Games!: My favorite video games of 2025:
Silent Hill f:
Being a long time fan of the Silent Hill series, I was cautiously optimistic for the release of Silent Hill f. While it won't be taking the title of my favorite SH game of all time (that still goes to the original SH2), it's a worthy entry into the series, and gives me hope for new installations in the future (though I am apprehensive about the yearly release model Konami is aiming for. )
PEAK:
PEEEEAAAK I love Peak so much! It's been a blast hunting all of the achievements with my husband and filling up my scout sash with patches, I can't believe how much content has been added for free. Awesome developers, and just top quality friend"slop". The bbno$ concert was fun too.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure:
To say anything less than this game had a choke-hold on me this past year would be an understatement. I've played HKIA most every day of 2025, and it has been a godsend between Animal Crossing releases for me. So many visitors can move on to your island. There are a ton of cute outfits and furniture items, and my homies Kuromi, Retsuko, Chococat, and most importantly BIG CHALLENGES! This game has made me appreciate Sanrio characters even more than I did before. Best mobile game I ever played. Went out of my way to get the gold crown, and finally got 100% of the achievements last month. (The purple cat is my character in game)
Date Everything:
I was originally going to spend my Valentine's day this year playing Date Everything, but the game's release ended up delayed. I'm glad they took they time they needed because this game is great! With top-notch voice acting and over 100 dateable characters with cute (albeit simple and short) stories to play through, it would take a few playthroughs to see all the content this game has to offer. I look forward to completing multiple runs in the future.
No, I'm Not A Human:
An unsettling game about the apocalypse that puts you in the shoes of a man who is forced to make snap decisions on who lives or dies, the atmosphere is strangely calm as the world burns around you. This is a game about prejudice, and the corruption of a governing body using propaganda to control it's populace. It takes the concept of "you can't judge a book by it's cover" to its extreme.
Dispatch:
As a fan of Telltale Games, I was excited for Dispatch, and it did not disappoint! Another game with great and varied voice acting, and a compelling plot. You play as Robert Robertson, a superhero who's hit rock bottom, and is subsequently scouted by Blonde Blazer, a hero from Superhero Dispatch Network. SDN is an organization that takes in calls for help and sends out superheros to attend to their client's needs. Robert gets put in the position of dispatcher, a desk position in an office where he is responsible for sending out heros to the appropriate calls. Robert finds out that the team he has been assigned, the Z Team, is composed of "reformed" villains, and they're all a bunch of jerks. Dispatch has lots of funny banter and some challenging decisions, including romance a option. I love the writing and the cut scenes are really well animated.
Honorable mentions:
Megabonk: Vampire Survivors but in 3D! This game is fun but more challenging than others in the genre, wont stop me from going back to it time and again. Calcium is the man, man.
Silksong: Truly was the best game that I'm bad at, I'm so happy it was finally released, and I can't believe we're getting DLC soon too!
Animal Well: Didn't release in 2025, but that's when I finally played it, and it was awesome! Stunning visuals and loaded with interesting puzzles. I'd like to see more metroidvanias that don't have combat.
Stuff!: My favorite things I've bought and received in 2025
Beanie Babies:
I've rediscovered my love of these cuties from the 90s and decided I want to start collecting Halloween themed beanie babies, above are two of my favorites that I've acquired in 2025 Shudders (left) and Baron van Pyre (right).
Hanging bat statue:
Found a couple of these hanging bats at Michael's and I just adore them, year round home decor items for sure! Hang in there baby!
Xox Kweenies:
I have been shamelessly collecting these cuties since October and I already have a ton of unique ones, luckily my sister has been into collecting them too, so we can trade duplicates. They have so many fun features, some are snow globes, some are flocked, some glow in the dark. I'm such a sucker for a fun gimmick. I can't wait to get my hands on the new series!
Portrait of Astarion signed by actor Neil Newbon:
Wooo boy was this a pain to acquire, honestly not one of my best memories of 2025. I got to Comic-con right at opening and waited in a line crushed up against other fans for over 5 HOURS (he was delayed by almost 4 hours from when he was supposed to be there). I ended up missing the Baldur's Gate 3 panel I wanted to see as a result of it, and basically had no time to do anything else the whole day (we only had 1 day passes). But I got my signature, and he was as wonderfully kind and dreamy in person as I could have ever imagined.
Plushies:
Finally found the Snorlax Squishmallow at Costco and I was able to scoop him up, he's huge! I've always wanted a giant Snorlax plush! Bellow Snorlax are the Ooblets plushies I got to commemorate my beating of Ooblets and catching of every gleamy Ooblet.
Pikmin terrariums:
I saw the glow Pikmin terrarium and knew I needed it, ordered it for myself and my husband surprised me with another one that ended up being the Ice Pikmin. Re-ment makes great toys, the detail in these is so good!
Canvas of my late cat Keiko:
A Surprise gift from my mother, it was so sweet of her to think of me, I was having a really bad day when it arrived and now I don't even remember why. I miss my buddy so much, it's nice to have this picture to commemorate her.
Vaseline glass vase:
My husband's grandmother was having a yard sale and she said we could come over and pick out anything we wanted, I found lots of great things, including this Vaseline glass vase. I collect this glass so I was very excited to have it, we offered to pay but she refused any money, she's such a sweet lady, I will cherish it always!
Projects! My favorite crafts and hobbies of 2025
Fish tank:
Not the first year I've had my tank, but the first time it's been really flourishing. I only had one fish death the whole year! There is a ton of life in my tank, but they can be hard to see because they all like to hide, and there are many places to do so. Currently there are neon green tetras (around 20) Glass catfish (only around 4 left, I need to add more, but they haven't been in stock lately) tons of blue cherry shrimp, they have taken over now that the Betta fish I had in there passed. 1 yellow mystery snail, and a few other assorted snail types. I'm planning on adding more fish when the ones I want, rocket killifish, finally come into my local fish store.
Ghost Pokemon Painting:
My sister and I took a painting class together at the local arcade. My favorite Pokemon is Haunter so I was intrigued and signed us up. I'm not sure if I learned much, but it was fun to sit and paint with other Gengar fans. The class ended up running over an hour late because we were all still painting and chatting.
Solar System Necklace:
A piece of jewelry I've been wanting to make for years now, and I finally did it! Some of the beads (Saturn, Jupiter, and Earth) are clay beads I've made, the other planets are stone or glass. The stars glow under backlight.
Punk Jacket for my Cat:
My cat Magnus is a little punk so he needed the appropriate attire. I studded and sewed an embroidered tiger patch onto a jean vest for him.
Case for my cell phone:
My phone case finally bit the dust and they discontinued it, so I assembled myself a new one! I had been holding on to a piece of holographic cardboard from some packaging and it was the perfect size to fit in a phone case so I decorated it with some Kirby stickers my friend got me in Japan and ordered a transparent waterfall glitter case. I stuck the PopSocket that came with my copy of Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the back and voila, Kirby phone case! It's sparkly and shines in the sun, and I really love how it came out.
Life!
Wedding ring and Cake:
We finally got to have our wedding this year! We got married a couple years ago but couldn't afford a reception party until this year. It was so wonderful, the party was Hobbit themed, lots of family and friends attended, we encouraged hobbit themed dress and people had fun with their interpretation of that, a couple of our friends came dressed as ring wraiths. We made it a potluck so there was a ton of food and we even had axe throwing! Our cake was green tea flavored, the toppers were Peach and Bowser because I thought it was funny, and Bowser is way hotter than Mario. (he breathes fire)
Hobbit door wreath:
A wreath I made for the wedding venue door, bellow it a sign "No admittance except on party business". It was so fun to put this together, I used a wooden sign from the dollar store and etched grooves into it for the boards, then painted it green, the door knob is a dresser knob.
Baby Kitten Midna!
I had been asking my husband if I could get a third cat for years now (I wanted a female, and a tortie specifically) and he always said no, but he finally relented when we fell in love with this cutie at a cat cafe. She's just about the cutest cat I've ever met, so sweet and sooo affectionate. She's got a few kinks in her tail to she holds it up at odd angles, this inspired her name, Midna after the Twilight Princess from Zelda. She gets along well with my other cats, and we all love her so much!
New Car:
Our last car finally died so we got a new one. My husband had his previous car for 20 years so it really was time for an upgrade, it's so much more comfortable!
New Fridge:
A wedding gift from my uncle. The most generous gift I have ever received! We planned on replacing the fridge earlier but had to reallocate those funds to home repair. My uncle heard and told me to pick out the fridge we wanted and he got it for us! I'm so grateful to have received this gift, it's so nice to have cold filtered water on tap, makes it easier to stay hydrated and we have so much more fridge space now!
), gyoza, and shrimp/veggie tempura (2 of my most favorite foods)! I also got a yuzu lemonade to drink along with my meal.
And the little Dragonite keychain is precious!
here's a couple of things from 2025 that i'd like to highlight 
top notch story, characters, art style and soundtrack especially!!! definitely will stick with me for a long time (already got myself some merch hehe) and on the topic of games, i've replayed this one called we happy few. It's a janky survival game set in a dystopia where citizens are forced to be happy by taking something called joy. (and that's oversimplifying it) but yeah, it's story and overall themes hit harder after playing omori. i first played whf back when i was a dumb and impatient 18 year old so a lot of things went over my head which makes me glad i replayed it after all this time. very good soundtrack as well, very much recommend looking up the fictional band created for it called the make believes.
) since that’s def my favourite gen 9 mon!
Two of my favourite species! I also think your Labubu story is very cute!
Collecting Labubus.. a lot of them, primarily the figurines (and a few other PopMart characters)
Baking a lot.. I made a few cakes, some chocolate chip cookies, brigadeiro (not pictured), Russian tea cakes (not pictured), brownies, and the best vanilla cupcakes I have ever had in my life
Started playing Magic The Gathering with my husband (I like the Bloomburrow cards they're so cute), and also started collecting Pokémon cards
Had the amazing honor of my Chrysalis Egg design becoming a real collectible! It means so much to me 
Hung out with my mom for a few weeks, we went to a bunch of places including the Queensland Art Gallery (hence the statue picture) and the Gold Coast
Played a lot of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, Pokémon Go, and started playing ACNH a bit more regularly again
Acquired some much needed new furniture, like my very comfy chair that allows me to sit cross-legged
Befriended this cat that's always appearing in the backyard. It only likes me for my cat snacks
My top album in 2025 was Pawprint Panic! by Napcast; if you like chiptune music I highly recommend it
Bought this lucky bamboo plant.. it's been through a lot because I had no idea what I was doing
Watched this family of ducks grow up.. they grow so fast
And finally, I made both of these cute tote bags! One is a frog wearing a crown and the other is Totoro. I found the pattern on Etsy (by MiddleStitchCo) and it was so fun making them. I had never done appliqué before so it was a neat learning experience
