Talks about otome games, drama cds, and occasionally provides advice? Running away endlessly from my backlog of hobbies.

Ilinox

It's not as extreme as some people may think, but at the same time there's a huge unspoken rule that shouldn't be crossed unless you want to get attacked LOL. Don't misunderstand, I think everyone needs to chill and move on if they see someone playing a single-player game in a different way from them. Simultaneously though, I do think that some people who make liking the heroine their entire personality are obnoxious (because most of the time it comes off as performative) and a lot of these anti-heroine people are acting out of passed down trauma (there's always an understandable reason for something that later gets carried way too far as a belief).

Remember, the romance genre has always been mocked throughout history, to say nothing of CN otome games that encourage self-insert. CN women were and still are ridiculed for their fictional men being just a bunch of code and being together with the "heroine" of the game, making the players the mistress. You can imagine why their reaction is so strong towards any hint of someone wanting to establish the heroine as her own character now, because it reminds them of this ridicule.

I don't know the percentage of heroine versus anti-heroine people, but all the creators I follow over there maintain a balance of the heroine being both a narrative device and the reader. So, it's possible to talk about the heroine without taking an extreme stance on either side and I like to think the majority are actually like this. However, these types of people won't speak up for or against the heroine, so what most people hear about are the harassment campaigns for or against heroines LOL.

Tangentially related, Tears of Themis has gained the reputation in CN for being a game that has the heroine being her own character (this is a negative review over there, haha) but it goes to show that it's still an ongoing discourse in CN.

It's not as extreme as some people may think, but at the same time there's a huge unspoken rule that shouldn't be crossed unless you want to get attacked LOL. Don't misunderstand, I think everyone needs to chill and move on if they see someone playing a 

 in a different way from them. Simultaneously though, I do think that some people who make liking the heroine their entire personality are obnoxious (because most of the time it comes off as performative) and a lot of these anti-heroine people are acting out of passed down trauma (there's always an understandable reason for something that later gets carried way too far as a belief).

Remember, the romance genre has always been mocked throughout history, to say nothing of CN otome games that encourage self-insert. CN women were and still are ridiculed for their fictional men being just a bunch of code and being together with the "heroine" of the game, making the players the mistress. You can imagine why their reaction is so strong towards any hint of someone wanting to establish the heroine as her own character now, because it reminds them of this ridicule.

I don't know the percentage of heroine versus anti-heroine people, but all the creators I follow over there maintain a balance of the heroine being both a narrative device and the reader. So, it's possible to talk about the heroine without taking an extreme stance on either side and I like to think the majority are actually like this. However, these types of people won't speak up for or against the heroine, so what most people hear about are the harassment campaigns for or against heroines LOL.

Tangentially related, Tears of Themis has gained the reputation in CN for being a game that has the heroine being her own character (this is a negative review over there, haha) but it goes to show that it's still an ongoing discourse in CN.

What's your experience in the CN side of the otome fandom?

Ilinox

heroine stans vs non heroine stans