Favourite physical media bought in 2025

…as collected by a 20-something queer

Hey diva! Welcome back In The Pillow Fort! During the past few years I have fallen back in love with physical media. It puts me at ease to know that no notification or call is gonna break the song or movie playing. It makes me happy and fuzzy inside to be able to reach out for the pieces of media which have nestled in my heart. Here are my favourite such pieces I got in 2025!

Albums

Mayhem by Lady Gaga

This was my first pre-order of anything, ever. I bought it a few weeks after Abracadabra dropped, and when the album dropped, I knew I made the right call. Since then, this album became my most listened to album of the year. All of my most listened songs came from it. I believe it is the best Gaga project to date and I will never shut up about it.

I prefer the original album cover to the one I have, but I absolutely love the design of the case and booklet. In general, Mayhem has my favourite visual identity of any Gaga albums. I love how gritty it is, and how the typography is manipulated. I just wish that the booklet was even more distorted than it is. The parts where the designer leaned into the distortion are perfect.

Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack

My rewatch of Hannah Montana re-ignited my childhood love for the show. I realised how much I loved its music. Throughout the following months I kept going back to this particular soundtrack the most, so I got it off Vinted when I came to France. I stumbled upon this special edition by pure luck. It has the standard CD with the songs, as well as a DVD with music videos for a few of them! Also, the booklet folds out into a poster of Hannah.

The design of the discs is really cool. They cut out parts of the labels to create dots and stars which gives them a premium look. I’m proud to have them in my collection. Also, the way the case folds out to reveal the bonus DVD is insane. I have played the soundtrack while coding for my Neocities site. It feels way more special than just hitting play on my PC. The Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack is my second favourite, so I’m on the lookout for it.

Breakout by Miley Cyrus

Like I said in my Hannah Montana rewatch post, Miley’s early music slaps. I checked it out as I was watching the show and Breakout blew me away! As with Hannah Montana 3, I listened to it on streaming so much that I decided to pick up the CD off Vinted. I specifically went for the version with the red disc. I just love the shade of red that they chose, and it goes so well with the main gold colour of the album.

Visually, this album is the definition of the 2000s. I love the vibes of it. We have stars all over the booklet, Miley’s name and the album title is written in a lowercase serif font. You know this is pre-streaming because the title is barely visible next to her photo. I have listened to the album all the way through while working on the aforementioned site.

DVDs

Barbie and The Diamond Castle (Barbie i dijamantni dvorac)

Growing up, I had a lot of Barbie movies dubbed in Croatian on DVD. As I grew older, I gave or threw them away (they were burned, dw). Then I realised that there’s no legal way to stream those movies in Croatian. And what is one to do when streaming fails them? Start collecting their childhood dubs on DVD as an adult! Yep, Barbie movies are the reason for my physical media interest!

Diamond Castle is my favourite Barbie movie by far. However, it was also very hard to come by nowadays! It took me two years before I managed to snag a copy. I guess it sells out quickly because it is so beloved. Now I have it and I’m not letting it go. Our two main girlies are as queer-coded as ever and the songs still slap! This movie is the definition of both slay and cunt. The romance subtext is palpable. If you haven’t seen it yet… what are you doing? It’s about two girls living together in a cottage in the woods, who then go on a magical adventure to serve even more cunt with their music and save the world! You’ll like it, go watch! ❤

Barbie in A Christmas Carol (Barbie u Božićnoj priči)

While I didn’t have Diamond Castle on DVD growing up, I had at least seen it. The Christmas Carol on the other hand managed to completely evade me as a kid. Oh my Gaga, do I feel sorry about that. This movie is AMAZING! I’ve watched it twice now and both times I cried at the end. The actress who voiced Eden in the Croatian dub also voiced Alexa (aka Sandra in Croatian) in Diamond Castle, as well as Tinkerbell in the Pixie Hollow movies. She was amazing in all of those. I love hearing her voice. The other voice actors were incredible as well.

There’s no question about it; this movie is going into my holiday rewatches during December. I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz

I told myself I wasn’t gonna collect Bratz movies on DVD because I still have the ones from my childhood at my parents’ house. However, the reason behind why I have this one is tragic. While I was watching this one a few months ago, the DVD player scratched it beyond repair. The Bratz Babyz DVD met the same fate. I was heartbroken. Even more so since Diamondz is my favourite of the Bratz movies.

It turns out that Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz is also pretty rare to find on DVD in Croatian. Luckily, I found one a few months ago and it was affordable. I don’t think it is still my favourite Bratz movie, but I’m happy to have it back nonetheless. Trust and believe, that DVD player was thrown away soon after it committed this awful crime. The soundtrack of this movie is INCREDIBLE. I listen to it all the time. It will find its way to my CD collection when I can find a cheap copy.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert (Priscilla, folle du désert)

I picked this movie up on a whim at a flea market for one euro or maybe less. I knew it is a queer cult classic and that it features drag queens. My boyfriend and I watched it that night and I loved it. It provided such a great insight into life of queer people during the 90s. It is fun and funny, all the while managing to deal with heavy topics of discrimination outside and inside of the queer community, shame, assault, and others.

If you are sensitive about any of those topics, be careful. I would advise you against watching it in that case. If you can watch it, however, I recommend it fully. It’s a movie about queer joy, as well as the struggles our community faces. It’s about shining your light, being true to yourself, and chosen family. I truly loved it. And the soundtrack is incredible as well. It’s a 90s drag queen movie. How could the music not be good?

These are the pieces of physical media which made my 2025 a bit lighter and which I hold dearest in my collection so far. If you also collect physical media, I would love to know what are your favourite pieces! Thanks for coming to The Fort, and listening to me yap about albums and movies. I hope to see you again soon! Happy New Year!!!

Dorian

The blog’s header and the drawing featured atop this post were made by @ambybun on Instagram

The website featured in the drawing was made by me