It is 2026. We are. Back. It is time. For. A new. Pinned. Post. Wow. Who. Knew. I . Don't . Know what to do. Here. Meow.
This is a list of all the pieces of media I experience this year so you can read my bad opinions.
Last years post:
The Main List RAAAH:
The list of every new piece of media I experience: https://www.tumblr.com/the-queenoftrash/771721942157950976/main-media-list
💬 0 🔁 0 ❤️ 2 · Main Media List - · Hi chat I don’t use tumblr that much but here’s a pinned post where I chronicle all the media I experie
January:
1. Pluribus:
Vince Gilligan, my goat, back again with another really cool show. The concept put me off initially because it sounds like it could just be "wow I love America it's great let's go", but it's done well. The exploration of individualism vs collectivism through ideas of culture, art, colonialism, sexuality, etc. is really cool. Really good stuff to end/start the year.
Rating: ITS PLURBIN TIME 🗣️/10
2. Casual Birder:
Simple and cute little exploration/puzzle game. I don't know how much I have to say about it besides it made me chuckle, feel a bit clever sometimes, and has slapping music.
Rating: Calls Itself Casual Birder Yet Is Competitive/10
3. Boogie Loops:
Boogie.
Rating: Boogie/10
4. Grave of the Fireflies:
Very strong movie that gets you to care deeply about the plight of these characters.... It is hard writing my thoughts when my thoughts are "yeah it's good!"
Rating: I Wanna See Ghibli Aesthetic Accounts Start Using This Movie Instead of Kiki/10
5. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (Season 2):
This is sorta one of those things where it's good, but is disappointing because it's following up something great. I enjoy these characters and worlds, but it felt like it was grasping for a plot rather than having season 1's fairly tightly wound plot. Still, will be back for more if there is.
Rating: That One Character Has To Be Transfem I Refuse To Believe Otherwise/10
6. Before Your Eyes:
This one's a really nice story and a cool unique mechanic. Getting good lighting on my face was kinda annoying so I had to keep syncing and taking me out of it. Didn't hamper the experience too much, it was good.
Rating: I'll Give It Uhhhhhh- FUCK I BLINKED/10
7. Knights of Guinevere: Pilot:
Avoided this for a while because the reveal trailer did not do it any favors lmao, but yeah it's quite good. The animation was so beautiful and the story did a pretty good job setting up this world. Not sure where exactly it'll go, but I'm invested. Wish some of the best action wasn't off screen lol, but I get it.
Rating: I Wish Princesses Would Stab Me/10
8. PAC-MAN WORLD Re-PAC:
Imagine the most generic possible 3D platformer, yeah? And then slap pac-man on top of it. Thats what this game is.
Rating: What The FUCK Is A "Re-PAC"/10
9. Smiling Friends (Season 3):
I feel like I didn’t find this season as funny as the previous seasons. I can’t quite pinpoint exactly what it is, and there are definitely hits, but I feel like there’s just more duds for me this time around. Still, it’s good.
Rating: Where The FUCK Is Dolly Dimply/10
10. Pokémon Concierge (Season 2):
Very cute series. Would be worth it just to see the stop motion pokemon but it also has a fairly worthwhile, if a little simplistic, story. Episode 2 in particular is quite good. Need a season 3.
Rating: Stop Motion Trubbish!! Someone On The Team Gets Me/10
11. Paul Blart: Mall Cop:
This movie was lowkey kind of good.
Rating: All Cops Are Blarts/10
12. Only Yesterday:
It's sort of a lot of little things strung together and I think a lot of things. It's beautiful and happy and sad, I don't know where that feeling ends up. I was surprisingly engrossed in all the little things.
Rating: Dude Fuck Fractions/10
13. Nona the Ninth:
It has less punch than its siblings, but at the same time has a certain level of tenderness I don't think the others reach. It's a wonderful step forward for the characters and the world. I don't really know how much I have to say about it as a whole, there's just a lot here to love in the characters and the way it's written.
Rating: If You See A Man Using Tumblr You Should Shoot Them On Sight/10
February:
14. I Saw The TV Glow:
The biggest thing I can say about this movie is that after the hour and forty minutes were up I thought that only like 20 or 30 minutes had passed. It feels very stream of consciousness, but once you get to the end, pretty straightforward, in a good and interesting way. The visuals for the show are also just really good and I wish there was more of them.
Rating: Really Love Imagining Cis (doesn't exist) People Watching This and Going "What's The Metaphor" Like They Don't Damn Well Know/10
15. Groundhog Day:
Really good movie. It’s pretty simple, but goes all the way in on its concept without going too far. I’m also really glad it didn’t go 100% wacky comedy, there were a lot of good realer parts. Simple and sweet.
Rating: Punxsutawney Phil Was Behind It, Phil Angered Him So He Kept Extending Winter/10
16. Dispatch:
See I have complicated thoughts on this game. Actually no I don't even have complicated thoughts. I think it's a fun game to play and I like the characters. Unfortunately it was made by unimaginative shitlib critical role so everything outside of those things aspect is absolutely rancid and obnoxious.
Rating: I Fucking Hate Straight People/10
17. Iron Lung:
I think this is an interesting direction to have gone with the source material. I’m still digesting it cause it was a lot with little explanation, but I think I liked it. The greater “lore” of iron lung the game always felt tacked on, but I appreciate this movie’s take on exploring it in a more character driven movie. By the end I really loved the convict’s character
Rating: Somehow They Made The Fish Even Funnier/10
18. Porco Rosso:
Yeah it's nice. Very beautiful and quite whimsical despite its more down to earth (well, no it's in the sky...) setting. Also just some fun characters to follow with some pretty upfront flaws.
Rating: Miyazaki Should've Animated Pig TF/10
19. The Elephant:
Feels simultaneously very refreshingly new and familiar. I don't think it's especially complicated, I mean it literally says it themes lol, but it still hits. Also like, beautiful animation throughout, obviously. Worth watching just for the visuals alone.
Rating: I Prefer Giraffes/10
20. Half-Life:
It's fairly basic and kinda frustrating sometimes, but overall I liked it. Expected it to be just a run and gun doom type game, but I enjoyed the more thinky/survivalist gameplay.
Rating: Crowbar Sound/10
March:
21. The Owl House:
A surprising amount of this show is really just "Gravity Falls without the sauce that made Gravity Falls cool". Though I think this show does a better job telling its story. I really think it did a good job balancing episodic stories with overarching stories. Despite some issues I have with the story and my general disinterest for the setting, I was pretty invested in the characters.
Rating: May the Lesbians Eat All Disney Execs Alive 🙏/10
22. Ocean Waves:
On one hand, I do enjoy the realistic depiction of everything feeling like a big world ending thing when it was petty and melodramatic. On the other hand I really don't care that much about any of these people 😭. I think I liked it but I don't think I'll be thinking much about it in the future.
Rating: This Movie Kept Baiting Me Into Thinking It'd Turn Into Yaoi/10
23. Half-Life: Opposing Force:
It's more half life, so it's fun, but I can't lie that I'm a little disappointed. It says it's a game about being the opposing force, but you just so happen to play as the one guy who didn't know he was supposed to be an antagonist. There's flimsy explanations for why you fight the military anyway. And worst of all there's just very little direction. Shepard just kinda walks around for 90% of it and then suddenly, boom, game ends. I'm harsh on it cause I find it to kind of waste its own premise, but it was fun. Hell, it has a grappling hook!
Rating: RANDY PITCHFORD JUMPSCARE/10
24. Hoppers:
Movie starts good in the first act and then it becomes just okay kidslop in the second act and then it just goes batshit insane in the third act. Like so insane idk if the environmental message stays completely unscathed (especially cause they “compromise” in the end like fuck off lmao), but yeah it’s really funny so i can forgive it.
Rating: What If Animals Learned Class Consciousness/10
25. Half-Life: Blue Shift:
Yknow, I think I enjoyed this more than opposing force. I think the story does a good job at putting you actually in the shoes of a random guy caught up in the disaster. Some parts are really bad at hinting as to where you should go, but otherwise, it's a fun addition to the world.
Rating: God I'm Not Fucking Ready for VR Headcrabs/10
26. Half-Life: Decay:
Thought this was exclusive to PS2 just cause of the difficulties around the multiplayer, but uh, no this is probably the worst of the expansions lol. Maybe some of it is just the jank pc port, but so many weird puzzles and just throwing waves of dumb enemies at you to mow down. And yeah the pc port is jank, restarted my computer at the final cutscene. Saved mostly by being a multiplayer game and being able to do dumb shit with a friend.
Rating: Women Deserve Better Bruh/10
27. Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary:
Yeah, it's cool to see all the beta stuff and concept art. I feel like, documentary-wise, it feels a little too free form and felt a little just like bits and pieces coming at you from all sides. But yeah, it's cool.
Rating: TRANSITION GABE NEWELL/10
28. Lazarus:
Plays a bit like a "best of Shinichrō Watanabe" which means it's Good, but also lacks a bit of its own identity. The ending also kind of just falls flat in so many aspects. Everything before that is pretty enjoyable with great action, fun characters, and a feeling like it was building up to something. Then it remembers it needs to end and just kind of shrugs at you.
Rating: Valid Crashout/10
29. Project Hail Mary:
Very different from what I expected in a way that I really loved. Rather than like a schlocky action space movie it was a really sweet sci-fi. Like it was just really cute and interesting and I really liked the characters.
Rating: United Nations Slop/10
30. Pom Poko:
Really cool use of Japanese folklore for a metaphor about colonization and environmental damage. Hits a good balance between humor and seriousness. The mockumentary format was really good too, not something I expected at first. I don't think I really jived with a lot of the humor around the raccoons, but the scenes where they haunt humans are highlights.
Rating: Where Can I Find Girls With Balls That Big?/10
April:
31. Sinners:
Goes insanely hard. Like almost everything is finely tuned to perfection. After it was done my friend said "no notes" and I pretty much fully agree. It just hits everything on the head. Also the fucking music it's peak.
Rating: They Made Vampires Assimilationists That's Not The Hot Vampire WTF/10
32. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie:
Kinda more of the first movie, which I liked, so I had a fun time with this one. However this one carries an extra burden of being an adaptation of Mario Galaxy, and I honestly think it doesn't do that part all that well. There are glimpses of an interesting take on Galaxy in there, but any of lonely or serene moments of the Galaxy games are subsumed by more action set pieces that are really fun but detract from what it was setting up.
Rating: Will There Be More or Less Peach X Rosalina Art Now?/10
33. One Piece (Season 2):
While once again not being a perfect adaptation, I throughly enjoyed this take on the series. The sets and costuming stay the best part of the series, given how willing they are to take liberties that make things even more creative and inventive. The costume designers went full in on the camp this season too, which I enjoyed. Really communicated how crazy the Grand Line is. While there are plenty of character moments done justice, many others are a bit simplified and much weaker. Also the cgi on animals looks a bit out of place on everyone but Chopper and I think that's mostly cause they use practical effects for his fights.
Rating: Nico Robin Should Force-feed Me A Devil Fruit/10
34. Whisper of the Heart:
Through slowly watching all the ghibli movies I am seeing they make a lot of lowkey down to earth romances lol. And this is another one. And it’s probably the best one of theirs so far. As someone who desperately wants to be a writer and would rather die than have a traditional job and is constantly lost this one spoke a lot to me.
Rating: CONCRETE ROADS 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️/10
35. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina:
I don't really have much to say on the story. It's kinda weird, a mess of symbolism that doesn't really conclude anywhere that felt meaningful but sometimes kind of cool. But there is some fucking awesome, absurd action that had me giggling at some points. It's stupid schlock, but was pretty worth the time.
Rating: She Does Know Women Can Get Muscles, Right?/10
36. My Neighbors the Yamadas:
It's pretty funny and has a very engrossing artstyle. I don't know how much more I have to say. It does a good job at building gags on top of each other. It's Pretty Okay, feels a little like watching a series of 5 minute simpsons episodes.
Rating: Shinzo Abe Movie/10
37. Tatsuki Fujimoto 17-26:
A collection of interesting ideas and messy executions and beautiful animation that coalesce into something really interesting even at its worst and something amazing at its best.
Rating: Fujimoto Is The First Person To Be Both Transmasc and Transfem/10
38. Akira:
Beautifully animated and full of life in just about every frame. The movie moves a bit strangely but I don’t think that works against it at all. I think it’s biggest flaw is I didn’t really give a fuck about any of these characters lmao. I enjoyed the world they took me through but for the most part it was hard to latch on and it washed over a bit, though that may not be entirely a bad thing.
Rating: Not Enough Bart/10
May:
39. Little Witch Academia:
Cute little short with some really stunning animation. I don't really have too much to say about it, it's mostly just 20 minute eye candy. Shrug.
Rating: Why Do So Many Fantasy Schools Have People Just Playing RPGs As Assignments/10
40. The Magnus Archives:
I have... mixed feelings I think. On one hand, it's not really that scary at all and desperately wants to be. On the other hand, it's got a lot of cool concepts related to horror tropes and fear. On one hand, the plot can be quite interesting when it really dives deep. On the other hand, it's much more interested in its... fandom-bait, I guess I'd call a lot of them, characters most of the time. I don't really know what to make of it.
Rating: Can Someone Who's Working On The Audio Podcast Learn How To Do A Scary Voice That Isn't Goofy As Fuck Please/10
41. The Ghiblies:
Basically a short meta take on my neighbors the yamadas. It's cute.
Rating: Translator's note:/10
42. The Homestuck Epilogues:
A fantastic, thematically resonant continuation of homestuck that touches on so much. There's like one or two characters that feel like they took a leap to make the plot work, but I can forgive it since the changes don't feel like something they'd never do, just that they were fast forwarded. Both angles of the story go fully into the meat (lol) of what they are trying to and it makes it engaging for all 88 chapters.
Rating: I Hope Beyond Canon is 8,000 Pages Of Dirk Getting Shot and Shot and Shot and Shot/10
43. Bubsy: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?:
I mean, I guess the title doesn't lie, but this entire thing is just the same gag of a character going "I'm gonna do something stupid! What could possibly go wrong?" and then they do something stupid and the stupid thing plays out entirely how you would expect it.
Rating: The Live Action Scenes Did Get Me Though/10
June:
44. Ghiblies: Episode 2:
More of the first, even going so far as to remake one of the segments from the original, but with even prettier and weirder animation at times. Yay.
Rating: Fuuuuccckkk I Need Some Curry NOW/10
45. Backrooms:
This movie is really fucking good. It's genuinely fascinated with fully exploring its concept. It did a great job tying a knot in your stomach both in the quiet moments and panicky, staple Kane Pixels Chase Scenes. Very layered without any answers, in the good eldritch horror sense and not in the theorybait fnaf slop way. I particularly think making one of the protagonists a therapist in this movie compared to just a normal person like how the webseries does was really smart. It's good.
Rating: Eldritch Horror Discovers Pirates and Goes "Hell Yeah"/10
46. Bubsy 4D:
This game is really really fun. It’s clearly a very budget title, having wonky visuals, minor glitches scattered about, being very short, and a lot of samey looking levels. But it’s able surpass that and be great because Bubsy just controls perfectly. One of those games where moving around in a basic room is just fun. And it really shines in the speedrun challenges. I just wish there was more.
Rating: I Tried Playing With Tank Controls, I Really Tried… I Couldn’t/10
47. The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act:
Yeah, it was pretty good. I think there are some things that could’ve been done better, but overall it hit all the beats it needed to. And episode 8 was significantly better in the context of episode 9 I think. The middle part of episode 9 was a lot better than the beginning and especially the very end.
Rating: Glitch Presents: “I Saw The TV Glow 2”/10
48. Ace Attorney Investigations Collection:
This is an odd collection. On one hand you have a game that's a stripped down, middling ace attorney experience. Nothing bad, but nothing great. And then on the other hand you have a fantastic entry in the ace attorney series that does a deep dive into Edgeworth's character. Investigations 1 isn't bad but 2 runs thousands of laps around it. Worth the price for just 2 alone.
Rating: Too Bad There Wasn't Enough Of... That Man... That Man From My Past... You Know, That Man...../10
49. ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN:
The pure style is what make this game worthwhile. The story is often funny and has enough meat on its bones to be carried by all the esoteric symbolism. The gameplay is. There. It's not bad, but it's quite basic. I didn't get tired of it until the post-main story stuff where enemies became huge damage sponges that could kill you in one hit. There's not enough here mechanically for me to want to keep engaging with that.
Rating: These Sort Of Things Just Happen/10
50. Back to the Future Part III:
It's a fun time. The setting becomes sort of a basic western, but the time travel premise gets rid of the whole "America and genocide is awesome" stuff, for better and for worse. But yeah idk, it's a fun, tightly designed movie. Fast food movie.
Rating: Funniest Final Shot In A Movie Ever/10
Music Playlist YEEEAAAAHHH:
Every year I reset my music playlist, here's my 2026 ones:
Twenty, Twenty, Six, Jams
Dropped:
Pieces of media I dropped this year.
Yakuza 2:
Nothing really wrong with this one (well no that's not true, it's lowkey weird about Koreans for some reason), but decided with all the weird decisions of the series recently I'm just not really into playing through the whole series at the moment.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End:
You would think for a show where the main character's race (or nationality? Not like the show draws a difference) is an important part of the premise, it would take care in trying to incorporate that aspect into the show. Seven episodes in we are introduced to a race of people that look, sound, and think like humans, but they are simply evil. Is there nuance? Nope, it's very quickly shot down when trying to help a child of this race ends with them eating someone because of what they inherently are. We're meant to see Frieren shooting them down in the street as her being wise as far as I can tell. It's gross rhetoric for a show that presents itself with an interesting premise that subverts fantasy tropes, but just falls back into all its worst ones.
Codename: Gordon:
A weird, jank, sexist thing meant to just sell Half-Life 2. Died at the final boss and it booted me to the beginning of the game and I pressed alt-f4.
Half-Life: Source:
Half-Life but what if we made it worse in every way and you got soft locked 15 minutes in.
Star Wars Vintage: Droids:
I watched a single episode and it was just flashing lights that washed over me completely. It felt like it was 50 minutes, but in the way I just wanted it to end but it kept going. Expect the Ewoks show on the dropped list within 24 hours.
Star Wars Vintage: Ewoks:
Slightly more comprehensible than the droids first episode but still yeah nah we're not doing this lmao.
Some Shit From the Internet:
The line between what I put here and what goes in the main media list is kind of blurry and vibes based. These aren’t lesser but they are just like. Things. Internet is big so. Lots of stuff.
Discarded Toy - https://archiveofourown.org/works/59836324/chapters/152636464
Some peak as fuck toxic yuri smut. I need to be taken advantage of fuccckk.
Could You Look at Me? - https://archiveofourown.org/works/79165156?view_adult=true
I love this writer so much. Lyra in this story encapsulates so much of my fears and anxieties around attraction and it’s twisted in such a way that’s so hot.
Let’s Read Homestuck: Epilogues - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5AGMJteXYBmILz5Z9PlwgSWP2-CGqfSt&si=AJK8lu6s3RxG0YbU
A quite good audiobook reading of the homestuck epilogues. There’s some varying quality in performance and audio quality, but it’s overall pretty good.
