Best Stuff of 2025
It’s that time of year again! Here’s a bunch of movies, music, games, products, and other chaotic nonsense for my best stuff of 2025 list. Like last year, I’m listing them in chaotic order for fun.
That said, there’s no sense in burying the lead.
Leaving Social Media
I had a phenomenal year while the entire world burned around me. As you’ll see in several other items in my best stuff of 2025, my small corner of the world is full of wonderful experiences, triumphant achievements, and thriving loving social connections. The last one isn’t due to me leaving social media, but it’s certainly been able to fill my cup beautifully in the space left behind by its absence.
Permanent Timeline Cleanse
All those hours, dopamine withdrawals, and emotional damage were no longer occupied by every terrible thing happening anywhere at all times. I still learn about every important news story in a timely manner. The information gets to me, even when I try to avoid it. And it gets to me far more accurately when I seek it out than when it involuntarily scrolls past me between a thousand ads.
Social Life is Better Without Social Media
Since deleting my accounts, my social calendar is fuller than it’s ever been. I haven’t significantly missed any social platform once. I’m occasionally annoyed when someone I wish I could follow only has Instagram, but my life will go on without them. At least until they wise up and take ownership of their work on their own platforms (or at least move to a less-toxic-for-now platform, ready to jump to another when the time comes).
An Offer of Intervention
If anyone describes negative emotions to me now, there’s almost always one commonality they mention: their feed. They’re addicted to a torture device on their person nearly every waking hour. And the denial is strong. It’s been difficult to try and help my loved ones pry themselves from these addictions, but I’m going to keep trying.
I’m planning to do more articles on how to have a fulfilling social life and sustainable existence as a consumer while avoiding enshittified tech. In the meantime, if you need help freeing yourself, let me know.
Open Mike Eagle “Neighborhood Gods”
Both the album and the tour were big highlights for 2025 music. Open Mike Eagle continues to produce music with thoughtful lyrics and catchy hooks about topics I don’t hear a lot of music about normally. For example:
Bethany and I went to see Open Mike Eagle in concert during his Neighborhood Gods tour. The San Francisco stop was at Bottom of the Hill and featured this set list:
We arrived early enough to chill on the back patio with the staff and a few of the artists. Everyone was really cool and down to earth (except for the one who’s an actual alien of course). OME himself was very cool, as I expected.
I bought a tee shirt at the merch table and went back inside for the show. Every act was diversely different in both music style and stage presence. All were entertaining as hell, especially OME himself.
- Hard Media Music: MerchTable
- SoundCloud
- Twitch.tv (highly recommended)
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- YouTube
- Rhys Langston
- Leilani
- Cavalier
Final Fantasy x MTG
As I wrote about already in Terra and I, the Final Fantasy collaboration with Magic: The Gathering was really enjoyable. No matter how cynical and over it I am about Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast, and what they’ve done to my beloved game, this Universes Beyond™️ collab hit very hard. While I’ve printed most of the chase rares, the prerelease and preconstructed products I purchased have all been top notch, nostalgic, evocative, and fun. Bravo.
- Decklist: Terra & The Summoners
- Decklist: Hope Mills
- Decklist: Ultros the Obnoxious
Halsey: For My Last Trick Tour
When I scored tickets to see Halsey, I had no idea how popular she was. I’ve listened to her for many years and never heard her talked about much. Usually I was the person introducing others to her awesome music, so I figured she was niche. She is not. The venue we arrived at was much bigger than I realized it’d be and totally sold out.
The concert was awesome. Starting with her reclined in a giant martini glass and continuing with several costume changes and amazing set transitions. It felt like what seeing Madonna at the top of her game may’ve been like. She’s incredible live, and I can’t recommend braving the crowds of teenage girls to see her live more highly.
Cabo
As I wrote about in my Cabo travel blog earlier this year, Cabo was wonderful and I hope we can return soon. Nothing has felt more healing for my SAD symptoms than an affordable mid-winter trip to a warm beach for a few days. The all-inclusive package we got in Cabo was perfect for the low-thought, high-relaxation long weekend we needed. I’m longing for it again right now.
Black Mirror, Season 7
Black Mirror is always a favorite whenever I can get more episodes, and season 7 didn’t disappoint. Hotel Reverie and Plaything are my personal favorites, while Common People is just too real and close to home considering all my struggles with getting and keeping healthcare. As usual, Black Mirror finds deep ways to horrify us.
Watch: Netflix
Wryly “Fairly Fable” Tattoo
My latest tattoo is my new favorite, as is often the case. I went with a new artist whose work I saw at Ritual Tattoo while I was getting my previous one — my purple octopus — from Alper Firatli. Wryly Fable’s work is gorgeously detailed and focuses on blending nature and abstract synthetic structure.
My project was a little ambitious. Tattoo artists often avoid doing hand tattoos. They’re hard to execute, require a lot of aftercare, and often result in more appointments for touch-ups. When I asked Wryly to do mine, she recommended we do it by hand to make sure all the complicated curves and points arrived at the exact plane on my hand and wrist we wanted it to. I’d never done a tattoo this way before, but it made perfect sense. After months of chatting over Zoom and via email, we finally arrived at the shop and Wryly whipped out her Sharpies.
After we spent a couple hours with markers and got our design down exactly the way we wanted, Wryly started the ink outline. When we finished, I was so happy with it I wondered if I should even return to finish the work by adding shading.
Obviously, I did return and now can’t imagine it any differently than my fully shaded finished piece. It healed beautifully and people compliment me on it all the time.
See Wryly’s work:
Music
My playlist for the Best New Music of 2025:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1FR1GOJrBKEGRKUxfXRc2r?si=e81005fa42254691
Selected Best Music Tracks of 2025
Best Music of the 2020’s
I also updated my running list of the best music from the current decade.
Superman
Superman leaps over the low bar of Best Superhero Movie of 2025 in a single bound! It was earnest, fun, and cheesy in ways I didn’t know I needed. Cynicism, sarcasm, and undercutting every heartfelt moment has become too common in mainstream media. It was comforting to watch a corn-fed nice young man from Kansas do his thing. Especially when his super-powered dog mauls a tech bro.
Polyamory
I’ve been practicing polyamory for nearly 5 years now. My experiences were mostly occasional hookups or a few casual dates turned platonic friendships. And that was great, but not exactly what I was hoping for.
Sihaya
I met Sihaya in May. We had immediate chemistry and both wanted to take it slow. Our first date, a quick coffee meetup, ended up lasting hours then spontaneously going grocery shopping together. A few months later I asked them to be my partner — my joyfriend.
They’ve become an integral part of my life. We’ve had lots of fun together, while also being there for each other during hard times. We have so much in common where it counts and many interesting differences where those are fun too.
Rick
Shortly before Sihaya and I met, Bethany and our mutual friend Rick continued to grow closer and caught romantic feelings. They too partnered up, and I can’t imagine a better partner for my wife.
Our Polycule
Now we have an idyllic polycule who all hang out together and in our own one-on-one couplings smoothly. No drama or ambiguity. Just a complex calendar and not enough hours in our days.
I always knew in theory polyamory could be like this, but I never experienced it firsthand until now. It’s indescribably wonderful. 🥰
Bethany and I are as solid and happy together as ever. We’re planning and looking forward to our honeymoon next year, and our big wedding in 2027!
(Whew! How do I follow that?)
Cunk on Life
Arriving unexpectedly, Cunk on Life is easily the Best Comedy Movie of 2025. It’s relentlessly absurd. I repeatedly had to pause and rewind the video so I could finish laughing to hear the next line.
Watch: Netflix
Expedition 33: Clair Obscur
I confess, I haven’t finished Clair Obscur yet. I’ve just been too busy, but I will get back to it at some point. It’s beautiful, fun, thrilling, and original and any gamers probably already know all this by now. I’m very happy for how much success these new developers are seeing. It’s well-deserved and I’m excited to see what they do next.
Kaiju No. 8
The Best New Anime Series of 2025 takes a tried and true “giant monsters keep attacking us” formula and makes an impact. The characters are written and acted well. The story doesn’t shy away from the tropes of the genre, but instead focuses on making the human interactions really unique and interesting. It charmed me within a few episodes and now I can’t get enough.
Watch: Crunchyroll, Apple TV
Shu Uemura Hair Oil
Fighting frizz has been a lifelong struggle with my hair. A lot of products help me keep my chaotic curls in check, but no product was light and easy enough to throw on right before running out the door. I had to take a full shower, deep condition, air dry (slowly), and add treatments after. Starting the process around 2 hours before I needed to be somewhere. Shu Uemura’s Essence Absolute Hair Oil has finally filled the gap.
It’s not heavy like a lot of hair gels, pomades, and other styling products I’ve used in the past, but it tames fly-aways and cowlicks. While I still need all those other things on a regular basis to keep my locks in check, this oil supplements me in between and just works in ways I’ve never experienced other products doing.
White Lotus, Season 3
Season 3 of White Lotus is somehow more shocking than either of the previous ones. The characters are all great blends of love-and-hate-able and almost all of them change drastically from the first episode. Surprisingly, this show gets better each season. I hope the trend continues!
Watch: HBO
The City and Its Uncertain Walls
While I can’t say I recommend this novel to most people, I enjoyed it as a fan of Murakami. It doesn’t rise to the level of my favorite of his books The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but it’s a solid and thought provoking entry. A lot of people take different things away from it, but my most prevalent themes felt like:
- the trap of nostalgia
- obsession
- letting perfect be the enemy of good
- living in the moment
- the freedom of making drastic life changes and trusting ourselves to survive
It’s also the only book I finished this year (I started a handful), so I had to mention it to avoid feeling like an illiterate failure.
Andor, Season 2
Season 2 of Andor cements the series as The Best Star Wars Content ever produced. Yes, better than the original trilogy. Better than The Empire Strikes Back. It’s simply remarkable storytelling with barely any slow or questionable moments.
It never compromises on Star Wars flavor either. Excellent set/costume/hair/makeup design, and reasonable adherence/harmony with previous media. The practical effects are beautiful and they never overdo it on CG the way we see in most Star Wars content since Return of the Jedi. It’s just the best the IP has to offer.
This season was the only thing delaying me canceling my Disney+ subscription. If you can find it on a friend’s Plex server or some other way, please do.
Watch: (piracy), Disney+
The Rehearsal
No explanation or trailer can adequately prepare one for The Rehearsal. The unhinged clips can entice us to check it out, but the degree of their unhinged-ness is only truly revealed in context. Few shows have had the emotional effect on me this one has, and I recommend it to anyone with an open curious mind.
Watch: HBO Max
Ballerina
My affinity for John Wick movies is no secret. While Ballerina is certainly the 5th best John Wick movie, it’s still a John Wick movie. It has the best stylized action of anything I watched in 2025. And it gave us this track:
Watch: Starz, YouTube
[Late Addition!] Heated Rivalry
The finale of season 1 aired at the very end of the year and I finally got caught up right after publishing this article. Wow! This show is so beautiful. It’s making headlines for being sexy, but it’s also very sweet and romantic. The show is wonderfully shot, written, directed, and acted. While it didn’t quite beat my previous pick for best show of the year (keep reading), it’s definitely a contender. A must-watch if you love problematic queer romance. And also hockey!
Emily Wilson “How I Got Rejected by Reality TV”
Emily Wilson’s autobiographical storytelling standup set is a blast. It’s full of self-directed cringe, which I find more palatable than most cringe comedy. Emily Wilson turns an intensely humiliating experience into triumph in this show’s final form.
Severance, Season 2
I’d be amazed if anyone who watched season one could stop themselves from immediately leaping onto season 2. We watched each episode as soon as it dropped and the insanity abounded once again. I won’t spoil anything, and y’all already know I love the show after season one.
Silksong (Hollow Knight 2)
I love a Metroidvania, even when my hands won’t cooperate and get me killed a thousand times. Silksong is as good as all the hype, which says a lot. If you enjoyed Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, or other titles like them it’s a must-play.
Tangentially-related Fun Video
One Piece
Yea, I know. I’m 26 years and over a thousand episodes late.
Several friends have raved to me about One Piece over the years. I thought my downtime recovering from surgeries this year could be a great time to finally get started. I started watching a little bit with Rick while hanging out. They told me the animation quality gets better and warned me about the filler episodes coming later, but I loved it immediately. Within a dozen episodes, I was on board.
I got about 50 episodes in before surgery, and now I’m at around 120. Less than 10% of the series. 😆 This is daunting, but here’s some examples of why I love it:
Why I Love One Piece
- Luffy’s hard-headed sense of justice and loyalty is refreshing as hell in today’s age of cynical media.
- I love how overtly anti-colonialist the show is every season.
- The crew is basically the anarchist commune I want to see in the world.
- Bodily autonomy and civil liberty are constant subthemes.
- The characters are remarkably unique and bizarre, especially the villains.
- Soooo much queer representation, and most of it isn’t problematic.
Watch: Crunchyroll, Netflix, Netflix Live Action Series
Ali Wong “Single Lady”
This special came out in 2024, but I missed it until this year. Ali Wong continues to be one of the funniest working comics on earth. This special emphasizes her post-divorce freaky dating and relationship experiences and I laughed out loud several times watching it.
Pluribus
The Best New Show of 2025 arrived late in the year. Pluribus is a bizarre show by Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan starring Rhea Seehorn who returns from the latter. Kim was my favorite major character from Better Call Saul and Seehorn brings even more range to this new role as the star of Pluribus.
I won’t spoil more. Don’t look it up. Just watch episode 1.
Watch: Apple TV, (piracy), Amazon Prime
Breasts
I’d be lying if I didn’t include my new tits in my best stuff of 2025 list. These two-month-old beauties have made me feel so affirmed in my body, so attractive, pretty, sexy, and confident. I’ve already gushed about gender affirming surgery recently, so I’ll leave it there for this post.
2025 Stuff on my To-do List
I didn’t get to these yet, but plan to.
- Honey Don’t
- Bugonia
- Eddington
Let me know which to do first!
What I’m Looking Forward To in 2026
Winter Trip to Japan
Sihaya found us a great deal on flights and we decided to do the fun and fiscally irresponsible thing and go for it! Since my first visit to Japan during Spring I’ve thought I should see it in other seasons sometime. While I generally prefer hotter climates for winter trips, my curiosity, wonder, and affinity for onsen compel me to optimism about this chilly experience.
It’ll also be our first multi-day trip together, so I’m excited to see what traveling together will be like! 🥰
Nine Inch Nails Concert
We’re seeing Nine Inch Nails at the Chase Center in March!
Honeymoon in Spain & Portugal
We’re going on our honeymoon for two weeks! Ahhhh! I’m so excited for this. It’ll be my first time in Europe, and I’ve always wanted to visit both of these countries. We’re going to:
- Eat
- Drink Wine
- Beaches
- Wander Pretty Cities
- Primavera Sound Music Festival
- Celebrate Pride
- Paella Cooking Class
- Boat Tour of Duoro Valley Wine Country
- and more!
Facial Feminization Surgery
My latest estimate for when I can go under the knife is July 2026. So here’s hoping I’m alive, not in a camp somewhere, and still have access to healthcare by then! 🤞
Panic Carefully
I’ve been patiently awaiting the next thing from Sam Esmail since Leave the World Behind.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Supergirl
After enjoying Superman, I’m excited for Supergirl! Yea, I’m surprised too!
Slay The Spire 2 (again)
I was also looking forward to this one last year! 🤪
Dolls
Dolls is an 18-minute short sci-fi film with an all-trans cast, executive produced by Lilly Wachowski. I have a niche interest. (Read more)
What’s Your Best Stuff of 2025?
What did I miss? What are you looking forward to in 2026?