alias_sqbr

Jack Jeanne is a thus far quite enjoyable and VERY GENDER otome game about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to attend an all-boys acting school with a tradition of dividing roles into 'Jacks' (male roles) and 'Jeannes' (female roles) She then gets to know and in some cases romance various male classmates, who are a mix of Jack and Jeanne (and in some cases both). Afaict the English version is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.

Here's the protagonist Kisa and all her potential boyfriends. From left to right: Kai, Fumi, Neji, Kisa the protagonist, Sou, Mitsuki, and Suzu.

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I don't know how entertaining this will be, I just have Feelings and noone sufficiently interested in het cdramas for me to feel comfortable rambling to them in sufficient length.

I'm only up to episode 11/45 and already have enough rambling to fill multiple posts, so am just going to start with a masterlist and character guide and go on from there.

So!

The Sword and the Brocade is a Chinese m/f live action TV romantic drama.

I was inspired to watch it by this spoilery ffa thread where a couple of people agreed that it is far from the objectively best cdrama but somehow makes it's self indulgent wish fulfilment incredibly enjoyable.

The slightly less spoilery but long Viki summary starts with:

Born a concubine’s daughter, Shi Yi Niang (Tan Song Yun) was very well aware of her low status and lack of social connections. However, her low rank never once stopped her from speaking her mind or pursuing her dreams. Believing women should be free to pursue a life outside the home, Yi Niang hoped to someday use her embroidery skills to secure her freedom. But destiny had something else in store for her.

tl;dr And then she gets into an arranged marriage with an emotionally distant famous general and they Uncover Mysteries and Fall In Love.

Based on the first ten episodes I agree with the people at FFA: this is not the best cdrama in any objective sense but it is sure COMPELLING.

Also, every remotely complex plot point and important character dynamic is explained repeatedly. There are multiple characters whose main role is to ask dumb questions so someone has to explain everything to them. It's not very subtle but is great for my sleepy brain, which can otherwise find subtitled historical dramas a bit confusing.

Viki has the whole thing available for free if you make an account.

Content notes: Not involving the main characters: Terminal illness, miscarriage, sick children, violent spouse
Involving the main characters: Violent abuse from heroine's sort-of-parent. Love interest is sometimes kinda mean to those he has power over. Heroine is technically underage but the actress is in her 30s lol. People in arranged marriages being pressured to have sex they don't want, though in every onscreen interaction they say no and this is respected. Past rape.
( No major spoilers just a character guide and list of posts )

Since I seem to be talking about it!
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An Otomate dating sim about a Japanese policewoman who gets tangled up in a Strange Mystery about a Weird Terrorist Group.
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For anyone who didn't see it on sqbr, I posted the notes while reading Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's "Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction Is about You".

This is a 1997 queer studies paper about the limits of 'paranoid'/fear-based readings which focus on finding the hidden, darker meanings of things, and how these can end up suppressing other sorts of readings. She suggests that paranoia has its place, but we would benefit from creating space for the full range of emotions, in criticism and life in general. I didn't like/agree with all of the paper (especially the way she blurs the line between mental health diagnosis and critical theory) but it was certainly interesting and got me thinking.

I'm sure I misunderstood some parts, the original paper is a better option for anyone who feels up to reading it, and I link to a few versions of it. But my notes might be helpful as a glossary and relatively accessible summary for anyone else who has trouble parsing humanities papers.

I'm cross-posting here since my interest in the topic relates to how I write reviews and meta.

Since this info is scattered over a few posts.

Below the cut: my dream address, creator ID, and designs I use/like.
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So! Voltage Inc is a Japanese phone romance game company with an app called Love 365. There's a US off-shoot, Voltage USA, with it's own app Lovestruck which has different games and a slightly different pay structure.

I've been playing around with both of them and having a lot of fun! I'm compiling a list of all the games I try at the end of the post.

From what I can see, both always have female protagonists, and have "free" romance phone games that encourage you to spend money but you can genuinely have fun with for free by slowly accruing currency or playing free games. They all also have autoplay, so you don't have to click too much.

Voltage USA:
Mildly diverse, has some games with female or even non-binary love interests.
You mostly spend money to avoid inconvenience, and have to go through the same rigmarole to replay episodes.

Voltage Inc:
VERY tropey and heterosexual, like interactive illustrated Harlequin romances.
You generally pay for a route outright, and can replay it at will, but there's some with the "pay to avoid inconvenience" model. Has free games.

All my posts about love 365 games

No spoilers below, just talking in general about what games I tried and how it all works.
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All my posts on the dating sim XOXO Droplets.
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Mystic Messenger is a phone based dating and management sim that plays out in real time.
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