It Feels So Silly To Say This But My Replay Of Tmgs4 Ended Up So Tense I Was Praying Every Time I Opened

obsessed with this part of Scien's route - Dahut really said "You can fix him!" 😭

this is gonna kill me

Aromanticism and Otome Games

I am an aromantic who loves otome games. It may seem incredibly contradictory, especially since a common perception of otome is that it's solely wish-fulfillment games for people to insert themselves into a story where they date attractive men. There's definitely nothing wrong with playing them in that way, and many people get a lot of enjoyment out of them, but that isn't the only way to play an otome game. In fact, many otome game players prefer not to self-insert at all and I’m one of them!

My personal experience being aromantic means I do not feel romantic attraction to anyone, and I do not desire or need a romantic relationship to feel fulfilled in life. I’m perfectly happy with my platonic bonds and my perpetual singleness! That’s how I experience it, but there are many different ways to be aromantic, and there’s no one universal experience that defines how all aromantic people live their lives. Some are repulsed by romance and its overbearing presence in nearly all forms of media, and others are comfortable seeing other people experience romance despite not experiencing it themselves (though these, of course, are not the only two groups). I personally lean more towards the latter category. I love romance stories! 

For me, playing an otome game is like watching a romance movie where I get to decide who the heroine ends up with. It's like a shipper's dream! I don’t self-insert because I am not comfortable putting myself in romantic situations, but by observing a fictional couple, I can explore the romantic plots and experiences that pique my curiosity. And let me tell you, I love a good romance plot. Especially one with drama.

A comparison I like to make when people don’t seem to get it is that I also really, really love murder mysteries and tragedies, but I do NOT want to actually experience them myself. What I want for a character and what I want for myself are two completely separate things, so there’s really no contradiction! 

In fact, playing otome games was a big part of my aromantic journey in the first place. I never had crushes as a kid that weren’t forced or peer pressured. When people talk about the characters in their childhood shows that they had crushes on, I can never relate. To me, there were only interesting characters and stories. I’ve never really wanted anything more than that. 

So when my second-ever relationship ended and I was wondering whether I really felt romantic attraction at all, I decided to try otome games. 

I chose Collar x Malice as my first game because, as I mentioned earlier, I am a huge fan of mysteries and tragedies, and the premise intrigued me. Then, throughout my exploration of various otome games (and as I quickly became hooked on them) I tried some games with less developed heroines, specifically made for self-inserting, and found that I couldn’t handle them. Separating myself from the heroine helped me enjoy the games more as I realized that I didn’t actually want to be in these romantic situations myself, but only wanted to enjoy the story.

So what was the point of this whole post? I guess just to share my own personal experiences as an aromantic otome-lover and address the contradiction. Otome games aren’t necessarily mainstream-popular, but they certainly have their dedicated fans, and I’ve really enjoyed the interactions I’ve had so far with these fandom spaces. 

Sure, the primary focus of the games may be pretty boys who you can date, but otome games can also be so much more than that! It’s a genre I’m glad I decided to try. 

I’m happy to be an aro along for the ride to read some good stories, puzzle out the right route choices, and look at some aesthetically pleasing character designs along the way! :)

Guys look at her 🥰

Hamlet. Hamlet, listen to me. Hamlet you gotta kill your uncle (message your friends). Killing your uncle (reaching out to your friends) is extremely vital to achieving your goals. You want to get revenge for your father (maintain your friendships). You want to kill your uncle (talk to your friends). You have the perfect opportunity right now because Claudius is defenseless (discord says your friends are online) so just kill the king (message them!!!!). Hamlet you're making excuses again. Hamlet if you wait too long this is going to end poorly. Hamlet-

uh oh Hamlet moment (driven insane by my own inaction despite the fact that i both need and genuinely want to do the things i am not doing)

you pretty , he pretty , you swan , he swan

i am so immediately head over heels for killer chat who does not love love interests who can and will kill you. god

I've played a little bit of that one!! It's been a while, and I don't think I ever finished a route because life got super busy around the time I started playing it, but I really like the characters and the concept!! i think the whole design of the game is so cool

Fr the murderous love interests are great lol - I think I was halfway through Angel's route?? I'll have to start over when I pick it up again, my memory is so bad 😭

not all ships are For wanting them to be in a happy healthy relationship together. sometimes shipping two characters means you want them to be erotically obsessed with each other and become entwined in a mutually toxic love affair for a few months and then horrifically break each other's hearts and never speak again. sometimes you want them to be codependent best friends with enough repression to explode a submarine who only make out/have sex when they're at their worst. sometimes you want them to pine after each other for years, never say anything, and then die. sometimes you want them to kill each other. this, too, is shipping

dating simulator - and here I mean a tokimeki throwback simulator-ass dating simulator - built around "trying to maintain a tumblr presence in 2013"