#also alternate histories are a whole genre so why don't people write alternate sciences? (i bet they have) why does no one discuss this?

[louderfade]

Light spectrum, from Theory of Colours – Goethe observed that colour arises at the edges, and the spectrum occurs where these coloured edges overlap.

Goethe's Theory of Colors

[impracticaldemon]

What are your favorite otome games? who's your personal favorite bf/husband from each? I'm suuuper interested in this I hope you don't mind

Ahhhh!  I’m sorry this is late–I’m also way behind answering tags. 😳

Impracticaldemon & Otome Games (Long Post)

Interesting question, and no I don’t mind.  That being said, some people (I’m looking at you @shell-senji , among several others) would say that they could pick out my favourite guy even for games I haven’t played yet…  Ahem.

Okay, ikuzo! 😀 (I’m terrible at short answers.  Sumimasen.)

(1) Hakuouki ~ Saitou Hajime (coming as no surprise to anybody)He is without question my personal favourite across all games for many reasons. I’m not blind to his faults, but he suits me. I’ll explain why another time, if anyone is interested; among other things, he is the most likely to be aware of practical needs and he has the least difficulty allowing Chiuzuru to be useful. My personal head-canon is that Saitou is surprisingly caring (about specific people), but it is outwardly trumped by how hard he has worked at projecting no emotion and generally trumped by a complete devotion to duty.

I’ll pick just one image I like, but it’s very difficult.

I have other favourites among the characters in Hakuouki, and I think each one of the guys is important to the game/story/canonverse. That said, SaiChi is probably my OTP in the literal sense. I’m just very laid-back about letting other people ship who/how they want and I find many relationships interesting from an author’s point of view.  I enjoy writing for all the Hakuouki guys and other characters.  

This is my favourite game/story partly for the rich historical background (which has sucked me in completely), partly for the characters (even though they are “types”, they have personalities/background/more reality–probably because of the RL history), and partly for all the possibilities even within canon. I’m somewhat flexible on plot (for an AU), but I do have views on keeping the characters in character–otherwise it’s not really Hakuouki for me.

(2) Amnesia: Memories ~ Kent  He’s a science/math geek, he’s even more clueless than Saitou (if possible), he has the same basic honesty/ability to care, and although he goes about it badly/not-very-romantically, he is mostly genuine about wanting the heroine to do things that are good for her.

The fact that he accepts the probability of Orion and takes the heroine’s situation seriously is a major factor in his favour.  Honestly, the most trustworthy character. He also clearly has his faults, but if you give him a chance he’ll figure them out better than most.  Also, once I found out the backstory, their very rocky relationship made some sense–I even found it relatable, because humans do such dumb things in relationships.

A big downside of the game is the very heavy reliance it puts on the heroine having to be meek to get a good ending. (Very typical of Japanese otome in this way, but this isn’t 1864 Japan so it bugs me more.  Although 2017 Japan has some major issues too.) Honestly, it’s probably second on my list only because (a) I’m very fond of Kent, (b) it got me into playing Otome games because it was on Steam (i.e., for PC), and © the alternate world presentation was very cleverly done so that there was almost no repetitive text (and I liked all the characters but one).

(3) Code:  Realize ~ Van HelsingThis game should be #2 on my list.  It’s a very good game, extremely well done throughout.  In my view, it has the best heroine (Cardia).  I’m not entirely sure why Van Helsing is my favourite over Fran (Victor Frankenstein), who is the obvious choice for me (and Fran is definitely a close second).

Preferring Van Helsing suggests that I’m less (personally) attracted to characters who are sweethearts from the very beginning. Aside from an apparent preference for some tsundere characteristics (possibly because I’m such a deep introvert–in person, not in writing!), I think part of liking Van Helsing is that his backstory fascinates me the most.

(4) Demon’s Bond (Toki no Kizuna): Yukimura Kazuya (Saitou-lite?) I can hear @shenanigumi rolling her eyes in the distance if that’s possible 😅 and for legitimate reasons (let me say up front that we had a couple of really interesting chats about this game, including a discussion about Venn Diagrams that was surprisingly productive 😂). I honestly enjoyed the game though.

The story plots are interesting and the art is lovely. But let’s be honest, I enjoyed this game so much because (a) it was a bit Hakuouki-like and nominally set in Hakuouki-verse (I enjoyed all the historical bits, and learned a lot more about people like Toyotomi, Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Mitsunari), (b) Kasuya’s route gave me a chance to play a different game with a character similar to Saitou even down to appearance, and ( c ) it fit moderately well on several points with my own personal Hakuouki AU in Teachings of Demons.  There’s surprisingly little that would need to be retrofitted in my story and a lot that fits perfectly.

A couple of other notes:  no voice acting (even though the original is fully voiced); same artist as in Code: Realize, and it’s a mobile game (pay per route).  I’ve enjoyed all three routes I’ve fully played (Kazuya, Kazutake and Chitose–the last one surprised me, but it was a good story and I think I partially fell for Chitose’s best friend–talk about bromance with those two). Oh, and I liked the heroine more than most (though her absolute naiveté is appalling).  

(5) OZMAFIA! ~ Axel (Poni-Pachet)Once again, my favourite character is the taciturn “lieutenant type” who generally takes the heroine seriously once the decision is made to offer her shelter.  Definitely adorkable.

The game itself has beautiful art (above image isn’t the best but it’s sweet), a truly unusual premise, and is mostly voiced (subtitled). The heroine is one of my least favourite protagonists, unfortunately, but she does have her better moments.  Overall: it’s an odd game, but there’s a lot to it and I enjoyed playing it.  Also, kudos for having routes for friendship-based (non-romantic) characters.  That was neat.

[More comments below the cut if anyone is interested, including: Nameless (Cheritz); Amazing Shinsengumi & Men of Yoshiwara (D3); & Indie Otome]

PC (Steam) Games & Mobile to PC ports, Indie Otome

On the PC, I have also played: 

Nameless (Cheritz):  My favourite route and guy by far was Lance, fitting neatly into my set of tsundere-but-definitely-not-yandere guys.  Lance is similar to Saitou from Hakuouki SSL as a student and overall, so no surprises here; the character is a doll come to life, however, so the whole feel of the game is very different.  The game was good overall, but a little too weird for me.  I’m glad I played it, but I’m also glad that I used a walkthrough for later routes.  The premise was intriguing and the game itself was quite immersive and moving in places.

Dandelion (Cheritz):  I haven’t played this one yet.  I chose Nameless first because I’m not usually a fan of the whole “guys-are-animals-are-guys” genre. Since Dandelion has good reviews, I do want to give it a try.

Mystic Messenger (Cheritz):  I haven’t played, sorry!

The Amazing Shinsengumi (Dogenzaka/D3):  Saito Hajime (duh)A no-brainer, since the similarities are difficult to ignore (except that this Saito actually has the 5′11″ height of the RL Saito).  Nagakura’s route in this one is also good - he is definitely Hijikata’s second-in-command, and it suits him. Okita is attractive, just not quite my type.  Heisuke is completely yandere–that was a shock. He looks like Hakuouki Heisuke but!!! There is no route for Hijikata to many people’s dismay (though the character is what you’d expect), but Nagakura balances that. Harada is a flirt, but not nearly as nice as in Hakuouki - but that’s strictly a personal opinion.

(Is it my fault that Saito was drawn this way?  Is it my fault that I prefer blue and indigo and quiet, serious guys?)

This game is definitely more in the basic “romance” style (and like most of this style, there’s no voice acting).  The art is quite nice and the stories are okay. A lot of people complained that it was a Hakuouki “rip-off”, but without disagreeing completely, I’m not sure that’s fair.  There’s a lot of Shinsengumi stuff out there and an awful lot of people like the “girl taken back to the base” story.  This game does not have the complicated political background of Hakuouki and it doesn’t have any supernatural component - it’s pretty much about the love interests. My view: it’s good for what it is.

The Men of Yoshiwara (D3): KaguraThis is another D3 game and similar comments apply.  Not voiced and slightly repetitive.  And yet there were aspects about the game that were unexpected and surprisingly appealing. This game is the closest I’ve ever seen to literally “reverse harem” (not my favourite expression): it’s about choosing a guy from available courtesans in a top-class brothel.

Kagura is quiet, serious, literate and a sword master (er, with actual katanas 😅).  What can I say? Also, once again, I can’t be held responsible for appearance - he happens to have indigo hair.

Well, I had hoped to also pass along some notes on various Indie Otome games I’ve played, such as Backstage Pass and others.  Unfortunately, I’m out of time and this is already way too long.

Also, I’m still trying to finish Kyoto Winds before getting back to Nightshade and The Charming Empire.  I have the feeling that I already know who my favourite characters will be though. 😅

I hope this was of some interest.  And despite all of the above, I am open to giving shorter answers to less open-ended questions!

~ ImpracticalOni