The September 2025 Quarterly Media Report

Hello! It's been a hell of a quarter. I won't talk about it much, but my beloved dog Kipper died unexpectedly in early August, and due to grief I didn't really do as much after that. I hope y'all can forgive me for that.

Games

July

I checked out the to a T demo. I admire the work Keita Takahashi (the creator of Katamari Damacy ) puts out there, and I was pretty sure this would be about disability. And it definitely is! I have not purchased the game yet, but I absolutely will.

I had some fun with Stardew Valley and was having a wonderful time. I even did a little multiplayer (and we had the fun chaos of seeing how mods work on the host player's end).

I am sure it surprises zero people that I played more of Fields of Mistria. It's fun it's great. I started a few romances.

I'm checking out this game in Early Access, a raising sim about a dragon. It's called DRAPLINE. I beat the first boss and after that I took a break.

Okay so, I Had been enjoying Fantasy Life i and I plan to get back to it, but I got so annoyed when I found out on your island you can only have 6 houses no matter how many villagers you have to clear rubble and therefore space, the rest just have to be homeless I GUESS????? Anyway, that irritated me so bad I stopped playing. I hope they've changed it or will change it.

The weather was favorable for a bit for controller-based games, so I played a little Atelier Marie R. I got my Dunkelheit just fine. Still haven't beaten it.

Got back into Long Live the Queen because of Galaxy Princess Zorana. I am still bad at Long Live the Queen, but one of these times I want to win!

Really enjoyed some of the new content in Hades II (I lost most of my notes about this because of bad luck with Mastodon bookmarks). I started heavily looking forward to 1.0.

August

I played more Stardew Valley. I promised to actually try some of the Ginger Island stuff this time, but I haven't yet. The boat's repaired though.

Played more Fields of Mistria. This is when I started screaming about Tide Salad.

This month in Hades II I set my sights on romancing Moros, well… everyone I could really, but Moros was the most available.

Played more FISH FEAR ME. Not remotely close to clearing the debt but it's fun.

I played a little Rune Factory 5. Not as much as I'd like due to two parts: 1- too much farming sim 2- I lost the bookmarked thread I had for it on Mastodon (I hate that this is a theme) and so I lost my notes. I think I still owe Lucy a 3rd date?

Catto's Post Office came out and it's adorable! I beat it, and it's going in my “Having a bad day” Steam Collection. A+ Do recommend.

Had some agreeable controller weather and got to start Tony Hawk 1 & 2. I did not finish the tutorial, my fault, it was taking longer than I anticipated to clear (spoiler: after years of not playing these games I have forgotten how to play these games). I'll get back to it another time.

September

More Fields of Mistria. After getting the damn tide salad (did you know you can throw things at Mimics? That's what you're supposed to do! ) I took a break from that. From Farming games soon after. Kind of burnt out.

You may know 1.0 dropped for Hades II. I was quite excited. No true clear yet, and I'm putting it off now that there's an update coming out that looks like it's going to update some of the end game content and such. I was surprised. I discussed with a friend and we could only think of two other games that changed their ending due to reception ( River City Girls and Mass Effect 3).

I got to play a smidge more Umineko Chiru: Episode 8. Spoiler: Not done yet. And between the holidays and social obligations, I'm not sure I'll GET to play more of it before the end of the year. I hope I do. I really want to beat it. Fly freely you know?

I started getting back into visual novels (on my own) with Rose of Winter. Still haven't gotten all the endings, but it's an enjoyable one. I hope The Golden Boar (A webcomic set in the world of Rose of Winter) comes back soon, I miss it.

My brother got his hands on a Switch 2 so I've been playing some Mario Kart World on occasion. I find it much more enjoyable than the DS one (or was it 3DS) that I played last where the Blue Shell was a tactical nuke basically made to spite first place.

I also started up Mario Golf for the GameBoy Color. I remember I loved this game so much as a child, and now I'm halfway decent at it (And save scumming).

I played a little more Animal Crossing New Horizons less because of depression, and more because one of my friends wanted to reset their file and wanted me to tour their island as a final goodbye.

I've been getting into Katamari Damacy ReRoll. Making slow progress but it's just as fun as I remembered!

Things I'd Like to Work on (Game-wise)

I want to take a break from farming games until they feel enjoyable again instead of a (fictional) chore. Part of the problem with that though, is that I usually played a farming game to unwind. Listen to podcasts, farm. That sort of thing. I'll have to find a substitute. Maybe stuff like A Short Hike?

Things I'm looking forward to (Game-wise)

Well it'd be a lie to say I wasn't looking forward to the Animal Crossing New Horizons update out of nowhere (in January). But that's a ways off.

I probably won't celebrate Halloween with it, but I am looking forward to the Tales of Xillia Remaster. The PS3 had a lot of gems.

Books

July

I finally finished the Normal Gossip book in July. I learned the hard way that those frixion highlighters don't necessarily erase from books…

I read the Song of the Lioness Graphic Novel Adapation. Loved it. Zero notes.

I have started to get into poetry because of the podcast “Wonderful!” and I read Nicole Sealey's Ordinary Beast. It was amazing.

August

I did not read much this month due to grief. I did finish When It All Syncs Up by Maya Ameyaw, which is a beautiful book I recommend to everyone.

September

I read the first volume of I Wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase. It's great and I want to read more of it.

I finally read The Marble Queen by Anna Kopp which I've been meaning to for literal years.

If you (or your library) doesn't have Ngozi Ukazu's Flip, you need to rectify that immediately.

Things I'd Like to Work on (Reading-Wise)

I don't know how to do this but I need to learn to prioritize reading library books. My mind just does what it wants!

Things I'm looking forward to (Reading-Wise)

Most of what I was looking forward to got pushed back to the new year. Oh well!

Miscellaneous Media

July

The main thing I want to point out is that UK all trans / non-binary performance of Twelfth Night, that was live streamed. It was wonderful and I'm glad I got to enjoy it.

August

In August I finally committed to a time when a friend and I could watch episodes 5 and 6 of The Amazing Digital Circus. I love that show.

September

In September, I watched Knights of Guinevere like everyone else. It's great and I want to see more of it.

I listened to a performance in the Clarkesworld podcast of Yarn Theory by Marie Vibbert It's short and nice.

Things I'd Like to Work on (Miscellaneous)

I would like to finish the first season The Magnus Archives and also Shelterwood: A Suburban Gothic by the end of the year. I think combined that'd be maybe eight hours tops, and I certainly have time for that. I also want to watch more in general. I'd also like to listen to more new-to-me music, and truly listen, which is difficult with my ADHD.

Things I'm looking forward to (Miscellaneous)

Not looking forward to virtually anything (Announced) in this category. When my love (Dungeon Meshi) comes back from the War (gets Season 2 made) I will be quite happy.

Hopefully I will have more to report in January when I do the breakdown for Quarter 4.