5 Things 2025

Jan 3, 2026

Tags: newyear

Happy New Year, from everyone here at CyberBuffalo Industries (AKA CyberBuffalo Dot Party)! What a year 2025 was, it’s almost surprising that I’m sitting here in our living room writing this while the first episode of newest season (18) of RuPaul’s Drag Race plays in the background. 2025 was a tumultuous year, one that tested both of us, though there were many other around us, around the country and around the world that it certainly tested far more. We’ve lost loved ones, had our community terrorized and were affected by natural disasters. But we also fostered a stronger sense of community and forged a new chapter in our relationship as Catrena and I got married! We thought about postponing our wedding until god-knows-when but, especially in the times we live, there will always be an emergency, there will always be a regime, there’s always a reason to not do something. But from talking with our friends and family we were reminded that people what something to look forward to, they want something to shift their attention; humanity loves a distraction, if that was not true, professional sports wouldn’t exist. This is my top memory of the year! It is the thing that I loved most from 2025! Our wedding was spectacular in a way that I would find hard to write about, but it was fucking magic.

I’ve lost where I was going with this, a magical moment revisited can do that, it can push you off course like a bullet from a gun. I’m here right now in this text editor to talk about 5 things that I liked from 2025. I’m not going to talk about all the fucked up things that have happened in the US, perpetrated by the US, or because of the current US regime, because aside from appropriately conveying the anger in my heart my words would do no justice for anyone. There are plenty of people in the world that can properly express the problems with the world, and I leave them in charge with that task. No I want to harbor a small air of positivity. I liked the format that I found last year, so in continuing that and forging a tradition, here are 5 things I liked from 2025.

Lilith

Lilith is a comic that I picked up this year because another comic artist I like, Zoe Thorogood, did a cover for. I haven’t been into comics for very long and my sphere of influence goes like this:

Hack & Slash -> Tim Seeley -> Hack & Slash: Back to School -> Zoe Thorogood -> Local Man -> Tony Fleecs -> Feral -> end of list

So when I read that one of three people I follow in the comics world is a doing a cover for a new book, I’ll probably pick it up, it’s that easy. And I won’t always like it but this book, Lilith, is great. The first issue was my least favorite (which did come out in 2024), but not enough to leave it behind, I really just wanted more of it. The first run was great and is collected into a volume and worth picking up if you like female-led, sex positive, found family horror comics. Excited for it to come back!

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

I hadn’t enjoyed the Ninja Gaiden franchise in the past, mostly I had tried the original on OG Xbox and then the remake in the collection on modern consoles and neither had really clicked with me. I want to go back and try again because I absolutely loved NG2B. Anything that can proliferate my love of a character action/hack and slash franchise is alright by me!

Sinners

There is a scene in Sinners before they get to the big overnight stand-off that features a tracking shot of characters walking between stores in this small, dustbowl main street and its just so well done. The production design on that movie kicks ass and so do the performances.

Fallout TV Series

Both Catrena and I have been really excited about the TV adaptation of Fallout. The first season especially is really excellent and well worth watching. I think we’ve watched it 3 or 4 times through now. The focus on keeping props and sets practical while using CGI to enhance helps place this into the 1950s atomic future the games were predicting. I love Walton Goggins ever since he played opposite of Timothy Olyphant on Justified, not to mention the fan I am of Mr. Kyle MacLachlan. The second season, which is currently airing, has also been good - it has a lot of callbacks to New Vegas, which is excellent to see - and I’m excited to see where they take it. I’m happy we are now at the place where we can get faithful video game adaptations made by fans of the medium, as opposed to rewrites that are disdainful of the source material.