#The Sonic series is the big one I'm trying to work through rn

[redwylde]

Getting older and getting wiser, I've come to some realisations about how I feel about female characters as a romance-repulsed aromantic.

Early 2000s, growing up I couldn't connect to a lot of female characters because 9/10 they were introduced to be a love interest first and a character second. Their femininity was intrinsically linked to the fact they would be falling in love with the male protagonist and it was so restrictive and alienating. It's for that reason I ended up liking male characters more because they were allowed to exist without the looming threat of romance. Boys could be anything they wanted, partly because of misogyny as well. "Girls only care about ruining your life by wanting you to settle down and all that cinge love stuff", which was a problem for BOTH sides.

Now we have more female characters who are not driven by romance and it's freeing, and I know it's hard for alloros to understand, especially if you REALLY enjoy romance, but the possibilities it opens up having female characters who are no longer defined by romance is really comforting for people like me.

Okay yes, a lot of times there's an overcorrection and the women are super mean for no reason or have zero personality beyond "I punch men" - that's undoubtedly a flaw - but is it so bad to be relieved that there's more of a choice out there now? That I no longer have to be afraid I'll be coerced or trapped into a romantic situation because that's what people expect of me as a woman? That every female character who is no longer solely focused on romance is slowly making it more "normal" to be a woman and be single?

As an aroace kid I opposed a lot of romantic subplots. As a kid it was everywhere and there was no reprieve. You were a girl, you have to revolve around love because that's all girls are good for. Male shounen protagonists were my best friends because they could go a whole season without an awkward lovey dovey moment. Just being aware of that had made me feel like I understand my aromantism growing up and be kinder to myself when engaging with content. Like, I know what it stems from now and can work with it to be happy.

[tomyo]

My 2025 Gaming Goals:

Fighting against my backlog of games is the fact I bought a PSP recently. While the goal was to play through a bunch of games, I think this year will be paired with buying a bunch so I have things for my PSP. That being said I'm trying to force myself into two challenges.

By far, the greatest amount of games I have to play are for Sonic (9-10) and Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons (13-16). For each of them, I've tried to set up a challenge of how many I have to play to buy some bigger games on the list. There's kinda like 3 stages; one that's just a bullshit 1 game requirement, one that a few games, and then close to or the full list of games to buy the grand prize game. For Sonic; Shadow the Hedgehog is currently the bullshit 1 game req due to some copies being accessible rn when it's probs on the verge of jumping in price, midway is Rivals 2, Rush Adventure, and Zero Gravity as they're usually pretty midrange price($20-35), and then the grand prize is Sonic Shuffle which usually hits $70. Not a particularly liked game and I have a bunk copy of it but it's more for the beauty of the style it has. As for HM; low entry is Boy & Girl mostly because there's a cheap cheap copy I might win the bid on, midrange will be Story of Seasons due to its availability for new still, and the really grand prize for all of this is Hero of Leaf Valley which also tends to be $70 for a copy. Like I said I really want games for my PSP so I'm hoping it can motivate me. However I'm not that type of masochist and I'm making it a 10 game entry because up to 16 Harvest Moon games might kill me on top of all the other life stuff I have going on. Either way, the hope is to help curb spending on games by blocking impulsive spending (hah, we'll see if that works).

Overall though, here's my game hunts for 2025:

Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic Rivals 2

Harvest Moon Hero of Leaf Valley

Story of Seasons

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Lost World

Sonic Riders Zero Gravity

Sonic Shuffle

Wii Party

Zelda 3ds Remakes

Sega Dreamcast Collection

ZombiU

Amiibo Festival

The Sonic Olympic Series

Sims 1 expansions

For PSP Specifically:

Sims 2 Pets

Sims 2 Castaway

Kingdom Hearts 365/2

Innocent Life

Little Big Planet

A handful of Japanese VNs

That one weird warioware knockoff

And the 2024 carry over:

Just Dance Kinect Series (2014-2019)

Nicola Series

Endless Ocean 1+2

Another Code R

Pokemon Dash

Ultra Sun (easy mode)

Fire Red/Leaf Green at a good price (impossible)

Black/BW2 at a decent price (impossible)

HM Magical Melody Wii

Wii Play Motion

World ends with you

Wii U twilight princess

DuckTales wiiu

Finally for what I actually think I'll actually want to buy in 2025 from the above:

Little Big Planet

Sims 2 Pets

Sims 2 Castaway

Innocent Life

Hero of Leaf Valley

Story of Season

Sonic Rivals 2

Sonic Lost World

Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Riders Zero Gravity

Dreamcast Collection

Amiibo Festival

ZombiU

Whatever unintentional finds of Sims, Just Dance or Pokemon Sun might be made.

I really want to utilize my PSP next year to which admittedly I'm a little embarrassed how little of games I want to play on it. Games like Rivals 2 and LBP only made it out of a need for cartoony games.

Anyway that's my ramble into the void. I feel I've thought more about gaming than actually gaming.