Verocky Doodle

A short comic I made based on one of the endings

⚠️ Spoiler warning for END08 ⚠️

Read from left to right ➡️

FEB 8TH!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLAN 🥳🎉🎉

thanks babe that's so helpful

my favourite fun fact is just that like. the handicraft club almost never lets you meet a love interest or best friend so the main reason people play it is just because, if you stick with the handicraft club for three years, there's a unique scene where you head out on the runway in a wedding dress and your love interest blushes madly over it lmao.

ohmygod???? that's literally so cute omg i'm 100% gonna have to play for that scene at some point~ it's super cool that there's hidden scenes like that omg

i'm already so excited about replaying this game and i'm still on my first route lmao

Aromanticism and Otome Games

I am an aromantic who loves otome games. It may seem incredibly contradictory, especially since a common perception of otome is that it's solely wish-fulfillment games for people to insert themselves into a story where they date attractive men. There's definitely nothing wrong with playing them in that way, and many people get a lot of enjoyment out of them, but that isn't the only way to play an otome game. In fact, many otome game players prefer not to self-insert at all and I’m one of them!

My personal experience being aromantic means I do not feel romantic attraction to anyone, and I do not desire or need a romantic relationship to feel fulfilled in life. I’m perfectly happy with my platonic bonds and my perpetual singleness! That’s how I experience it, but there are many different ways to be aromantic, and there’s no one universal experience that defines how all aromantic people live their lives. Some are repulsed by romance and its overbearing presence in nearly all forms of media, and others are comfortable seeing other people experience romance despite not experiencing it themselves (though these, of course, are not the only two groups). I personally lean more towards the latter category. I love romance stories! 

For me, playing an otome game is like watching a romance movie where I get to decide who the heroine ends up with. It's like a shipper's dream! I don’t self-insert because I am not comfortable putting myself in romantic situations, but by observing a fictional couple, I can explore the romantic plots and experiences that pique my curiosity. And let me tell you, I love a good romance plot. Especially one with drama.

A comparison I like to make when people don’t seem to get it is that I also really, really love murder mysteries and tragedies, but I do NOT want to actually experience them myself. What I want for a character and what I want for myself are two completely separate things, so there’s really no contradiction! 

In fact, playing otome games was a big part of my aromantic journey in the first place. I never had crushes as a kid that weren’t forced or peer pressured. When people talk about the characters in their childhood shows that they had crushes on, I can never relate. To me, there were only interesting characters and stories. I’ve never really wanted anything more than that. 

So when my second-ever relationship ended and I was wondering whether I really felt romantic attraction at all, I decided to try otome games. 

I chose Collar x Malice as my first game because, as I mentioned earlier, I am a huge fan of mysteries and tragedies, and the premise intrigued me. Then, throughout my exploration of various otome games (and as I quickly became hooked on them) I tried some games with less developed heroines, specifically made for self-inserting, and found that I couldn’t handle them. Separating myself from the heroine helped me enjoy the games more as I realized that I didn’t actually want to be in these romantic situations myself, but only wanted to enjoy the story.

So what was the point of this whole post? I guess just to share my own personal experiences as an aromantic otome-lover and address the contradiction. Otome games aren’t necessarily mainstream-popular, but they certainly have their dedicated fans, and I’ve really enjoyed the interactions I’ve had so far with these fandom spaces. 

Sure, the primary focus of the games may be pretty boys who you can date, but otome games can also be so much more than that! It’s a genre I’m glad I decided to try. 

I’m happy to be an aro along for the ride to read some good stories, puzzle out the right route choices, and look at some aesthetically pleasing character designs along the way! :)

heyhey random question, have u ever played our life or tokimemo girls side?

i haven't! but i've heard/seen a little bit about both? I don't know very much about them other than the basics though. they both look pretty cool based on what I do know~

any recs on interesting LIs or which ones to start with when checking them out?

Is this anything

also this might be a little late but i read your thing on being an aromatic playing dating sims and ended up nodding and going "so true" the entire time. like yeah holy shit that's EXACTLY how i feel! my favourite otome games are those with a protag with her own personality, because the appeal is watching over the couple from a third party perspective, not trying to be the protag.

(this is how they ended up with like 30 ocs for the tokimeki memorial girls side series)

omg yeah! I'm glad to hear you can relate lol. I love love love a protag with a well-established personality <3 -- My personal top picks have got to be Katarina Hamefura & Teuta Bustafellows. It's fun to see how the mc's personality meshes with the different LI, and I like picking out a "best match" of each game based on chemistry with the heroine. :)

I think that's why I tend to struggle to get into some of the indie titles that have completely customizable mcs lol. It's a different style to get used to.

Though!! I did play a route of Killer Chat after you mentioned it yesterday! (Ronin's route - it felt like a natural 1st pick story-wise lol) And I really appreciate that the game has a default name because that's always my biggest struggle when making up an oc protag lol. I liked customizing Maya's sprite and playing as them because I do feel like their dedication to their writing and enthusiasm for lying about being a serial killer are pretty good defining character traits. I'll probably change her a little bit with each route I play lol. It's a great game, thanks for reminding me about it!!

loving a character so much will unlock such vulnerable and cringe parts of you that you try to suppress so bad but you can't like it's so humbling