Top Tier Problem Solving Skills, Kata. Surely These Are The Only Two Possible Solutions

it feels so silly to say this but my replay of tmgs4 ended up so tense i was praying every time i opened the affection screen. VERY happy to announce that i got the ending i wanted

ooh congrats!!!!~ :))

i get it though sometimes trying to strategize in a game to get things just right can be stressful lol 😭~ I honestly think that's kinda a drawing point of this series that it's complex enough to worry about that though lol

being aro is the best. it’s like Oh. I Literally Do Not Need To Put Myself Thru All That

"I want webcomics where I can change the story" read visual novels "I want games that focus on the narrative" read visual novels "I want games that are easy to play" read visual novels "I want to play shoujo / yaoi / yuri manga" read visual novels "I want to read really queer stories" read visual novels

I saw this outfit on Pinterest and i immediately thought of Lynette from cupid parasite 💕🍓

friendships end. relationships end. fictional man whos doing even worse than you is forever

finished my first major endings of little goody two shoes and and

when the wwhen the girls and they in lomve and the bad ending then thebgood ending and then and thenhow

genre subversions of dating sims by people who don't understand dating sims are just like. "wow isn't it so pathetic that you're playing this instead of getting a real relationship?" (i don't know where "dating sim that becomes a horror game" goes on the subversion scale)

meanwhile i haven't seen one that is made by someone who loves the genre. i am worried that my "what if the love interests hated being in the game but it's because the script is too restrictive" is too mean to dating sims. i swear using a dating sim script as a metaphor for being forced into certain kinds of femininity is NOT reflective of my views of dating sims it's FINE to play dating sims--

Yeah, I agree~ I would say that the "secretly a horror game" twist kinda depends on the game and how it treats its characters. Like, Hatoful Boyfriend has a neat twist to it while still feeling like it treats its characters and story with love, so I was honestly a little surprised to find out its creator doesn't play otome at all. I haven't play DDLC personally, but I've heard a similar sort of story about its creator I think? I feel like so many people set out to subvert the dating sim genre specifically because they think of it as a joke or because they think it's so easy to replicate without any experience.

I love genre subversions, so I would love to see a good one in the otome genre. BUT~ In response to your other point, I also think that being critical of a genre you like and/or using that genre to make a critique of something like societal standards for femininity & such doesn't necessarily come across as hateful to the genre. In fact, I think that really good genre subversions DO use the genre conventions to make a critique of something (whether it's a critique of society or of the genre itself) because that's what makes the subversion interesting.

I'm gonna use one of my favorite genre subversions as an example real quick: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is a great twist on the genre conventions that exist in musical theatre as a medium, and it uses its subversion to make a critique about conformity through its main metaphor (ie: an alien hivemind makes people sing and dance and the show's hero is the one guy who hates musicals). It's a great horror-comedy that's clearly made by people who love musicals, even if its protagonist hates them and there are important plot reasons for why you really don't want your favorite characters to be singing.

BUT!! The important thing is that while it subverts expectations for what you'd expect from a musical and uses the songs & hivemind as a metaphor for enforced conformity, the show never makes the audience feel stupid for liking the genre. It's campy, and it's silly, and the main character is the voice of dissent, but it doesn't leave you with a feeling that the genre as a whole is stupid or bad, or that you're stupid for liking it. Because it's made out of love for the genre. Which is the main thing I think.

It's really important for these types of stories to critique the right things. There has to be more thought put into it than just "look at this genre, isn't it weird/stupid/bad? well we're gonna change things and be Not-Like-Those-Other-Things because we're the Cool/Edgy/Ironic Take on this genre!!" (ie: don't critique the audience or make them feel bad for enjoying the genre you chose. or do, but do it consciously and know that your audience is primarily going to be other people who dislike the genre -- which is probably why so many gag dating sims are popular since it's pretty common to look down on the genre). What I mean is, if the whole point of the critique is that the original genre is stupid, it's probably a bad and thoughtless critique.

But anywho, I think your critique is totally fine and really cool actually. It's okay to be mean to a genre you like as a form of critique, and I think it's really good actually to think deeper about the stories you love and consider them critically. The problems with genre subversion come up when people who don't really know or like the genre decide to subvert it just because they think poorly of it, y'know?

ohhh okay. i can kind of understand the intention there then? it makes sense now, knowing the script edits & model edits are separate things.

Without editing the model to look more feminine, it does seem like a more accurate take on living in a small town as a gender non-conforming person. I can't personally speak to what that's like in Japan, but I know how small towns can be in the U.S. at least. So i get what they're probably going for there, and it is kinda interesting, if a bit jarring at first without context.

It's an interesting way to make the mc's gender topical rather than just a casual or cosmetic change. though it is maybe a little uncomfortable as well, it feels like there's a point to it at least rather than just. random he/him-ing out of nowhere.

the different persona series femc mods are so funny when you line them all up next to each other

persona 4 femc mod: it works for the full game, but for some reason, everyone's kind of a dick in this mod

persona 5 femc mod: the mod maker just drops an update twice a year and disappears but the update is fucking great

persona 3 femc mod: everyone's going insane with weekly updates. did you know that they edited the text for the different languages in the game. they changed the pencil case andpen. they added an otome game to the arcade. they--

persona 5 beta femc mod: they're trying to be the new persona 3 femc mod but it's super early in development. also girl your hair is a tomato

lmao the tomato hair comment is so real 😭 i do think she's really cute though lol, and i love the concept art she's based on~

I've seen bits and pieces of all of these, but only played with the reload one, and even then just a little bit. I may try out the one for 4 when i eventually play that one though!!

Love that when Raqio tries to be a rationaler-than-thou smarty-pants, they have pretty high odds of sounding like an idiot loser instead.