly and a bit hard to watch at times, but it explores some intriguing themes. I especially like the clash of modern world and Japanese mythology, mainly gods. I learned some things from it. It even put footnotes of the works it's referencing on screen.

Songs

• チグハグ⇔フローリィナイト / Chig-Hug Flowery Knight by Hanakishi (Hanasaki Miyabi and Kishido Temma)
• Cry Baby covered by Kishido Temma
• メフィスト / Mephisto covered by Kishido Temma
• ANGELIC by Isekaijoucho
• Fatum Pupa by Suzuna Nagihara

Fannish

• 2024 was Holostars' 5th anniversary, so Indonesian fans made a project: train station LED ads and a website containing letters, fan works, and photos. It's not much, but I'm so happy to partake as a website editor! Unfortunately, I couldn't see the ads myself...I went to the train station, but the screen was off.
  • Holostars held 5th anniversary concert called "Movin' On!" on 8 June 2024!! I have a draft of my report about it, but something happened, so I haven't been able to finish it. Yet. I have the Blu-ray now, so perhaps I should rewatch the concert and continue writing it later.
• Some Holostars merch I bought: Temma-kun's birthday merch, Comifuro 19 merch from Rura, Comifuro 19 merch from Willy.

Personal

• While I've always been a digital archivist and data hoarder of sorts, I feel like I really got into it in 2024.
• I started some self-hosting in earnest, namely using Dashy, Komga, and Jellyfin. No fancy setup or anything yet, though. I use Dashy in Netlify (it's just a collection of links for me anyway, at least for now) while Komga and Jellyfin are just in my PC.
• I remember that my birthday (17 December) in 2023 wasn't the greatest. Might the worst in recent memory, even. I don't really put much importance on birthdays, but that sucked. However, 2024's birthday was an improvement! It's not glamorous or anything, there's no birthday party, but I got a small bear cake and some...surprising gifts from my mother. She gifted me custom Yamanbagiri Kunihiro bedsheets, pillows, and a shirt (no photo will be given). She also gifted me a Pekora jacket, which came much later. Unlike with Yamanbagiri, she doesn't know who Pekora is, she just found the blue and pink color cute, and she's absolutely right!
• My new friend drew my 2 OCs for me, which became my website's header! I love it so much!!

Lowlights

• At the start of 2024, my PC went whack. It's as if the screen got split into two and randomly shifted in one monitor. I don't know how else to describe it. Static lines/artifacts appeared as well. The screen eventually only showed black upon booting up. It turned out to be a VGA card problem. The SSD got reset and I got a fresh Windows 10 while I'm at it. The timing was bad, and it was quite stressful, but thankfully it got fixed and there were no more problems afterward.
• My mouse went whack halfway through the year, too.
• Sleep schedule continues to be whack. Almost non-existent, even.
• 2023 ended and 2024 started in a not-so-great way.
• (Fannish) Some things went down in one of my fandoms I'm in.
• (Fannish) Holostars lost a member so suddenly after their 5th anniversary concert.

New Year's Aspirations

1. Survive.
2. Graduate.
3. Blog more often
4. Fix my sleep schedule.

Things I Want to Do

• Buy an external HDD/SSD.
• Websites:
  • Update recommended streams in Kishido Temma fan site, it's been a while. Apply semantic HTML, too!
  • Add more themes.
  • Try out SSGs (Static Site Generators) properly.
  • Try out Shaarli.
  • Cross-post more posts to my microblog and blog.
• Decide what to do with Dreamwidth already.
• Play games on my Steam library, particularly the ones my friends bought for me first:
  • Reverse Collapse: Bakery Girl
  • Moon Observatory Iris
  • ...And more?
• Read light novels, especially because I barely read anything last year, particularly:
  • Reign of the Seven Spellblades - Continue reading. I paused it because I almost reached all the available volumes back then, but it's ahead than me.
  • The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria - Re-read from the beginning.
  • Qualia the Purple - Re-read from the beginning.
  • ...And more on my backlog.
• Read manga, manhwa, and manhua titles that have been rotting in my backlog. Too many to list. I think, at some point, I might as well open a poll to decide what to read next, or just ask RNG.
• Watch the titles I haven't finished watching and watch the titles in my backlog.

Coming Next to Blog

I'd like to blog more often, but I can't promise anything yet. If all goes well, hopefully I'll have more free time after July or so.

Here's what I want to write when I can:

• "Blog questions".
• Cross-post "My First Foray into WriteFreely" post to here and edit it, adding that I moved to my own blog using HTMLy and the reason. Long overdue, I know.
• How to use and install Tegalog - in progress!
• Reviews:
  • The Knight and Her Emperor - In progress.
  • Lady Rose Wants to be a Commoner!: I need to re-read it from the beginning first.
  • Trophy Husband - At this rate, I might need to re-read it before I can write a review.
  • Heartbeat Conquest
• About Virtual YouTubers' graduations.
• Cross-post posts from other websites, particularly FANBOX.

There are other ideas I'm excited about, but I can't list them here because I'm afraid they'd stay as ideas forever. (Laughs)

End Notes

Just like any other year, 2024 had its ups and downs. Highlights and lowlights. Joys and sorrows. Such is life - it isn't all rainbow and sunshine, but it isn't entirely bleak, either. While there are more bad things I don't want to share, overall, I think 2024 is an okay year for me. It might be small, but I feel like I made some progress in various aspects of my life (sleep schedule not withstanding), and that's the most important thing - to make progress and celebrate it, no matter how small. I'm especially happy with all the things I've done to my website.

Here's hoping for a great year ahead!

(Edits: 2025-03-25 - Added images and a few things I forgot.)