So I've been trying to live more in the terminal without X. It's been
going better since I've figured out at least how to use mplayer
without it whining about video resolution. It is a bit ridiculous to
me just how many flags and settings I have to specify (properly
aliased in .bash_profile, of course), but it works. The major
advantage is I can use it in tmux, which is really, really nice. I can
also multitask while using it, albeit it's not ideal and covers up a
large chunk if not the entire screen. 

This behavior actually is a pro and a con; because while I can
half-blind multitask, there's noise around it and I haven't quite
figured a way to paint the rest of the terminal black while increasing
the resolution of the video. I have a 1080p display in most cases and
my DVD rips are mostly 480p, which is why I had trouble in the first
place above.

Otherwise I'm still using an RPi as a media server and it is working
pretty well, but there are some freezes or bufferings I have to deal
with and the HDD spin-ups lead to more problems than solutions. I
guess it's better than nothing, but everyone notices the little
problems. I've even added mplayer as a downloader/viewer to lynx and
links2. With a less-popular Invidious instance, it has made things a
lot easier without having to go to X. I'll still start X if only to
apply redshift. Also I've been screenrecording the last of my owned
videos that need to be backed up. Don't buy digital copies unless
they're cheap. It's ludicrous to me that so many movies/TV shows are
even more expensive than their physical counterparts. Sorry, I don't
think HD is that much better than 480p if that's how the show was
made.

Other than that, it was a good Christmas. I didn't get much, but
that's good and I didn't expect much anyway. I'm looking forward to
bowl games but it seems a bunch of them were cancelled, which stinks.
TheHatedOne (a good Youtuber) also uploaded an interesting piece[0]
about water problems with the tech world, so I feel a bit better about
not using GPhotos very much as a Plex/Netflix substitute.