this was written in the context of a time when i was using an icon of the character nicole, as well as displaying other things related to class of '09 on my page. there's a good chance this context will cease to exist at some point down the line.

class of '09 became one of those things that went out of style after it's 15 minutes of fame. one of the biggest indications of this to me was when i found a video on youtube titled something like "class of '09 was never good" or whatever. i'm not going to sit here and try to justify my interest in it to you if that's what you're looking for, nor do i particularly lack a desire to engage in media critically.

i have hardly even engaged directly with anything related to class of '09 since 2024, when the flip side released. i originally bought the first two games back in 2023, where i played the first game with some friends. never really got around to the second game, considering various things that would happen in my life by the time 2024 rolled around. then in 2025, it was just never something i got around to. most of my exposure to the re-up and all of my exposure to the flip side was through watching videos on youtube. like most people, i thought the the flip side was complete fucking garbage.

i say all of this to make a point: i'm not a hardcore fan or someone who goes out of their way to defend class of '09. my interest in class of '09, especially after so long, is far less about it's actual merits and more about how it made me feel.

nicole is an interesting character to me. most of the time i don't even think about when a character's named nicole, and how that reminds me of my own middle name. class of '09 is the only really exception to that. as someone who often struggles immensely with putting their foot down and not letting others walk over me, in a weird way, nicole was kind of an inspiration. sure, she's obviously terrible, but you can go entire routes playing as her without ever choosing to give into anyone else. class of '09 is one of the few games i've experienced personally where regardless of if you're an unabashed selfish prick or a complete doormat, shit is usually terrible for you either way and that resonates with me a lot.

during an extremely rough patch in 2023, it was nicole's character that made me feel like i had the power to make a tough choice i was faced with at the time. i choose to do something i considered selfish in order to put myself first. i'm no fool, i know i already had the capacity to do that all on my own. still, i've lived a life where i often feel like i'm stuck between a rock and hard place and have no idea what i could possibly do to improve anything. if you've been systematically made to feel as though you're powerless and helpless, sometimes it's the things you least expect that can remind things aren't so bad.

sure, things are still going to suck and you'll face some of form of consequence no matter what you do, but if you're going to do something, at least have it be something that will make things better for you.