The Best of 2025 Awards

 And so the year comes to a close, meaning it is once again time for the longtime tradition of lists.

 

Because everyone makes lists these days, and so have I been doing for years now!

 

And as always, this is a list of all the totally subjective things I saw / read / experienced over the course of the year 2025, some might be highly unagreeable, some might be making some sense, but all are totally and utterly irrelevant to the people around!  But never the less, I hope it brings you a few minutes of reading enjoyment!

 

And so, without further ado, the best off overview in all it's annual categories...

 

Best Movie: well, let's kick off with something subjective, and that was for me War of the Rohirrim.  It flopped at the box office, it divided the fanbase, yet somehow I liked how it "slipped" into the lore without bending it to much.

 

Best Series: well, this one has been on the list since january (I always make a skeleton list, and if I experience something better replace the older entry) and that is Arcane season 2.  While not as legendary as the first season, it still remained a true epic!

 

Best Performance: a lot can be said about the Wheel of Time series, from accuracy to casting choices, but I loved Zoe Robins in it over the course of the three seasons.  Nynaeve just hit my buttons of getting "involved" in the series, compared to many other casting choices.

 

Best Book: Bedrieg Mij, a flemish casestudy book about the world of cuckolding and the journey of exploration the writer experienced in finding this all out.

 

Best Toy: Efteling Luville Meisje met de Zwavelstokjes.  It is by far the saddest fairy tale in the Efteling, but the christmas village set just captures that one moment of beautiful sadness, when the girl goes to her beloved grandma.

 

Best Anime: Buddy Daddies, a bit of an unexpected hit for me.  In a year with some topline anime titles, this one just slipped into my viewing list and I really, really enjoyed this one.

 

Best Game: okay, totally subjective pick on this one, and that is Spitewood, the new expansion to Underworlds.  I still don't like the current edition over the old one, but at least this one brought me AND the return of Elathain, AND the arrival of the Chaos Dwarfs into the game system.

 

Best Videogame: Innocence or Money.  Yes this is an adult game, one of those story choice driven ones, in which you can make the lead character a girl holier then the pope, or send her down the rabbit hole of pleasure and debauchery.

 

Best Wargame Figure: the Imperial Noble from classic Warhammer Quest.  I always loved his regal outlook, so it was only fitting to get myself a fresh one from Vinted to paint up as the general for my Escalation League.

 

Best Music: Ghost - Dance Macabre.  This group has been around for some years now, but I only really discovered their music in earnest this year, and haven't regretted it one moment.

 

Best Trade: during the Halle Underworlds tournament in the first half of the year, back then still at Mishra's, I found a box with old Star Trek Attack Wing tournament packs in his basement.  I asked what he wanted for them, and he sold me all 19 packs for 30 euro!

 

Best Convention or Event: the very first Mines of Alost tournament for Warhammer Underworlds.  It was a Rivals format and I had my game group pick my warband, and they "gave" me Garrek's Reavers, the good old Granddaddy Aggro himself.  I won the tournament with him...

 

But I would say this is a tie, because at Antwerp Tattoo Convention, I found a lovely lady artist from Macedonia who brought this lovely little piece of ink to my arm... 

 

Greatest Disappointment: the TSA The Old World Escalation League.  A combination of calendar issues on the one hand and not at all liking how the game has turned from a "wargame" to a "listgame" has turned me away from the system.  I might play that occassional event or so, but this game needs for my tastes serious fixing.  Maybe I'll do a little video on that in the future, don't know yet...

 

And there we have it, all the categories and winners of my past year 2025.  They will receive their non-existant awards never, but maybe there are one or two things in that list that tickle your fancy a bit and might want to make you going to watch or experience X or Y...

 

Until next year, and take care!