Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026
I will be “up front”: this has been a difficult and draining year, so this round-up of it will be quite gruelling to read. It’s really surprising that so many bad things could happen in one year.
The summary is: I was still getting over the death of my mother when a very close friend died suddenly, then a relationship ended, then another close friend nearly died, and throughout was the constant question of whether I would soon have to move house, uprooting everything. There was little stability and even less security. Nevertheless, somehow, it has been a productive year for me in terms of writing.
At the start, I wanted to take January off to recuperate from Millenniyule X, but the revived media focus on the Muslim rape gang scandal compelled me to write an essay about that. The same also inspired an essay about Champagne Socialism.
Then the death of David Lynch prompted me to begin a major work about Twin Peaks. I spent two weeks doing research to prepare. In the middle of that period I took a few days off to write another essay, How Best to Boil the Frog?, inspired by Trump’s return to the White House. Then I began the Twin Peaks study, which involved watching each episode and writing a micro-essay about it, bringing in background info I had learned during the research. I watched the classic series and the film, and was intending to proceed to the 2017 series but felt “overloaded” and decided to leave it for a while. This turned out to be a very long while due to intervening events.
The idea of taking a post-Millenniyule rest fell by the wayside.
Out of nowhere one day, it seemed a good idea to write an essay “proving” the Great Replacement. This was written quickly but seemed insufficient; a series was needed. I worked out the titles, then it poured out of me and was very soon two-thirds finished.
Then… in late February, a close friend died suddenly - my landlord Allen. I did what I could for him - amateur CPR - and the paramedics arrived swiftly, but it was hopeless. A great man, and a great friend, had left the world.
It was my first “proper” bereavement. My maternal grandfather had dementia so wasn’t himself when he died, and the same was true of my maternal grandmother and then my mother. My paternal grandfather, I never knew. My paternal grandmother was compos mentis up till the end but I didn’t know her well. So all five of those deaths were much less disturbing than they might have been. In a way I had got off lightly. But with Allen it was completely different. He was of perfectly sound mind. He had projects, intentions, concerns, and thoughts about the world. He was voicing them right in front of me… and then suddenly he wasn’t. It was awful to see a great man disappear. My dear friend.
The loss was painful and confusing. At first I couldn’t concentrate on anything. After a few days I began writing an essay about him. It seemed essential to write a memoir of such a man. When that was mostly finished, I returned to the Great Replacement series and finished that, reckoning that it’s what Allen would have wanted. (The memoir of him will be published next year, on his birthday.)
Then, various essays sketched in 2023 and 2024 began being finished, one after another. It was great to feel the work reaching fruition - loose ends being tied up, more bricks in the wall, more things done and dusted. Among these were a few entries in the Grim Rhymer series and the entire Future Magic series.
I also began an on-going series of TV guides (five of which were published this year) and did more work on a series about the architectural history of my home town.
I created the Autobio page. This lists essays that talk about my life. Eventually I might collect all of these into a book, a sort of fragmented, non-linear autobiography. For as long as I can remember, I have envisaged one day writing an autobiography, and with these essays a lot of the ground will already have been covered so it would be a shame not to use it. At the same time, though, I like the idea of writing a proper, linear autobiography - in which case, that essay collection could serve as a companion volume.
In September 2024, when my mother died, I had begun writing a very long essay about her. It was a difficult one to write, not just because I wanted to chart the evolution and plumb the emotional depths of our relationship but because the essay itself has a rather elaborate structure. Getting that “right” was a technical challenge, alongside the other challenges of writing such a thing. I worked on it sporadically for six months, then focussed on it in April so that it would be ready for publishing on her birthday in May. Then, actually on her birthday when we scattered her ashes, I received some new information which had to be integrated at the very last minute. At 16,000 words it is six times my average. I was concerned about it being indulgent. Maybe it is, but I have no regrets. Many people thanked me for writing it as it helped them in various ways. One person described it as “a piece of literature”. I do think it is one of the best things I have ever made. My hope is that, besides the emotional impact and telling the story of our relationship, it illuminates my mother’s personality.
Mid May saw the end of a six-year relationship. We had been off and on for the first few years, but over time had come to love each other deeply. But it was a long-distance relationship and eventually, as such relationships famously do, became untenable. It was a heart-breaking split because neither of us wanted it, but due to our respective commitments at home, we couldn’t overcome the distance.
Then, just a week later, a close friend had a cardiac arrest and very nearly died. Severe brain damage looked inevitable. Either way, it seemed the world was going to lose a precious soul. Instead, miraculously and amazing even the doctors, her recovery was complete. Thank God, she is still with us and still herself. But this episode was a nightmare, possibly the scariest experience of my life. It put some things into perspective for me.
Then began the summer, which was a summer of stress and fear of eviction from Allen’s property. I could relax sometimes but this fear was always hanging over me. It was a horrible summer. In retrospect I should have taken matters into my own hands and moved out by choice, but I was very attached to the place. In any case I had no idea where to move to, or whether it was even possible for someone like me to get a “normie” landlord.
In the meantime there was chaos in Britain. This inspired prolific writing for me. There was a flurry of essays covering the Bob Vylan debacle, civil war, the Yookay meme, the question of government malice, Zionism in America and here, and the Afghan asylum scandal. The last is the only essay I’m not happy with; I rushed it in order to get a “hot take” in and ended up putting out something sub-standard. It’s a mistake I won’t repeat. I’m just not the guy you should come to for “hot takes”.
At the end of July I received official notice of eviction. Thus, autumn was spent looking for new accommodation. This involved an appeal for help of various kinds. The reality forced me to accept that my financial situation really isn’t good. With that in mind, please support me if you can:
In August, I received confirmation that Antidem had died - actually in February, the same month as Allen. I feel guilty that I didn’t know him as well as I should have. But that was as much his choice as mine, to be fair.
Also, it seems ridiculous that we had to wait six months to learn of his unfortunate passing. There was also a false confirmation that Lady of Shalott had died, and this held for months before being disproven. Our movement should have mechanisms to ensure that we are less “scattered” than this. When someone dies, their relatives and friends might have no idea about their life online, the many friendships and collaborations that they were involved in. Something should be done about this. Each content creator should have someone “in their real life” who will inform a nominated online person if something bad happens, and that online person breaks the news to the community.
In late August I began work on Millenniyule 2025. This work continued while I prepared to move house and then actually did so. And, now ensconced in my new abode, it is time to actually “do” Millenniyule. So that is where this year, for this Substack, ends.
My organiser program (which I expanded this year) is able to compute various numbers about my writing work. The current situation is:
Published: 120 essays (317k words)
Unpublished: 263 essays (320k words)
Total: 383 essays (637k words)
69% of the essays I have started are yet to be published
Average length of my published essays: 2,638 words
And now for the highlights of 2025. I’m afraid there are many, because, at the risk of seeming vain, I really think the quality has gone up and I have reached a peak.
the Great Replacement series, especially Is It Democratic?
TV Guide: Rising Damp (for some reason I’m very pleased that I wrote this and about once a month I read it over, which I almost never do with my own work)
TV Guide: New Scotland Yard (as above, I love this essay and find myself reading it over a lot, and have expanded it since publishing)
Our Modern Waywardness (this is an example of social history writing of which I have done much in 2024 and 2025. Due to the extensive research involved, most of these essays are yet to be finished, but they are in the offing and there will be a lot more of this material in future.)
I am proud of most of the 2025 essays. I think this has been my best year so far on Substack and it was actually a challenge to select “highlights”.
It is honestly baffling to me how I managed this work while my life was so turbulent and stressful. Of course there is the cliché that emotional upheaval is creatively energising. That is probably true. But I am too old for the “tortured artist” thing and I feel this experience has taken a toll on my health. I really hope 2026 is calmer.
With that said, there is much on the slate for next year. I will promise nothing, since events can be unhelpful and inspiration erratic, but here are my goals for 2026:
finish the Twin Peaks series
finish the Life of Brian series
finish the 1977 Gay Trial series
finish the series about the architectural history of Linlithgow
finish The Seeds of Gay Doom. This series was begun and “completed” in 2024 but this year I wrote a new chapter, documenting the second season of the RTD2 era of Doctor Who. I also began a coda chapter on the demise of RTD2, to give the series a proper ending. However, I can’t finish that until the demise is officially confirmed, as that is essential for “the story”. Apparently this will happen at the end of 2026. Therefore, I expect to publish these new chapters in early 2027.
write more of the Grim Rhymer series
write more of the Loony Left series
rewatch films I knew in the 1990s but haven’t watched since, and give them a fresh appraisal - “Revisiting the 1990s”
write some more TV guides
In addition, people are asking for my essays to be made available in paper book form. The obstacle there is deciding how to arrange them into collections that have internal unity, but that shouldn’t be too difficult. Like most things, it just needs some time spent on it. Then I will see whether any publishers in our movement can be enticed.
But first… a break. Working sixteen hours a day, seven days a week is my natural tendency, but after the events of this year I really need a rest; my last one was in August 2023!
Once recuperated, there are “IRL” things I really should attend to, things I have been putting off. There is a lot that I need to get into order. Obviously I can do that while writing, but a break from “MW work” will definitely help me make a start on all those things. Luckily I have some essays ready. Those will begin going out at the start of March, and I expect to return to full-time writing shortly thereafter. (That’s my plan, anyway. But it was my plan this time last year, and events intervened.)
I want to thank everyone who has supported me in 2025. I will probably forever be more famous for Millenniyule and my 2010s videos, but Substack is now “my main thing”, sustaining me financially and keeping me occupied creatively throughout the year. I also think that written, polished essays are a more enduring contribution than videos, potentially a valuable resource for future historians, and I take that responsibility very seriously. But this work wouldn’t be possible without the people who make it a livelihood for me. Thank you.
You also coined one of the most powerful memes of the year, your "leftist discourse" tweet. An achievement not to be overlooked!
Sounds like a horrible year, but your Substack writing has been outstanding.