Lords of Misrule 2025 presentsThoughts and Reflectionsas sent in by one Emilinko

“No hay mal que por bien no venga.” (Every cloud has a silver lining.)

Well, this is the first time I write something for Lords of Misrule.

I discovered this amazing website (The Satyrs’ Forest) through [REDACTED], as Xanthe frequents it and sometimes posts stuff from their page there.

But enough about Xanthe, I'm gonna speak of myself.

A lot has happened in my life in 2025. To name a few events...

• I started learning Japanese in my free time.
• For the first ever time, I travelled outside my native country, Spain. In June, I spent a week in Poland (alongside three other Spanish students) as part of an international course about fake news. It was fun and I met people from Poland, Portugal, Romania, Lithuania and Turkey. Most of the time was spent in a small village, but we also spent some time in Krákow and in Zakopane.
• In August, I decided to download Steam on my laptop. I have been hooked to Team Fortress 2 ever since.
• I rewatched Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost In The Shell. The last time I watched it was five years ago (2020). It is one of my favorite films of all time. A rewatch of Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence is coming soon.
• I started 2nd year of my degree in Translation and Interpretation at Universidad de Murcia in September. Most notably, I continued with my Arabic classes from last year, still given by the excellent Antonio Giménez Reillo. Shout-outs to him, he is a genuinely great ustad (teacher). I must admit that my Arabic is still rusty, but it's improving slowly.
• A few weeks ago, I had a family wedding. It was great to see a lot of family members there.
• A few days ago, I continued my Yakuza 0 playthrough.

Apart from that, I started writing in Royal Road. What am I writing? A pulpy online action serial about a lesbian war veteran biodroid and her nerdy hologram girlfriend. Check it out here!

And well,

I am excited for Christmas. Not only is it the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but also a rather jolly season to see family, be kind, help the needy and enjoy good food.

I wish an early happy holiday season, happy Winter solstice, merry Christmas, Chanukah sameach, happy Kwanzaa, io Saturnalia (of course!) and a happy New Year!

—Emilinko, A.K.A. Nishikubo Eiichi (西窪英一).