#my apologies for the long reply it just projectile vomited out of me HAHAHA

[ad-hawkeye]

HI HELLO MY OTOME BLOG IS A SIDEBLOG SO I AM COMING IN ANON FORM ALSO I HAVEN'T REACHED OUT BEFORE HI!!! THE ARTEM IS ACE HEADCANONS ARE MY EVERYTHING. MY ASEXUAL AND ARTEM STAN ASS LOVES EVERY SECOND OF THIS.

Fr I thought I never thought too hard ab why I headcanon him as ace bc I headcanon almost every character I like as ace (bc I can) but maybe that's why I was so attracted to Artem when I started the game? Like maybe that's why I became such a hardcore stan?

Because the vibes are SO THERE. I say this as a professional ace-spec vibe reader. You also mentioned in the tags of one of the posts that you headcanon him as grey romantic AND I ABSOLUTELY AGREE THE SIGNS AND THE VIBES ARE ALL THERE I LOVE THIS HEADCANON.

I think the most endearing thing for the aces is that he's always just so respectful and sweet and awkward and not pushy at all, as previously stated by other posts. I like to read stories or play otome games and rewrite scenes in my mind to take out any pushiness or sexual implications bc it makes me uncomfy and with Artem I don't have to rewrite it in my mind because he's already ideal. Like he is absolutely the kind of guy to be the most respectful and accepting ever about his partner being ace-spec even if he isn't. And that is so refreshing compared to almost every other otome guy I've read (and I've played a GOOD amount of otome games) where if I were to make a "reasons blank wouldn't date me" thing they would all be "I'm asexual and he's horny" so maybe the reason we gravitate towards Artem is the feeling that he would truly accept us? I don't even self insert in otome games but whenever there's sexual implication there's still that like, painful moment of realizing that the world at large isn't made for a-specs I guess??? And I've never not once had that with Artem. Sorry if that got too deep💀

ALSO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I'M A HUGE FAN OF YOUR CONTENT AS AN ARTEM STAN THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO❤️❤️❤️

!!! HI ANON!!! 💖 oh my gosh we are kindred spirits right down to our otome blogs being our side blogs </3 which. my apologies to anyone reading this for not following back or sending asks. i promise the limitations of a side blog are my sole reason!!

but oh my god YES, i am totally the same with ace headcanons. it isn’t even intentional! it’s just the way i think. i think i was initially drawn to artem because in the first few main story chaps he doesn’t actually do much besides invite her to join nxx and then stand there looking at her awkwardly sometimes.

his personal story locked me in with the advice book and introduction to his soft side. i do have a slight bias for tot’s personal stories and cards over the main story, though, simply bc the main story (by design) can’t “pick a side”, tends to not get mentioned in other stories, and sometimes feels like it was written by a different writing team?

regardless, i’m so happy to hear you agree on the gray-romantic take!!!! i specifically picked gray-romantic over demiromantic because while this is the first time he’s been romantically attracted to someone, he fell for her before there was any notable emotional connection. mc would fit the demi label a bit better me thinks hehe.

as for artem and the ace crack they stashed inside of him, you make really, REALLY good points here. holy shit, actually. i think you nailed it. i never realized JUST how often other otome games made me feel uncomfortable or left feeling like i was ‘different’. same goes for real life, i suppose. hasn’t happened while reading artem’s route though. even the cards with shameless.. er, fan service. they tend to, from what i’ve seen, play artem as the “whatever you want/whatever makes you comfortable” kind of guy, so your point holds really strong.

getting fully personal here, but i think about this a lot. tot is a popular otome game and even though there would be like. rioting in the streets if one of the boys wasn’t sexually attracted to the mc (which in itself is another depressing reminder of how different i am), it doesn’t really change the already released stories that we love. and it ultimately doesn’t matter what artem winds up being - bc like you said, ace vibes aside, artem being “respectful and accepting about his partner being ace-spec even if he isn’t” is genuinely just. such an accurate take. i can’t believe i haven’t thought of it from this perspective before. you’re so right. 

even on the flip side. if he was ace i could see him communicating with a non-ace partner about that whole situation and i just. man. i’ve called artem the antithesis to your typical otome boy as a joke before, and you know. maybe i was onto something, maybe this was the true ace crack all along HAHA.

OH MY GOSH DON’T APOLOGIZE AT ALL!!!! this was such a good read and it makes me so happy to know i’m not the only one in fandom like this 😭 😭 like i know i said this before, but i never actually intended on mentioning this hc bc i was unsure of how people would respond, especially since we all like this game for different reasons and i wanted to respect that, so i’m genuinely like. really really moved and happy HAHA!! i swear i’m gonna cry or something ;; 

AND AAA now you’re gonna REALLY make me cry, thank you for the kind words!!! i’m so happy people like my silly little rambles :’’] sincerely hope you have a wonderful day, anon!!! def feel free to message me anytime !! 💖💖💖