The Pretty Blerd Guardian!

Look, I know we’ve never seen eye to eye and I’m technically late by a lot of days – I called you a commercialized scam once and refused to celebrate a holiday that makes someone feel ashamed for being single or convinces existing lovebirds that the best way to express your affection is by spending a lot of money. But I’ve got it all figured out now! For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about hating your guts for many years… it wasn’t you, it was all me because now I know how to properly celebrate. Through otome! Or, specifically..

Ikemen. 2D Boos. Waify’s. Husbandos.

I already know what you’re thinking; “Ew, Sailor Otome! How could you sink so low as to openly pine for fictional characters!” Aside from it just being plain fun, not everyone wants to be in a relationship right now.

Whether it’s because we’re recovering from a recent breakup, focusing on our career, or just wanting to appreciate our own company for a while, a romantic relationship is never going to be necessary to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Datings apps and blind dates can be fun with proper expectations but they’re a literal warzone if you’re expecting something serious from meeting a complete stranger. Chances are though if you were completely satisfied with life on Feb 13th, then nothing has to change just because it’s Feb 14th. If you’re already in a relationship then .. nothing still changes! They’re gonna be treating you nice every day.

And why go outside and risk COVID by sucking face when I could stay inside to get my lovey-dovey fix? Watching my favorite characters in a movie or video game while ordering take-out while never having to change out of my pajamas – the perfect Valentine’s Day. No make-up, nothing cute to wear? Fictional boo don’t care. They aren’t here to shame you (unless Ryuki from Cupid Parasite is your fav, then, unfortunately, he’s coming for your throat) and only want to provide a good story filled with delicious drama. So wear that bonnet and those mismatched socks!

Pick a Valentine? Nah I’ll take one of each, please. Instead of worrying over breaking hearts and deciding who will pamper me for one special day, I get to choose AS MANY I want! I’ll play Canus’ route for some feel-good fuzzies from Cafe Enchante in the morning while enjoying some tea, maybe take a break by lunch and dive into something thrilling with my favorite vampire tsu-tsu Subaru but then as the evening approaches, switch over for some spicy fun with CxM’s Aiji Yanagi from Unlimited? I couldn’t bear to choose! So instead I sort of.. just played otome games all day and did nothing remotely responsible until it was dinner time. Oops?

With that being saaaaaiiid… I won’t sit here and tell you that it’s all warm feelings and butterflies when dealing with that many ikemen. There’s gonna be a little emotional trauma involved because oh boy, do these fictional boos put your heart through it. They’ll take your heart and stomp on it without even apologizing – anyone who played Cafe Enchante or a bad end in CollarxMalice can testify that. But isn’t that what we’re looking for when we play our favorite game? To be led through a story between characters, watching them overcome personal struggles and create new ones.

If we can finish a story with these heavy emotions, I’d say the game did its job by telling a great story (unless you’re a sadist who likes to get every bad end on purpose in which case chileeeeeee, I can’t help you). But no matter where we head, we’ll always be in control: if our experience gets too intense or just not catching our attention, we can change routes, look up detailed walkthroughs to avoid wrong choices or just turn it off for the day. No stress, no relationship drama, no gift faux pas.

But why did it take me so dang long to figure this stuff out? Guilt. Absolute panic-inducing, soul-crushing guilt. It’s a struggle at first because the moment I was enjoying myself on a holiday themed around relationships, I came up with every question just to scare myself into skipping the day entirely.

Do I deserve to pamper myself like this?
There’s so many chores I could be doing…
I could just spend this extra money on something else.

The short answer? YES. YES YOU DO DESERVE ALL THE NICE THINGS.

Long answer? The commercialized cupid does its best to make sure you feel absolute garbage for not having a romantic relationship and place value in being desired by someone else – regardless if you’re old enough to understand what romance even is. For example, school! Show of hands how many people celebrated Valentine’s Day with their class by handing out presents but never received any? That’s me!

It was pretty screwed up when I remember how each year went: all the popular kids got flowers or candy while the less popular got nothing. Maybe pity gifts from the teachers but they never enforced everyone to bring something for the entire class so favoritism was a pretty harsh, early lesson for a lot of us. Does it matter now? I think so. It’s less so about receiving a gift and more about confidence, understanding how brittle it is and how difficult it is to build up. Without proper love and support, it’s possible to never carry any even as you grow up.

But despite this awful experience I’m thankful for it now because it taught me what was really important: my family, friends, and all the hobbies that give me a break from reality for awhile. Gushing about fictional baes included. So instead of trying my luck accepting wildly awful blind dates from concerned coworkers or sulking alone in my room, I decided to be everyone’s valentine.

Family and close friends received little gifts, mutuals on Twitter received little notes of admiration that were personalized just for them. Seeing everyone happy was pretty much the biggest highlight for me and it was also the necessary kick in the pants I needed to combat my social anxiety. Thankfully they don’t happen often because the otome community on Twitter is perhaps one of the most welcoming I’ve experienced in a long time.

So in conclusion! Celebrating Valentine’s Day by swooning over your favorite fictional bae is pretty fun and I’m going to go full throttle next year because this was really fun to do. Maybe I’ll decide to throw some characters out there, then write about what kind of gift I’d give them..

What kind of otome game is your go-to on Valentine’s Day? And for those who do have sweethearts, do you share this hobby with them? Bonus points if they actually play the game with you. I feel like having them select the answers for you in a blind route run would be super exciting!

Stay lovely!
Bonne.