#otome drama

[reesdomain]

The funny thing about this whole drama is that I can’t even be entirely mad at Papergames. Because the dick eaters who go for anything are the ones who both instigate conflict within the fan base and also try to drown out valid concerns from other players only to coattail of the benefits we got them in the first place. Calling even the most polite, constructive criticism “negativity” just to virtue signal and shut people up is a joke. And this game being mainstream has only worsened it. “Everyone’s opinion matters” until they’re not on the bandwagon with the majority. Foh. “You just want everything handed to you for free” “the workers need to be paid”. THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE SHOULD BE BEGGING FOR SHIT THAT WAS IN GAMES OVER 10 YEARS AGO FROM JUMP. THERES NO WAY A COMPANY WITH GLOBAL STUDIOS, SUBSIDIARIES, AND HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN REVENUE A YEAR AREN’T PAYING THE WORKERS AND NOT STILL HAVING A SHIT TON OF RESOURCES REMAINING. ENOUGH.

This person put it into amazing perspective. Besides her guess, I looked up global average for salaries across the industry and Papergames included. Company size and all. There’s a ton of expenses that go into business besides salary but even after paying the small folk and the executive suits there’s still a shit ton of that half a billion remaining. And that’s not including what cuts they get from official collabs. They’re not “struggling” by any means. If something is going on in production that’s from a lack of proper management and balance. Not from them lacking money. Which by the way, what the fuck is with all the Z****** they’ve been contracting lately?

[xinyuehui]

⸺⸺ As long as the snow on the umbrella does not melt, you do not need to be afraid of anything.

[bigbrainlivestock]

Shū Being Socially Awkward

🎻Shū may come off as nonchalant, but he’s actually quite socially awkward (even stated by Yui+ Reiji) Yuma tries to give him a fist bump but Shū genuinely doesn’t know what it is and stands there like “huh?🧍🏼”

This could be due to his lack of socializing during childhood and his self-isolation as he got older. (aww)

Yuma: There ya have it, so just leave this to me. Come on...

Shuu: ...What?

Yuma: Haah? Ya don't know 'bout this? Ya gotta bump your fist 'gainst mine! God, these rich kids, I swear.

Shuu: ...Shut up.

Yuma: Come on, show me yer fist already. Or are ya still hesitant 'bout leaving this up to me?

Shuu: That's not it...

*attempts a fist bump*

Yuma: 'Kay, this'll do. Guess I'lI get goin' then🎻

Translation: @dialovers-translations

[asteriass]

The progression of the “Villainess” trope

Y'know, thinking about it, it's very ironic how a trope made to subvert one's expectations & give more depth to 1 dimensional villains in cliche novels by "humanizing" them more & providing their side of the story, eventually became oversaturated with cartoony villains & flat MCs. Thus, completely failing in its goal to "subvert expectations" as it too turned into mind numbing cliche, becoming the exact opposite of what the troupe initially aimed to achieved.

I am talking about "Villainess" series.

I remember seeing a twitter post a while back saying how a lot of the villainess stuff the authors & studios are putting out nowadays lack any sort of nuance when it comes to its characters. And how a lot authors simply switch the roles of the cast (Like: OG MC -> villain | OG villain -> MC) & call it a day. And I 100% agree with that.

This troupe kinda ended up becoming the dictionary definition of the saying, "You either die as a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain” lmao

What could've been an opportunity to write nuanced villains & morally ambiguous main characters, turned EXACTLY into the cliche it was pocking fun at.

In an attempt to reveal how the MCs of your typical cliche novels can also be in the wrong at times, flaws that the story & its (in-canon) fandom may purposefully ignore, the villainess stories ended up doing EXACT SAME thing EXECPT this time it's the "villains" doing it rather than the OG FL or OG ML of the “OG novel”. In an attempt to stop cliche villains from remaining cliche, while we did ended up getting slightly more nuance for the “OG villain” characters, in the process, the OG MCs turned exactly into those flat cliche villains.

Alot of villainess series poke fun at the troupes they themself use, but not in a satirical way.

So many villainess series poke fun at the OG novels for being problematic or stupid & the fandom of said novels basically ignoring its flaws & problems, only gushing over the OG FL. Which yea, is nice & all, but y'know... that's exactly what those villainess series do too. SO MANYY of them borderline have the FLs participating in literal slavery. & More often than not have a borderline colonizer ML. Not to mention the numerous which carry weird undertones of colorism, and many such other things. All the while, the fandom of these villainess series continue to ignore their glaring problems & flaws & instead just gush over the FL and ML.

And I'm not even saying this in a hating sort of way (well, aside from the series with issues of colorism, orientalism, etc). Moreover, this is all not to say that one can not enjoy such stories, because admittedly, there is indeed fun in just reading a simple and familiar story line. But this is all more me being intrigued by this trope’s almost ironic progression as companies rush their staff to produce something which they think will be able to ride the waves of the current trends, only for the vast majority to simply drown in a sea of mediocrity (with many even being canceled due to this)

[Though I mean, something as simple as villainess tropes won’t be the only one to go through this. Like a lot of Shakespearean works, a subversion of the classics & typical troupes back then, got turned into ones of those classics and by many are now considered cliche. And that's just scrapping the bottom of the barrel!]

[auspicioustidings]

OK OK so the way I would do a mafia au would be reader who was raised by a single parent into a normal life but when their parent dies it is discovered that they are actually the grandkid of some mafia boss.

Said mafia boss did not know their son had a kid but is eager to spoil this grandchild so takes them in. Problem being after their son died the boss had over the years adopted children who are now all competing to be the heir, none of which are happy that their is now a blood heir as competition, especially not when it's some innocent little lamb of a civilian who doesn't even know how to shoot a gun.

[akkivee]

OTOMES SOLO IS CALLED MIC REWRITES THE ENDING

ICHIJIKUS SOLO IS CALLED GET FREEDOM

NEMUS SOLO IS CALLED DO THE RIGHT THING

AND THE DRAMA TRACK IS CALLED STAY GOLD

[dianalillian]

POV: You woke up in a world of novel/otome game as its villainess looking like this.

[kuruk]

don't ever read or watch anything I talk about on here I will kill you

[sinful-liesel]

I've never wanted to be breastfed so badly in my life 😩

[maliciousandmizerablevampirism]

you cannot let me watch Business proposal and expect me to get over Kang Tae-moo when he is a carbon copy of JUMIN HAN. MY ALL TIME CRUSH. EVEN THE HAIR IS THE SAME. THE PERSONALITIES ARE TOO SIMILAR. EVERYTHING

[deus-ex-mona]

real talk: lxl should continue to explore romance fantasy concepts in their songs. it’s clearly working for them~

[killeray]

Kentin girlies, all things considered, him being an Alternate Life route was the best possible outcome for us in this whole mess of a game.

He didn't appear in Campus Life and in hindsight it's great because then he didn't suffer the same character slaughter and regression like the others did. He didn't have an OOC moment where he agreed to a threesome with his best friend despite showing jealousy during his entire route. He didn't neglect Candy for a "surprise" that took up his entire time from her and caused her to break up with him. He matured SO much and in a way that made most, if not all, of his flaws toned down and enhanced his qualities (honestly I don't even know if he showed any flaws at all). His grown up sprite is gorgeous. He stayed true to himself and leads a lifestyle that makes him happy rather than spiraling down a catastrophic path for the sake of drama (since AL is only 5 episodes). AND the best part is you don't even get the "opportunity" to cheat on him! So no way for players to pick him purposefully just to get with eric (like most did with Hyun).

Would I have loved to have as much illustrations and interactions and events with him as the CL crushes? Of course, but seeing the way CL and LL were handled and all the terrible scenarios that came with them, I'm thinking maybe Kentin not appearing in the main sequels was a blessing in disguise.

[bigbrainlivestock]

Shū Caring About Consent

is this…consent being shown in diabolik lovers?!?!

the bar was low but absolutely legendary of you shu👍💯

translation: @dialovers-translations

[equinox-86]

Thought I should share this illustration from my Azusa CD, which I scanned (´ω｀)♡

[yarrayora]

honestly? most people in the fandom probably haven't thought of misono's mother in a long, long time before chapter 136 was released

but i DO remember that when the fandom did bring her up, either in fanfic as a real character, or when they joke about how mikado is too lame to have two women vying for him, they basically treated her as... in the same boat as kiriko? you know, the legal wife who was being cheated on?

and i can see the point of view here. an innocent, naive woman, blinded by love. the only one at fault is the man who was taking advantage of the two women.

the idea of mikado being able to seduce two women is certainly against the popular fanon that is recently confirmed canon that mikado is a Huge Loser but of course the fandom immediately clung to that idea first because of the letters in lust arc implying that she was just happy to be able to love him selflessly.

see, but even if that was true? even if misono's mom was in it for love and not for the money? she still chose to pursue a relationship with a married man. if she wasn't a gold digger then she would have been an incredibly dense woman who thought everything was permitted as long as it was done in the name of true love

which was my original thought! i thought she would be someone whose head was full of fluff and flowers without thinking of the consequences!

which makes the fandom exploding when lily told misono that her mother was an ambitious woman all along kind of. you know. kinda makes me wonder if the fandom was okay with the adultery because they thought it was out of pure love? like. the adultery?

if lily confirmed that misono's mom was a gentle and loving person, would the fandom instead weep for her passing and once again not give a damn that she was mikado's cheating partner? would kiriko have been painted as a tragic villain instead of a victim?

basically, the only reason im this annoyed is because of the popular fanon that misono's mom was a virtuous woman just because the aliceins never blamed misono for what she had done

if not for that i wouldn't even bat an eyelash at people hating her