I don't really have a larger point to this other than venting, all I can really say is that I'm tired, I'm angry, I'm scared, and I'm once again being told I deserve my own oppression

Obviously this isn't to say everyone is like this, that would be pretty hypocritical of me to paint with such a wide brush, it's just a general sentiment I've seen circulating online for a lot of my life

And I just wonder if I'll ever be afforded the dignity of being seen as a person and given the same rights and support as others

Meanwhile, I look at my stock of HRT medicine and wonder how long it will last if that becomes illegal, I look at the printed page of directions I wrote to different safe locations in case we need to flee the state suddenly

(As if the latter isn't already happening)

It feels like every couple of weeks or so, I see a new post somewhere about how all Americans are narcissistic, awful people who deserve every horror being enacted on them, how all Americans are the same and it's their own fault and that they should be militarizing and dying in the street

Now, as I'm unable to even go to my work in person anymore after the bathroom bill passed, as my family is targeted by state government officials for writing about trans experiences, and as the work that I do is actively being censored by higher ups, I get that same familiar feeling

Then I moved to Texas and shortly after watched the state freeze over and people die due to the neglect from the state government to properly prepare for such an eventuality, and I remember people saying we deserved it because of how deeply red the state had voted in the election

I lived in South Carolina for a few years and had just come out as the bathroom bans really started to pick up steam and I remember constantly feeling that the sentiment from many people in blue states was something in the vein of "of course those places would do that, what did you expect?"

The opening of this game is pretty slow but very charming

That whole opening area is so pretty with the water

And that's every game I rolled credits on this year! It felt so good keeping track of all of these and getting to cross off so many games I'd been wanting to play for so long. Here's to 2026 where my goal is to play through all of the Kingdom Hearts games!

Metroid Prime 4 (Switch 2) - I didn't expect to finish this game this year but I got into a groove with it and beat it in a couple weeks. I stand by my initial response: I like it, it's not groundbreaking, it's just the sequel to Prime 3, for all the good and bad that that carries with it

Mother 3 (Analogue Pocket) - Truly a fitting end for the series. Like I'm not really interested in there being any more Mother games because this one tied it all off so effectively for me. Just please make it more accessible (though we all know that's never going to happen)

Earthbound (Switch) - I have mixed feelings on this game. The first half was pretty fun but pulled back on the openness I liked about the first game, meanwhile the second half was such an awful slog for me. The way I put it, I like Earthbound, I don't like Mother 2

Mother 1 (Switch) - I played through all three of these this year and wow what a series. Its the kind of series that makes me feel lucky I get to be alive at a time when I can experience it. I've also gotta say it but Mother 1 is my favorite in the series for sure

Final Fantasy 16 (PS5) - Great game. Not my favorite FF but after the mess that was 15 (not hating the game itself but it took a while for it to get to a finished state), it felt crazy just getting such a competent mainline FF game again.

Virtua Fighter 5 Revo (PC) - Every year I have like a month where I'll get super into fighting games. This year I tried out VF5 and it was really fun. I have high hopes for 6. Feels weird to say I "beat" a game like this but I did technically roll credits on the arcade mode so...I guess that works