#I don't want to delete it though

[anigrams-productions]

Rather than responding with anger and harassment towards people asking for male or non-binary MCs in otome games, we should respond with information like this. The whole "I want games like otome games but with MCs and LIs of varied genders" conundrum is exactly what the "amare" label was created for, so let's spread the word and help educate people on the difference!

No dev should feel obligated to add a male MC to a game clearly marketed as "otome". That label has a distinct meaning and is used to help the game's target audience find it and know it's for them.

That said... I've definitely played plenty of games where I thought to myself, "Gee, I wish I could play this as a female character." Didn't mean I didn't like the game or had something against it. Quite the opposite! And I don't think there's anything wrong with expressing that desire as long as there's no demand or expectation attached. This kind of feedback can help developers better understand their actual audience - which may differ drastically from their intended audience - and could influence decisions regarding how to approach future projects.

We've definitely seen the above happen with popular game franchises like Harvest Moon (Story of Seasons) and Pokémon. Both started out with exclusively male protagonists, but have slowly become more inclusive over time as they realized how much these games appealed to players outside of their original intended audience.

But, you know, there also has to be enough of a ROI (return on investment) to make it worth it. The more advanced you make the character customization, the more money, time, and resources you'll need to make it happen. The extra cost just won't be worth it for every game, especially indie games. It might seem simple on the surface, but a properly integrated character customization system will change everything about a game. Some examples:

Character design

is the player limited to a selection of presets? or can they create their own character "from scratch"?

if the player can create their own character, how do you decide which hair, hair color, skin color, eye color, eye shapes, nose shapes, ear shapes, face shapes, body shapes, mouth shapes, expressions, shirts, pants, shoes, underwear, earrings, hats, glasses, tattoos, scars, etc. options to include? how will you make them look cohesive no matter what combination the player chooses?

will the MC be animated? if so, how will you make sure all the different pieces in all the different possible combinations fit and don't clip into each other?

if a character is meant to be romanceable, what makes them attractive? are they too old/too young for the MC or otherwise problematic? do they have enough depth as a character to create a compelling romance?

Gameplay design

how does the player's appearance or gender factor into the game?

do characters react differently to different genders or races?

how would that play into the story's themes?

should characters be able to change their appearance? if so, how and under what conditions?

should characters be able to change their gender? if so, what problems will that cause from a system limitation standpoint?

if some romance options are locked down by gender, what happens if you change your gender?

is there pregnancy? if so, how does that affect battle, farming, etc.?

UX design

is the MC shown in-game?

does the MC's portrait/sprite/model reflect the player's choices? what about cutscenes or CGs?

look and feel for new screens for initial character customization and possibly another once the game is in-progress, etc.

System architecture (if you do this wrong, your code will be a mess and your game will run like crap)

how will you keep track of the player's pronouns and other customization options?

how will you make sure your 1000+ assets representing all the possible options for your customized character will be optimized and loaded efficiently without the player having to download a 1TB game?

do you need to keep track of different pronouns, pet names, etc. across different languages?

how do you make sure the correct MC portrait/sprite/model is displayed?

if there are interactions specific to gender, race, etc., how do you keep these organized and determine which one to use?

(see also all the other things under Game Design that have programming implications)

it's interesting how every month or so (usually on twitter) there will be male-centric discourse on otomes, typically "why won't more otomes let me play as a man" or "why do I have to date men in otomes", in much more volume than there was years ago. I can only imagine that these sentiments typically stem from general anime fans trying to get into otomes with the misconception that dating sim = otome and vice versa.

for those unaware, not every dating sim is an otome and not every otome is a dating sim (though quite a few are). otome, as we define it in English-speaking fandoms, is a game with a female protagonist and male love interests. the kind of MC (faceless; customizable look & gender; fully fleshed out background), the length of the game, and the amount & gender of the love interests have varied over the years, but the constant is that otome has the choice to play as a female MC with at least some male LIs. most otomes are a type of visual novel, while dating sims are a subset of the visual novel medium focused on stat raising. dating sims can be any kind of romance orientation and not all romance visual novels are dating sims.

so because there's this misconception some have of what an otome actually is, we get repeating discourse every few weeks/months where someone comes to the ice cream shop asking for chicken tenders. that's not what we serve here. a lot of times these people mean well- they just want a certain kind of game but don't know the right terminology for it. sometimes they don't mean well and the conversations devolve into misogyny, but we're not here to discuss that aspect of it.

as more people become aware of visual novels and dating sims as a whole, these are the kind of growing pains the audience is going to face sadly. aside from telling people to Google terminology, I will leave you with this- if you see someone or you're interested in playing otome-like games that aren't just female MCs or male LIs, mess around with tags on itchio and you'll find a plethora of indie romance visual novels.

gay visual novels - boys love visual novels - yuri visual novels - dating sims - lgbt visual novels - romance visual novels

[mischievouslittlecreature]

I'm really genuinely so confused as to why I keep getting asks from people telling me that they hope Tommy dumps or even kills Lucy and ends up with Lizzie instead. I've gotten multiple variations at this point of "Lucy deserves to be raped/killed/otherwise hurt because how dare she get in the way of Tommy and Lizzie's happiness." I've just been deleting and ignoring them, but it's gotten to the point where there've been so many that I legitimately do not understand what is happening or what I did to cause this kind of reaction.

Like, I get it. A lot of you love Lizzie and ship her with Tommy. I have never had any problem with that. But if that's the type of story you're after, GO READ SOME FUCKING LIZZIE X TOMMY FICS AND LEAVE ME ALONE.

This series has never been marked as a Lizzie x Tommy story. I'm so confused as to why so many seem to expect that relationship to be the endgame of the series, and not the one that the series is actually tagged with and written around. I'm really starting to question my own writing abilities at this point. Has my depiction of Tommy and Lucy's relationship actually been that off-putting? Is Lucy really that unlikable that everyone hopes she ends up alone and miserable for the rest of her life, or even fucking dead?

I just don't understand. Someone please explain it to me.

[eggsistential-breakdown]

quick and loose (24 hours and counting) thing i tried to finish before move-in i'm calling it here i was defeated 😔 let's see if i can finish it before classes actually start (no) featurnig partial view of my krita setup (default) god be with ye all i need to be doing last minute packing in five-odd hours and then i will not sleep for four entire months god be with y'all

[suddencolds]

.~

[theworldisabrokenbonebutitishome]

There's nothing I wouldn't do cause love is crazy, I'm crazy too...

I Would - Lower Than Atlantis

[kyouka-supremacy]

Mmmhhh

[starflungwaddledee]

Do you take commissions? If so, do you have a commission sheet? I’m sorry if this is an annoying ask I just really love your work lol

not annoying at all! i really really appreciate this a lot, thank you!

i have done commissions in the past on other platforms, but for now i am not taking them here. i'm not saying that i never will, because sometimes life is.. you know. Like That™️. but for now i'm steering clear of it to try and keep my passion up! 👍

[canisalbus]

just a quick ask to tell u it makes me super happy seeing the detail u go into when pointing out stuff u like about other people's art of ur ocs :3 it's so rare to see but it's so so motivating!! <3

Thank you! I don't take any interest for my art for granted, and if someone goes through the trouble of drawing my characters for me, I feel like trying to write a proper response is the least I can do. For a visually oriented person, receiving gift/fan art is a huge deal, it means someone considered my goobers worth their time and effort, they've probably been thinking about them more than a little and found them inspiring in a way or another, and I find that terribly flattering. It's extremely fun and interesting to see other people's takes on them. And I've drawn stuff for people as well, I know how nice and rewarding it feels to receive a response that is longer than a word or two. Positive comments like that can linger in people's minds for a long time, at least for me they do.

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

y'all i've been upset about nanowrimo's shenanigans since last year, when kids weren't safe, and now there's this AI shitshow, and i want to cry about it again, because nano has been SO IMPORTANT to me since 2008--it helped me hack my writing process and make a bunch of cool shit, and i've written so many stories i love using it as a jumping off point. but. we gotta protect kids, and we gotta get the fuck out of here with AI bullshit.

so. the decision i have come to is that i will still be participating in nano. but now it stands for "now a's [that's me] novel writing month." i'm still going to write a book in november, and i'm still going to shoot for the 1,667 words/day (even though my finished projects wind up way longer than that, invariably), because i've structured my creative life around this routine, but i won't be using their site any more.

i will also not be tagging my november project posts as nanowrimo, but i WILL still be tagging them as "nano[YEAR]" (because that's been my tagging system for untitled projects for uh. years.). and it's now a's novel writing month :)

[riddlertrophy]

[creationsabyss]

My thoughts on the Aventurine drama

I've been inactive for a while, I was (still am) busy in real life but coming back online to post and seeing discourse about a newly crowned favorite character is disheartening. Even more so, that people are harassing other writers over a drama I feel is overblown.

I have thoughts regarding it but I'm unsure if my opinion would be appreciated. But if you'd like to peacefully talk it out with me, I'd be happy to lend an ear. I'd like to hear both sides, as meager as my opinion may be.

Oh boy, here we go.

Aventurine is a character, a fictional being born to entertain the players. He is not real. He can not be offended by what you create of him. There is no point getting upset on the behalf of a character and prioritizing fiction over a person who does actually exist.

If we do want to condemn slavery fics, why not also cancel slave reader fics? Or ones that include things such as dead dove (including yanderes in general) fics because those topics are equally terrible to condone and write about from that point of view. Or how about other characters that have similar topics in their lore. Should those also be canceled too?

*There are also folks who make problematic pieces to help cope with their own trauma. Does that mean they should be canceled too? (On that note: making a piece that holds problematic content does not always mean the person condones it in real life. Fiction is fiction for a reason.)

In the end, I think everyone can have their own opinions, but I would like to say that your opinions do not justify terrible actions. Just because you disagree with something does not justify you bullying someone into deleting one of their works, whether it is art or writing or anything else, I do not think that is justifiable. Harassing someone or calling people to harass them is not right either.

*If you did disagree with it, why not message the author about it instead of making accusatory posts? Even when done with good intentions, all it does is cause harm when it's practically inviting people to go harass someone over a fanfiction. A very mild fanfiction at that.

If you disagree with a piece, cool. That's your opinion. Just don't interact with it then. Block that creator or that tag or whatever it is that led you there. Or if you're curious, ask that creator.

Also, to reiterate, in my opinion, fiction is still just fiction. Especially when it's a fanfiction about a fictional character. Yes, his canon lore exists, but people can use that basis in fanfiction, something that will inherently warp canon because we are not the original writers and can not capture him in the exact way he was created. In case that doesn't make sense: Fanfiction does not have to comply with the original lore. Also since some of you seem to be forgetting: fiction does not mirror real life.

If you are truly that concerned over sensitive topics like that, directing that energy towards projects that involve such topics in real life would be much better than attacking people on the internet.

[thatoneluckybee]

Homesick Valentine's Day Outfits

All of these screenshots came directly from Freaky's instagram! Please please please go support her art on her actual account if you do have an Instagram.

[coquelicoq]

i'm now looking at my list of least favorite french words to pronounce and going "too many r's" for about 40% of them and "skill issue" for most of the rest. some of these are actually very fun to pronounce i just couldn't wrap my tongue around them a year or so ago, but now i can i guess??? so that's very exciting. makes me hope that someday i'll be able to pronounce the rest of them. this is a bit pie in the sky because i really don't see myself ever getting there with procureur du roi but you never know. and luckily the french abolished the monarchy so it's not like i'll ever have to use that phrase in modern conversation.

anyway here are the words i actually love pronouncing now: décaféiné diététicien filleul pneumonie

i now feel normal/neutral about these words that used to be hard for me: automne, condamner douloureux électricité, énergie inférieur, supérieur, etc. itinéraire lourdeur salmonellose sclérose subodorer succincte

words that are definitely within the realm of my current capability but i haven't practiced them enough: bugle hiérarchisation méditerranéen phtisie

words that are still the bane of my existence but i live in hope: [yʁ] plus at least one other r or [y] sound: chirurgie, fourrure, marbrure, moirure, nourriture, ordures, peinturlurer, procureur du roi, prurit, purpurin, sculpture, serrurerie, structure, sulfureux, tournure all words beginning with ur-, hur-, or sur- other difficult sequence of r's and vowels: construire and other -truire verbs; lueur and sueur; utérus too many r's: marbre, martre, meurtre, opprobre, proroger, réfrigérateur, rétrograde, rorqual difficult sequence of vowels and/or semivowels: coopérant, extraordinaire, hémorroïdal, kyrie eleison, météorologique, micro-ordinateur, micro-organisme, mouillure, quatuor, vanillier not pronounced the way i would expect from the spelling: indemne, penta-, punk just hard for some reason: humour

[blackwaxidol]

State of transsexualism in this country is fucking miserable, I really cannot forgive myself for backing out all those years ago. We wouldn't be in this situation, would we.

[aeolianblues]

never felt more defensive than when applying for a UK visa... 'we need to make sure you won't stay' I DON'T WANT TO STAY 'we have to make sure you return home' I HAVE A NICER LIFE THAN YOU'D IMAGINE. I DON'T NEED TO STAY IN YOUR STUPID COUNTRY. I'M SEEING MY FAMILY 'do you have an onward journey' YES I DO AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THEM. I LEAD A CHARMED LIFE. don't want to stay in your country. Mate. The hubris. Fuck off.

[starryalpacasstuff]

Last Twilight; Mee's legacy continues

I know that we're all mad at how episode 11 went. Believe me, I am too. I'm not going to be talking about the issues in the episode, several others have already done so, and far more eloquently than I could. Because despite the episode's failings, there are still some things about this episode that I think deserve to be talked about.

I've loved keeping up with Mee's story as the show has progressed (written about it here and here). I thought that Mee's story ended in episode 9, but it continues to be present in the narrative. The most obvious clue to this is, obviously, Porjai's daughter, whom they named Mee. In addition to that, episode 11 focuses on highlighting the fact that Day 's blindness is not something that can be cured, just as Mee could never return to her life before she was cursed. Just as Mee had hoped that the last twilight would allow her to return to her normal life, Day hoped, even fully believed that the surgery would allow him to become "normal" again (the medical inaccuracies of the process aside). In the end, neither can return to a sense of "normalcy", as Mee turns to stone and Day's surgery fails. Both stories are haunted by a sense of grief, helplessness, and hope that is given and taken away. But the end of Mee's story isn't written as tragic, it's written as joyful. The exact same ending could have been written as tragic and solemn, but it wasn't. In the end, Mee was able to revel in the fact that she would never turn invisible again, despite turning to stone. And that's what I'm hoping that Day's final arc will resemble. Because we know that Day is still insecure about his blindness, and about people's pity for him. His buying that cane was a massive step in the right direction, because it showed that he was willing to "announce to everyone that he's blind", to be less afraid. But, as the breakup showed us, he's still insecure about his blindness. If the theory is right, episode 12 should show us Day accepting his blindness, and maybe even celebrate it as a part of him, as Mee does.

Mee's story has run parallel to Day's since they began to read it. Mee's story is over now, but Day's isn't. We see that Mee continues to have a presence in Day's life, be it metaphorically, through her story predicting his, or literally, through Porjai's daughter. Besides fixing a lot of the damage that was done in episode 11, if there's one thing I'd like from episode 12, it's one final call back to Mee's story.