2026 Roadmap

Hello everyone, and welcome to 2026! Already, a lot of horrible things have happened in the news. This is an era of international destabilization, of an unashamed, naked-faced return to political spheres of influence dictated by might. And yet, in the face of this, we should be looking to one another, and supporting one another, in the face of tyranny and the abuse of power. Human beings are worth fighting for. Ironically, I think, it is my recommendation that you leave the internet for a little while – if you’re in a privileged enough social position to do so – and see the world around you, and ground yourself a bit. That was a significant chunk of last year for me, and I’ve reset my brain a little.

Regarding my channel, this year, 2026, shall be, I think, a year of discipline and self-love. Whereas last year was a  year of upset and admittedly some excuses, this year will be steadier in all respects. This year is also marked by creative goals in my personal life, which I will be factoring into this roadmap. So, without further ado, here are my goals for 2026:

• At least twenty-six blog posts (a goal I’ve achieved consistently over the last few years, and surpassed at that! It’s a pleasure to continue to produce material for this website that I’ve maintained now for eight years.)
• I’m going to once again aim for six video essays, but even if I fall short of the mark, I would love to hit four (one every three months). I’ve been having some trouble pinning down a video essay topic that feels… profound enough. A lot of the video essays I switch on in the background, without naming names, are very surface-level commentaries. Of course a lot of video essayists aren’t interested in that kind of deeper analysis, but I’m really focusing on making my channel stand apart from the rest. Every video essay I release I want to be carefully considered, worthy of the “HGA name”, as it is. So we’ll see how I do, also keeping in mind that I detest my voice at the moment. The topics I have in mind are that promised video on Aka Manto, a video on Pathologic, and the video on Siren: Blood Curse, but there’ll be others there!
• Streaming will resume again in February. This year I will have a schedule in mind. The day is forthcoming (this will depend on a few other things), but I will be picking a time every week for an hour and a half to two hours, which I will ringfence as “streaming time”. This will let everyone begin to tune in again with some regularity. THis will also let me mentally prepare for a stream every week.

Now, here’s for the new, potentially more exciting stuff I plan to release this year:

• A module for at least one roleplaying system. There are two modules I have planned, for two different systems. There’ll be more news on this to come around March or April!
• A self-published (or even published by someone else!) poetry chapbook. This is more of a personal goal and I’m unsure yet whether anyone here will see it, but nonetheless it’s important for me to have this goal in mind. 
• A finished draft of the novel I’m working on, which is approaching reality. Sitting down and writing through some gaps in the story and crafting the climax is the goal. Again, this might not be something that’s seen this year, but over the next two years, publishing a novel is the goal. 
• A finished (or mostly finished) video game. Yes, that’s right – over the last week, I’ve put together several prototypes I made over the course of last year. This has resulted in a decent dialogue system, a functioning Fear & Hunger-style battle system, and the ability to craft modular enemies, shape one of two playable characters’ backstories, and a working inventory / skill system. All of this means that I have all the pieces of a horror roleplaying game in place. I’ve been spending a part of every day of the last week writing it, and provided I keep to a schedule – which is going well so far – I could see myself publishing at least an early access build of the game this year. I just have to learn how to draw properly and compose good music. Easy, right?

If I maintain a steady pace, with discipline, I believe I can hit these targets. I’m pruning back on some of my other commitments to focus on creative things this year, which I think I need in order to relax, ironically enough. I need to finally be able to point to some of my long term goals and say “finished!”, so the goal at the core of this year is to finally start putting my creative mind out into the world. Regardless of what impact I make, I think the mere act of putting it out there will be able to put my mind at ease. And when I’ve put something out first, it will, I believe, snowball in terms of facilitating my confidence. 

For anyone who also needs to hear this at the beginning of 2026, stop putting roadblocks in your own way. I’ve made incredible lists of excuses for myself. Oh I don’t have time, I couldn’t learn to draw, I’m too tired, and so on. While I know I have to look after myself, I also have to recognize that just plopping down on the couch and picking something “easy” to do isn’t getting me any closer to what I want to achieve. To the life I want to live well. I told people last year that I was no longer interested in perfection. And this is true, but I think it’s harder to put things like that into action. This year is the year where I do construct discipline, routine, and organize myself in ways that actually make sense. I’ve learned a lot over the last few years about myself, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I know that without the last few years of chaos I wouldn’t be able to set all of these really important goals now. 

I look forward to seeing you around the channel and around the website. Please do leave comments on the website, as I love to discuss the topics of my articles with people, and I would love to hear what people are most excited for from this list! I wish everyone a good year, and I hope that in the face of overwhelming existential problems we can have dignity and respect for one another, that we can understand others, and love each other. As always, the three universal constants: trans rights are human rights, love is love, and HGA is determined to make the best of her year!