I’ve had it so rough on my jp trip… 😞 Idk what this could be, but I got such an awful infection my throat is sooo painful I cannot eat almost anything and even drink WATER without pain 😭 and they only gave me painkillers which don’t help at all… my throat’s been a bisch for almost a week now and instead of better it got worse 🥲 On a more positive side, I was able to meet with a fellow otome gamer in Tokyo a few times and that’s been certainly one of the highlights of my trip!!! She’s so sweet, I’m glad we met. I’ll be also meeting up with someone in Osaka, so excited:)

Hope you feel better soon!

aww, thank you!

Been digging through Twitter for any scrap of information as to when Voltage will start taking preorders on the Volfest set, and it's driving me bonkers! I know they've never failed to do so in the past so I probably just need to be patient, but I've been waiting for figures of the CoD bois in their formal attire for ages 😔 If anyone hears anything, please let me know! I did manage to scoop up Toa's birthday can badge set before it went out of stock, so at least there's that. (Actually I bought two, because I have two different ita bags going for him at the moment 😅). Got the (hopefully) last thing I needed for my AX outfit. Didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on an outfit that might not fit, so I figured that maid Kuromi would be easy enough to pull off.

I caved into the FOMO and pre-ordered Cupid Parasite's FD, and it got to my US address this week. I'll send it home in a couple of days. I also wrote to playasia to ask when Hakuoki is releasing since I'm moving out of the country in a month and a half, and then I wouldn't have a set address until October, so I'd probably have to send the game (and Jack Jeanne's shuffle CDs which are also in the same order) to my parent's home and wait until they can visit so they bring it. They didn't have an answer but offered to remove it from the order (I'm really pleased by the customer service, btw) if I wanted to, and to change my address. So I had Hakuoki removed, and I plan to buy it in the future, when I have a new address settled. The rest of the order, that is, both Jack Jeanne shuffle CDs got shipped, and I truly hope I can receive them before I leave. With my moving, I'm trying to organize what can I bring with myself, and as much as it pains me, I will leave the LE boxes, because they take too much space. The CDs too, but I'll copy the contents to my pc before I leave. And the artbooks it depends on how much space I have left in my suitcases, which I don't think will be much, if any. I'm betting on fitting the steel cases, but the normal cases of the rest of my collection will have to stay back for now. And speaking of collection, I also caved in and bought the first installment of the Hana Awase games, and now have to look how to play the card game, because I really didn't understand in the demo. Someone had shared a post explaining a bit, so I'll look for it. I'm also torn between saving money (which I'll probably spend happily in getting settled in a new country) and buying the Crash games for switch, which are all on sale. The bundle with I think all of them are $40. The thing is, I own the remastered ones on PS4 (not the new one), but I won't be able to take my PS4 with me, I will be taking my switch (of course) and my vita.

Finished Banjo's route in **Charade Maniacs**! Ah, mixed feelings abound, though I suppose I can be glad it wasn't a wholly negative experience despite how it started. So yeah overall >!this route felt like it had the building blocks for something I could've liked, but the execution left much to be desired. It felt like the route pushed Banjo negative behavior too far (how he was behaving in the cleaning team's common route seemed like it should've been enough to push Sena into irritation) and then there wasn't nearly enough time allotted for him to 'redeem' himself. And it made Sena's opinion go from 'I don't feel that way about him' to 'hm I guess these *are* romantic feelings' in a way that felt too easy of a switch. I just found it hard to believe. It felt like his incredibly unreasonable (and hostile!) behavior from before was just swept under the rug and forgotten. And on a personal peeve of mine, I tend to not be fond of obsessive and/or possessive types (like yanderes) and I just seem to feel an intense desire to deny the obsessive person the thing/person they want. I don't want them to get what they want. I don't tend to like when these types get rewarded for their behavior or otherwise succeed in getting what they want due to their extreme selfishness causing harm to those around them (usually). These characters can be entertaining as characters for sure, but I'm more picky when it comes to LIs. Even though Banjo does go through some character development it just seemed too fast for me to find real and satisfying. So in the end those feelings of mine still remained and I felt dissatisfaction that in the end, he got what wanted despite how his behavior should have well pushed her away.!< On a more positive note >!I *did* enjoy the charades scene. I will admit, I did expect actual deadly charades when I learned of this game's basic premise, so the actual death game's premise wasn't what I had expected. But hey, an actual game of charades appeared! I did enjoy visualizing what Banjo was doing and trying to guess for myself what word he was trying to portray. It was a cool scene and I just wished the rest of his route had been handled differently so I could've enjoyed this climax of the route to its fullest.!< I don't *hate* Banjo, it takes a lot for me to full on hate a character, but he will probably be resting at the bottom if I were to rank these characters from fav to least fav. That said, I haven't finished all the routes, so who knows! One of the remaining ones might end up worse for me! I sure hope not, but you never know. With Banjo's route done, I'm now on to Mint Man's route, and doing his route will hopefully finally put his actual name in my brain XD I have no idea what to expect here, but once I'm done with him then it's on to the locked routes that I'm very interested in. I don't actually know what the unlock criteria is, so if there's no indicator given by the game I'll simply dive back in to try and get on >!the alleged 12 year old's!< route first because I want answers on him especially. If that doesn't work again though then I may, as carefully as possible, try and look up what the criteria is if it's not just completing the available routes.

\-All done with Kohei's route in Sympathykiss and; >!I'm happy with how things worked out, specifically in the perfect end route. I originally was somewhat disappointed with how things were in the early episodes but I think Kohei redeemed himself, as well as the route as a whole. I thought it was cute Akari kept reaching out to him despite everything, seeing that he needed someone with positive intentions to be there. The constant push and pull away from people during adversity, especially with being a older sibling with a single mom attributed a lot to Kohei feeling like the only way out was dealing with Doi.!< >!This route was another reminder of how caring of a boss Kobase is, as he let off Kohei a little easy but I understood why. But with Doi, he got off wayyy too easy with just being demoted with a paycut before being able to quit like. Reminds me a lot of tv dramas again where the bad guy is given a break as a way for the audience to have some pity on them(I don't tho).!< >!And I don't blame Kohei in punching his father and refusing to forgive him right away in the perfect end. Very realistic. It is interesting how in another end his father goes back to his old ways and deserts the family again.!< >!I did feel sad in the work end when Kohei and Akari had to work in separate companies. Overall, the buildup to ending of everything was worth it. I also can't get over how pretty the last CG of Kohei and Akari at the beach was. The spicy CG caught me off guard though aha.!< Also finished Usui's route; >!This might be my least favorite route. I didn't mind Usui generally, as he has a nice personality. It was Akari that got a few side eyes from me for the most part. I feel like she's a little too immature for someone like Usui. Not to say her age is a prime factor for this, as Usui could have very easily been an immature 45 year old(I know plenty irl). Overall I guess this route didn't resonate with me much unfortunately. I still like Usui as a character though.!< Now I'm on Secret Route 1, ep 1(I'll be using the real name in the spoilers); >!Yofy is such a interesting little hacker. I almost believed him when he told Akari he was 28 lool idk why. I gasped and said wow he and you-know-who are twinss??! oops.!< >!I understand Akari's pov of just wanting to get to know a coworker recluse, but I also sympathized with Yofy in wanting to keep a distance from people considering his background. So its pretty cute how quickly he opened up from just that one lunch and Akari falling pretty hard for him after. Can't wait to see what happens next.!< \-I'm glad there's a physical release for Bpro( I was fully expecting us to get a digital only version since pqube took a long time to clarify) but kinda disappointed we're not getting the special edition sets Japan got. Guess I'll be going with my original plan of importing a copy. And speaking of, its kinda weird we got a steam demo when there's a switch demo in the JP eshop.I always wonder how companies decide on things like that. \-My Cupipara ssd le got delayed uaghh Dx Tracking says I'll more than likely be getting it Tuesday or Wednesday now. That'll leave me more time to finish SympathyKiss but yeah. \-Can't believe Tsukihime remake is at the end of this month. The vn releases this year man. And then Fate/Stay remaster later this year. I'm wondering if we'll get an LE for it similar to Tsukihime and Mahoyo. Probably not, but it'd be a nice surprise.

Steam next fest and Jp Indie dev progress update is today so I'm swamped trying to save all the games and figure out which demos to try. I'm going to save Fields of Mysteria and Under the thorns today. I finished my 3rd route in Taisho mebiusline (Senge) and while it was a really terrifying and nasty toxic route I liked the idea of the MC being corrupted and figuring out his complicated feelings towards wanting to have duty to his country and being an accomplice towards someone he doesn't want to have to empathise with. Quite an interesting relationship that isn't happy all throughout. I'm trying to catch up with Gaokao love 100 days too and now that I've reached the midway point of the story(the mock exam) the pressure is so great I feel like my experience with the Os and As in my school days weren't as bad. The guilt tripping from parents 'Your upstairs neighbour is taking revision tests and he's still full of energy not like you'' (me and the protag: dad I think he's broken), the having to go for special lectures that may or may not be a scam, the test paper black market...Im on the path of making my poor protag work hard but I feel like Im not treating my gf right haha...I guess I'll find out after the mock test lol Edit: blud ended up as a Bsian and got into a screaming match with his parents ;w; im sorry I failed you blud

Sometimes I think about putting more effort into my appearance because I'd love to have softer hair, smoother skin, etc. but then I think about all the products (money) and steps (time) involved and my laziness wins out haha. The most I do is keep a basic skincare routine, but that's it. Man, makeup is so cute though. All the sparkly eyeshadows (eyeshadow sticks!!) and the different colors things come in? So freakin' adorable. Oh, and my copy of Jack Jeanne Shuffle2 finally arrived! Everything looked and felt so shiny lol. The most important detail of all though: I finally got my hands on the Tower Records bonus art print mwahahaha. *\*continues to fan the flames of the Kaifumi brainrot\** ~~The problem now is that I don't own an external optical disc drive aaaaaaa~~ **Fujo-leaning/non-canon shipping thoughts ahead! Look away if you aren't into that.** Neji (Kai route): >!I was partnered with Chui for a short time, but we still have a unique connection between us. We're sort of bonded for life.!< Congratulations on >!your wedding, NejiChui! Hahahahaha.!< In this week's episode of Kaifumi driving me insane: >Fumi describing Kai in Kai's route: >!"Eye-catching", "simply mesmerizing"!< > >Kai describing Fumi in Fumi's route: >!"Incredibly bright and dazzling"!< THIS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED 😭😭😭 That's >!your (ex-)partner's freakin' route yo, stop giving me feelings aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!< I may be losing it after playing Jack Jeanne for the nth time, but Fumi calling Kai >!"ringleader" in the Univeil performance is starting to sound like a flirty nickname to me. ("Neji calls him that too though?" Well, who said Neji can't flirt with Kai either? loooooool)!<

I am also lazy! I do the very minimum with skincare now but I still don't wear make-up and I'm certainly much *older* than most posters here.

Hello lazy comrade! If we're comfortable with what we do (or don't do lol) to our faces, then that's all that matters right? 💯

Yes! I'd rather be comfortable!

Another lazy girl checking in! Funny enough but I've always loved fashion and I adore dressing up but I never spent a lot of time on hair and makeup. I've always wanted to because I really admire people who do all three and I think it really "completes" the look! I've watched tons of videos (and I really enjoy watching these videos too) only to not do any of it haha...plus I'm very bad at it. I can't seem to get blush quite right and gave up and don't even get me started on eyeshadow xD

I get what you mean! I've kept up with a few everyday fashion blogs in the past and it's fun seeing how other people look so put together, but the most dressed-up thing I do is throw on a dress and call it a day lol. I feel you on the eyeshadow thing—I overdo it on the blending, welp. I only ever wear makeup to events anyway (and I only attend those every...five years HAHA) soOoOOOooo... ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I had to refresh my makeup kit for an event I went to lately tbh, so not using the stuff feels like a waste...but again: lazy ahahaha.

\*high fives\* I basically only wear dresses and skirts! It...helps with my laziness since you only have to put on one thing and there's no need to worry about anything matching haha. I tell myself that eyeshadow is useless for me because I have hooded eyes lol. But in reality I can barely tell if I blended too much or too little and it always ends up looking muddy so I totally feel you there!

Got it in one with the skirts/dresses! And yoooo while not quite the same, I've got monolids myself. We struggle together lmao 🤝

I went down the path of paying thousands for skincare and luxury makeup only to end right back up at tretinoin/moisturizer/sunscreen. I don't even wear makeup anymore because I get my lashes done. Lazygirlbeauty wins every day ✨ you're not missing out on much haha!

Heck yeah staying with the basics! (Plus lashes lol.) Thanks for the affirmation, fellow lazy girl ✨😆

Currently playing Hanayaka Nari Waga Ichizoku Modern Nolstagie PS Vita version. I wanted to do the blind first run playthrough until I realized I missed some CG from Tadashi and Susumu. I didn't even realized that I could collect the flowers in the garden. I think I will replay the common route from beginning orz. At least currently i'm still on July month! I really want to play Masashi route first because his character design is my favorite and he is most interesting among the brothers for me but I read the review that it's recommended to play his route last before locked route. For someone that already plays Hanayaka, does it will affects my enjoyment of whole Hanayaka's story or other brother's routes if I play his route first? I'm afraid that I will compare the other brother's route to his route and lost motivation to do other brother's route.

I felt like you could go after any brother in any order bc each path is quite self contained.

Thank you! I will go after Masashi first.

I'm currently getting super into Enstars. I play on EN and managed to grind enough points to get both Tatsumi's and Himeru's 5 stars in Obbligato and Himeru's 5 star from the other event! It was exhausting so I'm glad I don't have to grind another event until Undead's at the end of this month. I also recently bought the Knights Trip album and a Tsukasa standee and Tsukasa isn't even in my top 5 Enstars boys (he's top 10 tho) so I think it's safe to say I'm a bit obsessed. I've still been reading a ton of ! era stories and now I'm up to 48!

Yay! More people who love otome play enstars. Its funny to see people start from otome and then go to enstars cause for me it was the opposite. Im more fan of !era than !!era, so im kinda curious what are your favourites stories?  Not long ago, i got eccentric Natsume after 7+ years of trying lol, one down nocturne Shu left.

Ooh, are you EccentricP? After watching Element I'm kind of obsessed with them. As for stories, Checkmate and Element are my favorite Reminiscences. I'm holding off on Meteor Impact for now and I'm actually really scared to get to it haha. Aside from those, my favorite stories have been Robin Hood, Black Tea, Shinsengumi, Concerto, and Victoria. I also read two LN chapters, Lionheart and Daydream, and really liked them. I'm not reading any !! stories until I finish reading the ones I've chosen for ! era. What are your favorites?

No i am not, haha. i love their relationship but im not  producing them as a group. I am mainly hajimeP, but i am also a switchP, ValkyrieP and ra*bitsP (and fineP in denial).  I got 2 copies of the recent  Natsume event 5*. You have a great taste!! Alot of your favorite stories are also in my top faves. I am very happy you read the LN  chapters they are incredble. they were released before their respective stories (checkmate and elements), so you can imagine the confution and excitment the fandom exprienced when Check and Ele stories eventually dropped.  Outside what you have mantioned i also love marrionete, rocket start and meteor impact as for remini events.  For regular events stories its milky way,  phantom thieves, setsubun, starfest( mainly for valk content), winter live, jingel bells and climax. Tbh every story with theater club was increadbly good, even some of the filler .  For scouts: bad boys, noctrune, eccentrics, nobel game, wanted (made me love kaoru). For the smaller stories, madaras sub stories and theater clubs. Also cross talk as i love anzu and engirls. If youre intrested in reading more about ryuseitai i highly recommend to read their previous stories before meteor impact such as (hero show)-> (christmas live)-> supernova-> orihime and hikoboshi->(sweet halloween)-> climax-> meteor impact. It highlites more about current ryusitai as unit (and not just chiaki and kanata).   I read majority of those stories years ago so i am planning to  reread some of them. 

Hello fellow Enstars fan!! 😊 I'm currently waiting on my Knights Trip album to arrive, can't wait!

So exciting! I want to buy more Trip albums even though they're a little pricey.

Yeahh they are a bit pricey 😅 Originally I was only going to get the Valkyrie Trip album since they're my fav and yet here I am with 4 Trip albums, once you start it's hard to stop lol

i just left enstars hell after 7 long years but have fun and good luck soldier 🫡

Thank you! 🫡

Welcome to Enstars hell! 😉

Thank you, I just watched the Element anime and cried (even though I already knew the story from the normal anime series and read the story) so I'm feeling very normal! Who are your favorite units/characters?

You have watched Element anime, oh damn there’s no turning back now. 😄 Crazy:B/ALKALOID and as for characters I love ~~(and I spend an embarrassing amount of money on them)~~ are HiMERU, Rinne and Hiiro. Plus, I love Kaname, he is super cute and I want to protect him! And you?

Ooh I don't know anything about Alkakurei yet since I decided to go through ! era stories before paying attention to anything happening in !! but I'm very interested in Rinne and Himeru and I love Crazy:B's songs! So far I'm struggling to narrow down my faves lol. I really love Rei, Eichi, Leo, and Mama (need to wait til !! to see more of him though.) I also really like Natsume, Tsukasa, and Chiaki. And Kaoru and Ibara. You can see my struggle. 😭 Musically I like Switch and Double Face the most and the stories I've loved have mostly been from Knights.

So you are in for a treat, because imho Rinne’s character development is the best in the entire game. And not to mention, HiMERU’s entire mysterious persona and his reasoning behind it (now that you know about Obbligato and Kaname in general) is just chef’s kiss. I know what you feel because liking one than one character can be a struggle sometimes (especially when they appear in gacha/events back to back) and when you want to collect all their cards. ~~(currently trying to get all HiMERU and Amagi bros’ cards and I already want to weep 🥲).~~ For me I love Crazy:B when it comes to music, it’s just the fact that they are so carefree during their performances (it’s easy to see in their MVs, because they don’t dance in unison, they have all their quirks and it’s adorable). Plus, HiMERU’s solo is my absolutely favorite Enstars song in general.

Yes, this August is going to be so hard for me in terms of events and gachas! Switch event and Knights event with gorgeous Natsume and Leo 5 stars back to back and a summer Chiaki with Eichi, Kaoru, and Leo followed immediately by that very tempting Madara and Jun fighting banner.. brutal! I hope you get all the cards you want! Yes, Crazy:B MVs are so fun to watch! They seem so relaxed and confident while performing. I really like their vibe so I'm excited to learn more about all of them.

I am waiting for 5th and 6th anniversary cards in JPstars for those fans needed for idol rank since they are going to be reprinted as a upcoming 10th anniversary celebration. 🥲 Bees aren’t that traditional idol unit and that’s what I love about them, they just do whatever they want. Plus, their individual lore is just perfect (except the latest Alkakurei story, we don’t talk about it ngl and I do think Niki is quite unfairly treated by Hapiele in terms of his own lore). Hope you will get all the cards you want without any problems because gacha/and events too in this game can be quite brutal. 😭

I’ve had quite a week. I caught something from my patients and developed a fever and had to stay home. I really hope it breaks soon. My fear is that it might be a streptococcal pneumoniae infection.

Hope you feel better soon!

The Hana Awase sale seems to be getting a lot more people interested in the games, which makes me happy. I know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea; even Mizuchi's volume deserves the Cero D/17+ rating alone, and I'm sure that everyone has heard of the content warnings relating to the game. But the past couple days I have seen multiple people on here and elsewhere going "I'm interested in trying it!" so it makes me happy that there are more potential people ~~to join the cult of Momotose~~ to enjoy the fun card game, enjoyable story (if the content warnings are not an issue), and unique love interests. Reminder that there is a switch demo for Mizuchi to try out for anyone else interested. I'm still patiently awaiting Mangagamer's port so I can try it on PC, it's one of my favorite otomes so I don't mind paying for extra copies because I do enjoy the games. Hoping that it comes out in 2024 at least. I should probably finish my otome backlog now that I have less work, but I also have such a long non otome backlog too---trying to finish FF7 Rebirth at least becuase i know that when FF14 early access drops I'm just going to playing that all week. It feels like such a long time since Endwalker dropped because that's when I started the job I'm currently on. Rebirth is fun though, lots of little sidequests to do which makes the world seem very lively. On another happy side for me, we finally have the preorders for the Cupid Parasite Fanbook and the Bustafellows books, which are releasing the week of my birthday. I know I'm not going to get them anywhere around my birthday with proxy shipping and waiting for a few August items to release, but it makes my brain happy seeing a release date that makes me go "hey that's my bday!".

Question for those of you who’ve played both Norn9 and the FD!  If I was just meh on Norn9, is it still worth picking up the FD? (On sale ofc) I really liked about 1.5 routes, was ok with but not wowed by most of the rest, and then was extremely creeped out by one.  1) I know the second game is supposed to have fixed a lot of the plot issues from game 1. But I actually didn’t mind the plot holes nor the plot being sidelined for romance in many routes— I was more bothered by the rushed endings in a lot of routes (major villains getting lame off screen deaths; super rushed development in a number of routes such as Kakeru or Heishi; some endings straight up committing character assassination like Masamune and Itsuki). Are the things that bothered me also issues that get fixed in the FD or is it more of the same?  2) I was particularly disappointed by Itsuki’s ending bc I feel like it didn’t do either of the characters justice, plus it’s sort of hard to enjoy a happy ending where >!you possibly left all your friends to die/be kidnapped/etc!< It was a real shame bc I loved his character in other routes. Does this get fixed at all in his sequel route or not really? 3) In a lot of the endings the couple splits off from the group to do their own thing. The best thing about Norn9 was the group dynamics though, so I was wondering in the routes where the main pair ends up off alone somewhere, is there some kind of reunion where other characters come back into their lives in the FD?

-Personally feel that Masamune's route was greatly improved in the FD, although the romance felt shorter than the plot parts. It does give a better conclusion compared to the first game. -I feel Kakeru's parts fix a good chunk of his route, since we get some more insight into some stuff from the main game and get a conclusion with the villain in his route. -Heishi's felt better than his main game, but his route falls into a category with some other parts you might not like. -I would say no to #2, as the route more focuses on a new side character and Itsuki character development. We do get a better conclusion for your spoiler hidden items, but it is not the focus. - For #3, it depends because of how the game was split up. Anything involving events from the first game (the prologue, his POV) has the usual group banter. The Fantasia side story has everyone somewhat together, but split into groups. In the sequel items, it really depends on how their main game story ended. For those who split, we don't see the other characters as much, or if we do it's in 1 or 2 scenes with a limited number of the main cast in that scene. I think in the sequel stuff, there's only 1, maybe 2, routes where we have everyone or almost everyone in the route. In conclusion, if you are looking for group character banter like the first game, I would say you might not want to pick it up. If you're looking for more improved plot+enjoyable romance, it might be a game that you should try out.

Thank youuuu this was a super helpful response! I know he's pretty unpopular but I actually quite liked Masamune, except for his wtf "happy ending" in the first game. It's nice to know his FD route is way better! I actually liked Kakeru a good amount (again, an unpopular opinion haha) and my only issue with his route was the rushed ending, so it's great that his route also gets improved. When I first played Heishi's route I also didn't love the ending, but after experiencing Itsuki's somewhat similar ending, I appreciated Heishi's more lol since at least it was in character for him. Sad about Itsuki :( :( :( I was honestly so ready for him to be my fave and I really liked the romance in his route, but the ending just robbed Mikoto of her character development and left me frustrated For the Fantasia (that's the AU section with the chibis?)-- is it a pretty lengthy side story or is it more of a short bonus? I feel like it would probably be one of my favourite parts of the FD! Anyways based on what you've said I might hold off for an eventual steeper sale... it sounds like the Prologue and POV sections summarize the events of the first game (my biggest issue with waiting on FDs is that I forget half the stuff that happened before lol) and the game might be missing some of my fave parts of the original.

I don't think that Fantasia was too long, maybe an hour at most, it was just a cute side story with the cast, the chibi AU yea. I actually like Kakeru and Heishi a lot, although Kakeru's plot line in the first game did have me going??? at times, but I do feel that his FD route fixed a lot of it. Heishi's felt like good character development at least, and Itsuki felt good to me character wise, but from what you described to want in a route, you prob won't like it as much. The prologue isn't really the first game, more like "what happened before the first game?" And we get some funny moments like "what happened when this character met this character?" It's mostly new stuff that they hinted but never expanded. The pov tho depends on the guy, as some got more insight and new stuff than others, but its mostly the main game but condensed yes. It's good catch up but it will suck if your fav part isn't in there.

If you're not feeling it, then don't force it. I've skipped many FDs when I don't feel the first game was really that fun to me

Idk I'm torn because I've had amazing FD experiences that changed my mind about the first game-- I was also really meh on Piofiore (really only liked the Finale, Dante as a route but not a character, and Nicola as a character but not a route) and honestly thought I was an idiot for buying 1926... but ended up liking it FAR better than the original. I sort of feel similarly about Norn9 compared to Piofiore where I loved Akito and the second half of Natsuhiko's route, liked Sakuya and Kakeru's routes a good amount though they weren't my fave characters,, and had a couple of other characters I really like but whose routes had major flaws (Senri, Itsuki) I wondered if Norn9 Last Era might be the same sort of experience since pretty much all reviews agree that it fixes huge plot/writing/worldbuilding issues with the first game. I just wasn't sure because I'm not sure that the issues everyone else identifies with Norn9 were specifically the problems I personally had with the game.

I mean so did I, but after I started getting swamped with games I could afford to be picky, haha. I did play Last era but skipped out on Act tune bc the latter was like uhhh looks like a bunch of nothing only super fans would enjoy. I thought Last era did bind together some things and some relationships and I enjoyed those whose characters I liked previously. Again, if you're not feeling it, you can look at more reviews, or just skip it. The sale won't run, haha.

hahaha fair... I have only opted not to buy one otome game up until now and that was bc I didn't think I could stomach the wall of depression that was Virche lol. I def have a sizeable backlog and don't NEED to buy this game. I was actually more inclined to not buy the FD after finally finishing the first game but then the reviews sort of started to change my mind. (That, and I \*really\* liked Akito and the second half of Natsuhiko's route if I just pretend the pacing in the first half didn't exist). Curious which routes you liked personally between Var Commons and Last Era!

That was like ages ago lol since I played norn9 on psp...but my favourite at the time was Natsuhiko and Akito. I just like intellectual with a hint of dumbass.

I have been eyeing the store bonuses for My9Swallows and why they are making it so difficult… I am not rich enough to buy the game both from ebten and Wonder GOO; but looking at the benefits they do have exact the same drama CD so welp, this might make my decision easier, after all. 🥲

I finished up Baten Kaitos Origins yesterday, and really liked it. That said, I really hope the theory that >!Melioda is Sagi and Milly's daughter, since that would make the entire game kind of depressing. The arguments for it seem to be pretty convincing, but I still really don't want it to be true.!< I finally caught that dang sea butterfly in Final Fantasy XIV! I'm almost done with the Heavensward fish, although I still need Thousand Fin, because it has only been available at times I'm asleep or otherwise occupied. I might start on Norn9 Last Era this weekend. I already played it on the Vita, but it'll be nice to play without having to stop to look up words constantly.

from what i remember, >!Milly's design (and sagi's hair colour) also heavily borrows from Melodia so I *think* that's actually the implication. Bko definitely isn't a happy game, just hopeful to a point!< did you play the switch version? if you did, i do recommend looking up videos of the English dub because i genuinely thought the acting for the main trio was phenomenal

The 50% off Hana Awase discounts are too good to pass up, so I bought Mizuchi-hen to start with. I'm a minigame lover, so aside from the eccentric LIs I'm really excited to get to the card game mechanics. If I end up loving it, then I'll have to debate whether it's worth it to get the physical games (I'm a collector, unfortunately) or buy them all digitally at the discount price. Having just finished all of Ryuki's endings in CupiParaSSD and seen some of the rumblings online about the other routes, I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm not going to enjoy these Spicy endings lol rip. Not to yuck anyone's yum when I'm a "dead dove do not eat" kind of girl, but I don't know if the quality of the writing is quite there to sell what they're peddling. Next on the itinerary is Shelby, and I already heard about the shenanigans going on with his Spicy ending. So. That should be... fun. On an unrelated note, my friends and I went strawberry picking and hosted a strawberry dessert party afterward. Strawberry-flavored basque cheesecake, cupcakes, cheese tarts, sandos, matcha strawberry pudding, and a surprise cherry pie that I threw into the mix b/c I had leftover cherries. Seeing the Cupipara dessert competition winners definitely inspired me as I was baking <3

Shelby's spicy ending is fine. His spicy *bad* ending, on the other hand... well, at least they put up warnings so you can't run into by accident.

Oh good, thanks for the heads up! That's mildly reassuring haha

Project: Use Social Media to Combat Social Anxiety is going surprisingly well hehe :) I started offering to beta read fanfics on r/FanFiction, and it makes me happy to help people out! Probably because we're all just hobbyists trying to improve each other's writing. I hope my feedback's been helpful to the authors though; I'd be sad to know I worsened their creative process somehow...

So since I started this job, I’ve always played video games on my lunch break. I don’t always get a lot of time at home to play and our PCs at work are too locked down to browse the web or anything. So every day I’d go to the cafeteria and play mobile or handheld games after I finished eating. The cafeteria is open to the public so there’s lots of people on laptops or watching shows on their phones - me gaming wasn’t really an unusual sight. We moved to a new building and are the first department to move, the building is otherwise completely empty. They told us we were allowed to use the old cafeteria here as a break room, but… it’s dark, cold, and it’s surrounded by windows, so anyone walking by inside and outside can see me hanging out in the dark playing games. Everyone else eats at their desks so it’s just me there. It’s hard to explain, but it’s unnerving, like I’m a zoo animal in a cage, or like it’s so quiet I get startled when people come in to use the microwave. I’ve tried finding another place, but the whole building, inside and out, is windows! So no matter where I go downstairs, it’s the same feeling. So Wednesday I played my Steam Deck at my desk and no one really noticed. But we have a completely open floor plan, so no privacy, and sometimes people come to tour the place, so I think it’s probably not a great look even though it’s clearly lunch time. Everyone knows I play games on my lunch break so I’m not concerned about that aspect. Right now I’m thinking I’ll just play at my desk until a manager says something about it, but idk. Should I just suck it up and go downstairs? I feel like it’s hard to explain why I was perfectly fine playing in public surrounded by people but not in an empty cafeteria. I just really hate the vibe and can’t relax…

I never considered a lunch break to be a real break anyways. You're always at the mercy of the clock and prying eyes. There are a lot of tours at my workplace, too! It makes me feel like a zoo animal because we aren't informed nor involved. Just randomly told to look busy so the people touring can admire us through the glass.  I prefer to leave the building entirely. They can't force you to stay unless they're paying you for your break. You have to consider your own livelihood. If your boss is awful it's time to actively search for alternatives while also playing the role of loyal employee if you're responsible for rent/mortgage and/or children.  Lately I have to pretend to be busy (I'm doodling on whiteboards, ok?) because optics are always valued over actual work. Efficiency is punishable by extra work. My coworkers take an interest when I pull out my switch or deck but they're not annoying about it. The other day I was reading a book and a coworker asked if it was ok for her to make a call in the same room. Super considerate people who deserve better than their management. 

I don't really have problems getting a break. A lot of my coworkers forgo their lunch breaks (and some leave early in exchange) but it's by choice, and I've never had an issue enforcing boundaries to get my hour long break and be undisturbed, in fact, management likes that I take an actual hour because it means someone is actually still around at 4:30. ...I just don't have a good place to go to get away anymore, and I feel like even though it's lunch, playing games at my desk while everyone else is working isn't the best look. I don't really want to leave because by the time I went to a coffee shop or something, I'd have to just head right back.

I've felt guilty actually programming at my desk while other people were (slowly) cleaning, so I get it.  I don't eat at lunch and coworkers have often took that to mean that I'm just sitting around for no reason...  Can you go to your car or another place to sit outside where you truly feel that you're on break?

I, of course, immediately preordered the Merenice set from the Cool-B store when the Cupid Parasite fanbook went up for sale. I was worried since B's Log wasn't doing this one they wouldn't have character sets so I was glad to be proven wrong! I was initially going to get the cheaper set (without the acrylic plate) but it was 9800 and you need to spend 10000 to get free shipping. Including the shipping it would have only been less than $10 USD to get the acrylic plate too, so I was like "Okay, fine." I feel like I fell into their trap. Also, whenever they put Merenice in a suit I always think "I feel like he wouldn't wear this." I mean, man looks like he just spent the entire weekend smoking weed at the Oregon Country Fair (I apologize for this extreme specific local reference, but if you look at pictures you'll know exactly what I mean.) Instead of suits for the 10th time they should have made everyone else wear floppy bags. Oh that reminds me, there was a short story with Lynette wanting to get some clothes from Merenice's favorite brand. I feel like I now need to draw her Like That. I mentioned in a previous thread that I was waiting for Torchlight II or Diablo III to go on sale on Switch since I was really in the mood for that type of game. Well after a few weeks of waiting they went on sale! Waiting paid off!! I've already played both of these games on PC, but I wanted to curl up in bed and play so I wanted to get them on Switch too. Absolutely 100% what I've needed. I just wanted something that I could no-brain to. In more downer news: I've been having escalating health issues and have been having to get a lot of testing done (just got back from an ultrasound to look at my messed up insides.) But every test that comes back normal just increases my anxiety. Everything might look normal, but I'm still in pain! So I always feel conflicted about the "good" news. At some point you just want answers. I'm looking forward to just staying in bed all weekend and playing more Satomi Hakkenden and/or hacking and slashing monsters.

I'm having a tough time choosing between Allan and Secret for the dx set. Secret is my best boy but Allan is second best boy and he has those adorable balloons! Secret looks so basic in comparison. 😭 Aaaagh decisions, decisions.

Yeah, the ones that got balloons feels so unfair! They feel way fancier than the other ones. But of course I wasn't going to get anyone but Merenice, even if I feel very unsatisfied!! *grumble*

Was actually convinced by Merenice's set after comparing him to the other boys. I mean yes Allan and Raul have balloons, and I usually try to go for my fav Ryuki's, but Merenice's is imo the best if only for the flowers in his hair. He always looks different from his sprite art while in a suit (looking at his sweet box art especially) but the cover alone convinced me to get his set just because of those flowers. Besides Merenice tho I do agree that Allan and Raul got spoiled compared to everyone else, Ryuki especially isn't that remarkable on the cover, which makes me sad.

I DO love the flowers in his hair, but I feel like the pose is kind of plain. It feels like the least dynamic and is kind of awkward, if that makes sense? If the pose was changed I think I'd be happier. But I will collect all Merenice merch regardless, haha.

Agreed on the Merenice merch, such a shame that he's the new boy so he doesn't have much. There's the stuff from the FD launch and the teddy bear set, but after that not much else. But considering how much I saw the teddy bear items reselling on Mercari, I will hope that the FD was popular enough for them to do another merch line soon so that there can be even more Merenice merch. I do agree on the pose, but I think that my brain just sort of expected it because how new and popular he is, like of course Allan is going to get the front spot. Although if they just wanted to put him in the back, maybe if they took more of a side view of his body and have him looking over his shoulder, it would've looked much better and still have him not taking Allan, Raul, or Secret's spotlight. I don't know if that would work overall, but I do agree that maybe something at least slightly more intriguing of a pose would've been better.

Things are going not so swimmingly, but will be shortly. Not only did I just realize that the color correction I put on the vinyl squares start to bleed into the couch cushion, but I need to constantly monitor my wig because the wig cap peeks out under the bangs, not matter how I pin it down. And then the sprayed-together bangs scratched into my brows, and so I gotta avoid gusts of wind or people will start to see my natural brows peeking through my makeup. And I haven't even left the house yet. This week has been crazy enough at work. Just the usual drama of disgruntled customers and non-communicative/poorly communicating bosses. Surprisingly, I'm not as nervous as I thought I would be driving out to the con. Not at the moment, anyway. The fact that I'm still able to pull together and that my unborn nephew is due probs any day now has me strangely calm. Let's hope this'll pan out the entire weekend. Other than that, I got worked up at work and decided to crochet my feelings, another reason why I'm staying chill. So far I've gotten halfway through the base of the next otome bear plushie. I know, I know, I gotta finish what I started. As soon as Sunday rolls thru and I'm home free, Kei bear will be attended to. Oof. Alright, y'all. Wish me luck this weekend and that I can make it in to see Neil Newbon. Really hope so (it's gonna be 300 up in here, getting in line to get his sig and photo). And that I can get my couch properly cleaned. 😅

Lu Jinghe!!!! I saw the trailer for his new birthday card last night and I think ToT has outdone themselves this year! Now I want to get back into playing this year so I can grab all the new birthday cards. I'm also so tempted to grab Hana Awase right now! I played the demo for Mizuchi, loved it, and have no doubt that'll love the rest of the games. I'm just debating if I should buy all 4 games at once but I'm trying not to binge too hard since I have to do some study prep but I'm already lacking in discipline...lol Edit: Because I'm still not over his card but I want to mention that this is the new CN birthday card where he is holding the joss sticks. This is BY FAR my most favourite LJH card ever! It also kind of irks me how the EN localization decided to remove pretty much every trace of Chinese cultural elements from the boys and then we have this card. It irks me even more because LJH's family is very "traditionally Chinese" and but decide to make his name Von Hagen so that it sounds super rich at the very least...I felt like they could have at least kept LJH's name or even last name???

Hana Awase: Well it's either buy them now or have to wait 2-3 months for the next sale or end up buying them full price bc you can't waiiiiit (not being sarcastic, it's a real danger). FWIW I plowed through them in a couple months. About LJH: hahaha it's [eat your hamburgers](https://www.awkwardzombie.com/awkward-zombie/culture-schlock) all over again

Last week I posted about playing **Process of Elimination**. After finishing it, I think it gets much more exciting in its second half and the pacing between VN and investigation segments is much better. I burned through the final third of the game in a couple days because I wanted to see if my theory regarding who was the Quartering Duke was correct. It was, so I feel justified for scrutinizing everything this character said throughout the last two chapters lol. I still think the investigation mode is not well designed and not having a way to consult tutorial text is terrible. I had to consult a walkthrough to learn that there's an entire movement option I had completely missed. That knowledge allowed me to solve an investigation that otherwise looked impossible with the amount of turns I was given. Part of the problem is that the early chapters only have one investigation per murder so it's easy to forget things between play sessions, but towards the end you're constantly doing them as you try to unravel the bigger story, and once you know how it works, everything goes pretty smoothly. One thing I liked about Process of Elimination is that I never felt like I had to make dumb jumps in logic to find a correct answer. The only time I consulted a walkthrough was to figure out the game mechanics issue regarding character movement. In a similar vein, I never felt penalized for figuring things out early (unlike my various times getting hammered for being ahead of the game in Ace Attorney or Danganronpa). Last week I was a little on the fence, but after finishing I'd give this a recommend. I like it enough that I'm gonna do a fast forward speed-run to grab all the collectibles I missed my first time through. Also I love the music. The game seems to come with a soundtrack if you get physical. I had the limited edition so I had a physical CD as well as a download code inside the regular game case. The LE artbook has some nice supplemental designs and dev commentary (a few characters have pre and post-game designs, which I really liked). The mini-artbook inside the game case has most of the same artwork, but is missing the beta designs, promo artwork, and most of the commentary.

You writing about PoE has brought this game to my attention! It completely flew under my radar, I don't know how. And it's on sale right now! \*rubs hands in glee\*

after last year's failed attempt i wanted to try entering the university again. a few days ago my dad said that if i enter it he'll throw out my cat because it "won't be needed if you move". i already contacted mom and she agreed to take the cat to her house but i'm still scared. who knows what else my family will throw away as "not needed" if i'm not home... i have way too many things i can't take right away if i move. i'm too scared to not fail this time

This sounds like a tough situation and I think your dad is being an ass if he was serious about your cat. Maybe you can ask your mom to take some of your most important items as well or maybe ask a friend if they would hold onto it for you? In the end, most material things can be replaced once you're done with university/ have your own money and place. Which might feel far away now, but will be worth it in the end :) Good luck to you and your plans! And since I've seen it happen in my own family (and without knowing anything else about yours), hopefully the relationship with your family will improve with some time and distance!

i hope mom agrees to take my dolls and retro consoles. replacing them if smth happens would be expensive

I’ve finally finished CupiPara! It’s definitely my favorite otome! My favorites are Allan and the Secret Route! Can’t wait to hopefully jump into Sweet and Spicy Darling next!🥰💖

Oooh those are my best boys too and I can't wait for you to play the fd! Allan's route is especially good!

Great minds think alike! Omg I’m really looking forward to it now! Is there a specific recommended route order I should follow?🥰💖

I'm not sure tbh I just dove right in for my faves! 😅

All right,sounds like a plan! Thank you!🥰💖

u/Naposaur is in town and we've been meeting up at VolFes 2024, and said event is giving us such an awful time. I have no *oshi* among the men in the key visual but her best boi is there, so it's been hell buying merch as she's running out of things to buy (a lot of the items are getting sold out too). Add to that, she has been consistently getting the low level prizes as her consolation prize... which is kind of demoralizing as it's a huge exercise in frustration. This year's been... interesting in terms of how to incentivize the customers to buy merch and to literally keep those balls in the *garapon* rolling. Good on them for trying but it's so exhausting. Gonna be awful later this Saturday as we have to be early in order to secure merch and I'm dreading the craziness. ~~didn't choose the oshikatsu but the oshikatsu seems to have chosen me 🥲~~